Man's Best Friend (The Dogmothers Book 6) Read online

  When he pushed open the glass door to Bone Appetit, he heard the bell, a dog bark, and then the musical sound of his sister’s laughter as she finished up with a customer.

  “Declan!” Her whole face brightened when she saw him. She came around the glass case that displayed her latest pet toys and trinkets to give him a hug. “Hello, my favorite brother!”

  He nodded to the customer and a shaggy sheepdog who stepped out before he stepped in. “You say that to all the Mahoneys, Smella.”

  She rolled her eyes, having lived with enormous grace under the unfortunate nickname that one of her three brothers—they all tried to take credit—had hung on their baby sister when she was still in diapers.

  “But this time it’s true.” He accepted her embrace with one of his own, unable to resist giving her short, spiky hair a rub, tousling it even more.

  “You are in so much family trouble,” she announced. “Why did you run off with Evie yesterday and deny us all a chance to see her?”

  “We didn’t run off. We took the dog back to her house, and by the time we finished getting him settled, I…” Needed to be alone. “I had dinner at home.”

  “Boring.” She wrinkled her nose, which somehow only made her pixielike features even prettier. “Grannies were crushed, you know.”

  “Don’t even get me started on those two.”

  She giggled and gave him a playful jab in the shoulder. “You’re next, so accept your fate. Thank you so much for taking the heat off me.”

  “Next for what? That’s the question.”

  “Love!” She swooped around him, returning to her perch behind the counter. On the stool, she rested her chin on her knuckles and blinked her enormous brown eyes as if that could distract him from the four-letter word she’d just exclaimed. “They are positively high on their success with John and Summer.”

  He threw his hands in the air. “Would you stop? You act like they created some kind of arranged marriage. No force of nature could have stopped that relationship, and if anyone deserves credit, it’s Summer’s little girl when she claimed John’s puppy as her own. Can I have some coffee?”

  She pointed to the station at the front of the store that had cups for customers and free kibble for their dogs. “Say what you will about the Dogmothers.”

  “Starting with how inane that name is.”

  “They sent Sadie off to run against Connor for mayor—”

  “They sent her to manage his campaign, but then she ran against him.” He poured a full cup of black coffee, inhaling the aroma as he looked out the front window onto one of the main streets of Bitter Bark, already bustling with tourists and locals and, of course, dogs.

  “And Yiayia claimed to leave her bag at Overlook Glen so Alex would go back and connect with Grace,” Ella continued.

  “Pretty sure they tried to line up John for Grace, which would have been a disaster.”

  “And Cassie and—”

  “Stop.” He turned to face her. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”

  Her big eyes got even bigger. “There are no sides, Dec. We all want you to be happy. And Evie…” She sighed. “I remember when I was a little girl how she was always hanging around you, and she was so sweet. And funny. Quick with the lame one-liners, if I recall correctly.”

  “You do.”

  “And you were always so nice back then, so much more fun.”

  He was?

  “And it was cool to have another girl around in that family full of testosterone.”

  “You always had Darcy,” he said, referring to her cousin who was eternally attached to Ella. In fact, he could see through the door that adjoined this business to Darcy’s grooming shop next door, proving they were still attached.

  “True, but there was something special about Evie. We all thought you’d marry her.”

  He tried not to respond to the matter-of-fact statement and was saved when the only other customer in the store brought a pack of pawprint-covered dish towels and matching food bowls to the counter.

  While Ella ran the charge and made small talk, Declan walked away, sipping his coffee and staring at a wall of dog treats, Ella’s last words echoing in his head.

  He thought he’d marry her, too.

  When the customer left, he snagged a bag of peanut butter cookies and set it on the counter.

  “For Lusky?” Ella asked.

  “Evie’s grandfather renamed him. He’s Judah now.”

  “Judah?” She gave an approving nod. “Excellent name for that spectacular dog. Of course, we didn’t get to see more of him since you ran away yesterday, but Molly said you’re taking him in for an MRI at Vestal Valley.”

