Page 49 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

Luke looked up from rubbing down the dog with the towel. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“It’s fine. I was already wet.” She reached out to pet the dog. “Is it okay?”

“He’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”

“He’s a gorgeous dog. At first I thought he was a bear.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. Ruth let him out when she saw me coming up the walkway to pick him up, and he decided he wanted to go to the beach without me.”

“He stays with your grandmother?”

“When I’m working at the shop, he does. He either stays with Grams or one of the aunts. They fight over who gets to look after him.”

“He goes out on the boat with you?”

He nodded as he dried Admiral’s webbed feet. “Newfies were bred as a fisherman’s working dog. He’s trained in water rescue. He’s much better behaved at sea than he is on land. Aren’t you, doofus?” he said, rubbing the dog’s head.

Her stomach gurgled nosily, and she placed a hand over it.

Luke smiled. “Someone’s hungry.”

“David canceled our dinner date.” Now why had she said that? “He’s busy with potential clients.” Oh my gosh, she just couldn’t seem to help herself. “Have you eaten?” Her blood sugar must’ve bottomed out—either that or being around Luke was causing her to act like a flustered teenager.

“Is that an invitation?”

“If you want it to be, it is. Admiral’s welcome too.”

“You sure about that?” Luke asked, looking up at the beach house. “From what I can see, that place looks like a show home.”

“It is, but it’s my show home, and I want you both to come.”

“Seriously? You own the beach house? I thought your dad was renting it.”

“He bought it for me. I just found out today.”

“You’re one lucky lady. And you’ve got yourself a dinner date with a dog who promises to be on his best behavior. Don’t you, boy?”

Woof.

As soon as Lila opened the patio doors, the dog barreled through them like a tenpin bowling ball, heading straight for the white love seat.

“Admiral, get back here,” Luke yelled as he gently moved Lila out of the way and headed for the couch. The dog took off and led Luke on a merry chase. He got a tour of the entire house whether he wanted one or not. Lila tried to help corral Admiral at the bottom of the stairs, but he was surprisingly agile and fast for a giant dog. Luke managed to snag his collar as Admiral tried to scoot past Lila.

“You’re making a liar out of me, doofus,” Luke said, half dragging, half lifting Admiral out of the house.

“Do you have a carrot?” Luke asked as he wrangled Admiral to the far end of the upper deck.

“He’s a vegetarian?”

Luke laughed. “No, but he does like carrots.”

“I have carrots and an extra steak.” Lila walked back into the house, smiling as Luke cajoled the dog into doing what he wanted with the promise of a juicy steak.

He had him settled and tied to one of the posts when Lila returned, balancing a plate of raw cut-up steak and a carrot on top of a bowl of water. She handed them to Luke. “Will he be okay if we eat out here?”

He glanced from Admiral to the BBQ and table at the other end of the deck and nodded. “It’s far enough away, and he’ll probably zone out once he’s eaten.”

“Great. I’ll go get the food.” She was reheating the mushrooms when Luke joined her in the kitchen.

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