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“Thanks.” Merry changed her clothes and ran the lipstick over her upper and lower lip, smiling to make sure there wasn’t any on her teeth. She fluffed her blond waves before stepping out. Usually she liked her hair back and out of her face, but with the slouch neck of the sweater and her lips, having her hair down made her feel beautiful. Sexy.
Her mother came over and cupped Merry’s face in her hands. “You’re so beautiful, Merry, inside and out.” Merry beamed for a half second before her mother playfully pushed her out of the way. “Now, I need to finish putting my face on, so skedaddle!” She went into the bathroom, holding the door slightly open so Merry could see her wink. “Tell your father I need ten minutes, so if the photographer shows up, stall her.”
Her mother shut the door before Merry could reply.
Shouting in the living room traveled down the hallway.
“What in the heck! What’s going on?” Merry called as she hurried into the living room just in time to watch Nick run out the door, slamming it behind him. Merry opened the door to find Holly and Noel standing on the porch, snickering.
“What are we looking at?”
Holly pointed toward the trees, where Nick, Clark, Jace, and their dad were running opposite ways through the maze of trees, like the characters in a Scooby-Doo cartoon.
“Your puppy slipped her leash and the guys are trying to catch her.”
When Daisy flashed between the rows with Clark chasing her, bent over with his arms outstretched, she smothered a laugh.
“Damn that sneaky brat.”
Merry ran back into her parents’ house, rummaging through the cupboard until she found a bag of jerky. She brushed past the other women down the steps and stopped at the edge of the trees, shaking the bag contents with a three-note whistle.
Suddenly, a dirty-white Daisy came barreling out of the trees toward her, her mouth open and her ears pinned back as Nick gave chase. He stopped when he noticed Merry, and stood up straight with his head back, chest heaving.
“That…dog…is quick…for a baby.”
“Yeah, she is! Good girl!” Merry spoke in an excited voice, shaking the bag with a grin until the pup skidded to a stop.
“She is not a good girl,” Clark grumbled, coming up alongside Nick.
“But she’s a cute girl and you gotta praise her when she minds.” Merry put her hand up and Daisy plopped her butt down in front of her. She pulled out a piece of jerky and gave it to her, snatching the collar in her other hand before Daisy got any ideas about bolting again.
All three men had emerged from the trees, bent over and sucking in air like they’d run a half marathon.
“You all right?” Merry asked.
“That pup is going to give me a heart attack,” her dad croaked. “And you’re feeding it my good jerky?”
“I forgot her treat bag at home. I read up on emergency recalls for Pyrs online and apparently if you combine their favorite treat with a noise or word, they will come running most of the time. Ours is the bag shake and a special whistle.”
Jace ran out of the rows, holding Daisy’s leash out to Merry with tears streaming down his cheeks. “I am so sorry. I didn’t know she could wiggle her head out when it was too loose.”
“Hey, hey, I’m not upset with you.” Merry slipped Daisy’s leash on and pulled Jace into her arms, holding the sobbing little boy. “Jace, do you know how many times she’s gotten away from me or my parents since I brought her home?” He shook his head against her and she smiled. “Too many and I haven’t even had her a week. She’s wily.” She kneeled down so they were eye level, her hands rubbing his shaking back. “But maybe until I’ve taken her through obedience training, I’ll keep her in my grasp when we’re outside the yard. Would that be okay?”
He nodded, wiping his face with his hands.
“Should we go inside and get you some tissues and clean Daisy up for pictures?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s do that,” she said, taking his hand.
Leading Jace and Daisy back toward the house, she heard footsteps behind them. Clark caught up to them and took Jace’s other hand.
“I can help so we’re not holding things up for everyone else.”
Merry smiled at his uncertain expression, as if waiting for her to tell him to get lost. “Thank you.”
“Thank you, Merry.”
