Breaking the Rules: The Honeybees, book 1 Read Online Free PDF

dog had wound up there—and the employees and volunteers were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.  
    I waited for an hour for my name to be called, my stomach grumbling louder and louder, wishing I had taken Devin up on his offer of breakfast before coming here. I’d had no idea it would take so long to even start the adoption process.  
    Finally, it was my turn. It was a man working the front desk this time, and I told him I was there to adopt the black and white Australian shepherd mutt. He frowned at the computer screen in front of him. “Black and white?” he repeated. “We don’t have a black and white dog here.”  
    “I just got a call from someone this morning,” I said, confused, my heart falling. “Maria, I think?”
    “Maria!” he called out, and an older woman with huge, heavy bosoms came over. “This lady says you called her about a black and white dog?”
    “Oh, yes!” I said. “I’ll take you back.”
    Relieved, I followed her across the big room and into a hallway lined with cages. “He is just the sweetest,” Maria said. “Naughty little boy, though.”  
    Naughty? I wondered. My chest seized up in worry. Was I making a huge mistake? Was I just trying to fill the void Matt had left by getting another creature to take care of in his place? I didn’t think so, but I didn’t have room in my life for naughty. Not right now.
    But then I spotted the dog, and my heart melted. Nope, there was no wavering now. The dog recognized me when I walked in, standing up and staring straight at me, its tail wagging vigorously.
    “He remembers you,” Maria said, and I nodded, feeling honored to be remembered.  
    “Brown and white Australian Shepherd/Lab mix,” the placard on his cage read. And then the date he had arrived, and the word “friendly.”
    “Why does this say he’s brown and white?” I asked.  
    Maria squinted at the label. “Huh, that’s a mistake,” she said. Aha , I thought. So that was why the man at the front desk couldn’t find the dog in the computer.
    I filled out all the adoption paperwork, bought a leash, was briefed on dog care and promised to read all the pamphlets they gave me, and then Taco and I were free to go home.  
    “I have a dog now!” I said out loud to myself as I walked Taco out the door. “You get to come home with me!” Taco looked back at me, tongue hanging out. He seemed to be smiling, and his tail still wagged.  
    But out on the sidewalk, I stopped. Now what? I wondered. I was three miles from my house, and I didn’t have a car…but surely I couldn’t take Taco on the bus. For once, I wasn’t thinking things through very well.  
    “Guess it’s time for our first walk,” I told the dog, who just wagged his tail at me, and we started out together toward home.
    An hour later, we walked up to the front door to find Matt and a friend of his turning the couch sideways to hoist it through the door.  
    “What’s that?” Matt asked, glancing at Taco in distrust.
    “This is Taco,” I said. “And he’s none of your concern.” It came out frostier than I had intended, but I was glad I didn’t have to bargain with Matt over Taco. It was my space now; 100 percent my decision.  
    Matt handed me his house key, gave me a quick hug, and was gone. I closed the door behind him and let Taco off the leash in the newly empty house. The couch had been the last remnant of Matt that was left in the space, and a huge, empty rectangle marked the spot where it had been. Taco sniffed around, acquainting himself with the space. He wandered from room to room, then contentedly plopped down next to my armchair and began chewing on the leg.  
    “Taco, no!” I said, shooing him away from the chair. Naughty indeed.
    By this time, my hunger was raging, and I ate a peach to stave it off for a few more minutes, standing over the sink and letting the juices drip down into it, something that had always driven Matt crazy. It was far from peach