"I'll be fine," Jamie said. "I've been flipping off fate my whole life."
"Then maybe fate is waiting to bite you in the ass," Ruth said.
"It probably is," Jamie said. "But I don't mind a good bite."
chapter fifty-four
Jude
Today's vocabulary word: complacent
I joggeddown the back steps, a beer in one hand and a bottle of cider in the other. "I saw this at the store today," I said as I joined Audrey on the grass. "Give it a try. See if you like it."
She studied the label while Percy tried to keep up with Bagel's after-dinner zoomies. Judging by the number of times Percy fell to the ground laughing, I'd say he wasn't doing a great job of it.
"This is good," she said, sampling the cider. "Thank you."
I tapped my bottle to hers. "Anytime, princess."
We sipped our drinks and watched Percy and Bagel as the sun slid into the horizon. Audrey's neighborhood was quiet though around this time in the evening, we often heard neighbors cooking on their grills or gathered on screened-in porches. There were always families out for strolls, pool-wet kids on bikes and scooters, and teenagers cackling with laughter and shouting at each other as they made their way to the local hangout spots.
This was a good place. It wasn't dripping in the kind of cloying sameness that had kept me away from smaller cities and towns. And it wasn't nearly as buttoned-up and impersonal as the townhouse community we called home in Alexandria. I didn't know Audrey's neighbors beyond waving when folks drove by but I didn't doubt that if I knocked on a door and asked to borrow a socket wrench, someone would want to help me out.
"I think Bagel's going to need a walk this evening," Audrey said.
"They haven't tired each other out yet," I said.
"Not at all," she mused. She set the cider down and turned my wrist to glance at my watch. "We should go soon. It's going to get buggy."
I leaned in and brushed a kiss over her lips before pushing to my feet. "All right. You get the kids, I'll get the leash and bug spray."
"Are we really doing that? TheBagel is our childthing? Because I have to tell you I've fostered a lot of dogs and cats, and while I loved them all dearly, I always knew they'd be moving on to other homes. They weren't my fur babies."
I drummed a finger on my belt. "Bagel can't move on to another home." She glanced up at me withAre we having this conversation now?eyes. And no, we weren't having this conversation now because I didn't know how the fuck to have it. All I could say was, "Don't tell me you don't love this dog too."
"What's not to love?" she asked. "He goes out of his way to ignore both of us. He intermittently forgets how to walk on a leash and hides under benches at the dog park. He strongly distrusts other dogs though mostly because he doesn't know what they are. And he's imprinted on Percy. Or maybe it's the other way around. All I know is he's a total weirdo just like the rest of us. Of course, I love him."
"Look, my son tells everyone he meets that this dog is his brother," I said. "If I can roll with that, you can too."
She stood, brushing grass from the back of her shorts. "I mean, sure."
"I can hear the judgment in your tone."
"I hope you do," she said, laughing.
"You should hope our dog son doesn't hear it." She inclined her head and scraped a gaze over me. When I couldn't take it anymore, I barked, "What?"
"I'm just trying to imagine what the people in our high school class would say if they could see their Padrino now."
I rolled my eyes. "They can get fucked. All of 'em."
"Yeah, agreed, but the real question is whether they'd still be afraid of you if they knew you cooked ground beef or chicken special for Bagel every night."
"He doesn't like regular dog food, Audrey. What do you want me to do? Watch him stare at his bowl?"
"Go get the bug spray," she said, giving my shoulder a hard shove. "We'll meet you out front."
I went back inside, our beer and cider bottles in hand. I left them to drain in the sink and started the dishwasher as I heard Audrey call, "Who wants to go for a walk?"
