Purple Nails and Puppy Tails by Jill Santopolo Page B

surprise,” Aly told him. “Come with me.”
    Dad followed, and Aly threaded through the crowd of people and dogs and cages back to where Brooke was standing. She was holding Sparky, who kept trying to lick her face. His rainbow collar shone.
    â€œYou want me to meet Brooke?” Dad asked.
    Aly started laughing. “No, Dad! We want you to meet Sparky.”
    â€œThat little guy? Is he actually a dog?” Dad was joking, but Brooke didn’t like it.
    â€œOf course he’s a dog!” she said, and handed Sparky over to her father. Dad was so much bigger than the tiny dog that Sparky fit right in the crook of his elbow. Sparky wasn’t anything like Dad’s dogMouse, but when he turned his head and licked Dad’s fingers, Dad smiled.
    â€œHe’s really sweet,” Dad said. “Was he your favorite?”
    Aly nodded.
    Brooke said, “Well, not at first, but at second, yeah. And now I love him the most.”
    Dad looked down at Sparky. “So is one of your friends adopting him?” he asked.
    Brooke looked at Aly. Aly cleared her throat. “We thought maybe we could adopt him,” she said.
    â€œThere you are, girls. I thought I’d lost you,” Mom said, walking over to Aly and Brooke. Then she saw the dog in Dad’s arms. “Who’s that?” she asked.
    â€œIt’s Sparky,” Brooke said. “He’s the last dog left that doesn’t have a family.”
    Aly handed Mom her list. “These are all the reasons why we think he’d be the perfect dog for us,” she said.
    Mom looked at the paper, then stepped closer to Dad so he could read it too. “You girls must’ve been thinking about this for a while,” she said.
    Brooke pushed her glasses up on her nose. “We have. For a very long time. At first I wanted Melvin, but he’s really slobbery and too big, and Aly knew all along that Sparky would be the best one.”
    â€œHe really is, Mom,” Aly added. “And we think he’d be a great puppy for our family.”
    Mom looked down at the paper in her hand again and started reading it over carefully.
    â€œHi, everyone,” Joan said, walking over to the Tanners. “Guess what? I just sold out of all the Joan’s Bones.” She was smiling.
    â€œThat’s great news,” Mom said.
    Brooke couldn’t wait another second. “Mom! We want a dog,” she said. “The one Dad’s holding.”
    Mom gave Dad and Joan a look. “I’m not sure if ourhouse can handle a dog. And he’d be home alone all day. That’s not a very nice way for a dog to spend his time.”
    Aly hadn’t thought of that. That was a problem. She didn’t want Sparky to be alone all day. There had to be a way to make this work. She had to think fast.
    â€œHow about the Sparkle Spa?” Aly said. “What if he lives at the Sparkle Spa during the day? We could get him a bed and toys, and he could live in the corner next to the pedicure chairs. We could even get him an enclosure gate so he won’t be able to go into the main salon and wander around.”
    Mom tilted her head sideways. She raised her eyebrows at Dad. Brooke started bouncing on her toes.
    â€œWho would walk him?” Mom said. “While you girls are at school?”
    â€œUm . . . ,” Aly began.
    Joan raised her hand. “I could do it,” she said.
    â€œReally?” Brooke asked, throwing her arms around Joan. “You’d do that?”
    â€œSure,” Joan answered. “I love dogs. It would be fun to have one at the salon.”
    Dad cleared his throat. “You girls have been so responsible with the fund-raiser and the shelter dogs, I bet you’d do a great job with Sparky. But you know I’m not around very much, so this decision is really up to your mom.”
    â€œI promise we’ll take such good care of him,” Aly said. “You won’t