A New Leash On Love. Melissa Senate

calm as could be. He lay on his bed, gnawing on a rope toy. He was very cute, with floppy, cinnamon-colored ears and a long snout, and tended to look like he was smiling.

      Ellie gave him something of a smile. “Hi, Tucker. You seem nice.”

      Tucker didn’t even glance up.

      “He can be slow to warm up to people,” Claire explained.

      But Ellie raced back to Sparkle’s kennel and knelt in front of it. “I wish I could take you home, Sparkle.” She sat there and watched the dog chasing her tail.

      Claire looked at Matt, whose expression matched his niece’s. This couldn’t be easy, and she probably should have thought to warn him that something like this could happen. She’d been a little too shocked yesterday when she’d seen him at the shelter to even form an extra thought. And last night at the restaurant, all rational thought had poofed from her head.

      “Well, let’s look at the other pups,” Matt said, reaching his hand toward Ellie. He glanced at Claire. “I’ll bet there’s another puppy that Ellie will fall in love with.”

      “Definitely,” Claire said. “Because guess who’s next, Ellie? A super sweet year-old shepherd mix named Dumpling. I’ll bet you’ll like him. He’s super snuggly.” He was inconsistent on commands, but he did know stay. He was slated to be on the large side of medium, which might be stretching it. Sometimes it was impossible to really know how big a dog would get.

      “I guess I can meet him.” But Ellie didn’t get up from where she sat in front of Belle’s cage. And even from here, Claire could see the glistening of Ellie’s eyes. The girl was trying hard not to cry.

      “Honey, maybe we could come back next weekend for the adoption event,” Matt said. “These puppies will have had an extra week of training, and you might just fall in love with a dog you barely noticed this time.”

      “Okay, Uncle Matt,” Ellie said, but she still didn’t stand up. “It’s okay, Sparkle. You’ll find someone to love you, and you’ll be best friends. That’s what my mom tells me when I’m sad about not having a best friend.”

      Claire held her breath and glanced at Matt, whose broad shoulders slumped.

      “As long as I’m nice and friendly, I’m doing my best,” Ellie said to the puppy. “Then one day I’ll make a best friend. It can happen anytime, Mommy said.”

      Claire swallowed.

      Ellie let out a little sigh. “You’d be a great best friend, Sparkle. But maybe another girl will come here today, and you’ll get to go home with her. Just be nice and friendly, okay, Sparkle?”

       Oh God.

      Ellie stood, tears shimmering in her eyes. “Bye, Sparkle. I love you.”

      Claire looked at Matt. He looked like he might cry too. And she’d seen him cry. Just once, a long, long time ago when he lost his brother.

      Matt cleared his throat. “Tucker might be just right for you, once he gets to know you,” he said, kneeling down to be eye level with his niece. “Then you get to say chiweenie a lot. ‘I’m taking my chiweenie out. Chiweenie, where are you?’”

      “I guess,” Ellie said. She started to follow Matt toward Tucker’s kennel next door. “Uncle Matt?” she asked, stopping. “I know Sparkle isn’t housetrained like Mommy wants, but I could housetrain her. I’ve read all about how.”

      Matt seemed to consider that. “Well, let me send your mom a picture of her.” He took out his cell phone and snapped a photo. “Ooh, that’s a good one. I’ll let her know Sparkle doesn’t exactly meet the requirements, but that we’re both willing to work extra hard training her.” He texted something and then waited.

      Claire was hoping Laura would be unable to resist the puppy’s adorableness.

      His phone pinged. “‘Not housetrained?’” he read aloud. “‘Doesn’t know a single command? I’m sorry, Matt. No.’” He turned to Ellie. “Sweetie, you’ll be at school from the time you leave at seven thirty until you get home at three,” Matt said gently. “That’s all day. That would put everything to do with caring for Sparkle on your mom’s shoulders.”

      “Yeah,” Ellie whispered, and her face scrunched up again. Claire knew the girl was willing herself not to cry.

      “Could we put a hold on Belle—Sparkle?” Matt asked. “Just until we can talk to my sister face-to-face? Maybe she’ll compromise on a requirement.”

      “But not both,” Ellie said, her face crumpling again. “Sparkle isn’t housetrained. She doesn’t know any commands.”

      Claire’s heart was so heavy, her knees might not hold her up much longer. “I’ll put a hold until tomorrow,” she assured him.

      Ellie looked both hopeful and not. “Thanks for showing me the puppies, Miss Claire. Bye, Sparkle. I love you.”

      The little brown-and-white pup gave a little bark and then continued chasing her tail.

      “She said bye back!” Ellie said, a smile breaking through.

      Matt smiled and took his niece’s hand. “Why did I think this would be a snap?” he whispered to Claire.

      “Few things ever are,” Claire said.

      He held her gaze for a moment. “I’ll be in touch as soon as I can.”

      So much for keeping her distance, cutting contact, moving on. Claire bit her lip and nodded, watching the pair walk away, Matt’s arm around the little girl’s dejected shoulders.

      Oh, am I in trouble, she thought.

      “No and no,” Laura whispered after Matt made another pitch to his sister for Sparkle. They stood at the kitchen island, Matt badly chopping peppers for a salad while Laura checked the chicken roasting in the oven. The house sure smelled good. “But look at this face,” he said, picking up his phone and showing her the adorable pup again.

      “You’re getting pepper bits on your phone,” Laura said, refusing to look at the photo. “And could you cut those a little thinner?”

      “Uh-oh, you’re mad at me.”

      “Of course I am!” she said. “I explicitly said the dog had to be housetrained and know basic commands. This Sparkle is neither! And now I’m the bad guy.”

      “I know, and I’m sorry. But she’s incredibly cute,” Matt said. “And Ellie fell for her hard.”

      Laura sighed and put on oven mitts to take out the baked potatoes. “I just had all the area rugs cleaned, and the bedroom carpets are brand-new. I work part-time, I volunteer at Ellie’s school. I can’t housetrain a puppy, Matt.”

       Wait a minute.

       Yes.

       Of course!

      Why hadn’t this occurred to him before? “I’ll train the puppy,” he said. “I’ll read a book, watch some videos. I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

      Laura looked at him. “Matt, honey, I appreciate that, but no. I don’t want accidents in the house for weeks on end. I don’t want a dog that doesn’t stop or stay when I need it to. Sorry, Matt, but I’m putting my foot down.”

      She had every right. “Ah hell, I really screwed this up,” he said. “I shouldn’t have taken Ellie to see puppies she wouldn’t be able to adopt.”

      His sister put a hand on his arm. “I’m sure that just the right puppy will come along.”

      “I guess,” he said, hating that he’d have to disappoint his niece—and Claire.

      “Thanks for helping with the salad,” she said, eyeing the bowl of misshapen