“It’s pampering,” Rosemary piped up. “Like buying yourself flowers. Why wait around for a man to buy you flowers when you can just go and buy your own? My Winston was a god among men, but he wasn’t really a romantic. And I’ve always loved flowers. So, I’d buy myself a bunch every week or so—nothing flashy or expensive—and I’d put them in a vase, and they gave me such pleasure. Doing things that give you pleasure should never be bad.”

As if the universe had heard Rosemary, there was a sudden banging on the door. Della glanced at the time. Quarter past nine. Gah! She’d been having such fun she’d lost track of time.

And pleasure, it seemed, had come knocking.

“Oh dear,” Rosemary said as they all stared at the door. “Do you think the neighbors have called the cops on us?”

Winona snorted. “What’s Arlo going to get us for? Reading erotica while in a small town?”

But it wasn’t Arlo. He’d called around earlier, and even if he hadn’t, she knew it wasn’t him. She could feel Tucker on the other side of the door.

There was another knock, and Molly looked at Della pointedly. All five women did. “Would you like me to get that?”

Della shot up from the table as if she’d been tasered. That was a hell no. “I’ll go.”

No one was supposed to know what they were doing, and surely him being on her doorstep this late at night would be suspicious. She’d just have to send him away without letting anyone inside know who was calling. Easy. Right?

Ah…nope.

She opened the door, and Tucker was standing there with a small dog in one arm, some kind of basket in the other, and a grin on his face. She wouldn’t have thought it possible that Tucker Daniels could get any sexier, but man, had she been wrong.

Della was pretty sure Tucker Daniels holding a dog had just made her pregnant.

“Say hello to your present,” he announced in a not-very-quiet voice as he passed the dog over.

Totally forgetting about her guests, she gasped as she adjusted the bundle in her arms. Its coat was chestnut and white and so, so soft. It had a sweet face, long, floppy ears, and a button nose that was currently sniffing her neck. “Oh, Tucker.”

“You said you wanted a dog.”

The dog licked under her chin as Della stared at him. She’d mentioned it once. “I do.”

“Who is it, dear?” Rosemary said. The older woman was suddenly at her elbow and had spotted the dog in the blink of an eyelid. “Oh, my goodness,” she exclaimed, reaching out to pet the pooch. “Who do we have here?” She glanced at Tucker, apparently unsurprised by his presence. “Hey Tucker. This your dog?”