  “Evie and I are,” he said, taking out some money. “In about an hour, as a matter of fact.”

  “Oh, Evie and I are,” she mocked. “But no, the Dogmothers have no idea what they’re doing.”

  “This time, they’ve gone a little too far out on a limb.”

  “On a limb? You and Evie?” She gave a light laugh. “I can’t think of two people more meant to be in that tree. And let’s face it, big guy.” She reached over and ruffled his hair, much like he’d done to her. “I see a little snow on the roof. What the hell are you waiting for? Someone better than Evie Hewitt?”

  He stepped back from her touch. “She has a huge job in Raleigh.”

  “They have fire departments in Raleigh.”

  And animals in Bitter Bark. “I can’t leave this family.”

  She tipped her head and fried him with a get real look. “We’re fine, Declan. The family in total is now the size of a small country. You actually might not be missed for a while.” At his look, she gave a throaty laugh. “Kidding, obviously. But seriously, no one needs a…” She kind of shrugged. “Father figure anymore.” She added a smile to temper the sting. “Even me.”

  He slapped his hand to his chest. “You’re killin’ me, Smell.”

  “I’m trying to make sure you don’t dismiss the idea of Evie Hewitt for some dumb reason. She’s not in Raleigh now. Why don’t you just hang with her for a few months and see how it goes? Why does it have to be all or nothing?”

  “All or…” He leaned over the counter to whisper, even though there weren’t any customers around. “Do you know what they want? Or at least what her grandfather wants, so I assume those two eighty-year-old troublemakers are in on it.”

  She laughed. “I love that they dragged in the old guy for backup. Those two are relentless.”

  “Wait until you hear how relentless.” He took a deep breath. “They want me to give her a…baby.”

  She gasped noisily, jerking back, her eyes as round as dark chocolate wafers. “A…holy…oh my…Declan!”

  “Right? If that isn’t the most—”

  “Fantastic idea!”

  He stared at her.

  “I mean, wow. I can totally see why you’d do that.”

  “Ella!” He choked her name. “It’s not like giving her…a necklace. Or a…” He glanced around. “Pet. I’m not some kind of sperm bank.”

  She made a face. “Ew. I hate that word.”

  “Well, I hate the idea, but that’s practically what her grandfather implied. That I could just…” He waved his hand. “Produce a baby.”

  “Well, why the heck not?”

  Was she serious? “For one thing, we’ve barely said ten words to each other in twenty years.”

  “Whose fault is that?”

  “Mine,” he said without hesitation. “I couldn’t…I didn’t…I had to…”

  She angled her head. “Use your words, little boy.”

  He muttered a dark curse.

  “Not that word.”

  “Ella, I screwed up, okay? When Dad died, I…” I died, too. “I struggled. And whether you like it or not, I had to hold things together for the five of us. I couldn’t go running after Evie.”

  She rolled her eyes dramatically. “I’ll have a side of weak sauce with that chicken.”

  “Ella.”
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  “Come on, Declan. I get it. You broke down and freaked out. Connor became a cocky jerk. Braden buried himself in books. I…” She shook her head. “We all handled it differently. And you pulled away from the woman you closely associated with the pain.”

  He frowned as the words hit, and there was no way to argue with them.

  “I mean, she lives in the house where Dad died. That’s not an easy thing to get over.”

  She lived in Raleigh, to be perfectly accurate, but was Ella far from the truth? “Yeah, maybe.” And why couldn’t he say those words to Evie?

  “But it’s been twenty years, Dec. We’ve all had to move on and have lives. Dad would hate you missing out on a great thing because she reminds you of how he died. Or you have some weird misplaced guilt because you weren’t at that fire. You think you’d have gone in first? A newbie like you were?”

  He leaned back, eyeing her. “How’d you get so smart, Smella?”

