Page 110 of My Greatest Joy

She grins. “So you’ll teach me?”

“Of course, baby. Whatever you want.” I grab her hand and kiss her knuckles. “But that’s not the surprise. We gotta get dressed and go into town.”

I grab the tray and take it downstairs while she gets ready. Dasher trails behind, waiting impatiently for his breakfast.

“Alright, buddy. Your turn. Enjoy it while you can. Might be a bit chaotic when we return,” I tell him. He has no idea what’s about to hit him.

Fallon and I discussed getting another dog before the baby comes so we had time to get it accommodated to us and Dasher, but every place had a wait list for several months out. With the baby coming in only three, that doesn’t leave us much time.

After cleaning up the kitchen, I meet Fallon in our room and get dressed while she finishes her hair.

“Can I get a hint?” she asks, putting on her shoes.

“Nope.”

“Is it for both of us or just me?”

“Stop trying to guess.”

“Is it a late wedding gift?”

“Fallon,” I warn, tying up my boots.

“C’mon, I hate surprises.”

Closing the gap between us, I press my lips to her forehead. “You’ll find out very soon.”

She narrows her eyes, contemplating my words. “Is it for the baby?”

“Fallon Joy-White. Have patience.”

She wrinkles her nose. “I don’t have any.”

I snicker at the truth of that. “Trust me, I know.”

Taking her hand in mine, I lead her to the truck and then drive us into Maplewood Falls.

She continues guessing, but I shoot each one down.

“I’m convinced you’re lying now.”

“Nope.”

Once I find a parking spot off Main Street, I get out and meet Fallon on the passenger side so I can help her out.

“Where are we going?”

“Goddamn, you suck at waiting,” I mock, threading my fingers through hers, and walk toward our destination.

Less than five minutes later, I open the back door of the shelter, and it finally hits her when the sound of puppies barking surrounds us.

“Wait, where are we?” She glances around, not recognizing the back end of the shelter. Miss Betty let me sneak in this way so Fallon wouldn’t realize where we were headed right away.

“Picking up our new dog.” I grin, squeezing her hand.

Her mouth falls open, glancing around. “Really? We’re getting one?”

I inch closer, cupping her face. “Yep, I found us the perfect Golden Retriever. They were rescued a couple weeks ago. Some asshole left them in a box in a parking lot. Miss Betty knew I was looking for one, so I asked her to save us one. They needed to stay a little while for an antibiotics treatment and to get up to date on their vaccines, but she’s ready to go to her new home.”

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