Read More Than Rum (The Maple Leaf Series Book 3) for Free Online Page B

could regale him with some blissful tale of how wonderful it
was to be in love with a gorgeous woman.
    “He’s with Wendie at the
supermarket. I believe they are buying things for your refrigerator.”
    “Awesome. I’m at emergency
level.” He looked back at Orion’s house—and at Hope’s Jeep parked in the
driveway. “And the ladies?”
    “Sage and Myah are with Hope
‘researching’ at the pet store in St. Jamesbury before meeting Wendie at her
friend’s for puppy viewing.” Orion rolled his eyes. “I swear if Sage comes home
with a puppy, I’m going to kill her.”
    “If by kill you mean get all
smoochy with her, then I believe you.”
    Orion gave him a light shove.
“I don’t get all smoochy.”
    “Dude, you are the definition
of smoochy. Clearly you don’t know what the term means.” Adam walked back to
his truck.
    “Whatever. I’m coming with
you.” Orion slid into the passenger seat.
    Adam got in, gave Hope’s Jeep
another glance, and navigated onto the path Orion had plowed into his woods.
Some low branches scraped at the bucket on his truck. “I can cut this low stuff
for you.”
    “Okay.” Orion looked ahead out
the windshield. “I’ve gotten a little behind on my maintenance.”
    The sheepish grin on his
buddy’s face spoke volumes about lazy mornings in bed with his fiancée and
hours laughing with his daughter now that she was out of the clutches of his
ex-wife and lived with him again. Adam liked knowing that some guys could have
it all. The Universe did have balance.
    He was just on the wrong side
of the damn scale.

Chapter Four
     
    “OMG. They’re all so cute. How’s
a person supposed to pick just one?” Hope flopped onto the floor, Dalmatian
puppies crawling all over her. Each one was a tiny treasure. She’d found
something adorable about each and every one and was no closer to selecting the
puppy she’d take home with her. “Myah, help me.”
    Orion’s daughter pushed her
mane of black curls out of her face and giggled as a precocious pup climbed
into her lap and licked her chin. “I don’t know, Auntie Hope. I love them all!”
Two more puppies battled for room on the girl’s lap, and she stroked their
spotted fur, picking one up to nuzzle nose-to-nose.
    “If I didn’t already have
Frisco, I’d take one of these sweet babies,” Wendie said from the couch where a
puppy was curled in a ball on her lap. “Good thing I dropped Ian off at your
mother’s, Sage, because he wouldn’t know what to do with all these pups.”
    “I just want them all to go to
good homes,” Wendie’s friend, Liza, said. “I wish I could keep them, but this
house isn’t big enough, and I don’t want to be The Crazy Dalmatian Lady of this
neighborhood.”
    Hope put her hand to her brow.
“I’m having a hard time here. I didn’t think it’d be this much of a challenge.”
She just wanted a buddy. Why did it feel like so much more than that?
    Because I’m a lonely woman
who is letting too much ride on a single puppy.
    “Maybe we need to have a
contest or something,” Sage suggested as she scratched the black and white
belly of the puppies’ mama sprawled out in front of her.
    “A contest?” Myah asked.
    “Yeah, what if we line them all
up on the other side of the room and whoever gets to Hope on this side of the
room first gets to go home with her?” Sage shrugged. “It’s the best idea I can
come up with.”
    “I guess that would be fair,”
Myah agreed.
    “Let’s do it.” Hope picked up one
of the puppies and made her way to the other side of the room.
    Myah, Sage, Wendie, and Liza
each grabbed a pup and followed Hope. They set the furbabies down, and Sage
took charge of the one Hope had.
    “Go over there now.” Sage
motioned to the opposite end of Liza’s small living room. “We’ll release the
hounds at the same time and see who our winner is.”
    Hope got into position and sat
on the floor facing the pups. “Okay. Let ’em loose.”
    The puppies were set