  She grinned. “I’ve always been the smartest one of the bunch, but so pretty…” She put her fingers under her chin and fluttered her lashes. “That y’all forgot to notice.”

  “I notice.”

  “And your smart sister says you”—she aimed her finger at his face—“are the daddiest guy I know.”

  “The…I don’t know what the hell that means.”

  “It means you’re a natural. You’re the guy who made sure every door was locked and all lights were off when everyone went to bed.”

  Because that’s what their father did, and someone had to do it for the Mahoney family.

  “You’re the one who handles the barbecue and makes sure everyone has helmets on when we go muddin’.”

  “Because no one else can make a decent steak, and hello, I’m a firefighter. Safety first.”

  “And I’ve seen you when kids crawl all over the pumper truck on field day. You love kids. Every time you’re near one of the little ones in the family, your eyes light up.”

  “Probably because Danny’s tearing my hair out.”

  She laughed. “True. But you know what I’m saying. There’s a daddy living in that big ol’ chest, and honest to God, Dec, you were more fun when Evie was around. I’m all for bringing back that Declan.”

  “You were twelve.”

  She shrugged. “And you used to make me laugh so hard I snorted milk out of my nose at the dinner table.”

  “You’re confusing me with Connor.”

  All humor faded from her face. “No. I’m not. You could hold your own with Connor in the joke department. And the fun department. And the…okay, not the girl department. But probably because you were so wrapped up in Evie, you never practiced.”

  Was all that true? “Look, I get your point. I’ve changed. But back to the problem at hand. I can’t be a part of…a baby.”

  “Then sign over complete custody,” she suggested, like it was as easy as cashing a check. “Let her raise a baby alone.”

  That would be worse. Way worse. Unthinkably worse. “And then there would be my offspring in the world, and I’d want to know that child and be involved in their life.”

  She shrugged. “So do that.”

  “But we’re not married.”

  “Welllll…” She dragged out the word and waggled her brows.

  “Ella, come on.”

  “Okay, okay.” She held up both hands to stop his arguments. “It’s not traditional, I get it. And if you ask me, probably not what Gramma Finnie had in mind when she sent you for croissants.”

  He choked softly. “Nothing in this family is a secret, is it?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Well, this is, Ella,” he said sternly. “I don’t need an army of my siblings and cousins and step…things coming at me telling me to…you know.”

  “Produce.” She cracked up. “Or I guess I should say reproduce.”

  “This isn’t funny.”

  “Only a little.” She came around the counter to make her point by putting her hands on his shoulders. “Why don’t you stop thinking about what you want and think about Dr. Evangeline Hewitt?”

  “That’s all I’ve thought about for twenty-four hours.”

  She gave a smug smile. “So you are thinking about her.”

  This time, he gave her the get real look.

  “Dec, she’s your age, right?”

  “A year younger.”

  “So, she’s forty? I mean, wanting a baby is so natural and normal. Especially for a woman who’s put her heart and soul into a career. Her clock’s ticking, even with modern medicine.”

  He huffed out a breath, more than a little irritated that he came for backup and got pushback instead. “She doesn’t need me and my…” Baggage. “It’s no big deal for a woman to have a baby on her own. Or adopt one.”

  “True, but maybe that hasn’t worked out. Maybe she doesn’t want a stranger’s baby. Maybe she has her own reasons for wanting yours.”

  “She never said she wants mine,” he told her. “This came from her grandfather.”

  “Why don’t you talk to her?”

  He looked away, scratching his neck, hating the question.

  “Dec?”

  “I will. I…I…” He shook his head. “There’s a lot unsaid between us, Ella. We have a complicated history. It isn’t like we can sit down and start…making a baby, for God’s sake.”

  “Which is not usually done in the sitting position, although I suppose you could try.” She bit her lip to keep from laughing.

  “Why is this funny to you?” he demanded.

  “Because you’re so smart and capable, always in complete control, and now you’re…” She twirled her finger. “Unraveling.”

