Page 16 of No More Hiding

“I need a lot of things in my life, but I’m not sure a puppy is one of them.”

“If that was the case you would have said no,” Maureen said.

He sighed. “I’m sick of worrying them.”

“I know that feeling well,” Maureen said sadly.

He didn’t want to think of that. “Why did you tell Mom I needed a dog? You were the one that always wanted pets.”

His sister smiled. “I did always want a dog. You know that. So did Mom and Dad, but they said no every single time.”

“And yet I ended up with one,” he said.

“You did. She’ll keep you company.”

“Maybe I should call her Moe,” he said. That was his nickname for his sister when they were younger.

“Don’t you dare.”

“Fine. What do you suggest then since you were the one that started this by bringing it to Mom.”

He’d long since given up thinking he was nuts having these conversations. “I think Sammie is a good name for her.”

“That’s because you like Sam I Am fromGreen Eggs and Ham.”

“And just like Sam persuading his friend to try green eggs and ham, I got Mom to get you a dog.”

His sister was laughing so hard, she was holding her side with it and it reminded him how she always did get her way.

“Fine. Sammie it is.”

He heard whimpering, his eyes popping open, his sister gone. He looked down and the puppy was trying to stand up and sniff around on his bed.

“Oh no. I know what that means.”

He jumped up and put the puppy on the floor and went to pull shorts on.

She started to squat and he grabbed her fast and somehow she cut it off while he dashed to the back of the house and opened the door and put her on the grass in the fenced in yard.

Phew, that was close.

When the puppy was done, he said, “Good girl. Good girl, Sammie.”

It came off the tongue well and the puppy charged him, jumping on his legs.

He rubbed her head and then picked her up. “Yeah, you did good, Sammie. Ready to go back to bed?”

She licked his face and the two of them went back to sleep. No use putting her on the floor. She wouldn’t stay anyway.

6

Entertaining Guy

Abeautiful mid-August Sunday and Vivian needed to weed the flowers in the front of her house.

She’d been here for about two and a half years. She’d found Paradise Place through Ruby Turner when she decided to relocate to this area. She had no clue what made her come here and figured it might be something like fate.

She’d closed on the house, spent some time doing updates and then found a job. She’d never told anyone at her last job where she lived or they might wonder how she could afford it. It was hard to keep it a secret from her current employer since Cash Fielding, Hannah’s fiancé, also lived in Paradise Place and not that far from her.