Light up the Night (Firehouse Three #2)(40)

But what should he do now? It was still pretty early.

Once he climbed behind the steering wheel, Everly made that decision for him. She was hanging up her cell as he cranked the engine.

“Do you want some help setting things up for her? I got my neighbor Shirley to dog sit, so I can help if you want.”

Grooming his face into one of polite interest, Drake smiled. “That sounds good. I’m good at paying for all this shit, but you’re better at knowing what the f*ck to do with it.”

Everly laughed. “It’s not hard. Well, I take that back. That giant fluffy princess bed might be a pain in the ass. Seriously. What the hell were you thinking?”

Drake reached over and scratched Gossamer’s floppy ear as he waited for the light at the parking lot exit to turn green. “She’s been alone for a long time. I figure even the nicest shelter on earth is still a shelter, right?”

Everly nodded. “You’re right. But you know that the stuff isn’t the important thing for her, right? You are. You’re the person she’s excited about. All the stuff in the world won’t take the place of her person.”

“Am I your person, Gossamer?” Drake smiled at the bug-eyed little creature beside him, who was staring at him as if he’d hung the moon. “I’m happy to be your person.”

The light turned green, and Drake put both hands on the wheel. Everly suddenly laughed to herself.

“What?” He glanced over to see her shaking her head.

“You know what the funniest thing about that bed is?”

“No, what?”

“I bet she’ll only sleep in it when you’re not there.”

Drake frowned as he flipped on his turn signal. “What do you mean?”

“I mean she’ll end up sleeping in bed with you when you’re home.”

Shit. “Oh, no. That is not going to happen. I like you, dog,” Drake said, slowing to turn into the lot of his apartment complex, “but we have a strict ‘no dogs in Drake’s bed’ policy in this apartment.” He threw the gearshift into park and killed the engine.

“Good luck with that,” Everly said as she hit the release button on her seatbelt. “I give you three nights, tops.”

“Not happening.”

It took about four trips to get all the dog stuff in, and Drake was again thankful that he’d lucked into a ground-floor apartment that had a tiny yard out back. Gossamer sniffed everything, looking around with interest as Everly followed along. Drake hefted the last item—the ridiculous, massive box containing the princess bed—onto the living room floor with a big sigh.

“Well, dog, here you go. Welcome to your palace.”

Gossamer looked at him and squatted.



Drake was gladder than ever that Everly had come to help him. She’d showed him how to get dog pee out of carpet. How to show Gossamer the right place to go for her potty adventures. Where and how much to feed her, how to brush her teeth—a job Drake hadn’t even known any dog owner should ever do—how to brush her fur and check for fleas.

And then there was that damn princess bed. It was worse than an Ikea dresser. Drake and Everly sat cross-legged on the floor of his bedroom, with about a thousand little parts laid out around them, directions that looked to have been translated from Sanskrit to Korean to Arabic and then finally to English, and enough bolts, washers, and other metal fastenings to repair the hole in the Titanic.

But Drake was patient, Everly was smart, and the two of them put the finishing touches on Gossamer’s Cadillac of a dog bed at 1 a.m.

“Finally,” Drake said, as he nudged it against the foot of his own king-sized bed. He had to admit, it looked kind of cute, pink velvet and tulle puffing out everywhere, with an embroidered bolster pillow. It coordinated beautifully with Gossamer’s purple rhinestone collar. That had been his idea. Gossamer wasn’t exactly a feminine kind of dog, and the super-girly collar helped with that, he thought.

“Gossamer, come here,” Everly called in a high-pitched voice. “Come check out your new bed.”

The pug mix waddled into the room, glanced at the bed Drake had just spent the last three hours slaving over, and immediately sailed onto the navy-blue comforter of Drake’s king sized mattress. Circling, she lay down, her back legs sprawled as she wagged and panted.

Everly lost her breath laughing while Drake lost his mind.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! What the hell is this? That’s it, I’m taking your tubby butt back to the shelter tomorrow,” Drake said as he scooped Gossamer into his arms. The dog just smiled and licked his face.

“You wouldn’t,” Everly said, wiping the tears of laughter from her cheeks.

“You’re right, I wouldn’t, but damn that was cold,” Drake said as he bent down to put her into her canopied bed. Fortunately for Gossamer, she circled twice and lay down, resting her chin against the tufted bolster.

“She’s got a mind of her own, that’s for sure.”

“Most dogs do,” Everly agreed. “But she’s got a fun way of showing it.”

“Thank you for all your help tonight,” Drake said, stepping closer to Everly. The sound of her laughter had reminded him just how much he enjoyed being with her. And though he didn’t want the night to end, he wasn’t about to pull her into the deep end if she wasn’t ready. Not after the fun they’d had together this evening. “I couldn’t have pulled this off without you.”