Page 23 of Home for Nathan
“I think I probably have some hot dogs, maybe? I don’t know. That may not be the best thing for her, but at least it’ll be filling, and then we’ll look at getting her better food after she’s settled a little.”
Nathan nodded, but curiosity won out. “Are you going hang on to her until you know whether or not you can find her people?”
“Yep. I guess I don’t love the idea of taking her to one of the shelters here. I know there are some no-kill rescues, but they’reall so full. I have a friend in Denver who does dog rescue, and she’s always complaining about how no one will foster the dogs, and I have plenty of room for her.”
“Oh, that’s really sweet.”
Zion shrugged. “I’m selfish, I guess. Sometimes, it’s hard to be all alone here. I just want some company.”
“Yeah, well, I think you’re great. We should go find out if she’s microchipped.” That would be the first step, then they could—Zion could—deal with the rest.
“Oh, that’s smart. I think that’s a great idea. You’re kind of a brilliant guy.”
Nathan rolled his eyes. “No, I just want to deal with seeing if she has a family before I fall in love with your dog. So, we’ll run down to the vet once she’s settled and have Dr. Gary check for a microchip, and that way you know if somebody’s looking for her. That way you haven’t stolen their dog, right, because that would be crappy.”
“Exactly, and we’re not those kind of people.” Zion dried his hair off with one of the last two towels. “How do you know the vet?”
“Ham and Swiss on rye.” He rolled his eyes. “And you’re absolutely right. We aren’t those type of people.”
Zion grinned at him. “I think I’m gonna like her. Is it mean to hope that nobody’s lost her?”
“No.” He winced. “Probably. Let’s go with being tickled that, if we can’t find her owner, she’s going to have a good home.”
“Oh, man, you’re super good at that.”
That made him snort right out loud. “Look, rationalizing has sort of become my new stock in trade. I mean, I’m an unmarried pregnant omega without a good job, whose life skills involve making blankets and wall hangings.”
They got the pup back in the house, and he got on the phone to see if Dr. Gary was available today while Zion got her somehot dogs. One way or the other, they were going to have to head back into town just to get her some food. He made them an appointment for four thirty to get her checked out.
Then they sort of sat there and stared at each other a little bit.
“Well, I could give you a tour of the house, such as it is.”
Zion was so weird. “Hey. You’ve got a house, and you’re working on it. It’s so cool. I don’t even know how to do some of this stuff.”
“Yes, but you do know how to do other things, and trust me, I don’t know how to do some of this stuff. Thank God for YouTube. I’m learning lots, but I’ve also messed up quite a bit.”
“That makes sense, believe it or not.”
Zion blinked at him. “Which part?”
“Well, it’s not like you’re a professional handyman or contractor or carpenter, right? Of course you’ve messed it up. Some of it you’re going to get correct, and you’ve learned a ton.”
Did he sound as much of a Pollyanna as he felt he did? Possibly.
“I do like you.”
He rolled his eyes. “I hope you do. We spent the night together.”
The dog drank some water, ate all the hot dogs, and crashed, laying sprawled out in a patch of sunlight. Poor baby, she was just exhausted, and it broke Nathan’s heart a little bit.
“She’s awful cute, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, if she does have a family, then we’ll get her back to them, and then we’ll go to the shelter and find you a dog, that is equally cute and desperate for someone like you.” Easy as pie. Zion deserved a dog, so Nathan would figure out a way to make that happen.
“That’s a good answer too. I mean I hope that I get to keep her because I saved her life, you know? But if I don’t, then it’s karma, and that means I’ll get a good dog.”
“Exactly.” Nathan grinned and took a deep breath letting the stress of the dog rescue wash away from him. “Now, how about you show me your house?”
