Page 1 of If This is Love

RUTH

ALGIERS POINT, NEW ORLEANS

There were things in life that you justknewwould break your heart one day. But you went ahead and did them anyway because you knew that eventual pain would be worth all the wonderful between there and now.

And that’s what I was setting myself up for today, but I was going to do it anyway.

I followed AJ, a young, freckle-faced woman through heavy doors that led to a long, white corridor lined with wire cages and echoed with a cacophony of barking, panting, and whimpering. A white Chihuahua that looked like he could fit in a teacup jutted his tiny snout up at me, bared his teeth, and growled so hard that his itty-bitty body shook.

I laughed softly to myself.

“That’s Norman,” AJ said as we passed by his cage. “He acts like he’s got the world’s biggest balls even though he doesn’t have his anymore.”

I laughed louder, touching the back of my hand to my mouth. “Aww. Poor Norman.” I looked back at him over my shoulder. “Don’t worry, big guy. I can see how tough you are.”

“Right around this corner,” AJ went on, rounding the edge of the cages, and I followed her. “He’s two years old, already fixed, and he’s up-to-date on his shots.”

I paused next to AJ and looked down at the guy who was supposed to be the new love of my life. He was on his back, four legs basically sticking up in the air, tail flat against the concrete floor of his cage so that his remaining boy parts were on full display while he snored.

“Oh mygoodness,” I said through another quiet laugh. “He likes to let it all hang out, huh?”

AJ laughed along with me, and the lanky black dog immediately jolted, scrambling to flip over onto his feet, and then he started stamping his feet and wagging his tail so hard that half his body was wagging with it, all the while giving me a big, tongue-lolling dog smile.

“His name is Jax, and he’s mostly lab,” AJ added, “so he’s going to be super excited and energetic alot, but he’s just getting out of the chewing stage.”

“Thechewingstage, huh, Jax?” I said, meeting his deep brown eyes. “I hope she’s right about that because I really love my shoes.” I crouched in front of the cage so I was eye-level with him, and he poked his big, black nose through one of the spaces in the wire. I stroked under his chin and smiled. “And you are so cute that I bet you could get away with just about anything,includingeating my favorite pumps, right, baby boy?”

Jax panted and then pawed at the fence like he was reaching for me.

I glanced up at AJ. “Can he shake and sit and all that, or do I need to take him to obedience school?”

“Yeah, he can do all that.” AJ leaned against the cage and crossed her arms over her chest. “Obedience school is always a good idea because it’s more to teach the owner how to communicate with their dog, but he was a family dog from puppyhood, so he learned all the basics.”

“Ah.” I nodded slowly. “What happened to his family?”

She flinched subtly. “Did you hear about that massive pile-up on I-10 in Kenner over the holidays?”

A sharp pain sliced through my chest. “He lost his whole family in a car accident?”

She responded with a silent, wincing nod.

“Mylord.” I looked at Jax again, who was still smiling and excited and not looking at all like he’d lost his whole, entireworldonly last month. I set my fingertips on his paw where it was clutching the gate. “Baby boy…” I shook my head slowly and then met his eyes with a sardonic tilt of my head, speaking quietly. “So… how didyoutake that kind of news?”

Jax smacked his lips with his big, pink tongue and then closed his mouth.

Tears burned my eye rims, but I pushed them back in with a wide but tight-lipped smile. I slipped my hand through a space in the gate to stroke the top of his head, and I suddenly couldn’t look away from this dog’s eyes.

Maybe I was crazy, but this dog’s eyes looked exactly likehis.

Michael.

Mywhole world—at least until the day I got that phone call.

No… no, he was still my whole world. My whole heart. My soulmate. My husband.

Being alone was hard. It was extra hard being alone in a new place. I’d only moved to New Orleans two days ago to start my job at a new non-profit organization, and the solitude was already so thick that it was suffocating.

So, why not get a dog?

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