The woman working the front desk just waved her over. "Give me your kennel numbers, and we'll see what we have. Some of these dogs are going to be on a hold until we know whether or not they have owners. That might narrow things down a little."
Surprisingly, it was Cy who spoke up. "What about the pair in kennel forty-two?" he asked.
The receptionist tapped at her keyboard, then looked at a small monitor on the side of her desk. "Eight-year-old poodle mix female, and a twelve-week-old female Ridgeback mix. They were found together running along the road in the country, and the older dog looks like she might have allergies."
To me, it sounded like the puppy might be a good option, but as soon as the woman said something about allergies, Cy's face fell. That made me replay the woman's words all over again. Poodle mix, which meant that the dog was probably small. After having seen the dog Cy used to live with, it made me think that maybe my boyfriend might need a dog of his own.
"You should look at those two," I said, directing my words towards Faith.
She began to chew her lower lip. "I think it's the youngest puppy in there, actually. But don't puppies mean more work?"
"So?" Luke asked. "I have a feeling that most of these dogs are going to need to be trained. They'll all probably chew up things and make a mess on the carpet. The question is if you want to start with a big mess on the carpet or a little one."
It was Violet who was the voice of reason. "Well, let's see what else she has, then we can rule out anything that's not available and let her visit with the ones that are."
So Faith leaned over the desk and started listing off the dogs she'd liked. Violet and Luke flanked her, but Cy wandered over to the far corner to look at the display of flyers. I had a feeling he wasn't actually interested in any of them, but he was trying to fake it.
I didn't say anything until I was at his side, then, "Does this mean you have puppy fever too?"
He huffed out a laugh. "In case you missed it, we're about to get a puppy."
"Uh huh," I agreed. "So then why did you just start sulking?"
He ducked his head to hide his smile, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. "I'm not sulking."
"Okay, I can go with brooding, but that's as much as you're getting." I reached up to press my hand in the middle of his back so I could lean in just a little closer. "You want a little dog with a sweater, don't you?"
"She's got allergies," he mumbled. "People don't want to adopt the broken dogs. They're the ones that get put down."
"But it's a poodle," I teased. "You'd have to take her to get groomed, and then you'd probably end up having her hair dyed in rainbow colors or something - that's it, isn't it? You want a pride dog!"
The roar of laughter that came from Cy's mouth made everybody look back at us. "That would be funny," he admitted.
"What would?" Violet asked.
"I think Cy needs a dog too," I told her. "Something little so he can carry it around in his jacket in the winter, or tuck it into the saddle bag on his bike."
Violet leaned her hip on the desk and crossed her arms. "Something like Emilio?"
"Who's Emilio?" Faith asked.
"His ex's dog," Luke explained. "Little rat terrier thing with a sweater. Cy loved that dog."
Faith's brow creased, then she nodded her head like she'd come to a decision. "Then we should get the dog that Cy wants."
"No," Cy insisted. "Faith, honey, this is your puppy. You earned this dog for dealing with your bullies for a month and a week. We promised that you'd get to pick a dog, so you get to pick a dog."
"But…" I said, dragging the word out. "Would anybody be too upset if we got two dogs?" I looked from Violet to Faith to Luke, completely ignoring Cy in that. "I mean, it'd give Faith's puppy someone to play with, and we already have the yard built…"
Faith sucked in an excited breath. "And we could take our puppies to obedience lessons together!"
"Which one?" Luke asked, getting right to the point.
I wasn't about to give Cy the chance to back out of this. I knew that he would say he didn't need a dog. He and Faith were exactly alike in that regard. They both wanted to do what was best for everybody else, but today was about them. Sure, it was supposed to have been about Faith, but Cy had been through a lot in the last few months too.
"The eight-year-old poodle," I told them. "He's worried that because she might have allergies, nobody else will want her."
The biggest grin was taking over Faith's face. "The one with the puppy!"
