At least death was predictable.
I could deal with that.
Buddy had been a great dog. A great companion to Mrs. Stevens since her husband had died, and I knew fromexperience, as my dad had told me years before, sometimes people weep, not so much for the lost pet but for the grief of a loved one that pet helped them through.
They relive that grief all over again.
It wasn’t a rational response, but very few things humans did were rational.
It’s why I preferred animals. They acted on instinct and there was a predictability in that. There was no subterfuge, lies, or insults disguised as sarcasm in animals.
Winter’s suggestion to drop by and check on Mrs. Stevens was a great idea, and I was so grateful he offered to come with me.
I was so grateful for him.
For his phone call last night. For his letting me talk without judgment. For listening. For making me smile.
I didn’t know I could need someone like I needed him.
It was different from the way I needed my family.
It made my heart feel too big and happy.
So the line of poetry I sent him might have been too much, which was part of my morning of overthinking, but I couldn’t bring myself to regret it.
Was it a declaration? Was I saying too much?
It was very likelyyes.
His gif reply of a black-and-white movie star clutching a letter to her chest while she swooned told me he liked the poem, but still...
Overthinking was my specialty.
His blinding smile when I walked into his store at lunchtime told me he was happy to see me.
Maybe he felt for me what I felt for him.
Though I was certain what I felt for him far exceeded his feelings.
If the online definitions of love were anything to go by.
He made my heart skip a beat, my breath would catch, and my brain would stop processing...
It was either love or a medical condition.
Given it only presented when I saw him, or spoke to him, or thought of him, I was sure it wasn’t medical.
“Hey,” he said softly, his eyes scanning mine. “You look great. I haven’t seen that coat before.”
I looked down at my coat. It was a navy peacoat. Nothing special. I had a white button-down underneath. Not my usual work attire. “I wanted to dress appropriately to see Mrs. Stevens,” I replied.
“Well, you look very dapper.”
Dapper.
That word made me smile.
Or maybe it was just him.
