“Don’t be silly.”
“I’msilly?”
“There are chairs in the reception area I can stretch out on.”
“Absolutely fucking not. You can stay at my house,” I say firmly.
I wouldn’t sleep a single wink if I knew she was passed out on a plastic chair in the shelter. Wanted is a safe town, but that seems both dangerous and very uncomfortable. Not to mention noisy. There are probably a dozen dogs in residence.
“Your house? You have a house?” Winnie looks at me with such astonishment I’m actually amused.
“Yes, I have a house. In town. It’s red brick and has terrible plumbing. Where do you think I live?”
“I don’t know. But I can’t stay with you. I don’t even know you.”
“You know my brother.”
“Not really. I know your brother’s fiancé.”
“Let’s call Faith and we can ask her if she thinks your idea or mine is better.” I take out my phone and scroll through and findFaith before Winnie can protest. I tap the screen and as it starts ringing I put it on speaker.
“Ian? Hi! What’s up? Are you calling to ask me about my very cute and very fun friend, Winnie?”
“In a way, yes. Winnie is right here with me and she’s being stubborn.”
Winnie gasps. “That’s a lie, Faith!”
“It is not. Her apartment is totally empty. No furniture, no lights, no blankets?—
“Not true, I have a dog blanket.”
“—and she wants to stay there tonight.”
“I can use the dog food as a pillow and Barrel and his blanket for warmth and comfort. It’s all I really need.”
“Good Lord,” Faith says. “Is she drunk? Winnie, are you drunk?”
“Probably.”
“Or as an alternative to the empty apartment she is insisting she can stay at the animal shelter.”
“That sounds awful,” is Faith’s immediate reaction. “Winnie, why didn’t you say anything? I feel so bad we’re not in town.”
“I suggested she stay at my house,” I say. “But she says she can’t because she doesn’t know me. Can you reassure her I’m not a psychopath?”
“He’s definitely not a psychopath,” my future sister-in-law says. “Ian is totally a gentleman.”
My brother’s voice pipes in. “Ian has zero moves. You’re totally safe, Winnie.”
Okay. Sometimes I hate my brothers.
“Shut the fuck up,” I tell him.
Mackay just laughs.
“Stay with Ian,” Faith says. “You’ll be so much more comfortable. I’d say stay at our house but we’re forty minutes outof town in the country and Mackay is allergic to dogs so you can’t bring Barrel.”
“I don’t have a car,” Winnie says. “Just a moving truck. And I can’t be without Barrel.”
