A New Leash on Love Read online

  Will true love strike twice...

  ...at the Furever Paws shelter?

  Army vet Matt Fielding is back—for good—and finding a puppy for his niece. He’s also avoiding Claire Asher, his high school ex—spotted at the local animal shelter! He can’t refuse her offer of puppy training, but soon their friendly reunion brings back memories of their teenage love, and sparks fly. Will their rekindled affair lead Matt to put a ring on it?

  FUREVER PAWS

  Adoptable Dogs of the Week

  Meet Sparkle. This five-month-old springer spaniel mix is just longing for a home. You’ll fall in love with her beautiful chestnut-brown-and-white soft fur and long floppy ears. Although she is sweet, she is full of puppy energy and will require a good deal of training. But Sparkle appears ready to learn and is treat motivated. She would be a great addition to any home—the perfect best friend for a little boy or girl to grow up with.

  Meet Hank. Don’t let his gray muzzle fool you. This retriever mix has plenty of joy left in him. He certainly hasn’t let the fact that he only has three legs get him down. An owner surrender, Hank is obviously missing the only home and family he’s ever known but is still delighted to meet new people. He’s been overlooked for a while but we’re hoping the right person will see all the love this sweet boy still has left to give.

  * * *

  FUREVER YOURS:

  Finding forever homes—and hearts!—has never been so easy.

  Dear Reader,

  Right now my supersweet two-year-old dog, Flash, who looks like a mini German shepherd, is asleep beside me on the sofa. My cat, a black-and-white beauty named Cleo, is curled up against Flash’s back, one white paw on his head. I love these two so much and can barely remember life before I adopted them. Cleo came from our local humane society, and Flash from an all-breed rescue organization that saved him from a crowded county shelter.

  Special Edition’s new six-book series, Furever Yours, means so much to me. Set around an animal shelter in North Carolina, Furever Yours is all about how we rescue pets and they rescue us right back. My heroine, Claire, volunteers at the Furever Paws Animal Shelter, and when her first love, the man who broke her heart, comes in to adopt a puppy for his little niece, a lot of hearts get rescued in the process.

  I hope you enjoy Claire and Matt’s love story and spending time with the special cast of four-legged (and three-legged) characters in the book! Feel free to visit my website at melissasenate.com for more information on me and my books. And if you follow me on Facebook and @melissasenate on Twitter, you’ll see lots of photos of my beloved Flash and Cleo.

  Happy New Year,

  Melissa Senate

  A New Leash on Love

  Melissa Senate

  Melissa Senate has written many novels for Harlequin and other publishers, including her debut, See Jane Date, which was made into a TV movie. She also wrote seven books for Harlequin’s Special Edition line under the pen name Meg Maxwell. Her novels have been published in over twenty-five countries. Melissa lives on the coast of Maine with her teenage son; their rescue shepherd mix, Flash; and a lap cat named Cleo. For more information, please visit her website, melissasenate.com.

  Books by Melissa Senate

  Harlequin Special Edition

  The Wyoming Multiples

  The Baby Switch!

  Detective Barelli’s Legendary Triplets

  Hurley’s Homestyle Kitchen (as Meg Maxwell)

  A Cowboy in the Kitchen

  The Detective’s 8 lb, 10 oz Surprise

  The Cowboy’s Big Family Tree

  The Cook’s Secret Ingredient

  Charm School for Cowboys

  Santa’s Seven-Day Baby Tutorial

  Montana Mavericks: The Great Family Roundup (as Meg Maxwell)

  Mommy and the Maverick

  Montana Mavericks: The Lonelyhearts Ranch

  The Maverick’s Baby in Waiting

  Visit the Author Profile page at www.Harlequin.com for more titles.

  Join Harlequin My Rewards today and earn a FREE ebook!

  Click here to Join Harlequin My Rewards

  http://www.harlequin.com/myrewards.html?mt=loyalty&cmpid=EBOOBPBPA201602010002

  Dedicated with appreciation to animal shelters

  and rescue organizations worldwide.

  Thank you for all you do.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Excerpt from The Lawman’s Convenient Family by Judy Duarte

  Chapter One

  The gray-muzzled, three-legged Lab mix gnawing on a chew toy in his kennel at the Furever Paws Animal Rescue sure reminded Matt Fielding of himself. The dog was big, and so was Matt, at six foot one, with muscles honed by the United States Army. Matt wasn’t missing a leg, but he’d come scarily close, an IED injuring him to the point that he’d been medically retired three months ago, spending that time—until yesterday—in base rehab. He had only a slight limp now, but kneeling down in front of the old dog’s kennel had taken a good fifteen seconds.

  I’d take you home in a heartbeat, Hank, he thought, his gaze on the dog’s chart. The ten-year-old was an “owner surrender.” Among the sadder words, for sure. His heart went out to the old guy stuck in this limbo between homes—like Matt was. But his sister would kill him if he walked through the door of her pristine house with a huge senior dog. And getting on her bad side right now wasn’t a good idea.

