“You know I don’t date defense attorneys. I told you that.” Collin sounded matter-of-fact. He’d told her the same thing that night, in the bar. Although, warning her up front that she wasn’t his type didn’t mean it was okay to treat her like a stranger the next morning.
“But now you’ll marry one.”
“Because it’s the right thing to do.”
Madison let out a bitter bark of laughter. “Right thing to do! That again. For someone who’s so concerned about the right thing to do, you sure are wrong a lot.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, for one...” The length of rope in Madison’s hand suddenly went slack. She looked down, and that was when she saw the makeshift leash had come loose and the dog was darting ahead into the bushes.
“Doggie!” she called. “Doggie! Come! Wait!”
The dog glanced back once, then took off, the loose belt collar whipping around his neck in circles as he ran full speed. Madison, not thinking at all, ran after him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“MADISON! NO!” SHOUTED COLLIN, but it was too late. She was already halfway into the heavy brush after some lost mutt. “You’re...”
He was about to shout “pregnant” and then realized she was so far ahead she wouldn’t hear him anyway. Shouldn’t she be taking it easy? He wasn’t up on prenatal care, but he thought running after a half-wild mutt in near 90-degree heat wasn’t the best of ideas. She’d raced after the dog, her flip-flops kicking up sand, focused on catching the dog. He saw a million horrible scenarios—her tripping and breaking her ankle, falling and hitting her head, tumbling forward and landing on her stomach and...
Collin ran, too, not wanting to let her out of his sight, and hoping that somehow he could convince her to stop.
“Madison! Don’t run! Don’t...” bother going after that stray! It’s not worth the risk to you or the baby.
Madison sprinted behind a palm tree, down an old path to a house that looked like it badly needed repair—not to mention a good lawn guy, since the flowers were overgrown and the small patch of grass at the side was at least a foot high. He saw a flash of yellow. The dog. It rushed past the house and down a small sandy path flanked by seagrass swaying in the breeze that was coming off the ocean. In the distance, he could hear—but not see—the water.
Madison stumbled a bit, and then Collin caught up to her, grabbing her by the elbow.
“Stop!” he commanded, wheezing as he sucked in a breath. “Just...stop!”
“The dog!” she cried, trying to pull away from him, toward the seagrass, following a set of fresh dog prints in the shallow sand.
“Let him go!” Collin suggested.
“How can you say that? He’s our responsibility.”
“No, he’s not.” Collin shook his head.
“How can you say that?” she repeated. Tears shone in her eyes. Now he’d upset her and he had no idea why. They’d known the dog for about fifteen minutes. He was a stray. What was the big deal? He wasn’t starving to death or hurt. He was fine on his own.
“I...”
“Forget it. Just go. I’ll find him.” Madison stalked off, carrying the slack rope in her hand.
Collin watched her leave, wondering why this dog had become so important all of a sudden. Weren’t there other people on the island who could find him and take care of him? Why was it their responsibility?
“Madison,” he called, jogging to catch up. “Come on. I’ll help.”
“I don’t need your help,” she ground out between clenched teeth.
Collin felt the pain of those words. She’d made it more than clear yesterday just how little she needed him.
“I know. You mentioned that,” he said. “But you’re getting it anyway.” Collin sent her a sidelong glance. She angrily swiped at her hair, revealing cheeks flushed red from the exercise. She was gorgeous and always had been. Collin had noticed her the very first day she’d stepped inside the county courthouse. She had a runner’s muscled legs and a beautiful heart-shaped face. Full kissable lips that, as he recalled, did a fine job kissing his. He’d been drawn to her from that first moment, and he’d been fighting the attraction for months. Yet...despite that, she obviously didn’t want him.
So, what was keeping him here? Yes, he wanted her to have the baby. Still, something more was compelling him to stay in this fight. It was Madison herself. He wanted to be with her, to be a family. How could she not want it, too?
