Being in charge of decorating the house for Christmas was actually a lot of fun. At Ellen’s, they’d been restricted to using a lot of “heirloom” stuff that was, in Dakota’s opinion, just plain ugly. Now, she had carte blanche. She ended up sticking with the tried and true red, green and gold theme. Every banister in the house got festooned with garlands that had lights built into them and every table had a Christmas centerpiece. She set out pots of plush poinsettias inside and outside the house. Each member of the household had a stocking, including the dogs, and a gorgeous wreath hung on the front door. As for the tree, they went out and got a seven-foot fir, which they festooned with bulbs and ornaments, tinsel and lights. By the time she was done, she was proud of how festive and cheerful the house looked.
“The place looks gorgeous,” Cam said after they had finished decorating the tree. It looked a little funny because Zinny could only reach so high, so the bottom of the tree was a little heavier in ornamentation, but Dakota loved that.
“I love Christmas,” Zinny exclaimed. “But does Santa bring presents for dogs?”
“Of course he does,” Cam said. “Don’t you worry about that, Zinderella.”
“If you want, we can write him a letter to remind him.”
“I’m going to do that right now!”
Later that night in bed, Cam pulled Dakota close and nuzzled her neck. “You really did an amazing job with the decorations. Thank you for making it look like Christmas again around here. I especially love the dog stockings. They’re as much a part of—”
Dakota gasped. “Oh my gosh. That’s it!”
Cam lifted his head.
“I just realized what I’m getting Zinny for Christmas. A puppy!”
Cam raised an eyebrow. “I’m okay with having a third dog in the house, in case you were wondering,” he said in a wry tone.
“Oh, right,” she said hurriedly. “Of course I was going to ask if it was okay. I mean it is your house…”
Frowning, he drew back. “That’s not what I meant. I’m not suggesting you need to ask for permission. I just…” He sighed. “It would be nice to be included in the discussion when it’s about something this big. Like, maybe the dog could be from both of us, you know?”
Suddenly she felt like an idiot. How easily she’d jumped to the conclusion that he was trying to exert control over her.
“I’m sorry. I made an assumption that you didn’t deserve at all. My only excuse is that I’m so used to living with a dictator, that I’ve got a hair trigger where that’s concerned.”
She gave him a gentle kiss and his expression softened. “Hey, I understand. It’s kind of like when I’ve gone from having a real demanding bear of a coach to one who is more laid back. For a while, I go around expecting to be told exactly what to do all the time and it takes a while to realize the new regime is more benevolent.”
“Regime?” she repeated, laughing.
“Yes, and you may call me Your Excellency.”
She laughed some more as he pulled her close again, casually caressing her behind.
“I actually like the idea,” he said. “Taking care of a pet is a good way to develop a sense of responsibility in kids. That would be my only condition—that we make sure Zinny is in charge of taking care of it. Not you and not me. You don’t get to have all the fun without doing any of the work.”
“Agreed.”
“And it really shouldn’t be a puppy either,” he added, kissing her shoulder between words. “I guess that’s my second condition.”
“Why not? Puppies are so cute.”
“Yes, which is why people don’t strangle them when they wreak more havoc on your house than a newborn baby human. A roommate of mine got a puppy once and you would not believe how needy they are. They are whining for their mamas all night long and the rest of the time they’re chewing everything that isn’t nailed down and demanding your attention. It’s nuts. It’s exhausting.”
Dakota gasped softly as he nibbled on her earlobe. “All right. No puppies.”
“Oh, one more thing.”
“I thought you only had two conditions.”
“Changed my mind. We need to get him from a shelter. There are too many dogs without homes suffering in those places.”
“I have zero objections to that.”
“Do you have any objections to this?”
With an arch smile on his face, he guided her hand downward.
He was hot and hard and very ready. Dakota was as turned on as he was.
“None at all, Your Excellency,” she added, burrowing down under the covers and taking him into her mouth.
