“My dog agrees.” Elias bent over to give the dog a pat.
“Your dog?” Juliet’s eyebrows shot up. “Don’t you mean foster dog?”
“To-may-toes, to-mah-toes,” Elias joked.
“Good boy.” Jenny scratched behind Higgins’s ears. “Yeti doesn’t know what to make of our foster cat, Nova. She’s the sweetest, diluted tortie. Briley loves her already. Dare and I do too. I’m not sure we’ll return her to the rescue on the twenty-sixth.”
“Do you have to?” Tasha asked.
“No, we’re allowed to adopt her.” Jenny patted the dog. “Which is probably the entire point of Sabine’s Home for the Holidays program.”
“I hope it works out for you, but I won’t be a foster failure.” Elias brimmed with confidence. “Higgins is a great dog, but he doesn’t like being left at home while I work. I spend my lunch hour there, but he might be happier with someone who is around more.”
“Or he might not.” Juliet said what Tasha had been thinking. “Dogs adapt quickly. Mrs. Vernon was home most of the time, but Lucy’s fine with me being gone for work and parties. Give Higgins time.”
“I will, but he’s not staying with me.” Elias glanced around. “How did tryouts go?”
Tasha grinned at his change of subject. It felt good to have a genuine smile on her face. “Berry Lake contains a treasure trove of talent.”
Juliet stood. “I’ll see you at the first practice.”
“I’ll try to make as many as I can.” Jenny rose. “Dare and Briley are home from their trip, so I’m taking off.”
“Go. Both of you.” Elias shooed them away. “I’ll help Tasha clean up.”
As Juliet and Jenny left, Tasha folded the three chairs and carried them to the skate-rental trailer. Elias followed with the table.
“Thanks.” Tasha didn’t like how breathless she sounded. “I hope your week is going well.”
“It is. Busy as usual, but now I have a dog.” He didn’t sound like he was complaining. More like explaining. “Sorry I didn’t reply to your text or get in touch earlier.”
“No problem.” It wasn’t.
Or rather, it shouldn’t be.
She enjoyed meeting people and making herself useful. Doing that lit her up inside. So what if being with Elias had the same effect?
“Higgins has been having problems with his crate. He won’t sleep in it at bedtime. He barks and whines, and I’ve slept little until last night.”
“That has to be rough.” Tasha didn’t function well without at least seven hours of sleep. “But what changed yesterday?”
A guilty expression crossed Elias’s face. “I didn’t make him go into the crate.”
“Where did he sleep?”
“On my bed.”
That seemed a big turnaround from his he’s-going-back-to-the-rescue stance. “Whatever works.”
He nodded. “I was desperate.”
What Deputy Cooper had said about Elias was the one hundred percent truth. He was a nice guy.
“Higgins and I are about to take a walk along Main Street and figure out what to take home for dinner,” Elias said. “Want to join us?”
Her heart leaped. “I’d love to.”
CHAPTER NINE