He grinned to himself. They belonged together. The baby was simply fate at work. He just needed to convince her of that, and then they could hurry up and start their happily-ever-after. Why couldn’t she see it the same way he did? Black/white. No gray.
Madison headed down the narrow path near the seagrass and behind the sloping dunes, and they came closer to the sound of water. They rounded the corner of a small, hastily thrown-up stake fence and then the blue ocean rose before them. So did a long expanse of sandy beach. But the dog was nowhere in sight.
“Doggie!” Madison shouted.
“That probably won’t do much good,” Collin pointed out. But Madison sent him a warning glance that made him shut up. He wasn’t doing himself any favors.
“Here, puppy, puppy!” Madison called, this time moving away from Collin and closer to the seagrass, which was so thick the yellow dog and about a hundred others could hide in it for days. Collin scanned the green but saw no sign of the dog. Where had it gone?
“Here, boy!” Collin yelled. He half-hoped the mangy mutt was gone for good. The dog smelled awful, and he’d tackled Madison once, which could mean the thing was dangerous. It might not have rabies, but it could have something else. Fleas, maybe. Ticks.
Then, out of nowhere, a burst of yellow fur sprinted out from between two sand dunes about fifty feet from them.
“Doggie!” Madison shouted. “Come, boy! Come here!” The dog stopped suddenly, front paw raised, as he glanced at the two of them on the beach, and for a second Collin thought he’d run right toward them. Instead, he bolted away.
“No! Come, boy!” Madison ran and instantly Collin saw that it was a game to the dog, who looped back into another wider circle up the dune. Whenever Madison got close, the dog would switch directions, looping back the other way. At this rate, Madison would chase the damn pooch around in circles for hours.
“Madison! Stop running! He...” But then Collin glanced down and saw an old piece of driftwood. An idea hit him, and he picked it up.
“Here, boy!” he called and then whistled. He threw the stick high in the air so the dog could see it. The dog, excited, stopped in his tracks. It was clear the animal knew what to do. “Come on, boy! Fetch!” Collin cried and wheeled back to toss the driftwood in the opposite direction. It landed between the crashing waves and the sand dunes behind him. The dog took off at full speed, eyes aimed at the stick bouncing away. He grabbed it and raced back to Collin, dropping the ball at his feet.
“That’s a good boy,” Collin said. He reached down and grabbed the dog by the collar. Madison, red-faced and out of breath, exhaled a sigh of relief.
“You were just lucky,” she said, blowing hair from her face as she marched, barefoot, up the beach toward him.
“I think what you mean to say is clever. I’m very, very clever.” He flipped the stick in the air. Madison just shook her head, but even he knew he’d won points. The dog, at their feet, barked once and wagged his tail, oblivious to all the trouble he’d caused. Collin took the rope from Madison’s hands and bent down, securing it with a double knot around the belt-collar. “Now, why don’t we take this little guy to the front office?” Collin suggested. “Maybe Yvana will know if anybody’s lost a dog recently.”
Madison crossed her arms, as if she was preparing to argue with him. She opened her mouth and then reconsidered. “Fine,” she sighed. “You walk him this time.”
; “With pleasure,” Collin said, grabbing the rope. He stuck the driftwood halfway in his pocket and the dog happily pranced behind him, furry tail waving.
* * *
THEY’D GONE BACK to Madison’s and taken her uncle’s golf cart to the main office. By the time they arrived, with a very thirsty shaggy dog trailing behind them, neither was speaking to the other. Outside sat a huge golf cart with a front end that looked like a miniature Rolls-Royce. Workers were hustling big bouquets of flowers from the office and carrying them to the pool house nearby, where other staff had set up two dozen tables and chairs and were busy covering them with white tablecloths and wrapping the folding chairs in swaths of fabric.
Collin led the dog past the workers, and he sniffed at their shoes as they went into the front office. The place was full of floral centerpieces—white roses and oversized lavender hydrangeas. Yvana was on the phone. “Yes, I told you, the couple wants the chocolate fondue fountain. It should be in the kitchen closet behind the mixer. Go look for it and let me know if you can’t find it. Thanks, hon!” she said and hung up the phone.
