“I’ll keep the door closed from now on.She hadn’t moved from her spot for over an hour, so I wasn’t expecting her to just take off like that.”
Hadley leashed the dog and made sure to keep a firm grip.
“Just too much temptation, eh, girl?”he said to Hershey.“Want some help cleaning her up?”
Hadley stared down at Hershey and the momentous task that loomed.“You don’t have time for that.”
Bryson chuckled.“I have time.It’ll be worth it to see what happens next,” he said with a teasing wink.“Come on.Let’s go round the back and put the water hose on both of you.”
Hadley shook her head at Bryson’s teasing and gave him Hershey’s leash so she could run back inside and get dish soap and towels.She ached to clean the paint off the floor but first things first.Hershey had to be bathed before the paint dried completely.
She exited the back door and discovered Bryson had tied Hershey to a tree in the shade and was already gently rinsing what paint he could from the dog.“Here,” she said, squirting a line of soap down Hershey’s long body.
Bryson soaped his hands and used them to gently scrub Hershey’s face and muzzle.
“Beautiful dog.”
“I think so, too,” she said, working on one of Hershey’s paint-coated legs.“The rescue worker said Hershey’s owners abandoned her when they had a baby.”
“Ah, well, they didn’t deserve you then,” Bryson said to the dog.“No one should be abandoned.”
The words melted Hadley’s heart.
It took quite a bit of time and repeated washes to get the paint out of Hershey’s fur.Hadley was soaked with sweat by the time they’d finished, and she longed for a shower herself.“You’ve saved the day.Again,” Hadley said to Bryson.
“Happy to help.”He lifted the spray nozzle and aimed it at her.
“Don’t you dare.”
“Hershey’s clean.It’s your turn,” he stated with a grin.
She held up her hands, laughing.“I’ll shower—after I clean up the mess she made in the house.”
Bryson grimaced.“In there, too?”
“Yup,” she said, wrinkling her nose.“It’s undoubtedly dried now but maybe I can scrape it off the floors.”
“Let me take a look.”
“Aren’t you tired of helping me?”
“Just being friendly.”
She stared at him, a little suspicious of his motives now that her mother had planted the seed.Bryson must have sensed her thoughts.
“Hey, no pressure.Just offering.”
Hadley shook off her hesitation, because even if his motive wasn’t sincere, she wasn’t ready for any kind of entanglement.Not after what she’d been through.“Hey, if you want to, have at it.”
“Okay, I will.I also have some good news.I was on my way to your house to tell you I have the materials to start on that fence when Hershey came running up.I can start tonight.”
“That’s wonderful!”
“I thought you might like that.”
Bryson smiled at her and Hadley felt her stomach clench and flutter.
He really was a handsome man.