Henry stood without hesitation. "I'm taking him for a walk," he said. "Do you want to come with?"
She made a face and tilted her head. "I thought about saying no, but we're in San Francisco, right? I should probably go. Hang on a second and let me change my shoes."
Henry found a notepad on the counter, and he left a note for Caleb.
I have the dog.
Call me.
He included his phone number at the bottom, and he went into the bedroom and left the notepad on the empty kennel.
Henry put the leash on PJ, and the three of them headed out for a walk. They were gone for two hours. There was an amazingpark next to Amelia's house, and they could have been gone longer. Two hours passed in a flash while they were letting PJ walk and sniff and check everything out.
It was surreal having such instant access to Golden Gate Park, and it was like nothing Henry and Bailey had ever seen before. Bailey was blown away. It was a gift, honestly, being there with his sister, walking the dog with her. Watching her laugh at PJ and check out the city was a great experience.
Henry didn't mind having PJ with them while they explored. But he knew Amelia was under the impression that he would be with Caleb all the time. She had mentioned that several times. That was why he didn't call her and tell her about it. He didn’t want her to worry until he knew what was going on.
But no one came to the house while they were out on their walk. And no one came afterward. Bailey didn't mind staying home and hanging out with the dog that evening, so that was what they did. Henry got angrier as the hours went by, and he wanted to be there when the guy came by.
He couldn't believe he hadn't yet.
It was now eleven o'clock that night, and there was no sign of her friend. Henry grew more certain with each passing minute that he would not be leaving the dog in San Francisco when they left town.
He was sitting on Amelia's couch with his sister and PJ when he got a call from her. He jumped up and headed toward the bedroom, motioning to his sister that he was going to take the call. He wasn't going to tell Amelia anything about PJ until after he had talked to her friend.
"How is it going?" she asked.
"It's great. We had an easy time at the airport and with finding your place."
"Good. Are you comfortable? How's Bailey?"
"She loves it. She's ecstatic. We walked around the park for two hours earlier."
"Aw, great. It's nice, huh?"
"So nice. I had no idea the magnitude."
"I know. Did you go to a museum, or a garden? Oh, I guess it was sort of after-hours by the time you got there."
"Yeah," he said, even though they couldn't have gone to any of those places with PJ. "Do you have a doorbell camera over here? Or in the house?"
She laughed at the question. "Yeah, but they're wireless, and the batteries are dead. Why, are you having a party at my house?"
He laughed. "No, no, I was just curious. I saw the little camera, but I wasn't sure if you were checking it or whatever."
"No, it's dead. Is something wrong with the house?"
"No, it's all good. I was just curious." He was being nonchalant, but he was thinking of Caleb and the dog, and the audacity of him to not be there yet to check on him.
Chapter 19
Henry
It was 8am the next morning when a guy came into the apartment.
Bailey was sleeping in Amelia's bedroom, and Henry was awake and sitting on the couch when the door opened. The guy at the door couldn't see Henry and had no idea he was in there, but PJ (who had been sleeping on the couch at Henry's feet) jumped up and ran to the door the instant it opened.
"What are you doing out, you little escape artist? Get down."