She saw the couple and sighed. “Wedding this evening,” she said. “Reception in less than an hour! Pretty much gonna be a wedding a week—or many a week—until August. It’s been in-sane.” She frowned at them. “You two look like you’ve been through hell.” Then, Yvana saw the mutt between them. “Oh, my. Who’s that?”
“Teddy,” Madison said confidently.
“Since when does he have a name?” Collin asked, wondering when she’d decided to name him Teddy?
“Since right now,” Madison said, sending him a glance that could cut glass. “He looks like a teddy bear, so... Teddy.” She raised her chin in defiance.
“He is kind of adorable,” Yvana agreed, nodding. “I’d say he looks like a Shaggy, too.”
More like a pain in the ass, Collin thought but didn’t say. Sure, he’d tricked the dog into coming back for the stick, but it didn’t mean the two of them were friends. He was just as anxious to get rid of the dog as he’d been the second “Teddy” knocked Madison down. The women fawned over the dog for a while, calling him a handsome boy, although Collin just saw a mangy mutt, one that smelled, honestly, like a horse. A horse that had rolled around in manure.
“Is he a poodle?”
“I think he’s a golden doodle,” Madison explained. “You know, part golden retriever, part poodle. He showed up in my yard, and we’ve been trying to find his owner, but no luck so far. He’s so sweet, and I don’t think he’s been looked after in a while...”
“He’s doing perfectly okay on his own.” Collin nodded at the mutt. Madison ignored him.
“Is there anybody you know of who might have lost a dog?” Madison asked.
Yvana, who obviously hadn’t missed the tension between them, shrugged her shoulders. “Can’t say as I have,” she said. “I didn’t even know there were dogs on this island. Except for Onyx. The German shepherd, who belongs to Dr. Ruben, the vet, but he isn’t on the island right now.”
Collin felt his hopes sink. What now? The last thing he wanted was to hold on to this dog one more minute. He was a distraction. They needed to focus on what to do about the baby. The dog was...just a dog.
“Can you keep him here?” Collin asked hopefully, holding up the leash.
“Collin!” Madison squatted by the dog and scratched him behind his floppy ears. The dog cocked his head, enjoying the affection.
“Sorry, sugar,” Yvana said. “No can do. The wedding and all. Plus, I’ll be honest with you, dogs make me sneeze. Not bad, but bad enough.” She gave a single shrug of her shoulder. “If you want, we could put him on the last ferry back. Gus could take him to the pound in Fort Myers.”
“No!” Madison threw her arms around the dog’s neck. “They’ll put him to sleep.”
“He might get adopted,” Collin suggested.
“And he might not,” Madison said. They glared at each other, and Collin didn’t break the stare until he heard Yvana clear her throat.
“Dr. Ruben is coming tomorrow, I think, so y’all could ask his opinion on the dog.” Yvana nodded toward the mutt. “But until then, think you two could watch him for a night?”
“Yes!” Madison cried without hesitation, which annoyed Collin. Why was she so determined to keep this dog? His overgrown fur almost entirely covered his eyes. His paws, he noticed now, had somehow become covered in both sand and dried mud. How had he managed that? Collin just shook his head.
“Why don’t you two go get a drink or some food by the pool? Wedding reception isn’t for an hour, and they’re still serving everybody at the bar.” Yvana looked at them as if they were squabbling toddlers, and Collin had to admit they were acting like it. “You could take the dog with you. Tie him to a table on the patio?”
“Food would be great,” Madison admitted.
“Food does sound good,” Collin said, although it would sound better without the dog in tow. He glanced down and saw the oversized puppy gnawing on the edge of Yvana’s desk leg.
“Hey! Stop that,” he said, yanking the leash so that the dog moved away.
“He’s probably hungry,” Madison said, grabbing the leash from him and frowning. What did he do? He was just making sure the dog didn’t destroy Yvana’s desk, but Madison was looking at him as if he’d kicked “Teddy” in the ribs.
