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Chapter One
No. No. No.
Allison Harding slapped her hand over her heart in horror.
Oh no.
Months and months of therapy, then a mega breakthrough followed by weeks of bliss, only for everything to come undone by an online shopping error. She had done her damnest to hide the offending item but failed.
Arg.
Mrs. Keller had been so kind and patient the first twelve times the disastrous episodes occurred and she had just gotten everything back in order. And now this.
“Please, no,” Allison said softly, but she knew the look in his deep brown gaze, his irises alight with manic mischief. He’d been so good once they figured out the triggers that activated those frenzied, frolicsome episodes. In return for his excellent behavior, she’d showered him with extra treats and ordered his favorite steak from a swanky restaurant that even she couldn’t afford to eat at.
And then, in one wisp of silk and lace, poof, he deviated into nutsville territory without hesitation.
“Horse, please don’t,” Allison whispered desperately. But Horse, her Golden Retriever, with his fluffy beige fur, gave her a pointed look, dropped the pair of underwear from his mouth, and leaped around the scrap of lace as if he were performing some sort of ritual dance.
Allison knew where this was going.
Her gaze darted to her cozy little kitchen with its copper pots hanging around the island. The cupboards were painted a soft yellow, and she paired that hue with green curtains tied back with a thick silk ribbon in the same color. Her curtains had been red before, but she had to change them.
Now bright afternoon sunlight slipped in from the open door, and the scent of lavender from the little garden outside wafted in on the breeze and greeted her nose.
Her open door.
She had to get to the door before Horse noticed it was open, or likely he already had and was just playing with her. She moved slowly, grabbing a bone-shaped biscuit from a box she always kept conveniently in sight and offered it to him while she continued to take tentative steps toward the open door.
Horse ignored her for a bit, tossing the set of underwear up into the air and then springing up high to catch them before he dropped the fabric to the floor and did his dance around the handful of lace again.
She was on the verge of containing Horse, which would automatically contain the situation. She just needed to close the door and seal him in, but then he sat on his haunches, tilted his head to the side, and looked her dead in the eye, his gaze asking her in no uncertain terms if she thought her pet son was stupid.
“Horse, no,” she shouted made a dive for the door, and was promptly knocked off her feet when her dog galloped out of the kitchen with her underwear in his mouth.
She gave chase immediately, running after him until her muscles ached, and threatened to burst under her skin while her lungs struggled to keep her breathing.
“Horse,” she called in a loud whisper. “Get back here right now.”
There was no way her landlady was going to forgive her this time. Allison would have to pack up all her belongings and find someplace else to live. She whimpered with sadness. Leaving Blossom House, which is what Mrs. Keller called the little cottage on her property, would devastate her. The little thatched house was perfect in every single way. She wanted to live there forever, but now she was going to be evicted, and rightly so.
Horse turned around, sat on his haunches, wagged his tail so hard she heard it flap against his hind, and seemed to smile at her with her underwear still dangling from his mouth before he turned and spirited away.
“Horse. Horse, if you dare. If you dare…”
“Catch me if you can,” he seemed to say every time he turned to look at her, running in a zigzag motion before he bound back and ran circles around her while she caught air trying to catch him. And then he was off again.
Straight into Mrs. Keller’s meticulously manicured landscaped Eden, the haute couture of gardens themselves.
No. She had to keep Horse out of the garden if it killed her. She increased the stride of her run for no more than two seconds before she thought she was going to die. Man, she needed to visit the gym more often. But then she thought about the pretty cottage, the quaint charm, the warmth that emanated from the honey-hued oak floors, and the picturesque bay windows in the kitchen that overlooked her own little lavender patch.
Everything about the cottage reminded Allison of her mother. She never wanted to leave Blossom House, but how many free passes was Mrs. Keller going to give her and her crazy dog before she evicted them? Surely the thirteenth time was going to be the unlucky time.
Her brain rattled in her head as she chased after Horse. Her breathing so loud each beat landed like an earthquake around her. Being quite unfit, and running in flip-flops didn’t make for a winning combination.
And then it started. Horse thought himself a showjumper with a frenzied imaginary equestrian on his back. He attempted to jump over the lane of neat boxwood shrubs and failed to clear a single lush green cone, leaving the topiary destroyed in his wake.
Next, he embarked on the various beds of flowers scattered around the botanical paradise, Mrs. Keller’s pride and joy. He bounded through roses, tulips, hydrangeas, and daisies, his paws imprinted into the velvety petals of the flowers, disarray wherever he went next.
