She follows.
I should get packed. Start looking for a hotel that will allow dogs.
Or mentally prepare myself to move back in with my parents.
But I don’t want to.
I like this house.
The bedroom isn’t big by modern standards, but it’s roomy compared to my cabin on the ship. The bathroom is on the renovations list because of the olive-green tub and toilet, but the water pressure’s good. I’m not sure I’ve ever sat on a more comfortable couch than the one downstairs, and I’ve been catching up on so much TV that I missed while I was onboard.
Besides, the kitchen alone is worth putting up with a bad attitude.
I’m nearly done gathering what Jessica and I need to getout of here for the day when I hear theclomp…clomp…clompon the stairs.
My shoulders tighten. My cheek twitches. Jessica growls low in her throat from her position guarding the door.
Thoughguardingisn’t quite right.
She’s once again splooted out with her hind legs stretched behind her, and her head is resting on her front paws.
Still growling though.
I continue folding the laundry I did yesterday to finish the last few pieces.
And then he knocks on my bedroom door.
Jessica growls louder.
He sighs so heavily that I hear it through the bedroom door.
I square my shoulders and make myself walk the five steps to the door at a normal pace. I open it with the blankest of blank expressions on my face and channel the professional attitude I wore to work every day of my seven years on the cruise ship.
“Good morning again. Can I help you?”
Maybe not full professionalism.
But definitely as close as I can get.
His jaw works back and forth while his eye twitches. “I’m sorry,” he says.
Grunts, really.
I give a short nod. “Thank you. I’ll be out of your hair in approximately an hour.”
His jaw tics. “Someone stole my phone.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“At the airport. While I was waiting to check in. That’s why I didn’t text.”
I bite my tongue to keepwas that so hard to say?from coming out of my mouth.
“I can’t drive,” he adds.
Logical. It’s his right foot in the boot. “I’m sorry to hear that too.”
He lifts a hand and scrubs his face with it. There’s at least three days’ worth of dark stubble on his chin and cheeks. He smells like he hasn’t showered in that long either. “Will you please drive me to get a new phone?”
