Read Online Baby, Hold On by Stephanie Bond - Free Book Online

sounds painful.”
    Traci laughed. “It’ll straighten your hair…some. Temporarily, of course.” She leaned down. “Muscle man will love it.”
    Lacey was flustered. Mike probably was attracted to women who were more well groomed and who dressed less flamboyantly. “I’m game, as long as it doesn’t take too long. Sheridan is tied up outside.” Where she sat, she had an easy view of him through the window.
    “I’ll have you out of here in a jiffy.”
    The women quizzed her mercilessly about Mike, but her protests that they had no carnal knowledge of one another sounded false even to her own ears. Her permanent blush didn’t do her any favors. True to her word, Traci finished the trim and the “blowout” in record time. Lacey couldn’t believe the transformation in the mirror—she looked polished and demure.
    “Yes, it’s me,” she said to Sheridan, who first approached her timidly when she came back outside. “Did you have fun getting to know your neighbors?” The fact that he’d socialized with the other animals without becoming stressed spoke volumes for his improvement.
    She stopped at the boardinghouse to pack a couple more outfits. With her new hairstyle in mind, she changed into a khaki skirt and plain white T-shirt from the back of her closet. She wondered if the woman in the mirror was more like the women Mike Nichols was normally attracted to.
    “One more stop,” she told Sheridan, then led him to the clinic where she had an appointment to get a tetanus booster. Secured to the dog railing outside was Nigel, Rachel Hutchins’s pug. Lacey greeted the dog heartily, who offered his paw. Two young towheaded boys she recognized as the Tyler twins walked up with their mother and asked if the dogs were friendly.
    “Yes,” Lacey said, “but it’s always good to ask first. Offer your hand to them with your fingers down and curled under, like this.” She demonstrated, and the boys followed her instructions. Nigel licked them in response, happy to receive their small-handed pats. Sheridan’s tail wagged when they petted him, although he didn’t relinquish the pink bone.
    “Can you really talk to animals?” one of the boys asked her, his eyes wide.
    “Benjamin,” his mother admonished.
    “Well, it’s what people say,” the boy insisted.
    “It’s okay,” Lacey told Mrs. Tyler with a laugh, then looked back to the boy. “All of us can communicate with animals—you’re doing it right now. You’re being kind and friendly, and animals understand that.”
    The boy’s face lit up, then their mother prompted them to say goodbye and they went on their way.
    Lacey was fastening Sheridan’s leash to the railing when a friendly voice rang out. “Hello, Lacey.”
    She looked up and smiled at Emily Armstrong, the matriarch of the Armstrong family. Emily was pretty and rounded and always had a kind word for everyone.
    “Hi, Emily. How are you?”
    “Fine, my dear, just taking Chaz for a walk.”
    The Jack Russell terrier bounded up to Sheridan and yapped happily. Sheridan dipped his head in greeting, but when the small dog tugged on the pink bone, Sheridan emitted a low growl.
    Shocked, Lacey said, “Sheridan, no.”
    Emily reined in Chaz’s leash. “Is he dangerous?”
    “No. But Chaz gave him that toy last week and he’s gotten attached to it.”
    “Perhaps we should go,” Emily said.
    Lacey nodded with remorse. “I’m sorry.”
    After the woman and her dog walked away, Lacey studied Sheridan. He glanced at the water bowl longingly, but seemed unwilling to put down the toy. Lacey lifted the water bowl to his mouth and allowed the toy to soak up enough moisture for him to draw on.
    Then a thought hit her. The toy symbolized weakness to Mike. But what if it symbolized something else to Sheridan, something more than a plaything?
    She dashed inside the clinic to reschedule her appointment, then walked back to the cabin as quickly as she could. When the cabin came into sight, she spotted