Brilliant, Callie. Now he thinks you’re trying to hit on him. Really running with the desperate theme today.
“Don’t wait,” I say hastily. “I’ll bring everything over.”
“You’ve gone all clammy.” Dot laughs, reemerging from the office once Joel’s walked away, Murphy at his heels as if the pair of them arrived together.
I let out a hoot of laughter, then hand her his order, clambering up the steps to finish writing where I left off. “What?”
“You’re all pink and flustered.” She picks up some tongs, reaches into the cabinet for Joel’s sandwich.
Outside, rain starts pelting the pavement with a shower of mistybullets. I lift the pen and start writing again. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Was he flirting with you?”
“Definitely not.”
“You know he comes in here virtually every day?”
With a shrug I turn to her, though it’s Joel in my peripheral vision. “I think he’s just bonded with Murphy.”
“Yeah,” Dot says, pursing her lips. “Murphy. That must be it. He really,reallylikes your dog.”
•••
“You can’t stay here all night, Cal.”
“I don’t want to wake him.”
“I’ll do it, then.”
“No! Don’t. Give him five minutes. There’s plenty I can be getting on with.”
Dot tilts her head and looks at him, like she’s taking in a particularly nuanced piece of art. “So what’s his deal, do you reckon?”
“How do you mean?”
“Does he have a job? He always seems a bit...”
“What?”
“... vagrant.”
I like that about Joel, the raw appeal of imperfection. “Does it matter?”
“Oh, you havesucha soft spot for him.”
“I do not.”
“Whatever. I approve. You could do far worse.”
“Thanks, Dot. You can go now.”
“Fine. But can you please not stay here watching him sleep until midnight?”
“I promise I won’t.”
She demonstrates her faith in me by banging the door hard on her way out, giving me a double thumbs-up through the window.
Joel stirs, so I head over to his table, Murphy at my side.
