“Did you find it?”
“No, but I’m not giving up so easily.” I heard the smile in his voice. “If you’re hungry, I thought I could pick up some sandwiches for us and then we could repair your front porch.”
I quirked a brow. “With magic or elbow grease?”
“How about a little of both?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the innocent tone in his voice. “Sounds perfect. I’ll be home.”
“I’ll see you in an hour.”
If my feelings had been hurt by Rufus disappearing this morning, they were quickly healed when I answered the door to him holding a white paper sack with a lopsided grin on his face.
“Reuben or club?”
“Such a hard decision. I love both.”
“Then we’ll share.”
I stepped aside for him to enter. “We don’t have to.”
Instead of coming in, Rufus pointed to a blanket that he’d laid out on my front porch. “I thought we could have a picnic.”
Atop the blanket sat a bottle of sparkling water, plates and plastic goblets.
I beamed. “Sounds great.”
Lady charged out the front door. “A picnic! I’m so excited. Clem, you’ve never taken me on a picnic before. What kind of friend are you?”
“Well, I guess we haven’t had a chance lately.” I laughed nervously, hoping that Lady wouldn’t push the issue.
But of course she did. “Clem, I’m talking about inmy whole lifewe’ve never gone. I’ve never had a chance to see ants attack our food. I’ve never rolled onto my back across a green lawn and snapped at butterflies that got too close to our spread. I’ve been denied, Clem. I have literally been shorted out of all of life’s small things that can be enjoyed.”
I sucked my teeth and gestured to the blanket. “Well, how about I hand-feed you some of my sandwich? Will that make everything better?”
Suddenly Rufus whipped out another sandwich bag. He winked at me. “Don’t worry, Lady. I didn’t forget about you.”
She gave me the side-eye. “Well at leastsomeonethinks I’m important.”
“We both think you’re important,” I corrected.
“That remains to be seen.” Lady sashayed (yes,sashayed)over to Rufus and pressed her nose to the bag. “That smells delightful. What is it?”
“This,” Rufus said with a flourish that made me laugh, “is a dog biscuit that tastes of peanut butter and chicken. I got it at the pet store.”
“Peanut butterandchicken? My two favorite flavors. John, you spoil me.”
He scratched her head before gesturing to the blanket. “Shall we?”
Lady pranced onto the red flannel cover. “We shall.”
Thirty minutes later I was full from my half of the Reuben and club sandwiches. I pressed a hand to my bulging stomach.
“I’m going to be useless for the rest of the day.”
Rufus gave me a charged look. I swear desire filled his eyes. “Don’t get too comfortable. We have a house to fix.”
“Yeah, Clem.” Lady rolled onto her back, exposing her full belly. “Don’t get too comfortable. You’ve got work to do.”
