CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Austin
A MONTH LATER
Again? Dammit. “Waldo, whereare you?” I open the front door and spot Scarlett and Waldo playing Frisbee across the dirt road. “Nothing says good morning like thinking your girlfriend left in the middle of the night and then finding your dog walked out too,” I shout out to Scarlett.
“I made you breakfast, grumpy.” I guess I’ve never been much of a morning person, but it’s been a little nicer waking up next to Scarlett when she doesn’t get out of bed before me.
The hotel lets her choose her main shifts, so she matched it up to my schedule the best she could. They have suites for the staff at the hotel, so she splits her time between there and here, but it may have been here a little more than there recently. I went years convincing myself I’d be okay waking up alone for the rest of my life because I didn’t think a good relationship could exist after everything I’ve seen, so it was easier not to expect anything.
“What did you make?” I ask her.
“Bacon.”
“Scarlett … ”
“What?”
“That’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny,” she argues.
“You know Betsy Blue, the pig version, has been missing for a few days now.”
“Finders keepers.” She shrugs.
“Scarlett!”
“I’m kidding, loser.”
“I wouldn’t put it past you, pig hater.”
“I don’t hate pigs in general, just Betsy Blue.”
“That’s racist.”
Scarlett throws the frisbee right into my chest and now I have a hundred-and-fifty-pound Lab galloping toward me. “Waldo, no. No, boy. Waldo!” She’s giggling and I’m on my butt getting my face licked by my favorite butt licker.
“You’re a jerk,” I tell her.
“No, I’m not. I’m like the nicest person in the world.”
“In what world?”
“My world,” she answers.
“That’s what I figured.”
“I really did make breakfast,” she says, walking past me and into the house.
I follow her inside and find that she was being truthful. There’s a stack of pancakes and bacon. She winks at me when I spot the bacon. “How much of Betsy’s butt would you like to eat?”
“Too much,” I tell her.
“There’s no such thing as too much bacon.”
“Will you shush?” I ask her.
