A Cowboy Under the Mistletoe Read Online Free PDF Page B

surprise, very, very sad.
    What was it Hank had said? You’ll both feel better if you take the time to make friends with Duchess. Pet her, talk to her, show her a little kindness….
    Ally supposed there was no time like the present to call a truce, especially since the two of them were alone. The last thing she wanted was to get bitten by a dog again.
    Swallowing, Ally hunkered down the way she had seen Hank do. Trembling with apprehension, she held out her hand and took a deep, bolstering breath. “I’m sorry, girl. I didn’t know you were in here.” Which was something else she’d have to talk to Hank about. She had expected him to leave Duchess in his bedroom, not downstairs….
    Her back against the wall, the dog stared at Ally and remained very still.
    Ally gulped. Determined to establish peace with the lost animal, she forced herself to move closer and continue to offer her palm. After another long hesitation, Duchess dipped her head slightly and delicately sniffed Ally’s skin.
    Then she lifted her head and looked into Ally’s eyes, seeming to want peace between them, too.
    Which meant, Ally knew, she had to take the next step and pet the dog, too.
    With Duchess watching as cautiously as Ally was watching her, she moved her hand once again.
    Ally gently stroked first one paw, then the entire leg, before ever so tenderly moving her hand to the dog’s chest, and then the sensitive spot behind her long, floppy ear. Oddly enough, the action was almost as soothing to Ally asit was to the canine. Noting how good Duchess looked with her clean, silky-soft coat, and dark liquid eyes, Ally smiled. And could have sworn the dog smiled back at her.
    Maybe this experience would help her—if not actually like dogs, then at least tolerate being around them. And vice versa, Ally thought.
    Which, of course, was when the back door opened and Hank strode in.
    Pleasure lit his midnight-blue eyes. “Well, now, what have we here?” he boomed in a baritone worthy of ol’ Saint Nick. Clearly unable to resist, he teased, “A softening of that stone wall around your heart?”
    The heat of embarrassment swept her cheeks. Ally dropped her hand and stood. “Obviously, I had to do this.”
    Hank took off his wet rain slicker and hung it on the wall, then his hat. “Obviously.”
    Ally watched Hank run his hands through his disheveled hair. “I startled her,” she explained.
    He scanned Ally from head to toe, lingering on her rain-splattered trench coat. “And you didn’t want to get bitten.”
    She shrugged out of her own coat and hung it on the hook next to Hank’s. “No, I did not.”
    He kneeled down to pet the reclining retriever. “Hmm.”
    Ally scrambled to pick up the things scattered across the floor. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to put her in the mudroom?”
    He looked at the full food and water dishes in the corner, then gallantly lent a hand. “You weren’t here when I left.”
    Together, they carried Ally’s belongings to the kitchen counter. “You could have left me a note.”
    â€œI did.” He pointed to the message on the blackboard, next to the ancient wall phone. “I assumed you’d come in the front door.”
    He went back to arrange the pile of blankets in an inviting circle, then motioned for Duchess to come toward him. She moaned as she got up and ambled stiffly forward to collapse on the soft, makeshift bed.
    Hank petted her briefly, then came back into the kitchen.
    He smelled like winter rain.
    â€œHow did your meeting with the Realtor go?”
    Not good. Ally unpacked the groceries she’d bought to get her through the next few days. “Marcy Lyon gave me a whole list of things that need to be done to the ranch house before the property goes on the market, if I want to get top dollar.”
    â€œSuch as…?”
    Ally opened the fridge