His brother looked down at the boys’ hopeful faces and then over at Jack, shrugging his shoulders in defeat.
“Young man, what sort of dogs are these? How big will they get?” Andrew asked one of the boys selling the dogs.
“They are hounds, sir. Our Pa said he didn’t need so many, and if we didn’t want to drown them in the river, we should come sell them at the fair.”
Tyler hugged his puppy even tighter at the mention of drowning.
“How much are you selling them for?”
“Two pence apiece, sir.”
“All right. we will take two, one for each of you.” Two beaming little faces rewarded Andrew. “But if I see you aren’t taking care of them properly, I won’t let you keep them. So mind that you are responsible for the pups.” His expression turned stern.
Jack stooped down to pet the pups left in the crate. He thought about the way Vivian had waded into the middle of all those dogs at the park, smiling and petting them.
“I’ll take one as well,” he said, handing the boy two pence. Andrew gawked. “It’s a gift.” Jack shrugged. “Grayson, Tyler, help me pick out a good one for Miss Vivian. Which do you think?”
The boys took their job very seriously, assessing the puppies. “This one, Uncle Jack. Look how long its ears are, it’s so adorable.” The puppy did indeed have very long ears, and as it jumped and ran, it tripped over them and went tumbling, before righting itself and continuing on.
Jack grinned. “Yes, I think this one is perfect.” He picked up the pup and stowed the tiny ball of fur inside his jacket. The puppy immediately settled against his warmth and fell asleep.
All four of them headed away from the animal stalls in search of the food vendors. As they stood in front of the meat pasty vendor, Jack spotted Vivian and Gabrielle in the next row. They were looking through a table of books. Time to ambush her with his apology.
Jack turned to Andrew. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
He slipped directly behind Vivian, leaning in by her ear, he murmured, “Please forgive me, darling.”
****
Vivian whirled around, putting a hand to her chest. “Jack, what are you about, sneaking up on me?”
“Well, I thought a surprise attack might be the best strategy. Will you walk with me so I can apologize properly?”
“No, I don’t think so.” As the day had worn on so had her anger ebbed. But she should make him suffer a little while longer, shouldn’t she? “Gabrielle and I are hunting for a specific book she wanted.” She looked across the table at her friend for support, but Gabi only made a shooing motion with her hands.
“Go on with you.”
“Fine,” Vivian grumbled.
Jack took her hand and tucked it into the crook of his arm. She quickly snatched it back, creating some space between them. He should not be so close, scrambling her wits with his delicious scent, when she wanted to stay angry with him. They walked down the row in silence and then crossed to an open expanse of grass.
“Listen, Vivi; I truly am sorry about my behavior last night. I do know you better than that…and I am sorry I ever implied…well, you know.”
She stopped and looked up at him, assessing the plaintive expression on his face. It wasn’t the most beautiful apology she had ever heard, but the sincerity in his clear gray eyes rang true. Then out of the corner of her eye, Jack’s jacket moved. “Jack, did you know your jacket has acquired a life of its own?” She raised one eyebrow.
“Ah, yes. This is the second half of my apology. I bought it as a gift. I thought it might soften your heart toward me.” He reached in and pulled out a small, black puppy. It blinked huge brown eyes at her and yawned.
“It’s so sweet.” She reached for the pup, but he pulled it out of reach.
“Do you forgive me?”
She put her hands on her hips. “Captain Aston, are you attempting to bribe me into forgiving you with a puppy?”
His face turned slightly red. “Well yes, in a nutshell.” He reached out his free hand to cup her face. “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings, Vivi. Will you forgive me?”
She wrapped her hand around his wrist. He looked so contrite standing there holding a wriggly black puppy in one hand and asking so sweetly for her forgiveness. Her anger melted away. Lord, she was a fool for this man. “Yes, I forgive you. Now give me that puppy!”
Chapter Twenty-Four
