Anything for Her(24)

“Oh, good,” her mother said. “I’ll look forward to it. Good night, sweetheart.”

“You, too.”

She could use some new clothes, too, Allie reflected, as she went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She hadn’t paid all that much attention to her own wardrobe lately, until she met Nolan. Shopping would be fun.

So would helping pick out a dog or puppy, if Sean didn’t resent her addition to the expedition.

The thought gave Allie pause again. Nolan probably shouldn’t have asked her. Maybe she should Just Say No, per the antidrug campaign. Let the two do something meaningful together, without her trailing along.

But oh, temptation...

* * *

SEAN MADE IT apparent pretty damn quickly that despite his mumbled agreement to Allie’s inclusion today, he hadn’t actually wanted her along at all. Nolan ground his teeth as he pulled into the parking lot for the Everett Animal Shelter. He was mightily tempted to say, Trip’s canceled, and take them all home again. Except, then what? Did he drop Sean off alone at home and spend the day with Allie, the way he wanted to? Drop her off alone at home, and no matter how pissed he was spend the day with a kid who didn’t deserve to win this standoff, if that’s what it was?

To hell with it, he decided. We’re here. Maybe he’ll get over his snit. Or remember he likes her.

He set the emergency brake and turned off the engine. In the sudden silence, nobody moved. He watched a family hurrying in, looking eager. Close behind them came a woman and boy, maybe seven or eight, who had a dog with them on a leash. The dog’s tail wagged expectantly. The boy was crying, and Nolan realized in dismay that they weren’t here to adopt—they were here to get rid of their dog, who had not a clue what his fate was to be. God.

“Well,” he said. “I guess we should go in.”

He got out, waited until Sean opened his door, then locked up. Allie slid across the bench seat after his foster son. They walked across the parking lot themselves, Sean behind Nolan and Allie, letting the distance increase.

“I’m sorry,” Nolan said in a low voice. “I don’t know what got into him.”

“Maybe I should, I don’t know, wander off and look at cats or something while you two check out the dogs.”

“No,” he growled. “We invited you. He’s old enough to not act like a two-year-old ready to throw a temper tantrum.”

“No, but...” Allie let whatever she’d been going to say trail off. She sounded undeniably unhappy, and he didn’t blame her.

Opening the door and standing back for her to go ahead, Nolan then waited for his foster son. Sean slouched, dragging his feet, head hanging. Nolan was unhappily reminded of the first two times he’d encountered the boy. Maybe, it occurred to him, he’d been too hard on that first foster father. Nolan hadn’t liked the way the man had talked to Sean—but teenagers were darn good at goading their parents, biological and otherwise.

By the time Sean reached Nolan, Allie had crossed the lobby and was studying a bulletin board.

“Is this something you don’t want to do?” Nolan asked bluntly.

The boy flashed a look of alarm. “No! I mean, yeah. I do want a dog.”

“What’s the problem, then?”

“Why’d you have to bring her?”

“I did ask your permission.”

“Yeah, like, what could I say?” he sneered.

“‘No’? ‘Can we go by ourselves?’”

“Like that’s what you wanted to hear,” Sean said in a hushed, angry voice. “You weren’t really asking.”

Was I? Nolan asked himself, and in all honesty had to admit, Maybe I wasn’t. Damn it.

They pretty much had to go forward now.

The woman and boy with the poor, ignorant dog were talking to someone at the front desk. By the time Nolan reached it, another employee had come out to take the leash and lead the dog away. It belatedly tried to resist. The boy clutched his mother’s leg and cried silently. She had begun to fill out some required form and paid no attention to the suddenly scared animal. Nolan had developed an acute dislike for her, even though he realized there were legitimate reasons to have to give up a pet. He knew he shouldn’t judge so harshly without knowing her story.

Sean’s distress was obvious as he watched the dog disappear in back, but when he saw that Nolan was looking, he quickly resumed the sullen mask.