His mom brushed her hands on the seat of her jeans and nodded, her eyes not quite meeting his. “She means a lot to you—this dog?”

He didn’t know what it was about her tone that annoyed him, but it probably had something to do with how disbelieving it was, how unsure. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Naturally this woman, who had seen a son in peril and walked away, couldn’t fathom putting in this kind of work for a mere puppy.

“Yes, Minerva. Mom.” He placed a heavy emphasis on her title. “Bubbles means a lot to me. I’ve only had her for a few weeks, but I love her.”

She lifted a hand to him before dropping it well out of reach. “Of course you do, darling.”

On the contrary, there was no of course about it. Of course was the last thing anyone would have expected when pairing a man like him and a puppy like Bubbles. In fact, the only person in the world who would look at the two of them and think, Huh, this seems like a great idea, was Sophie.

Not because her world was one of comfort and coddling, but because she was the only person to believe he could change. She’d taken one look at him, seen straight through to his heart, and decided to single-handedly bring it to life again.

And that was exactly what she’d done—up until the moment he’d crushed her with a few callous words.

Yet she was still here, helping him.

She was still here, making sure that whatever was left of his heart had a chance to thrive.

“I don’t believe in forgiveness and second chances,” he said with an abrupt change of subject.

His mother’s face fell. “I know I don’t deserve either one, but—”

“Just because Dad is capable of reversing twenty-two years of conditioning and is willing to open his heart to you again, that doesn’t mean I have to too.”

“No, and I completely understand, only—”

“Don’t hurt him,” Harrison said.

She blinked, almost as confused as he was by the sudden change in his tone. But although she couldn’t know what kinds of battles were being waged inside his chest, had no idea that Sophie had triumphed there so many times already, he did. Forgiveness and second chances sounded pretty good right about now. So did opening his heart to all those possibilities he’d shunned for years.

“That’s all I ask of you,” he said. “I don’t know why you decided to come back now, of all times, or what you said to convince Dad that this time would be any different, but these past twenty years haven’t been easy on him. I haven’t been easy on him.”

“Oh, Harrison.”