Page 21 of A Cowboy Takes A Chance

“That’s Jinks,” Jaxon said as he came back out on the porch and handed her bottled water after he twisted the cap off for her.

“Thank you. Hello, Jinks.” She laughed when he sat and put his paw up for her to shake. She glanced up at Jaxon. “Aren’t I the one supposed to say shake?”

“He’s smart. I’ve had him since he was five weeks old. He’s two years old now. Dev found a dog in the barn having puppies. She had to have been dropped off somewhere then ended up here. A week after she delivered the pups, she died. We all took turns feeding the pups. There were only three of them. Dev, Roark, and I each took one.”

“Roark?”

“One of my cousins. The other is Reid.”

“I’m glad you gave the puppies homes. Jinks looks like a Border Collie.”

“He is. The vet confirmed it. We were quite sure since the mother was. I’d like to find out who dropped her off. She was in bad shape. It looked like she hadn’t eaten in a while. Pups took it out of her too, I imagine. Snowy, Roark’s dog, is white with a black ear. Dev’s dog, Dolly, looks like Jinks.”

“They all sound so beautiful. I don’t understand people. If the owners didn’t want her to have pups, then they should have had her spayed.”

“I agree. Well, Jinks won’t be adding to the population.” Jinks stood when he heard Jaxon say his name.

“Good for you,” she said as she rubbed Jinks’s ears. “What else can you do, Jinks?”

Jaxon sat down beside her on the step. “Jinks, sit.” The dog sat.

“Oh, come on. All dogs learn that.”

“So, you need to be impressed?”

“Yes.” She laughed.

“Jinks, down.” He laid down. “Jinks, dead.” He fell over onto his side.

“More.” Presley grinned.

Jaxon grinned. “Jinks, sad.” The dog rolled to his belly, then put his head on his paws and stared up at them. “Jinks, cry.” He sat up and howled. Presley laughed. “Jinks, tell me no.” He shook his head. “Jinks, tell me, yes.” He bobbed his head up and down. “Jinks, embarrassed.” He put his paw over his eyes.

“Oh, my God. I could watch this all day.”

“He does all the basics too, as in stay and heel. He’ll also crawl. Roark can get Snowy to do it all by hand commands. I never had the patience for that.”

“Hand commands?”

“Yeah, he’ll have him do anything just by using his hand. But Roark can’t teach him how to do the embarrassing look. He’s tried, but he looks at him like he’s crazy.”

“What about Devin’s dog?”

“Just as smart. Dev can tell Dolly to go crazy, and she’ll spin in circles. The one thing Jinks will do that the others can’t is fetch a beer from the fridge if I say beer.”

Presley laughed. “I bet it would be fun to get them all together.”

“They have been, and it’s a lot of fun. So, what are you doing out this way?”

“I decided I wanted to take a walk. I didn’t know you lived here. This is a beautiful place, Jaxon,” she said as she glanced around.

“Thank you. Want to see the inside?”

“I’d love to if you don’t mind.” Startled, he would ask, she nodded.

“I asked, didn’t I?” He stood slowly and put his hand out to her. Placing her hand in his, she let him pull her to her feet then led her inside.

The entrance door was mahogany with a beautiful oval leaded glass window with matching sidelights. Entering the house, she gasped. The foyer had light oak floors. To the left was the living room, with the fireplace she’d seen from outside. Walking toward the doorway, she peered in. A maroon sofa faced the hearth, and a large flat-screen TV sat above the mantle. To the left sat a row of windows with a window seat facing the front of the house. A recliner matching the sofa and a brown wingback chair sat to her right. Another row of windows sat on the back wall. Walking to the mantle when she saw photos, she stopped to look at them and saw Jaxon in a tuxedo with a beautiful petite woman, who had to be Bethany, next to him, in a wedding gown. They both were smiling at the camera.Reaching out, Presley picked up one where the couple faced each other, and Bethany held a pink Tiger Lily up to his cheek.

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