“No, it’s not awful. If they were really taking care of him, he probably wouldn’t have been under our porch. I’m not saying dogs don’t get lost, they do. And I’m not judging that, I’m just saying.” He hugged him close and gave him the kiss he was asking for.
“Oh, good. I don’t want to be a bad person.”
“I know, baby. Don’t worry about that. It’s not gonna happen.”
Jeremy came back into the room a few minutes later and handed him the puppy. “He did great. We’ve done the blood test; it won’t be but a few minutes, and I’ll have somebody come in and tell you what the results were if I’m in with another patient.”
“Thanks, Jeremy, we really appreciate you fitting us in today,” Laird said.
“Not a problem at all. Also, after a good bit more examination back there, I decided to just go ahead and give him his shots because he doesn’t seem to be suffering from anything that would preclude them.”
Devon could feel Laird’s embrace tighten around him, and he knew he was hoping there wasn’t going to be another meltdown. He chuckled lightly because he understood that had been something of a surprise for him, too. “That’s perfect. This way I don’t have to watch the poor little guy get them.”
“Exactly. No worries.” Jeremy shook hands with him and Laird, and then headed out, waving over his shoulder as he went.
The tech came back in about five minutes later telling them all the tests had come back negative, and he was good to go, little D’Artagnan. So they headed out to let him potty and then go pick up the things that they could do curbside service on.
On the way, he made calls to all the major animal control places to see if somebody had reported D’Artagnan missing, and then told them he would be sending them pictures via email that they could post on their bulletin boards. But honestly, by the time they got home, he was fairly certain they had themselves a dog.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Laird was sitting in the bus, half dozing and half listening to Nick go on about something he was making for the baby. He was taking this whole godfather thing very seriously.
When the phone rang, he grabbed it, surprised to see his dad’s name pop up.
“Hey, Pop, what’s up?”
“I don’t suppose you’ve gone to see Devon today?”
He frowned, shaking his head. “No, he’s at work. We’re supposed to meet for supper after my shift. He wanted pizza.”
“Well, I think you might ought to go check on him. I went to stop by, just to let him see the puppy and bring him a doughnut. He’s just about as gray as anything. He doesn’t look like he feels very good at all. You know he’s as big as a house. Maybe it’s time to start delegating? For both of you?”
“You think so?”
“Son? I did call you because I was worried. I have your dog, by the way.” Dad had been a trouper about the puppy.He had been doing potty training whenever they were at work.
Personally, Laird thought Dad was just practicing having another grandbaby.
Maybe it was just because D’Artagnan was the cutest damn puppy in the history of cute damn puppies.
“Okay, sure. We’re at a standstill right now. Nick and I will swing by and see him.” Didn’t really matter where in town they parked the bus. They could be anywhere in about five to ten.
“Thanks. Listen, I’m not trying to be a worrywart or one of those nosy parents. It’s just that he’s family now and?—”
His phone started to ring again, and this time it was Raven.
“Dad, I’ve got to let you go. It’s Raven.” He didn’t stop to say goodbye. “Hey, what’s up?”
“All right, we have pretty high blood pressure, and I’m just not tickled with how he’s looking, so I’m going to send him home. I don’t think he has to be on bed rest, but he does need to be off work and off his feet as much as possible and relaxing. If it continues this way, he’s gonna end up in the hospital.”
“Oh, that would break his heart.” Devon wanted Raven to deliver their son. “We don’t want that.”
“Oh God, no.”
“I’ll be right there.” He nodded to Nick. “You heard that?”
