Chasing the Dream by Paige Lee Elliston

Author:Paige Lee Elliston [Paige Lee Elliston]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781441235121
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group

The morning came quickly, but it wasn’t the light flooding through her curtains that brought Amy from sleep. Was that the doorbell? She heard the sound of a vehicle in her driveway and swung her legs from her bed. She scurried to her window just in time to see Ben Callan’s pickup halfway down the driveway, headed out toward the road. She looked at her bedside clock radio and yawned. “Ten after six is a little early to come calling on a neighbor, Ben,” she said aloud. She watched as the truck swung onto the road and accelerated back toward his home. What in the world? she wondered. Maybe he forgot a tool or something yesterday and needed it for his next job. I wish I’d been up when he came.

Nutsy went into his morning routine of yowling for a meal. He sounded as if he hadn’t been fed in weeks. “I hear you, honey,” Amy said as she scratched the kitten’s back. “Let me grab a shower and I’ll feed you.” As if he understood her words, Nutsy jumped back onto the bed and curled up next to Amy’s pillow, apparently satisfied to wait for his breakfast.

Downstairs, fresh from her shower, Amy fed the cat and started her Mr. Coffee. The picture of Ben’s truck pulling down her driveway replayed in her mind. Did he drop something off? His invoice? Some kind of a spare part for the window? She checked her coffee—not quite gurgled out yet—and walked to the front of her house. She opened the front door—and gasped in surprise.

At first she thought it was Zack, Ben’s pup. But what would Zack be doing gnawing on a knuckle bone, with a lead from his collar looped over her doorknob? The pup looked up at her, his eyes unsure for a moment. When he saw her smile, his tail wagged. Amy’s breath came hard for some reason—and for some reason, tears of happiness sprang to her eyes.

Amy had fallen instantaneously, completely, and unalterably in love.

She crouched next to the puppy and ran her hands along the side of his head, gently, as if touching a baby. His tongue, a rough pink slab that seemed too large for a small dog, licked at her hand. She continued stroking the pup with one hand and picked up the folded sheet of typing paper that was tucked partially under the blanket with the other. The pencil-scrawled note said, “Dear Amy, your heart was in your eyes as you played with Zack. This little guy is the last of the litter and was getting lonely. You need a good dog on your place. Enjoy him. See you soon. Ben.”

Amy sat awkwardly next to the basket and hefted the pup into her arms and against her chest. His tongue found her cheek, and she could smell his sweet kibble-and-milk puppy breath and feel his steady heartbeat against her own body. The pup lapped at her nose.

Amy rose, set the pup on his feet next to the basket, and took the end of the leash from around the doorknob.

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