Nah. Be safe.
He slid his cell into his pocket and went searching for the pup. The little guy barked happily when he saw Chris.
“Thanks for watching him, Cam.”
“Happy to.” She smiled. “Now to convince Felix we need a pup.”
Chris smiled. “Not a bird?”
“He doesn’t like birds, but he does like dogs.”
She was going to marry a guy who didn’t like birds? How? Birds were her thing. Then again, it wasn’t his relationship. Cam’s eyes practically glowed when she talked about her fiancé. Even now, she didn’t seem fazed.
He put Charlie in his kennel. “Everything all good here?”
“Yeah. We’ll be fine. Go home.”
Thank You, Lord.“Great. See you tomorrow.”
“Night, Boss.”
Chris carried the kennel out to his vehicle. He opened up his streaming app and set the music to Anthony Brown & group therAPy. Music all set, he took the turn that would take him home to Woodland Park. After navigating through traffic, Chris turned onto his dirt driveway. He stopped the car, then leaned his head back against the headrest.
The stress of the day slowly eked out of his body in the stillness. He pushed thoughts of the day away and tried to empty his mind completely.
His stomach growled. Charlie barked.
Maybe now wasn’t the time to rest in silence. “Okay, let’s get out of the car, bud.” Chris grabbed the kennel and headed inside.
He walked up the stone steps that led to the front door. His place was open concept, so there wasn’t a foyer. The living room immediately opened up in front of him, with stairs leading up and down situated to the left. A side table sat against the wall. He placed his keys on top and slid his backpack off, pushing it under the console table as he set the kennel down.
“Want to come out?” He unlocked the gate and watched as Charlie emerged, taking in his surroundings.
“Do you need to go?” Probably should’ve done that before they walked inside.
Chris went right back out the front door, Charlie following. They stood out there until the pup found a patch of grass to water.
“Good boy.” He’d grabbed a bag of treats from work before leaving. Once inside, he pulled one out of his backpack and gave it to him. “You’re a good boy.” He ruffled his head. “My turn for a treat, Charlie. I’m starved.”
The dog barked.
Normally it was just the walls listening to his voice. It was nice having someone else in the home. It made talking out loud more pleasurable, versus a necessity to avoid being encased in hard silence.
Chris walked past the living room and into the kitchen on the left. There was a dining area to the right with a table that held two chairs. Chris technically didn’t need the second one, but not having the extra seating would make him feel the loss of company even more.
Why do you keep thinking about your single status?
He shook off the morose feeling and opened the fridge. He’d left some trout inside to defrost before heading out this morning. He grabbed the fish, a sweet potato, and red and yellow bell peppers. After chopping the vegetables, he made a bed with the sweet potato and peppers on top of a cedar wrap before adding the filet on top. He made two cedar wraps, ignoring the twinge in his chest. Typically, when people cooked a meal for two, it was literally for two people. His meals for two were always in prep for the next day’s lunch.
“Well, isn’t that a depressing thought.”
Charlie barked. Chris didn’t know if that meant the dog agreed with him or was embarrassed for him.
“Probably the latter,” he mumbled to himself.
He opened the back door that stood nestled between the kitchen space and dining area. There was a gas grill right outside. Soon, his meal and the ground chicken he added for Charlie were finished.
Chris didn’t have a dog bowl, so he piled Charlie’s food onto a plate. He’d just have to make sure to never eat off it again or bring the dishware into work and make it property of the Gamble on Nature animals so they could use it.
