"You're right, Tristan. That would just hurt my heart to see."
At that moment Buddy moves from where he is between us to climb onto Emma's lap. My heart fills with joy because he canrecognize that she is someone who will never let anything bad happen to him. I take advantage of the empty seat and move closer to her.
"I think he has a favorite."
"He just needs lots of love and caring. I can't have a dog here."
"He could be the store mascot. As long as you teach him not to leave the premises, he should be okay."
"Now you're hoisting him off on me?"
I search her face to see if she's really upset about that. It's clear she's not and only pretending to be offended.
"Maybe we can adopt him together. Shared custody. Fifty-fifty."
"How do I know you'll be a good dog father?"
"You can teach me exactly what I need to do."
"That would entail seeing each other often."
"I don't see a problem with that. Do you?"
"I'll have to think about it."
I watch her as she lowers her eyes and starts to stroke Buddy's fur once again. This tells me a lot about her and how caring she is. After a while it seems like I'm entranced by the movement of her hand. I look up suddenly to find her watching me.
"You're really good with him."
"I love animals."
"But you're burned out."
Her face hardens, and she tenses up her body immediately after I say that.
"What makes you say that?"
"No hobby, no life, all work. You are killing yourself slowly but surely."
"It's not that bad."
"Why are you doing it?"
"I want to make a difference. It's just…"
"What?"
"It feels like I'm never doing enough. Right now I'm training two interns so that they can take over and I can volunteer my grooming services at the shelter. It's going slow."
"Do you want more hot chocolate?"
If she's surprised by my offer, she doesn't show it.
"There's whipped cream in the fridge."
I leave her and Buddy to their own devices until I can make some more hot cocoa for her. When I come back to the sofa, I see her gaze is far away as if somewhere else.
"Here you go. Whipped cream on top."
