Purple Nails and Puppy Tails by Jill Santopolo Read Free Book Online Page B

She walked over to Aly and grabbed her hand. The sisters knew that as a team they could do almost anything. Other people helping made things easier, but as long as they had each other, Aly and Brooke would be fine.
    Miss Nina rubbed Melvin’s head. “He’s a good guy, I promise,” she said, giving him a treat.
    Aly and Brooke got to work, and were done pretty quickly, even with his drool. But maybe Brooke tickled Melvin, because he dropped his treat out of his mouth and licked her cheek, slobbering all over her face, the drool dripping down her neck.
    â€œEwwww!” Brooke said, but she was laughing. “Melvin, that’s gross! There’s spit all over me!”
    While Brooke cleaned herself up, Aly tidied the pet-icure area, then stepped back to take in all the dogs at once. With their baths and new haircuts andcolorful paws and sparkly collars, they looked like the most adoptable bunch of dogs ever. And once they had their new outfits on tomorrow, they’d look even more spectacular.
    Sparky may not have had Purple Paws paw-lish on, but he still looked super adorable. What was most important, Aly realized, was that they were nice dogs on the inside too, even Melvin.
    â€œYou know what?” Brooke said, walking over to Aly. She was still scrubbing her neck with antibacterial wipes that Miss Nina had found for her. “I think you’re right about Sparky.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?” Aly asked.
    â€œI think,” Brooke said, “he’s the best dog for us. Better than Melvin after all.”
    Aly turned to her sister to see if she was kidding, but Brooke looked one hundred percent serious. “You think so?” she asked.
    â€œActually, I more than think so,” Brooke said. “I know so.” She stopped wiping her face long enough to tug on her braid. “Do you think we can make a list to convince Mom and Dad to let us adopt him tomorrow?”
    Aly walked over to Sparky. “Hi, buddy,” she said to the dog. His little nub of a tail wagged like crazy. Very slowly, Aly put her hand out and touched the dog’s head. He licked her. And then licked her again and again. Brooke came over and petted him too, and he started licking her fingers.
    â€œI think,” Aly said, “that we should definitely try.”

nine
Red Rover
    A fter Mom had tucked the girls into bed that night, Aly reached into the crack between her bed and the wall and pulled out a small pad, an astronaut pen her dad had brought her back from New York City, and a miniature flashlight.
    â€œBrooke,” Aly whispered, pointing the flashlight beam at her sister, “are you ready to make our dog list?”
    Brooke sat up in her bed with a stuffed animal in each arm and nodded.
    â€œOkay, let’s go,” Aly said.
    It wasn’t a very long list. . . .
    Why We Should Be Allowed to Get a Dog
    1. Sparky needs a home.
    2. Sparky is well-behaved. He doesn’t bite or drool.
    (Aly left out the part about him peeing during the pet-icure.)
    3. Dad had a dog named Mouse that saved the house from a burglar, and Sparky’s bark could save us from a burglar one day.
    4. Sparky is the perfect size to take anywhere, so when we go visit Grammy and Papa, he can come too.
    Aly and Brooke hoped it would do the trick. Tomorrow was not only Adoption Day—hopefully, it would also be Sparky Day.

    When the Tanners drove over to Paws for Love, Dad couldn’t stop saying how proud he was of Aly and Brooke.
    â€œDid I mention how terrific you are?” he said.
    Brooke laughed. “You did , Dad. You did yesterday.”
    â€œBut you can say it again,” Aly added. “We don’t mind.”
    â€œIt’s true, we don’t.” Brooke was looking at Aly and raising her eyebrows high. Now? she mouthed about the Sparky list.
    Aly shook her head again. She really hoped Brooke didn’t jump the gun on this one.
    â€œI’m looking