The Widower (18+) | [Complete]

Eighteen

"Your father is going to kill me."

I stood in the foyer with the twins and a guilty-looking Colin. The little ball of brown fluff wriggled in Sebastian's arms. He looked at me with pleading eyes. "Can we keep him?"

I leaned down and stared at the puppy, considering all the ways this would end badly.

Augustine had left to continue the business we so rudely interrupted with his prodigy of a son's performance—his most convenient way to avoid and withdraw. Back in this dark expanse of empty rooms, my guilt festered. I had let him drop. And worse, I had let him leave directly after. My first words to him would absolutely not be "your kids have a dog now."

"Does it not have a collar?" I asked Colin. He shrugged.

"What is this?" The butler came up behind me. I stood up to face him but couldn't find words to say. "There are no animals allowed in the house!"

"Mr. Montgomery doesn't allow pets?" I asked him.

"No ma'am. No dander or allergens permitted in the mansion."

I looked back down at Sebastian. The puppy whimpered to be set down. "Let me see him." The tiny poodle mix was kind of cute. The curls over his body and most of his face made up for his inability to be still. Under the fluff, a small medallion hung off the collar. "He has a tag, little ones. That means he already has a family."

"We can't keep him?" Tabby asked.

"Someone else is probably looking everywhere for him, worried sick." I tucked him in the crook of my arm and finally, he settled down. His tiny pink tongue danced with every pant. "We should help him get back home, shouldn't we?" 

"Yeah," they both agreed, the word drawn out with their disappointment.

"It was very good that you helped him. Now, go upstairs and play. We'll get him home to his family, okay?" They knew better to protest. Instead, they left with exaggerated pouts on their faces.

"Really? You let them bring a dog inside the home?" the butler snipped at Colin. "What if Mr. Montgomery were here?"

"I'm sorry. The kids had him when I picked them up. I didn't know what to do!"

"The word 'no' slipped your mind?"

"I didn't think it was my place."

"It wasn't your place to disobey the rules of this house!"

"I can handle it," I jumped in. They both looked at me as if I had just shown up. This was the most I had talked to either of them, and I was breaking up their fight. "I'll call whoever is on the tag and see if I can locate the owners." Colin looked thankful.

"Alright," the butler agreed. "The transportation of this . . . mutt . . . is coming out of your pay," he pointed at Colin, then walked away. 

"Thank you," Colin said, "and I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

"I'm not good with kids. They had it with them already and I didn't know what to do," he continued to lament. Kids are easy. It's the adults who are hard to deal with. "I knew Mr. Montgomery wouldn't allow pets or anything around Mrs. Montgomery when she was—" he stopped short. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that." He looked down and fidgeted in the silence that followed. 

We had both said things we shouldn't have in front of each other. "Colin, it's okay. Really."

"Well, thank you for the help."

"No problem. I'll let you know when I get a hold of someone."

"Alright." He lingered with an odd expression on his face, then he left me for the front doors. I looked at the little pile of fur in my arms and sighed.