  “I’m not…” Yeah, he was.

  “Declan, listen to me.” She reached out and took his hand. “I’ve watched you—we all have—for all these years. We’ve watched you close off and shut down and systematically keep every woman at a safe distance and sabotage any relationship you’ve ever had.”

  He looked skyward. “You really need to give up the dog-treat business and hang your shingle as the town shrink.”

  “All I’m saying is you don’t have to be our substitute father anymore, sweet brother of mine. Maybe it’s time you think about being a real one.”

  The second person in less than twenty-four hours to say that to him. He waited a beat, then lifted a brow. “Those grannies paying you?”

  “Are you kidding?” She flicked her pink-tipped nails. “The longer they focus on you, the more time I have to be young, free, and single. Who’d want to be in a relationship? Ugh.” She stuck out her tongue, suddenly looking like the ten-year-old pest he remembered so well. “No, thanks.”

  “You little hypocrite.” He snagged the bag of treats and pointed it at her. “Not a word, Ella Mahoney. Not a word to anyone.”

  She gave a tight smile and made an X on her chest.

  By the time he reached Gloriana House, he realized his sister was right about way too many things. He did need to talk to Evie, but he shuddered at the idea of a conversation like that.

  A baby. Jeez.

  And holy hell, he was thinking about it.

  Chapter Eight

  There was something about the smell of the animal hospital at Vestal Valley College that put Evie at peace. It smelled like…home.

  Or maybe that was the clean, masculine scent of the man next to her as they walked out of the exam room, confident that Judah was in good hands for his MRI.

  “You sure he can handle anesthesia?” Declan asked, holding a door that led to a long hall.

  “It’s only a twilight, and he’s a sturdy guy and shows no other signs of sickness,” Evie said, using the same tone she would with any pet parent, then her expression softened. “But I really wanted to be in there.”

  “I thought they’d let you.”

  “Hospital policy.” She shrugged. “I understand, but…” She paused at an exam room to see a vet instructing two young students on how to do an abdominal check on a
big black cat.

  “That’s a good boy, Kittah,” the doctor said, and Evie could feel her whole body pulled toward the room, wanting to check Kittah, too.

  Right before they reached the reception area, she glanced into a room lined with a crate wall, nearly every cage occupied. This time, she couldn’t help herself. With a quick look around, she took Declan’s hand and brought him with her.

  “Let’s peek at the patients,” she whispered, making him chuckle.

  “You can’t help yourself, huh?”

  “Nope.” Inside the room, she inched closer to the first cage to see a beautiful white Lab with a name card that said Brinkley.

  “Hey, Brinkley,” she whispered, getting a sigh and a flutter of his lids. “Oh, you’re not feeling so hot, are you, sweetheart?”

  After a minute, she stepped to the left and stroked the tiny orange paw that a kitty slipped through the wire cage. “Sleep tight, little Holly,” she whispered, reading the name card. “Were you a Christmas kitten?”

  She almost didn’t notice the weight of Declan’s hand on her back. Almost. The sick animals were riveting, pulling at her heart as they always did, striking a chord that made her ache to help and help hard.

  But his touch was so soothing, and it nearly took her breath away.

  “Dr. Dolittle,” he whispered, making her smile.

  “I should never have forced you to see that movie with me.”

  “But I swear you talk to them.”

  “But they don’t talk back, sadly.” She took a step to the side to check on BooBoo, a darling little Yorkie, licking the bright green gauze that wrapped his tiny leg. “Because that would be too easy, right, BooBoo? If you could tell me what’s wrong, I could fix it.”

  BooBoo stopped licking and looked at her, silent. But she could see the absolute agony in those sweet brown eyes.

  “Excuse me, can I help you?”

  They both turned at the question from a vet tech who didn’t look at all amused at the intruders.

  “Sorry, I wanted…”

  “The waiting room is right through that door.” The woman, young enough to be a student, nodded to the hall, her gloved hand holding a small syringe.