Love To The Rescue by Brenda Sinclair Page A

guy.”
    Rover turned and met her eyes. She would swear the dog smiled at her.
    An hour later, Amy finished mopping up the mess on her bathroom floor. Either Rover had never experienced bathing before or he enjoyed it immensely, because there was an equal measure of water on the floor as remained in the tub when Amy declared the dog clean.
    “You actually have a shiny coat.” Amy dried her new companion with an old faded blue cotton bath towel she’d discovered at the back of the linen closet. “If you let me comb you and cut out the dreadful matted bits I found, you’ll be one handsome fellow. A few weeks of nutritious food and you’ll look better than ever.”
    Rover woofed.
    “If that means you second the motion, then let’s get busy with this comb.”
    By ten o’clock, Amy fell into bed, totally exhausted. She’d bathed the dog, combed the dog, fed and watered the dog, cooked and ate a microwaveable frozen dinner for herself, walked the dog, pooper scooped after the dog did his business, romped around the back yard with him, and tucked him into his brand new oversized doggie bed in the far corner of her bedroom. In addition to her new four-footed security system, she set the security alarm as well.
    “You are a lot of work, Rover. But you’re all mine now, and I wouldn’t trade you for anything.” Amy turned out the light and tucked the covers up under her chin.
    Feeling safe and secure, she dozed off to sleep in a minute.
    ****
     
    Amy awoke to songbirds cheerfully serenading her outside the window. She never set an alarm clock unless she needed to be somewhere early the next morning. As an author, she set her own schedule: woke when she wanted to, ate when she wanted to, worked on her writing when she wanted to, went to bed when she wanted to. She firmly believed she had the best job in the world. And she made a good living and paid the bills.
    Suddenly, Amy became aware of something large and hot lying against her side. She opened her eyes and discovered Rover stretched out in doggie bliss sleeping along side her atop the bed.
    “ What do you think you’re doing?”
    Rover’s head whipped up and he met her eyes. Immediately, the dog lowered his head, knew he was in trouble. She could almost read his mind. His sad brown eyes silently pleaded with her: I’m sorry. Don’t hit me.
    “Are you comfortable? When did you sneak up here?” Amy struggled to sustain her strict tone of voice, but she suspected a smile creased her face. “I must have been tired. I didn’t even feel the mattress dip.”
    Rover’s wary eyes never blinked, and his expression said, please don’t stop loving me .
    “Don’t do that again, mister.” Amy wagged her finger at the offender. A few seconds later, she ruffled his fur and scratched behind his ears. “Okay, you’re forgiven. But you stay in your own bed, you hear?”
    Rover woofed.
    “Good. I’m glad we’ve reached an understanding.” Amy dragged her hands through her tousled hair. “Now, let’s go see what we can scrape together for breakfast. I need to go shopping this afternoon, but first I’ll be busy on the computer, big guy. I’m doing a guest blog on a very popular website, and my lawyer is calling today about a contract I dropped off for him to review. But later, while I’m picking up some people food, you can check out the lady dogs sitting in the cars in the grocery store’s parking lot.”
    ****
     
    Three days had passed since the MacArthur B and E, but Kevin often caught himself thinking about Amy. Why couldn’t he rid his mind of the woman? Because she’s beautiful, intelligent, with twinkling hazel eyes and a killer smile. He was totally smitten and he’d do anything for her. If she ordered him to leap off the Peace Bridge into the frigid waters of the Bow River, he’d do it.
    He would never forget the panic in Amy’s eyes when he first arrived on the scene. The pain-filled expression he saw on her gorgeous face while she wandered among