Madison Knight's Christmas Gift
Excerpt: Ties that Bind
She
caught a glimpse of a chocolate lab puppy peeking around the doorway from the
seating area. He had a red bow around
his neck. She felt her chest tighten.
“Speaking of
your gift…”
Panic seized
her. The responsibility, the hair…
Terry bent to
his haunches. “Come here, buddy.” The little guy walked over equally nervous as
curious. Terry scooped him in a blanket
that hung over the banister.
Its fur looked
so shiny and soft, and its little legs were curled up beneath him. The ears dangled and looked as soft as
velvet.
“Here, he’s
all yours.” Terry passed him over, and
she had no option but to extend her arms.
Madison didn’t
know whether to thank him or run. Her
first instinct was to run—fast and far away.
The door was right there. “I don’t
know what to say.”
“Don’t worry, we brushed him before you
came. And he won’t mark your dress
wrapped in the blanket.”
It wasn’t her
dress that concerned her. At first, she
felt so awkward holding the little guy, but he was quick to melt her
apprehension. He tilted his head back to
look at her, and with one look in his eyes, she softened. She pet his head. His ears were as soft as velvet. Maybe she could see what Terry saw in them. At least she could until a little pink slip
came out of his mouth and licked her chin.
“Oh…” Madison wanted to add gross to her comment
but didn’t want to hurt Terry. But
still, the thought of dog’s spit all over her face made her shiver. “Maybe we should put him down for a bit, let
him explore.” She bent over freeing him
from the blanket.
“So you like
him?”
Madison didn’t
know how to respond. She had mixed
emotions.
“Well,
hopefully he’ll grow on you,” Terry said with a laugh. “Oh, and just so you’re not too overwhelmed
with responsibility. I took one off your
shoulders.”
Madison raised
her eyebrows.
“I named him.”
You named my
dog? She was in too much shock to
verbalize her thought.
“I’m sure you’ll
like it.”
Well if she
didn’t she could always change it… “Just
don’t say it’s Fred—”
“Hershey.”
She was
speechless. She loved it, and it was so
fitting. She smiled.
“I trust that’s
a dog’s name,” Terry added.
“Yes, that’s a
dog’s name. Not like Todd. Who names an animal a human name?”
“Oh, we’re not
getting into this again.”
They looked down at Hershey who was hunched
down. Madison didn’t realize the
implication at first, but Terry did.
“Bad Hershey,
bad.” He tried to shoo him away.
“He peed in
the shoe…” Madison laughed. “And you wondered why I never had one—”
“You just
think it’s funny cause it’s my shoe.”
“It’s yours?” The words blurted out as she fought for
breath amidst hysterical laughter.
Madison bent
over and picked up Hershey who now sat on his hind quarter sniffing the
air. She stroked the top of his
head. He looked up at her.
“Yep, I think
I love this dog already.” She squeezed
Hershey extra tight, and he let out a bark.
Terry mumbled,
“Brat.”
They both
heard it about the same time. A low
ringtone coming from the closet.
“My purse.” She slid a mirror paneled door to the side.
“Please don’t
answer it. Let someone else get the call
tonight.”
She continued
pushing coats aside until she reached hers.
She matched eyes with Terry as she rummaged through her purse that hung
on the hanger with her coat.
“Please…” He held out his hand. “Think about how much it would piss Sovereign
off to have his Christmas interrupted.”
She held the
phone in her hand and held eyes with her partner. But unfortunately, no matter how much
satisfaction it would give her to inconvenience Sovereign, she had a job to
do. She flipped it open.
“Knight…” She watched as Terry let out a sigh of
defeat. He knew what the next words
would be, and he would be correct. “We’ll
be right there.”
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