Due or Die by Jenn McKinlay Page B

digest the situation before she was confronted with his furriness.
    She crept up both flights of stairs and fumbled for her key. At the door, the puppy began to try to jump out of the bag as if he sensed they were home.
    “Don’t get so excited, this is temporary.”
    He didn’t appear to be listening. As soon as she opened the door, he bolted into the main room, nose to the ground, sniffing and running faster than his big paws could carry him.
    “Surprise!” a shout erupted from the couch, and Lindsey jumped with a small shriek of alarm.
    The puppy stopped in mid-sniff and looked at her as if to see if she was okay. With her hand on her chest, she staggered into the room. One more fright tonight and she’d probably keel over.
    The entire crafternoon club—Beth, Nancy, Violet, Charlene and Mary, plus Carrie—were there with a spread of food and an assortment of gift bags.
    “I’m sorry,” Lindsey said as she approached, hugging each woman in turn. “But I’m pretty sure my birthday is in May.”
    “This isn’t for you,” Violet said. She crouched down and waggled her fingers until the puppy approached, wagging his whole behind in greeting. “It’s for this poor little guy. Would you look at those eyebrows?”
    “He certainly does have some dark, brooding good looks,” Mary said. She handed Lindsey a gift bag and plopped down next to Violet.
    Lindsey warily peeked inside the bag. Inside was a collar and a leash in a bright shade of blue.
    “Mine next,” Nancy ordered and she hefted a large bag into Lindsey’s arms. Puppy food and two dishes.
    “But, Nancy, it’s your house; do you really want a puppy in here?” Lindsey asked.
    “Are you kidding? I love dogs.”
    “Let’s feed him,” Beth said. “The poor guy is probably starving.”
    “This was your doing, wasn’t it?” Lindsey asked.
    “I know you don’t want a dog,” Beth said as she walked over to the kitchenette and filled a bowl with water. “But even if you’re just going to foster him for a while, you need dog stuff. So, I’m assuming Sully was able to catch up to you and stall you?”
    Lindsey closed her eyes. So, that was why he’d shown up at the vet’s. It was his part of this mission to stall her.Fabulous, and just when she thought she couldn’t be any more embarrassed, wow, there was a whole new level of red-faced mortification to wallow in.
    Lindsey watched as her friends oohed and aahed over the boy. He was going to get a swelled head if this kept up.
    They had put out a lovely spread of people food on the kitchen counter, so she filled a plate with lasagna and salad while the dog dug into his chow and the ladies began to debate names for him.
    “No names,” Lindsey protested, taking a seat on the couch.
    “I like George,” Charlene said, ignoring her. “It’s a good dog’s name.”
    “No, Marley is a good dog’s name,” Beth said.
    “That
Marley and Me
book made me cry,” Lindsey said. “He can’t be a Marley.”
    “He should have a literary name,” Nancy said. “After all, he was found in the library.”
    Lindsey glanced over at Carrie, who was looking on the scene with some bemusement.
    “Yes, they’re always like this.”
    Carrie gave her a small smile. “It’s nice.”
    Lindsey blew out a feigned exasperated breath. She refused to admit that she was more than a little touched by her friends’ thoughtfulness.
    Violet wandered over to the bookshelves. She scanned Lindsey’s titles until she found what she was looking for. When she rejoined the group, she said, “I have it. Listen.”
    The room went silent as, in her best Broadway stage actress’s voice, Violet read aloud from a brown leather volume in Lindsey’s collection.
    “‘Aray fell on his features; the cheeks were sallow, and half covered with black whiskers; the brows lowering, the eyes deep-set and singular. I remembered the eyes.’”
    She looked down at the puppy as she read. He was still eating.
    “I give you Heathcliff,”