'Of course. I'll get in touch with a good breeder tomorrow,' he said, 'and I'll bring you the best puppy there is.' Then he recalled Faye's accusation that he settled everything without reference to others and, with a feeling of conscious virtue, he amended, 'No, you'll want to choose it yourself. You get the puppy and-I mean, we'll go and pick one out together.' He was learning fast.

Cindy nodded vigorously, beaming. A growing understanding of his daughter made Garth add, 'I expect you already know where to go.'

'That's right. Spare Paws.'

'Pardon?'

'Spare Paws. It's a home for abandoned dogs. I pass it every day on my way to school.'

'Darling, what do you want an abandoned dog for? Do you think I can't afford to buy you one?'

Cindy frowned, not understanding his argument. 'Nobody wants them,' she explained. 'They keep hoping and hoping that someone will give them a home.'

Just as she didn't understand his language, so he didn't understand hers. 'I can get you a pedigree puppy,' he protested, 'with a good bloodline-'

'But Daddy, people always give homes to pedigree puppies. I want a dog that nobody else wants.'

Garth ran a hand through his hair. 'But you won't know anything about this animal,' he argued. 'It might be full of diseases or fleas-'

'No, Spare Paws always gets its dogs clean and healthy before it lets them go,' Cindy contradicted him gently but firmly.

'Do they also make sure the dogs are friendly? Suppose this creature is vicious? No, darling, it's too chancy. You can choose a puppy from a breeder-'

'I don't want to,' Cindy said, sticking her bottom lip out. 'I want a dog that nobody else wants, one who's old and ugly, and blind in one eye, with a leg missing, and-and lots and lots and lots of fleas. And if I can't have that I don't want one at all.' She got up and ran away before Garth could reply.

A choke of laughter from behind made him look up to find Faye regarding him. 'If you'll pardon the pun, you made a real dog's breakfast of that,' she told him.