Derek didn’t argue—at least, not about the name. Turning to Sophie, he put on his most wheedling smile and said, “There’s no reason why the dog can’t go too, is there?”

“Well, no,” she said, blinking at the sheer force of that smile. “Not really.”

“Except for the fact that she’s supposed to be in training. And that we need you to help with it.” Harrison wasn’t sure why the idea of going camping with Bubbles had him reacting so strongly, but that wasn’t anything new. Toss him out of his comfort zone, and this was what happened. The calm acceptance on both Derek’s and Sophie’s faces proved it. They would have been more surprised had he not growled a protest. “Besides, what about the c-a-m-p-f-i-r-e?”

“First of all, Bubbles is a dog, so you don’t need to spell it out,” Sophie said with a giggle. “Second, it might be good for her. The candles obviously haven’t been enough. We need to step up her exposure if we’re going to beat this thing.”

Harrison didn’t mention the small success he’d had in the grate that morning. It would kill him to get her hopes up only to dash them back down again. “But what about our regular training?”

She shrugged. “We can continue it there. A service dog isn’t supposed to change your lifestyle, Harrison; she’s supposed to fit into it. If camping is something you do every year, then you should absolutely keep doing it. Bubbles will adjust. She might even like it.”

Harrison barely heard any of what Sophie said beyond that ominous we can continue it there. We implied more than one of them. We included herself.

“All right!” Derek cried. “It’s a plan. You’ll like it out there, Sophie. Some of the wives and girlfriends come, so it’s not like you’ll be the only one.”

He caught the swift look of embarrassment that colored Sophie’s face and amended his words. “Not that you’re a girlfriend, of course, but you know what I mean. You’ll have company out there. More than this sorry bastard, anyway.”

This sorry bastard didn’t much care for the plan either way. He wasn’t ready to share Bubbles with the world. He wasn’t ready to share Sophie.

“We can’t ask Sophie to change her plans at the drop of a hat,” he said. “I’m sure she has other appointments, other places to be. We weren’t even supposed to work this weekend.”

“I’m in.” Sophie’s response was so quick it made Harrison’s head spin.

“But—”