Love Is a Four-Legged Word Read Free Page B

her in his will. Had she had to feign passion for a man that age? Or had it come naturally?
    “What if I don’t want . . . want the responsibility?”
    What? The Miss Innocent act was going too far.
    “Give up an inheritance like that? Surely not.”
    “But it’s Brutus who’s inheriting.”
    “Didn’t you understand? It’s you who will control the money.”
    She covered her face with her hands. “I’m still trying to take it in.Why me?”
    “Only you know that,” he said, not letting his thoughts stray to what this pretty young woman might have done to gain such a windfall. Had she gone all the way? Or just performed other . . . services?
    She dropped her hands from her face and looked over to Tom, forehead screwed up. “Walter said in the will I was the granddaughter he never had. He . . . used to say that when he was alive . . .”
    As if, thought Tom.
    “He didn’t have any children,” said Maddy, her voice hesitant. “His only child died when she was a toddler. Once I asked him if he had any relatives; he said none he cared to know about.”
    “So he said in his meeting with me.” Walter had been very clear about that. Even naming names.
    Maddy seemed to be thinking out loud. “Brutus was his baby. I’m not surprised he wanted his dog looked after. But . . . I would have happily done it for nothing. He knew that.”
    Sure he had.
    “Are you certain this isn’t a joke? I still can’t believe it’s happening.”
    Tom nodded. “Believe it.”
    “Are you sure it’s legal?”
    “Yes. California law allows trusts for pets as a provision in a will.”
    She shook her head disbelievingly. “It’s still sinking in.”
    “You heard the terms of the will—as executor, it’s my duty to make sure Brutus survives the twenty-one days. Well, seventeen now.”
    Maddy Cartwright chewed on her bottom lip. He had to admit she was very convincing. “Tell me again what happens if Brutus doesn’t survive?”
    “You get a very substantial inheritance and the rest goes to a dogs’ home.”
    The color flooded back into her face. “So it’s a win-win situation for me?”
    Yes, and that’s the way Walter Stoddard had wanted it. He’d made that very clear to Tom on the one and only occasion they’d met just a month ago. Tom had assumed that the lucky young woman in question had been the old man’s mistress.
    Walter Stoddard had been clever. Leaving his fortune in trust for the dog rather than directly to the young girlfriend made it more difficult for disgruntled relatives to contest the will. It was difficult for a dog to be seen as having undue influence over an old man’s dying wishes.
    “You do understand that during those seventeen days I have to assess your suitability as Brutus’s guardian?”
    Maddy was silent for a long moment, looking down at her sneaker-clad feet. When she looked up at him again, Tom was surprised at the tight set of her face and the downward twist to her mouth.
    “You think I influenced Walter with his will, don’t you?” she said.
    “I didn’t say that.”
    “You don’t have to,” she said.
    Tom was glad he wasn’t the type to blush. His imaginings had definitely been of the lurid variety. He knew how foolish an older man could be over a pretty young face—and body. His father had been proof of that.
    He cleared his throat. “One way or the other, whatever the reason,Walter Stoddard wanted his money to be yours.”
    Her chin went up at a tilt. “Huh! And you disapprove. I sensed your hostility the second you got here.”
    “Hostility? I’m not hostile toward you, Ms. Cartwright.”
    Her mouth twisted. “Don’t bother lying. You’re entitled to think what you want. And I’m sure you won’t be the only one . . .”
    He tried to interrupt, but she spoke over him.
    “I’m not naïve. A rich old man. A poor young woman. Well, not poor, but living-from-paycheck-to-paycheck type average. For heaven’s sake, Walter was eighty-two! But some people have sick