Second Chance Girl (Happily Inc. #2)

“Sure.”

They made their way to a table. Seconds before they arrived, Carol remembered that Pallas would most likely be sitting with her fiancé. Nick was a great guy—Carol liked him a lot. The problem was his brother. Because Carol wasn’t sure she wanted to spend the evening sitting next to the ever dreamy Mathias.

Not that he would notice her, she reminded herself. She wasn’t glamorous or special—in the animal kingdom, she was the female who would be overlooked by the alpha male. While she teased Mathias about his love of bridesmaids, the truth was his type was more specific than simply anyone who was in a wedding. He gravitated toward the most beautiful, most feminine, most alluring of the single women in town to attend a wedding.

In a word or two—not her.

She and Pallas took seats across from each other, then glanced at the menu. On tournament nights there were special drinks in honor of the game du jour, along with easy-to-eat food. Carol generally stuck with herbal iced tea rather than one of the cocktails. She had to be up early to feed her animals.

Pallas was facing the door. When Carol saw her friend’s face light up with happiness, she sighed. “Let me guess. Chris Pine just walked in?”

“Better.” Pallas rose. “Nick’s here.”

The engaged couple embraced. Nick’s kiss lingered a second more than was polite, then he grinned at Carol. “How’s it going? Did you hear about Mathias?”

He seemed too happy for whatever it was to be bad, she told herself as she shook her head. “I’ve been out on the savanna all day. What happened?”

Pallas rolled her eyes. “Ignore him. He’s being mean.”

“I’m not,” Nick protested as he sat next to her. “But I will admit, better him than me.” Nick’s grin returned. “Our mom stopped by with Sophie.”

Carol tried to figure out what was funny. While she’d heard about Elaine Mitchell, she’d never met her and she had no idea who Sophie was. There was no sister, so a cousin maybe? A chill raced through her as she considered the possibility of an ex-girlfriend delivered to Mathias. For reasons she couldn’t explain the thought of that was incredibly unsettling.

Pallas put her hand over Nick’s. “She has no idea who Sophie is, sweetie, so she’s not going to get the joke.”

“Sophie’s a beagle. She’s Mom’s dog. My parents are going to be traveling for a month, so Mom brought Sophie to stay with Mathias.” Nick snickered. “I’m in love, so I was spared.”

A dog? Wasn’t that nice? Carol liked dogs. “Why is this so funny?”

“You haven’t met Sophie,” Nick told her. “She’s sweet and friendly as could be, but don’t let those big eyes fool you. Sophie’s also a terror. She’s an escape artist, a food hound and all-around troublemaker. Mathias doesn’t have a chance. The dog was in our studio for maybe ten minutes and she broke a dozen of his pieces. That was without trying. Imagine what she can do if she makes an effort.”

Carol winced. “Is she okay? Did she get any glass in her paw?”

“She’s fine. She’s lucky that way. Nothing bad ever happens to her. Everyone else gets sucked into the vortex, but Sophie emerges unscathed.”

“He’s exaggerating,” Pallas said. “I’ve only seen pictures, but she looks adorable. Mathias will be fine.”

Nick snorted. “Tell him that,” he said, jerking his head toward the door.

Carol turned and saw Mathias, a small beagle at his side and a fluffy dog bed under his arm. Sophie’s eyes were bright, her tail wagging. She was every inch a happy dog.

“Oh, yeah, she’s the devil,” Carol murmured. “We should run while we can.”

“You mock me but you’ll see.” Nick’s tone was warning.

As Mathias and Sophie approached, Carol noticed the dog wearing a red service-animal vest. Her lips began to twitch.

Mathias reached the table and dropped the dog bed on the floor. “Don’t say a word,” he growled. “You have no idea what I’ve been through in the past few hours.”

Carol glanced from him to Sophie and back. “Do you need her for emotional support?” she asked sweetly. “Does she help with flashbacks or is her job more to keep the sexy bridesmaids at bay?”

“Very funny.” He collapsed in his chair. “I couldn’t leave her home alone. Everything is new to her. Mom told me she’s a certified service dog, so I put her in her vest and brought her.”

“That’s so nice,” Pallas told him. She turned to Nick. “See, it’s going fine.”

Nick chuckled. “Uh-huh. Tell her the rest.”

Mathias expression tightened. “It’s been five hours. There’s no way I can keep her for a month. She has more equipment than an NFL team. Leashes and collars, beds, toys, the service vest. My mom gave me a notebook of instructions. There are twenty-six pages. Twenty-six!” He cleared his throat, then lowered his voice. “She has canned food, dry food, treats, flea medicine.”

“Poop bags?” Carol asked, trying not to laugh. “You know dogs poop, right? Usually on a walk. You’re going to need the bags so you can pick it up and carry it with you until you get home and throw it in the trash. Oh, and make sure you tie the bag really tight when you’re done because of, you know, the smell.”

Mathias stared at her. “Stop it.”

Nick shook his head. “Bro, she’s not lying about the poop. We all do it.”

“Thank you for sharing.” Mathias flagged a server. “I’d like a beer, please, and if you could hurry, that would be great.”

They all placed their drink orders, then Pallas smiled at Mathias. “It’s going to be fine. I’m sure Sophie’s a good little girl. You’ll like having her around.”

“You might learn something from her,” Carol added. “Dogs are loyal, committed companions. Of course that might make you too uncomfortable.”

“You think this is funny.”

“I know this is funny,” she told him. “Come on. She’s a dog. People have had dogs as pets for tens of thousands of years. You can suck it up for a month.”

Mathias didn’t look convinced.

Their drinks were delivered and the game began. On tournament night, everyone played until there was a winner at each table, then those winners would play until only one was left standing.

As they rolled dice and moved from room to room, discarding suspects and weapons, eliminated players stopped by to say hello and sneak Sophie bits of bacon and burger. Sophie took each treat gently, offering a thank-you lick when she’d swallowed the bite.

Mathias was overreacting. Sophie was obviously well trained and used to being around people. He and Nick were making her into something that she wasn’t, which was just like a man. A month with a lovely little dog was exactly what Mathias needed.