Page 131 of Mistletoe and Mischief

“I was thinking—”

“Dave, before you say anything, we need to consider this very carefully. A puppy, let alone two, is a lot of work and—”

“Mark’s old enough to understand that. Besides, Beth sounded desperate to find a good home for these dogs. Especially at this late date.”

Emily could feel herself weakening. Especially when her husband was regarding her with a puppy-dog look of his own....

“I had a Lab while I was growing up,” Dave said.

Emily nodded, remembering his fond stories about the family pet.

“We named him Blackie,” David went on. “Not very original, but, oh, how I loved that dog.”

“In other words, you’d like our sons to have the same wonderful experience with a dog that you did?”

Dave smiled sheepishly. “But only if you agree.”

While she wasn’t one hundred percent sold, Emily was willing to take a chance.

“Can we at least look at them?” Dave asked, his eyes alight with excitement.

“Tonight?”

“Well, yes. It would be perfect. The boys are with your parents and we can drive out to Beth’s place. By the time we get back, Matthew and Mark will be asleep. When they wake up in the morning, the puppies will be there—the best Christmas gift ever.”

Clearly, her husband had worked this all out.

“All right,” she said, holding back a smile. “We can go see the puppies, but there are no guarantees. Understand?”

“Definitely,” he assured her. “We’ll go to Beth’s and look at them, and if you don’t think it’ll work, or you take an instant dislike to either dog or whatever, then we’ll leave.”

She raised her eyebrows. Dave knew her far too well. The minute she laid eyes on those puppies she’d be lost. She couldn’t possibly say no. Especially since he wanted to provide his sons with the same childhood experience that he’d enjoyed.

During a quick phone call to the house, Emily told her mother that she and Dave had an errand to run. She explained what it was, and her mother promised that the boys would be in bed when Emily and Dave returned.

While Emily was talking to her mother, Dave contacted Beth, who said it would be fine to stop by the house that evening. In fact, she wished he would, because she planned to leave with the girls early on the morning of the twenty-sixth, so the sooner these last two puppies found homes, the better.

In the car on the way to Beth’s house, Emily gazed out at the sky. The night was clear, with a million stars twinkling like jewels, but far more precious than any stone she’d ever seen. Her eyes fell to the wedding ring on her left hand. She’d almost removed it when she believed Dave was having an affair. Those had been dark days in their marriage and she’d been so sure, so completely convinced, that her husband was seeing another woman. It wasn’t as if pastors were exempt from temptation.

In retrospect, she felt embarrassed that she’d suspected Dave of anything so underhanded. Yet what else was she to believe? He was gone almost every night and, well...thankfully those days were over. Probably every marriage went through at least one rocky period.

“Dave?”

“Yes, love?”

“I think Beth and her ex-husband still have feelings for each other.”

Dave didn’t speak for several minutes. “I had the same impression,” he finally said.

“What do you suppose went wrong between them?” Emily asked.

“Probably the same thing that went wrong with us.”

“Lack of communication,” she murmured. “I guess it almost always comes down to that.”

They pulled into Beth’s yard and saw another vehicle parked next to hers.

“Maybe Kent’s still with her,” Dave commented.

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