“Do you think the convenience store has any dog food, though?” Madison asked Yvana, nodding toward the small store across from the pool.
Yvana shook her head. “I really don’t think so,” she said.
“Was worth a try,” Madison said. She smiled down at the furry mutt at her feet. “Come on, little one. You get some people food!”
Collin followed Madison and the dog out of the office. He was closing the door behind him when he heard Yvana shout, “Told you it would take more than a day.” And then she giggled to herself.
Great, Collin thought. Is every woman on this island against me?
* * *
MADISON DUG INTO the hamburger in front of her as if she were a starving woman, and maybe she was. Between morning sickness and running after the dog all day, she’d burned up what little calories she’d managed to keep in her stomach. The food, thankfully, was settling well, and she took another big bite of the juicy burger. Across from her, Collin picked at a club sandwich and sipped a cold beer while he studied her and the dog.
Teddy sat at attention, head cocked to one side, watching every bite she took. His attention was focused like a laser on her plate. She hesitated a little, glancing at her burger.
“Don’t feed him,” Collin warned. “Wait until we’re done...”
But that just tipped Madison over the edge, and she broke off a piece of hamburger and fed it to him. He swallowed it in one gulp and then happily licked his snout.
Collin let out a sigh. “Now, he’s just going to want to eat hamburgers,” he moaned. “He’ll just beg at the table forever.”
“You trick him in one game of fetch, and all of a sudden you’re acting like a dog expert,” Madison pointed out. “Did you even have a dog growing up?”
“No,” Collin admitted. “But I don’t need to have had one to know how a dog who gets hand-fed hamburger is going to act.”
“Well, we had two dogs when I was growing up,” Madison said. “And I can tell you that this one is hungry and needs the food. He’s starving!” Madison tossed the dog a couple of french fries, too, which he gladly ate.
“He’s not starving.” Collin took a bite of his own sandwich and chewed. “He’s fat, actually.”
“That’s just fur.”
“So says you.” Collin shrugged. Why did the man seem to get on her last nerve? Madison didn’t know how a person could be so handsome, and yet, every time he opened his mouth she wanted to tell him to shut it. The man was beyond irritating. “So...you had dogs
growing up,” he said. “Where was that?”
“Fort Myers.”
“Family still there?”
“Just my mom. And Uncle Rashad and my aunt. Dad died of a heart attack when I was fourteen.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“My parents fought constantly before he died. I think if he’d stayed alive, they would’ve divorced.”
Collin nodded once and dabbed his mouth with his napkin. “So is that why you don’t want to marry me? Your parents?”
Madison whipped her head up, surprised. “Yes. No. I mean, I wouldn’t marry you, anyway. I don’t even know you. But my parents... Well, they were miserable all the years they were actually married.” She absently dunked a fry in ketchup. “That much I remember.” She popped the fry in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “They argued all the time. That’s what I remember about them in my childhood—the constant fighting.”
“It’s not how all marriages are,” Collin said as he ate a french fry. “And how long did your parents know each other before they got married?”
“They met in high school and didn’t get married until after college,” she said. “So, a long time.”
“See? Just goes to show that even if you know someone really, really well, marriages might not work out.” Collin took a sip of his beer. He studied Madison, and she felt the weight of his stare. “I don’t think you can ever truly know a person.”
“How come?”
“Because you can’t. Not unless they let you. And even then, most people keep secrets.”
Madison felt that Collin might be speaking from personal experience. He had a forlorn look on his face. “What about your parents?”
“Mine?” Collin took a deep swig of beer. “My mom’s family was from the Philippines. Her parents came over in the nineties. She dated my dad for years. She had me and my sister, but they never got married. He wasn’t interested in being a dad.” Collin frowned. “My dad had an opioid problem. He started using it and selling it and went to jail when I was just two. Was killed in there by another inmate who stabbed him when I was ten.”
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