  The former army corporal had his order—and it was to find his sister’s eight-year-old daughter, Matt’s adored niece, Ellie, a suitable puppy. Suitable, of course, was a relative term. Old Hank might have spoken to Matt’s soul, but he wasn’t here to find himself a dog. Pets required commitment and a solid home, not a guy who had no idea where he’d be a week or two from now. Thirty-six and his life up in the air. If anyone had told Matt, so focused from the time he joined the army at eighteen, that one day he’d be at a loss for what came next, he wouldn’t have believed it. Until three months ago, he was the US Army. Now, he was a civilian. With a slight limp.

  It’s barely noticeable and is symbolic of your service, so don’t let it get you down, his sister had said yesterday when he’d arrived back in his hometown of Spring Forest, North Carolina, for the first time in five years. Little Ellie had saluted him, and he’d swept her up in a hug. But living in his sister’s guest room, despite his adorable niece telling him knock-knock jokes that made no sense but still made him laugh, wasn’t ideal. He needed to figure out what came next.

  Right now, though, he needed to focus on his mission. One thing at a time, one moment at a time, his doc and the nurses at the rehab had said over and over.

  So, back to suitable pups.

  “Hank is one of my favorites,” a woman said, and Matt almost jumped.

  He knew that voice. He turned to the left and looked up, and standing not ten feet away was Claire Asher.

  Claire.

  From the look on her beautiful face, it was obvious she hadn’t realized it was him. For a moment he couldn’t find his voice. All he could do was take in the sight of her, his chest tight and his throat closed. He’d spent so many nights over the past eighteen years thinking about her, wondering how she was, where she was, if she was happy, his memories getting him through some iffy times. And now she stood almost within reach, pale brown eyes wide, mouth dropped open.

  She had a leash in her hand and a big cinnamon-colored dog in a purple polka-dotted harness beside her. A boxer, maybe? Matt wondered, finding it easier to focus on the dog than the woman—who was staring at him with the same shock that had to be on his face.

  “Matt?” she said, wonder in her voice.

  The dog next to her tilted her head, his dark-brown ears flopping to the right.

  He nodded and stood up, which took the same fifteen seconds getting down had. “I’m here to find a dog for my niece.” Going through his mind was, You look amazing. How are you? I’ve thought about you constantly. What are you doing here? I’ve missed you. Thank God none of that had come rushing out of his mouth.

  “Ellie,” she said, surprising him. “I’ve run into your sister a few times over the years.”

  He nodded, his gaze going to her left hand. No ring. Hadn’t he heard she’d gotten married a while back?

  “You look great, Claire.” She really did. Tall and as slender as she’d been back in high school, she was the Claire Asher he remembered—would never forget. Her silky, wavy, light blond hair was shoulder-length instead of halfway down her back, and the faintest of crinkles at the corners of those green eyes spoke of the passage of years. The last time he’d seen Claire she was seventeen. Now, she was thirty-five.

  “Are you on leave?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I’m a civilian now. Just got back in town yesterday. I’m staying with my sister for a bit. In fact, my sister is why I’m here. She and her husband promised Ellie a puppy for her birthday next month, so I told Laura I’d scout it out. I heard great things about Furever Paws just from asking about pet shelters at the coffee shop.”

  Claire beamed. “It’s a very special place. I volunteer here.” She gave the dog beside her a pat. “This is Dempsey. I’m fostering her until she finds a forever home.”

  “A furever home,” he said, pointing at the rectangular wooden sign on the wall with the message in silver script: Where furbabies find their furever homes.

  She smiled—that beautiful Claire Asher smile that used to drive him wild.

  “If only you’d come in yesterday or this morning,” she said. “Every Saturday and Sunday we hold adoption events here at the shelter. Four puppies found forever—furever—homes, plus five adult dogs and five cats.”

  “So these dogs in the kennels weren’t chosen?” he asked, eyeing Hank, who was still chewing on his toy bone.

  “Not this weekend. But we get a crowd every Saturday and Sunday, and sometimes it takes a while to find an ideal match. That’s the most important part of the process—that the match be just right, for the pet and the adoptive family.”

  He nodded. “Is there a match for an eight-year-old girl whose requirements are ‘super cute, snuggly and won’t destroy a prized stuffed animal collection’?”

  Claire laughed. “Follow me. I think I know just the pup.” She led him down the row of kennels to the end. A puppy was spinning circles in the kennel, chasing her tail and letting out loud yips.

  “My ears,” Matt said with a smile. The puppy sure ticked off the “adorable” requirement. A springer spaniel mix, according to the chart, five months old, she was chestnut-brown and white with long, ruffled, floppy ears. Ellie would go nuts over her.

  “Yeah, that’s why she’s still here. She yipped for twenty minutes straight at both adoption events. Including every time someone came near her kennel. She’s only been here a few days, though. Another volunteer and I have been working with her a bit. She just needs some training. She’s very sweet.”

  And loud, Matt thought. And...active. “Does she ever actually catch her tail and stop spinning?”

  Claire laughed again. “Yes. Peanut butter treats get her to do anything.”

  “Would she be right for Ellie?” he asked. “My sister likes calm and orderly. I think she wants an old dog in a puppy’s body.”

