He laid a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "There's no need to apologize. If this dog is what you want, it isn't important who gave it to you - and you don't need to ask me before you put another animal on this place."
The puppy licked her hand. "I'll put her outside as soon as she's old enough."
He nodded. "I'd appreciate that."
"How about an inside cat?" she asked.
He frowned. "That's even worse than an inside dog. They climb all over the counters. At least the dog is confined to the floor. Either way you'd have hair everywhere."
"I hadn't thought of that," she confessed. "We never had an inside cat. Every animal had to earn its keep. The only cat we had was a stray and it was allowed to stay around because it killed mice. A dog just ate up food."
Alex stood and helped her to her feet. "I never knew you wanted a cat."
She shrugged. "It would be nice. I could fix a place for it to get out of the cold and rain without coming inside." She giggled. "Listen to me. If you gave me free rein I'd have every kind of animal there was."
His expression remained solemn. "What kind of cat did you want?"
She laughed. "I don't know - one with a tail and four feet - a cat, but not a tom cat or a polecat."
His eyes suddenly twinkled and his mouth slid into a lopsided smile. "I would hope not a polecat."
Actually, she had never considered having a cat - or a dog, for that matter - not as a pet. The idea certainly had its appeal, especially so after seeing how Matthew responded to the puppy. As a child she had wanted a bird. Dad's response had been that they had lots of birds outside and they had chickens. If she had filled the need for a pet back then, would children have been as indispensable for her? She had been so focused on having children - even as a child. What made people the way they were? Why was Alex so absorbed with things being tidy? Why did he hide his feelings? Why did she want him in control - and then not?
"Carmen?"
His voice brought her back to the present. He frowned.
"If you want a cat, that's fine and if you don't want one, that's fine too."