Free Your Wish Is My Command by Donna Kauffman Page B

“True.” He stuck his hand out. “Hello, I'm Bennett Graham, long-lost owner of a small mutt about yea-high.” He started to make a motion with his hand when Baxter came tearing out from behind Marta and bounded joyfully into his owner's arms. “Bax!”
    The dog wriggled with joy, his tail thumping so wildly that Bennett could barely hold on to him. Laughing, he staggered back a few steps and cradled the blissful dog in his arms.
    “Looks like he's glad to see you.” Ree said this with a tone that almost sounded like disbelief.
    Bennett looked a bit taken aback, but Marta stepped in before he could comment. “I'm just glad you two were reunited. I'll get his things.”
    “Things?”
    Marta blushed. “Well, I … I was just trying tomake him feel at home. You know, until we could contact you.” She hurried off to the back room, not waiting for a reply.
    Bennett turned to Jamie and Ree. “Was she the one who took care of him?”
    They nodded. “He was glued to her side,” Jamie added. “Wouldn't let anyone else near him.”
    Bennett looked thoughtfully toward the spot where Marta had been standing. “That's … funny.”
    Jamie studied him. He didn't look amused. He'd sounded almost … melancholy. Another one of his deadpan attempts at humor? She didn't think so.
    Then he turned to face them, his smile not quite as bright or natural as before. “It's just … well, he was very attached to someone else once. He's a pretty gregarious sort, but where Lara was concerned, he was like her private guardian.”
    “Exactly,” Ree agreed. “He was just like that with Marta.”
    “Marta? Pretty name. Unusual. I like it.”
    “I'm glad for you,” Jamie said, still not completely won over. “We like it too.”
    “Oh, I meant nothing by it. As a writer of fiction, I'm always interested in names. You know, for my characters. I didn't get yours, by the way.”
    “Jamie Sullivan, and this is my other partner, Ree Ann Broussard.”
    Ree smiled. “Lara is a pretty name too. Family member?” Jamie elbowed her not so subtly in the side, but Ree was undeterred.
    Bennett's smile faltered the tiniest bit. “My wife. She passed away a couple of years ago.”
    “Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. I shouldn't have pried. Forgive me,” Ree said. But her sincerity was undermined a tad when she nudged Jamie back, nodding toward Bennett with an encouraging grin.
    Jamie groaned silently. She recognized the sudden twinkle of matchmaking fervor in Ree's eyes. For the first time, she sympathized with the guy.
    “He'd be perfect for Marta,” Ree whispered as they watched Baxter's renewed kissing spree across Bennett's chin.
    “I'd really like to compensate Marta for her time and trouble,” he said, chuckling as he pushed the adoring Baxter's tongue away from his face. “My sister, Susan, usually watches him for me, but she was unavailable and this trip was sort of sudden. So I recruited Jane, who happened to be in town on holiday. She left Bax in her courtyard while shopping, and the rascal managed to escape. She's been looking all over for him.”
    “He followed Marta home from the French Market several days ago during a really bad storm,” Ree explained. “Maybe the thunder spooked him. We put a call in to your vet, but Marta has been the one caring for him ever since. She's great with animals. She has a very big heart.”
    “Laying it on thick enough?” Jamie said out of the side of her mouth. Ree ignored her.
    “I can't begin to thank you all enough. Thank goodness Bax has good taste in women.”
    Ree's expression brightened further. “Yes, well,” Jamie interrupted, “we're just glad it had a happy ending.”
    “That is the name of our shop, after all,” Ree added with her infectious laugh. “You should really save your thanks for Marta, though. She was the one that fed and bathed him and gave him a home. You two have something else in common—”
    Jamie sent Ree a warning glare, knowing Marta would not be happy