It Started with a Dog, page 33
“Mobley!” Harper cried, and hurried past Jonah to get the dog. “I haven’t told you about Mobley yet.” She pulled the dog away from the wall, then was suddenly in front of Jonah, her arms around his neck. “I wanted you to be surprised by everything. I’ll explain, but first, I have to tell you how much I have missed you.” She kissed him, hard and furious.
“Me too. Oh God, me too.” He looked at everyone gathered, all of them grinning at him like he was in for a joke or something. Dad looked a lot better since the last time Jonah had Zoomed with him. His color was coming back, and Jonah’s mother said he was in remission again. They were all here. His family, his aunt and uncle, Allen and Andy, Naomi and the baby. Even Paula, the morning server. Even the Little Stacy Book Club had come. “Why not?” said one of them. “We like a good party.”
Robert and Lloyd had come, too, and were sitting in baskets, twisting this way and that, like two kids at a playground.
Jonah loved his work. He did. But as much as he liked looking into space, he liked being grounded in family, too. “It’s so good to be home.” They all came forward, their arms outstretched, hugging him, laughing at his surprise, at one another, at the dogs.
Oh, the laughter.
His mother was chattering about the new kitchen help that Burt had found in the Community First! Village. His aunt and uncle, Allen and Andy, and Naomi and Lena—she was crawling everywhere now—had come to visit and close on the sale of Marty and Belinda’s house. The move to Chicago was complete. His dad said he was doing well, then pointed at Robert and Lloyd and said they were teaching him to play chess.
The book club presented him with a ceramic satellite they’d made in their pottery class. A joint project, he understood. He didn’t see a satellite—he saw a ceramic ball with some stars cut into it. He was going to hang it near Roy Rogers.
And Harper. He couldn’t stop looking at her. She was wearing jeans rolled up at the cuffs, and a pair of Chucks. She had on a T-shirt that said save yourself—hug a dog, and her hair hung loosely around her shoulders. But it was her eyes, her pale green eyes glittering at him, that made his heart swell and his pulse race. She looked so different and exactly the same and hot, and he couldn’t wait to be alone with her.
“Mobley?” he asked, smiling down at her.
“I was going to tell you about her,” she said. “But I didn’t think she’d be around so long.”
Jonah looked across the room. Mobley was following Bob very closely.
“She’s blind, and it was supposed to be a weekend, but the ACC is overfull, and Bob really likes her, and you know, he doesn’t like anyone. So . . . I kept her.” She winced. “I know that’s a lot of dogs—”
“There are never enough dogs, baby,” he said, and kissed her.
“Come on, come on!” Amy was yelling at him and Harper. “Save that for later!” The group was moving outside.
Jonah and Harper followed them out to Deja Brew’s lovely garden with the little umbrellas sparkling overhead. They had a cake, decorated with planets and stars and the message welcome home jonas!
Confused, he looked at them.
“There was a little mix-up,” his mother said, tugging on a gray curl.
Jonah laughed. “Let’s eat Jonas’s cake.”
His mother grabbed a knife and started slicing.
Jonah looked around at the people he loved, at the dogs who had wandered out, Mobley following Bob by scent. Harper looking up at the lights, her skin glowing. She must have sensed his gaze on her, because she turned her head to him and smiled.
“You won’t believe who drove me here.”
“Who?”
“Amal.”
Her eyes sparkled and she gasped with delight. “Was it a five-star ride?”
“That’s the only kind of ride he gives, I’ve heard.”
Harper laughed. “Can you believe that one ride would lead to so much?”
“It started with that ride.”
“Actually, it started with a dog,” she said, pointing to Truck. “Because I decided that whoever owned that dog was someone I had to know.” She laughed. “I’m so glad you’re home, Jonah. I can’t wait to marry you.”
“I’m so glad you’re here, Harper. With me, and my family. This is where you belong.”
She slipped her arm around his waist. “I know.” She sighed with contentment, and Jonah thought there was not a better sound in the world.
Author’s Note
My inspiration for the King Mutt competition came from the San Antonio Humane Society’s annual El Rey Fido fundraising effort held in conjunction with the city’s annual Fiesta celebration. San Antonio is unique in Texas in that the city honors the Battle of San Jacinto and the heroes of the Alamo every year with a week of events, parades, and even a day off school for the kids.
Many years ago, the San Antonio Humane Society began to hold the event for El Rey Fido as part of Fiesta to raise money for the dogs and cats that come through their organization. Any dog may be entered, and fundraising happens online or at sanctioned events. The dog who raises the most money for the society is crowned, and is accompanied by a royal court of the next four highest fundraisers. All proceeds go to support the cats and dogs that come into services through the San Antonio Humane Society.
Photo by Kathy Whittaker Photography
Julia London is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of numerous romance and women’s fiction novels. She is also the recipient of the RT Bookclub Award for Best Historical Romance and a six-time finalist for the prestigious RITA Award for excellence in romantic fiction.
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Julia London, It Started with a Dog