The next morning after dropping Zinny off at school, the last day before the holiday break, Dakota and Cam went to the nearest county animal shelter. Dakota had never been to one before and she found it incredibly depressing. The office was decorated in post-classical dreary. The furniture looked like it was from the fifties, the computers from the eighties. The shelter staff seemed lackluster and resigned, probably because they saw so many abused animals and had to euthanize on a regular basis. That was enough to propel anyone into depression.
“We’re here to look at the dogs,” Cam said, resting his forearms on the counter.
“Let me guess,” the shelter worker said. Her nametag said Dolores. “It’s a Christmas present.”
Clearly, Dakota thought, this woman was a modern-day Scrooge.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes,” Dakota said.
“Well, we’re pretty much picked over,” Dolores said. “Not many cute dogs left, but if you adopt a dog and then change your mind, you can’t get your money back. You can only exchange him for another dog.”
Dakota opened her mouth to give the woman a piece of her mind, but Cam clasped her arm and said, “Which way to the kennels?”
“Read the signs,” Dolores said, turning back to her desk.
When they entered the kennels, Dakota felt even more uneasy and sad. Barks and whimpers echoed in the cavernous cinderblock building. Even though the place appeared to be clean, the odor of urine and feces lingered behind the smell of unwashed dogs.
“This is nothing more than a prison,” she said, taking in all the woebegone faces.
“No lie,” Cam said.
They held hands as they went from cage to cage. They’d determined that a smaller dog was best. Dakota was shocked at the shape some of the dogs were in. A couple of them looked like they hadn’t had a decent meal in months, and were nothing but skin, fur and bones.
They were nearing the end of the aisle when someone barked. She looked to see a bedraggled but cheerful dog. Looked like a Beagle mix of some kind. Her tail was wagging and she looked unkempt but healthy. Dakota read the tag on the cage. She was a Beagle–Jack Russell Terrier mix with no name, just a number—JK0727. When Dakota got closer, she noticed the dog was missing one eye.
“Oh, Cam, look.”
Cam came over, crouched and held out his hand. The dog licked his fingers enthusiastically. “Boy or girl?”
“Girl.”
“Hey, girl, what happened to you?” Cam rubbed her head as best he could through the bars.
They went back to the office to request a one-on-one visit with her and Dakota was enchanted. The dog didn’t pay much attention to them once they were in the small grassy fenced-in area outside where these visits took place. She was more interested in the many smells of the scraggly lawn. She got growly when Cam approached from her blind side, but was friendly the rest of the time.
“What do you think?” Dakota asked.
“She seems to be in good shape other than the missing eye and she’s pretty outgoing unless you take her by surprise, which is something Zinny’ll pick up on pretty quickly.”
“Okay, good, because I think she’s perfect.”
After a trip to the groomer and the pet store for the requisite leash, dog bowls and bed, they swung by the Nordbeck house. Nat and Paul said they’d be happy to dog-sit until Christmas Day and Nico promised not to breathe a word to Zinny.
When Cam and Dakota got home, Cam took a detour to the mailbox to get the mail while Dakota went to the kitchen to make him a sandwich. When he came back in, he looked apprehensive.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “Is something wrong?”
He held up an official looking envelope from the San Francisco Department of Child Support Services.
Dakota’s mouth went dry. “Oh, God.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” he said, holding it out to her.
She shook her head. “You do it. I’m too freaked out.”
With a shrug, he slid his finger under the flap and removed the single sheet of paper inside.
“What does it say?” she asked, hurrying over to read it along with him. It wasn’t a very long letter.
Dear Ms. Kelly,
The allegation of child mistreatment in the case of Zinnia Noreen Caruthers has been found to be unsubstantiated. Please keep a copy of this letter for your records.
“That’s it, then,” Cam said, grinning. “We’re done!”
Laughing, Dakota jumped up and down and then hugged Cam as hard as she could. “I can’t believe it. Oh my gosh, I’m so happy!”
That old cliché of feeling a weight come off one’s shoulders was so true, she realized. She felt as if she had lost fifty pounds all around her neck and shoulders. She could breathe again.
Ellen had lost. Thank God.