Читать книгу Wednesday Walks & Wags - Melissa Storm - Страница 8

Chapter 2

Not even half an hour passed before Bridget’s three best friends showed up at the door to her new apartment.

“We’re here!” Amy sang as her elderly beagle, Darwin, joined in with a spirited howl.

“Little pig, little pig, let us in!” Hazel called in a deep, animated voice, then followed up with a honking laugh.

Her third friend, Nichole, let out an exaggerated sigh but said nothing more. Of course, if she had, Bridget probably wouldn’t have heard it over Teddy’s excited barking, anyway.

The little dog bounced after her as she raced toward the door and flung it open with a tremendous feeling of relief. “How’d you guys get here so fast?”

“We may have been sitting around waiting for an invitation,” Hazel informed her with a playful wink. She was the first to push her way into the apartment, but the others were hot on her heels.

“We’d have come even faster if we hadn’t needed to make a pit stop for ice cream.” Nichole set a reusable shopping bag down on the table and began lifting out pints of Ben & Jerry’s. Another enormous wave of relief swept over Bridget as she spied her favorite, Mint Chocolate Chunk, among the flavors.

Leave it to pragmatic, introverted Nichole to remember the important details in life. She didn’t smile often, nor was she free with compliments, but she always showed up when it counted—and with the right flavor of ice cream.

For all her heartache, Bridget also made sure to count her blessings. She had great friends, got along well with the family she had left, and was on her way to finishing college and securing her dream job as a certified veterinarian. Even though things were hard, they could always be so much worse. She needed to remember that.

Why couldn’t she remember that?

Why did what should have been a happy housewarming celebration still feel bleak and cold?

It’s because you can’t live in the moment, her inner voice whispered, and it was right. She kept the past shut firmly in an old cardboard box while doing her best to avoid the present by staying as busy as possible.

Only the future mattered.

Because it would be better.

It has to be.

Bridget’s dogs had no trouble finding joy in the here and now. Even though Darwin wasn’t the biggest fan of other dogs, Bridget’s three practically fell over themselves trying to impress him. Teddy continued to bark and run circles around the chubby old beagle. Baby dropped his front paws to the floor and wagged his tag furiously, and Rosco gave the other dog a quick sniff, then glued himself to Nichole’s side with the clear hope that she’d packed some special treats for him, too.

“I brought cookies!” Amy trilled as she revealed a generously sized Tupperware filled to the brim with one of her famous homemade confections. Well, famous among the four friends at least. “I came up with this recipe earlier in the week, and they’re already Darwin’s favorite thing ever.”

The old dog untangled himself from Bridget’s hyper Pomeranian and overbearing pit bull mix, then sat himself at Amy’s feet, fixing her with a doleful expression.

“Darwin, you’re supposed to be on a diet!” Amy scolded, but then opened the container and tossed him a cookie, anyway.

“Are those safe for them?” Nichole asked, always the voice of reason even though she had no dogs of her own. That didn’t stop her from researching everything just for the sake of learning something new. It never failed to impress Bridget how her friend knew an extraordinary amount about almost any topic she could think of.

Amy forced one of the treats into Nichole’s mouth before the other woman had a chance to argue. “Try it for yourself and see.”

Anger crossed her face first, followed quickly by relief and then pleasure. “Are these for dogs or people?”

“Both!” Amy answered proudly. “My own recipe. Safe for dogs but still yummy for people.” She cupped her mouth as if she were going to whisper a secret, but then she yelled loudly enough for the next apartment to hear. “The secret is molasses.”

“I’ve going to have to pass,” Hazel added with a grimace. “I’m here to see Bridget’s new place, not to ruin my bridal diet.”

“Oh, like you aren’t perfect exactly as you are,” Nichole said with a grimace of her own.

Hazel smiled and touched her belly for a brief moment. When she noticed Bridget’s eyes on her, however, she quickly removed her hand and strode deeper into the apartment.

“Beautiful layout,” she said, inspecting each room while the others trailed her. “Need any help with the setup?”

Bridget chuckled at this. “Oh, Hazel, we both know I can’t afford your services. I can barely afford this apartment.”

Hazel narrowed her eyes. “And we all know my services are always free of charge for my besties.”

“I’ll think about it,” Bridget promised, even though she already knew what her answer would be. While Hazel was a remarkably talented and highly sought-after interior designer, she was also the worst neat freak Bridget had ever met. If she had a hand in putting together Bridget’s apartment, Hazel would no doubt expect it to be kept up to her standards.

Bridget had always preferred clutter to cleanliness, even as a small child. It was part of the reason she knew her father and brother Caleb were happy she’d found a place of her own and moved out of the family home. The rest of that reason rested squarely with her rambunctious pack of spoiled dogs.

“Wow, look at that view,” Amy cooed from her newly assumed spot at the large picture window. She’d always been the peacemaker of their group, and her timing now helped diffuse the growing tension. “It even comes with a cute neighbor guy,” she added, blushing furiously.

Nichole and Hazel both raced to her side.

Bridget went a bit more hesitantly.

Sure enough, the blond man she’d seen earlier that day had reappeared. The group watched in silence as he and his two dogs cut across the courtyard and headed for the main street. Once there, they took off at a rapid clip and quickly disappeared from view.

“Hot, healthy, and clearly loves dogs,” Amy mused, ticking off each trait on her fingers as if making some kind of valid argument here. “If I weren’t already head over heels for Trent, I’d race you to him.”

Hazel elbowed Bridget in the ribs. “Who knew your new place also came with a new ‘boyfriend,’ eh?”

“I guess he’s cute. Kind of hard to tell from this far away, though.” Bridget shrugged. Ever since Amy and Hazel had both found their other halves, they’d jumped headfirst into playing matchmaker for their two unattached friends.

Nichole fought them hard whenever they so much as suggested a man she might be interested in, which left Bridget as the main target for their misguided attempts at making a love connection.

Honestly, the last thing she needed was a romance.

Not when she already had so much work to do on herself and not when she saw firsthand how devastated her father was after losing his lifelong partner. Bridget wasn’t sure how much more loss she could handle in her life, but she knew there’d at least be less of it if she avoided taking on anything—or anyone—new for as long as she possibly could.