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“Terrified and cold, too.”

“Yes. We’ll get him back to the practice and check him out. You okay?”

“Sure.”

“You look frozen.”

“Well, there is that,” Olivia chuckled.

Back in the truck, Dana turned the heating on while she kept the black-and-white puppy cradled protectively against her chest in a nest of fluffy towels.

“Was he hurt?”

“Yes. Looks like someone cut him. But it’s okay now, little buddy,” Olivia added in a gentle voice. “You’re still handsome. Adorable baby.”

“Don’t fall in love,” Dana cautioned.

“Too late. I think he may be the one for me.”

“Lately, you’ve been saying that with every new rescue we bring in, Oli,” Dana remarked.

“Yeah, but I mean it this time. He’s not trembling anymore, look. And he’s not taken his eyes off of me once.”

Olivia continued to cuddle and reassure the wet and scared puppy all the way to the veterinary practice.

“He’s healthy,” Dana confirmed after a thorough check-up. “The scars look good too, as much as these things can. Cute little Havanese. Let’s give him a bath and feed him some.”

“Yeah. I’ll take him home with me after that.”

“If you wish. But you know what they nickname this breed of dogs, right?”

“No, what?”

“Velcro. He’ll cling to you 24/7 if you let him.”

“That’s alright. This little guy clearly needs a lot of love and affection.”

“How about you?”

“What?” Olivia stared, dumbfounded.

“Weird transition, I know.” Her friend chuckled, fixing her with amused blue eyes. “But really. How are you?”

“Fine.” Olivia shrugged. She ran warm soapy water into the sink and gently set the puppy down. He seemed okay with it as she began to scrub a layer of grime off his back gently. “Of course, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well, because it’s been an abrupt end with Beth, and now I see you want to adopt every broken animal we rescue. So, makes me wonder.”

“What? If I’m broken?”

“No, but…”

“What, Dana?”

“You were pretty deep in that relationship.”

Olivia snorted, even as her heart tightened. “Hell, no. There are plenty of other mermaids in the sea.”

“If you say so.”