Two New Family Members

I’m not a pushover. Really!

But I’ve wanted another mini schnauzer and have looked for one. Then I saw a mini schnauzer mix puppy on our shelter site. She had come in with a terrier mix, so it would be a given we’d take both if approved.

So we headed for the Animal Friends of the Valleys adoption event at Petco in Temecula last Saturday to look at Mindy and Annie. But I was told they were at the shelter. While I’m talking to a volunteer Bob is looking at a tan little dog in one of the crates. When I went over he said “look at him” and I knew it was love at first sight. There was five year old Dutch who needed a forever home. One of the volunteers gave us a leash and we took turns walking him. Dutch loved being out of the crate and walking around. I went in to say we wanted to adopt Dutch while Bob had guy/dog bonding time. I walked around while we waited to meet Dutch’s foster dad and there was this sweet faced Chihuahua in a crate who gave me the ‘Hey! Would you please pay the nice lady so we could go home?” I walked away but I looked back and you know what that means. Olive was also five years old, had come in as a stray unwed mother to be with the last of her two puppies adopted that day. This was her second adoption event. The first one wasn’t good for her because she freaked out when they separated her from her puppies. So we paid the nice lady and Olive came home with us along with Dutch.

Katie and Hunter accepted them right away and it’s been wild play time around here. A few house training issues but that’s nothing new. They’re in perfect health and Dutch visited our groomer on Wednesday for a bath while I took Olive to our Petco for some girl bonding and shopping time. She took it easier since our Petco is quieter and I wanted her used to being out.

The sad thing is it’s obvious these two were abused in the past. Dutch even has scars on his back. But now they’re spoiled and loved. Hunter politely reminds Olive that I belong to him and I do mean he’s polite about it since he likes to put on his paw me and give me kisses.

Dutch is daddy’s boy. He even cries and howls when Bob goes to work so we’re working on that.

They’re precious dogs that had been there for some months and they needed a home to call their own. Now that they have one.

Taking pictures is a challenge because Dutch doesn’t like the sound of the camera shutter, but I caught video of all of them playing.

New babies!

Linda

Behind the Book -- This Old House

“Remember when we drove out to that pond?” Dev brushed back a tendril of hair from her face. “It was so hot I took off my shirt and asked you to take yours off.”

“And I told you big girls don’t do that.” Her lips barely moved; she was lost in an old memory.

“But you eventually took it off,” he whispered, moving in so close a breath of air couldn’t have drifted between them.

“You were the one who took it off.” Megan could feel the heat of his body sear her and she feared her own body’s response. ”Dev,” she said in a faint voice. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

He didn’t stop pursuing her. “Why not?”

“Because we’re divorced –“ ”

“We may be divorced, Meggie –“ he pressed closer until she could feel his arousal, “— but we’re not dead.”

When I first talked to my editor about this idea I was talking about two exes who wouldn’t have had anything to do with each other if it wasn’t for the love of a house. Could they work together without trying to drop a hammer or worse on each other?

I wanted a book about a beautiful house that needed love inside, but it also held a big secret that Megan discovered and became determined to follow through no matter the cost to herself and others.

Writing about battling exes can be a challenge. You don’t want them overdone or going too far, so it can be a fine balance. Plus my sense of humor always pops in to lighten the mood.  It’s a romance that blends the past and the present. Former lovers who know about each other, are first combative then rediscover their love is still there. Giving them a shared project throws them together and even if in the beginning they’re not happy about it, they realize the passion is still there.

Plus what can I say? Devlin is HOT! Seriously, would you kick this guy to the curb? Plus he knows how to work around a house! Nothing like a man handy with tools. :}

I hope you’ll read Megan and Dev’s book, so you can discover just what secret the beautiful old house holds. 

Linda