A New Leash On Love. Melissa Senate

get sucked in by a handsome face and memories, Claire. He hurt you terribly.”

      It didn’t mean he’d hurt her again, though. Necessarily. Eighteen years was a long time. Maybe this was meant to be their second chance. He’d been put in her path. And now he was moving into her rental apartment.

      Oh God. Their second chance? Now she was concocting a fantasy about him? Why did he have such a hold on her after all this time?

      What she needed to do was to focus on what she wanted out of life: the right partner and a child. That meant really getting out there, and so that was what she would do. She’d kissed her share of frogs since her divorce, but there was bound to be a “prince” out there somewhere. She’d focus on finding him, and then the hold Matt had on her heart, mind and soul would be released.

       Right? Yes, right.

      “I’ll be careful,” she promised her sister. “And by the way, I’m open to more blind dates.”

      “That’s my girl,” her sister said, stealing a hunk of sesame chicken from her container.

      Maybe she’d even join a dating service to speed things up, vet the men via email “chats” before they even met.

      “But no matter what, I’m here if you need me,” her sister said. Knowingly.

      Claire bit her lip. Even her wise sibling knew how strong the Matt Fielding hold was.

       Cripes.

      “Guess what, Ellie-Belly?” Matt said, sitting down on the round braided rug in his niece’s bedroom. Not bad, he told himself as he realized he got down on his bad leg in record time and without wincing.

      Ellie was playing “dog tea,” serving her huge stuffed dogs who were sitting around the rug in a semicircle. Half had fallen over, but she’d prop them back up when it was their time for tea.

      “What?” she asked, pouring for the white poodle beside her.

      “What do you think about me moving to my own place nearby and fostering Sparkle and training her so that you could adopt her in about a month’s time?”

      Ellie gasped so loud that his sister came running up the stairs.

      “Everything okay?” Laura asked, looking from her daughter to her brother.

      Ellie flew into Matt’s arms. “Uncle Matt just told me he’s going to train Sparkle for me so we can adopt her!”

      Laura smiled. “He told me all about it. I’ll miss having you around, though, Matt. You just got here.”

      “I’ll be five minutes away,” he said. “And, Ellie, you’re welcome to come over whenever your mom says it’s okay. You can help me train Sparkle.”

      “This is the best day of my life so far,” Ellie said, throwing her arms around Matt for another hug. “Thank you.”

      “Anything for my favorite niece,” Matt said.

      “Aren’t I your only niece?” Ellie asked.

      “What about Sparkle? Isn’t she my other niece?”

      “I guess she is!” Ellie said. “But don’t tell her I’m your favorite. She’ll get jealous.”

      “I won’t.”

      He glanced at Laura, who was smiling. He looked at Ellie, who was also smiling. Even the stuffed dogs were smiling.

      But he wondered if Claire was even remotely happy about the situation. She saw a win-win for everyone and had made the offer. But he couldn’t imagine she’d be happy having him on her property.