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them together. As soon as he got close to Lucky, her tail began slapping against the blankets with as much excitement as her exhausted body could muster. He moved each pup, one by one, closer to her, allowing her time to sniff each one and help her bond with her offspring. When he slid the runt in front of her, Justin watched her nose it before looking up at him, her eyes questioning.
    He’d seen it plenty of times before. Animals seemed to have an instinct about which babies had issues that might affect them later. He’d been worried about this one. This puppy’s breathing wasn’t as good as it should be, and he wasn’t taking as much at the feedings as the others were. He didn’t want Alyssa to be upset if this one didn’t make it, and from the looks of it, there was a good chance it wouldn’t.
    “What’s wrong? Why isn’t she licking that one the way she did the others?” She was still beside Lucky’s head, watching her every move intently.
    “He’s weak. There’s probably something wrong with him. Animals tend to let the weak fend for themselves.”
    “But he’ll die.” Her voice was tentative.
    How did he make someone understand that this was just nature’s way of culling the weak and sick from the gene pool? It might seem harsh to her, but it was usually for the best.
    “If there’s something wrong with him that I can’t see yet, there’s a good chance he will anyway.” He looked down at the puppy as Lucky nosed it, barely licking it. “But she knows. She’s just letting instinct guide her, and from what I’ve seen in all my years doing this, instinct is rarely wrong.”
    Alyssa stood up and looked down at him, still on the balls of his feet beside the dog. Her eyes snapped with emerald fire and determination. “You can’t let him die.”
    Justin sighed and moved the puppy where it could nurse from its mother more easily, shrugging his shoulders. “Alyssa, look, it’s just nature’s way—”
    “Well, it’s not my way.”
    He stood up in the small space, surprised by the stubbornness in her voice but just as impressed by the conviction in her eyes. Justin felt his professional philosophies slip in the face of her adamant refusal to let nature take its course with this puppy. The kindest thing to do would be to euthanize the pup if it wasn’t going to make it, but so far Justin hadn’t been able to find a thing wrong with it other than low birth weight and depressed breathing.
    “Do you have any idea how much work hand-raising a puppy is? Because that’s what’s going to happen with this one.” He let his eyes fall to her stomach, wondering how far along she actually was. “You need your sleep.”
    “I don’t care how much work it is.” Tears filled Alyssa’s eyes and her voice was choked.
    Damn it.
    Causing the sadness he’d heard in her voice earlier was bad enough. There was no way he was going to make a pregnant woman cry.
    She swiped at a tear that seeped from the corner of her eye. “I’ll find some way to pay you.”
    “This isn’t about the money, Alyssa.” Did she really think that was all he cared about?
    Her eyes darkened before she took a step back, bumping up against the wall of the kennel, and he could practically see her building a barrier around herself, trying to put as much space between them as the small kennel allowed. He took a step closer, closing the distance between them. “You have to understand—” he began.
    She moved away from him. The hesitation he saw in her eyes hurt. Even after all he’d done tonight—rescuing her and the dog, giving them a roof, offering her a job—she didn’t trust him, and for some reason, he really wanted her to. He felt as if he’d just killed any chance of gaining her trust.
    She bit the corner of her lower lip, looking at him through her tear-soaked lashes. “Please, tell me you’ll help save him. I’ll stay as long as it takes for him to get stronger, at least long enough for me to take him with me when