Free Sweetie by Ellen Miles Page B

pitcher’s mound. Charles ran for the blat and picked it up. He swung a few times to get thefeel of it. The blat felt good in his hands. He had a hunch he was about to hit a Grand Boodjerino.
    The door to the upstairs opened. “Charles,” called David’s mother. “Your dad’s on the phone. He says he’s on his way to pick you up.”
    “Now?” Charles asked. “But —”
    David’s mother was on her way down the stairs. She handed the phone to Charles.
    “Dad?” Charles asked. “Do I have to come home
now?
We’re in the middle of —” He stopped and listened to his dad. “Really? Cool, I’ll be ready when you get here.” Charles handed the phone back to David’s mom. Suddenly, he didn’t mind quitting the base-boodja game. He didn’t mind at all. “We’re getting a new foster puppy!” he announced.

CHAPTER TWO
    “Is it a Great Dane?” Charles started in on the questions before he even buckled his seat belt. “Where did the puppy come from? Is it already at our house?”
    “Slow down there, pardner.” His dad smiled at him. “How about ‘Hi, Dad, good to see you'?”
    “Hi-Dad-good-to-see-you. So, what about the puppy?”
    Dad sighed. “It’s kind of a long story. Let’s wait till we get home. Rick should be there by then, with the puppy, and he’ll explain everything.”
    “Rick the rookie?” Charles asked.
    His dad nodded. “That’s right.”
    Charles’s dad was a firefighter. Charles knew everybody on the squad down at the station. Hecould picture Rick, the newest guy. Rick was tall and strong, with a big loud laugh and a huge bristly mustache. He loved to play practical jokes, and according to Dad, he was the best cook at the station.
    “So Rick found a puppy and it needs a home?” Charles asked as Dad pulled into the Petersons’ driveway. A black sports car — Rick’s car — was already parked there.
    “Not exactly.” Dad opened his door. “Come on. Let’s go in and you can hear the whole story.”
    When they walked into the kitchen, Charles saw Rick sitting at the table with Mom, Lizzie, and the Bean. The Bean sat next to Rick and stared openmouthed at his mustache. But Rick was not smiling or laughing, and even his mustache looked droopy. The big man sat slumped over, his hands wrapped around a mug of coffee. On Rick’s lap was a tiny curly-haired puppy. She sat up with her little paws on the edge of the table. Her fur was a beautiful coppery gold color,like leaves in the fall. She looked back at Charles with the brightest black eyes he had ever seen.
    Hello there!
    “Is that the puppy?” Charles ran over to see.
    “Hey there, Charles. This is Sweetie,” said Rick in a flat voice. “She’s a poodle.”
    “A miniature poodle,” Lizzie added. “Her color is called apricot. She’ll never grow very big at all.” Charles knew that Lizzie, who knew everything about dogs, was not exactly a fan of little ones. But how could she resist this cutie?
    Charles stood next to Rick and reached out to pat the puppy’s little head and stroke her fluffy ears. Her coat was springy and soft. She felt delicate, like a fancy piece of china that might break if you even
looked
at it the wrong way.
    “Want to hold her?”
    Charles nodded. He sat down and Rick handed the puppy over. “Oh!” said Charles. Sweetiehad to weigh even less than David’s purple Nerf ball. She wasn’t much bigger than the Nerf ball, either! Charles held her up to his face to get a closer look, and Sweetie stuck out her tiny pink tongue and licked his cheek, putting one soft little paw on his chin.
    Charles smiled. It had taken only one second for him to fall in love with Sweetie. She wasn’t a Great Dane puppy, but she was definitely a very special girl. “Why does she need a home?” he asked. He could not imagine why anybody would give this adorable puppy away.
    Rick heaved a long, loud sigh. “Sweetie was supposed to be a Valentine’s present for my girlfriend, Karen.” He stopped and sighed