With my curiosity at a fever pitch, I leaned forward in the swing so I could open the box. The moment I loosened the lid, it popped open, and something lunged at me. I squealed and jumped back in the swing. When I glanced down, a wriggling, whining, black pit bull puppy sniffed at my feet.
I stared at Deacon in surprise. “You got me a dog?”
His hand started for the back of his neck again. If he kept that up, he was going to have a bald spot. “I know how much you loved your dog, and well, after what happened to him, I thought you might like another one. Boone’s dog had a litter of puppies a while back, and he’s the pick of them all.”
As the puppy nibbled on my bare toe with his baby teeth, I laughed. “Hey, now, those aren’t for eating,” I said, bending down to pick him up. He stared at me with deep blue eyes, and it was instant love. “Aren’t you a pretty boy, huh?”
His response was to open his mouth and yawn, bestowing the wondrous smell of puppy breath on me. I snuggled him to my chest, kissing the top of his head. When I glanced up, Deacon was eyeing me curiously. “Does that mean you like him?”
“How could I not? He’s adorable.”
“So I did good?”
I crooked my finger at him. With his brows furrowed, he leaned down. “You did great, Jesse James,” I replied before I brought my lips to his. When I flicked my tongue against his mouth to deepen the kiss, he jerked away. My heart sank a little at his reaction, but I plastered a smile to my face to hide my disappointment. Three days ago he might’ve been doing wicked things to me with his tongue, but after my attack, he couldn’t bring himself to touch me sexually. I might as well have been labeled “damaged goods.”
The screen door banged, and Willow skipped out onto the porch. The moment she saw the puppy, her eyes widened. With a squeal, she ran over to me. “You got a puppy?”
“Yes. Your daddy got me one.”
Willow scowled up at her father as she swept one of her hands to her hip. “You said I couldn’t have one.”
“That’s right. I did. Miss Alex is an adult and can take care of a puppy, while you can’t. Besides, her dog got …” Deacon winced, and I knew he was trying to find the most delicate way of saying what happened to Atticus. “Well, he, uh … He went to heaven the other night, so this is to take away some of her sadness,” he answered.
“Oh, Miss Alex, I’m so sorry about your dog,” Willow said, her lips turning down.
“It’s okay. Want to hold him?” She nodded emphatically, so I passed the puppy over to her. He proceeded to go wild in licking her face, which caused her to burst into a fit of giggles. I couldn’t help laughing at the sight. Deacon also started chuckling. It felt good to be around laughter again.
“What are you going to name him?” Willow asked in between dodging the puppy’s long swipes with its tongue.
“Hmm. I don’t know. Why don’t you name him?”
“Really?”
I nodded. “Then maybe you can help me with him and show your daddy that you’re ready for a puppy of your own.”
Deacon scowled at me, but when Willow looked at him to confirm his intentions, he nodded. “Oh boy, I can’t believe I get to name him.” Holding the puppy up, she gazed into his eyes. “Walter,” she announced.
With a laugh, I asked, “Walter? Wherever did you get that name from?”
“Mr. Walter lived down the hall from me. He used to come into Mrs. Martinez’s apartment for flan.” Lowering her voice, she said, “I think he was her boyfriend, but they pretended to just be good friends.”
I grinned. “I see.”
“Sometimes I wished he was Mommy’s boyfriend because he always treated me nicer than hers did.”
A low growl came from the back of Deacon’s throat. I knew if he could track down each and every one of his ex’s former boyfriends, he would put them in the ground for hurting Willow. To change the subject, I said, “Then I think we should honor Mr. Walter by naming this fine specimen of a dog after him.”
“Can I go show him to Grandma?”
“Of course.”
Grinning, she turned and ran down the porch. “Why do I have the feeling that I’m not going to see very much of Walter?” I asked with a smile.
Deacon shook his head. “He’s your dog, not hers. You both better remember that.”
“Oh, I’m sure the first time he poops in the house she’ll remember he’s my dog.”
With a laugh, Deacon replied, “Yeah, probably so.” When his gaze met mine, his expression turned serious. He held out his hand to me. “Come on. You need to eat something.”
“If you recall since you were at the table with me, I did eat some breakfast.”
He shook his head. “Barely enough to keep a bird alive. You’re never going to regain your strength unless you eat.”
His concern made my heartbeat quicken. Knowing I wouldn’t win the argument, I slipped my hand into his and let him pull me up from the swing. Hand in hand, we walked down the porch and into the house.
Friday evening found me hanging out in the Raiders clubhouse. With two pitchers of beer on the table, we celebrated my first full week returning to teaching after my attack. While Deacon was pretty adamant about not wanting me to go, he had to get it through his head that, unlike Willow, I wasn’t his to keep under lock and key at the compound. Instead, though he was reluctant, he had to entrust my safety to both Archer and Crazy Ace, who followed me to school each morning and then back to the compound each afternoon. The two prospects took turns during the day watching the school.