  “Well, it’s important to match temperaments, and puppies can be trained, but puppies are puppies—little kids. They make noise, they’re super active, they eat shoes.”

  “Ellie never ate a shoe, far as I know.”

  She laughed and touched his arm, the most casual gesture, but the feel of her fingers on his skin sent a lightning bolt through him. Standing here with her, her hand on him, it was as if they’d never broken up. Claire and Matt, high school sweethearts, married with four kids, four dogs, four cats—that was how many Claire had said she wanted of each. Plus a parrot and lovebirds. And a box turtle. He could go on.

  Sometimes, over the years, late at night, Matt would berate himself for breaking up with Claire after graduation. He’d told her he needed to be focused on being the best soldier he could be, leaving it at that, and the pain on Claire’s face had almost made him tell her the truth. That he wasn’t and had never been and never would be good enough for her, that he’d hold her back, keep studious, bookish, intelligent Claire from fulfilling her big dreams of leaving Spring Forest for the big city. Matt wasn’t a big city guy, and he’d planned to be career-army. Now, he didn’t know what he was. Too many rough tours of duty, first as a soldier, then as a mechanic on dangerous missions, had left him...broken.

  And here in Spring Forest, he didn’t recognize himself or belong.

  Focus on the mission, not yourself, he ordered himself. “I think my sister wants a temperament like Dempsey’s,” Matt said, gesturing at Claire’s foster dog. The pooch was sitting, hadn’t made a peep and didn’t react in the slightest to the commotion around her.

  “Dempsey is the best,” Claire said. “A couple months ago, she was found chained outside an abandoned house. I don’t think she ever had a home before I took her in, so I’ve worked hard at acclimating her to the good life—which means passing muster on housetraining, manners, obedience, the whole thing. Now she’s ready for a home, but she keeps getting passed over.”

  She knelt down beside the boxer and gave her a double scratch on the sides of her neck, then a kiss on her brown snout. Claire shook her head and stood up, her gaze on the dog.

  He might not know Claire anymore, but a stranger could tell how much she loved that dog.

  “Can’t you adopt her?” he asked.

  “I always want to adopt every dog I foster, but that’s not my calling here,” she explained. “Fostering is about preparing dogs for adoption so they can find homes. If I adopted every dog I fostered, I’d have over twenty at this point. Plus, every time a dog I work with finds a home, I can foster a new pooch.”

  “Must be hard to let them go,” he said. “Don’t you get attached?”

  “Definitely,” she said. “But because we do such a good job of matching furbabies and adoptive parents, I know they’re going to a great home. I do worry about how attached I am to Dempsey, though. I can’t explain it, but we definitely have a special bond.” She gave the boxer mix another scratch on the head, and the dog looked up at her with such trust in her eyes, even Matt’s battered heart was touched. “Oftentimes, that bond is there right away.”

  “I had no idea about any of this,” he said. “There’s more involved in choosing a dog than I realized. Can you help me find the right puppy for Ellie?”

  “Of course,” she said. “There are a few other puppies here that Ellie might like, but they all need some training. Maybe you can bring Ellie back with you and we can see who she bonds with. Furever Paws is in the process of finding a new director, so I’m helping with just about everything, from meet and greets to training to fostering to cleaning out kennels.”

  He glanced around the kennel area of the shelter, which had a warm, welcoming vibe to it. “It’s great of you to give your time,” he said. “When should I bring my niece in tomorrow?”

  “I’m d one teaching at the middle school at three, so I usually arrive at three thirty.”

  So she had become a teacher. That had always been her dream. But back in high school she’d wanted to leave Spring Forest and see the world, teaching her way through it. Maybe she had, for all he knew. “Works for Ellie too,” he said. “See you tomorrow, then.”

  For a second they just looked at each other, neither making a move to leave. He wished he could pull her into his arms and hug her, hold her tight, tell her how good it was to see her, to hear her voice, to talk to her. He’d missed her so much and hadn’t even known it. Which was probably a good thing. He had nothing to offer her.

  As he gave Dempsey a pat and turned to walk away, he couldn’t quite figure out how he could be so relieved to be leaving and so looking forward to coming back.

  He paused in front of Hank’s kennel. Life is complicated, huh, boy?

  Hank tilted his head, and Matt took that as a nod.

  * * *

  To catch her breath and decompress, Claire took Dempsey into the fenced yard, which was thankfully empty of other volunteers. She let Dempsey off leash and for a few moments watched the dog run around the grass, sniffing and wagging her tail.

  Matt Fielding. Everyone always said you never forgot your first love, and that had been very true for Claire. She’d truly believed he would be the man she’d marry and spend the rest of her life with. And then boom—a few days after a magical prom night, he’d broken up with her.

  Her first boyfriend in college had proposed, and maybe the promised security had had something to do with why she’d said yes when she hadn’t loved him the way she’d loved Matt. To this day, she didn’t know if that had contributed to her divorce, but five years into her marriage, she’d found out that her ex-husband was cheating and in love with someone else. Now, she was living in the house they’d built out in the Kingdom Creek development, without the husband or the kids they’d talked about or the dogs they were going to adopt.