Page 20 of Driven to Love

“And you? Looks like that little girl picked you.” She nodded toward the female pup in Cade’s arms.

“Mrs. Dahl. Nice to see you again.” Cade stepped onto the deck, absently stroking the puppy’s fur.

“Cade McBride. I hear congratulations are in order.”

“Yes, ma’am. Laney and I are engaged. I’d like to get her this pup as an engagement present.”

“That’s a mighty fine idea. I’ve known that girl her whole life. She loves dogs.”

“So true.” Cade asked the price.

Mrs. Dahl hemmed and hawed before giving him a very reasonable number. Cade pulled some bills from his wallet.

“I’ll be back later to pick her up. Time to head to the Farm and Fleet for some supplies. Then, I’ll be back. I can’t wait to surprise her with this little beauty.” Cade gave the pup one final pet before setting her down to run off with her siblings.

“What are you going to name her?” Nash asked.

“I’ll let Laney pick.” Cade checked the time. “Gotta go. See you later.”

“You can leave Davey here for a while if you need to go get some dog supplies as well.” Mrs. Dahl said.

“Thanks, but I already stocked up.” Nash pushed off the chair. “Davey, we should go make some lunch.”

“Okay.” He scooped up his dog and waved to the neighbor. “I will come back later to help you with the puppies.”

“Sounds good.”

Once they were back in the house, Nash took the pup from his son. “Let me get a good look at you.” The markings were beautiful. He had a shiny black coat with a splotch of white on his chest and one white paw. “What should we name him?”

“I don’t know.”

“Bingo?”

Davey crinkled his nose. “No. It should be a tough name.”

Nash held the dog up and looked into its eyes. Its tongue rolled out and slurped Nash on the chin. Nothing about this puppy screamed tough. “Max?”

Davey took the dog from him. “Mad Max? Yeah, maybe.”

He squinted at his son. “Have you seen that movie?”

Davey shrugged, not making eye contact with his dad. “At Josh’s house.”

Shit. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to Jillian about the boys’ viewing habits. “Does your mom know you watched an R-rated movie?”

“No. Do we have to tell her?”

“We? No. But you do.”

“Aw, Dad. I promise I won’t do it again.”

Nash frowned. They’d already had the talk about mature video games. Davey swore all his friends were playing them, but Beth and Nash agreed, no games or movies that weren’t age appropriate. It wasn’t easy with an almost teenager. “Fine. But if I hear you were watching adult-rated movies without your mom’s or my consent, there will be consequences. Now, why don’t you grab the new dog dishes from the laundry room and give Max some food and water.”

“Okay. Come on, Max. I will show you the house.”

Nash watched his son and dog disappear through the door. He was a good kid. Hell, at Davey’s age, Cade and he were sneaking out to go to the high school parties.

Nash frowned. No. Not Davey. Maybe it was time he put the tracking app on his son’s phone. Just to be safe.