We pull up outside the Second Chance Rescue Centre. ‘Is this … ?’
‘Yep.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I found her.’ If it was possible, her grin would have got even bigger.
‘Who?’
‘Come see.’ She practically pulls me inside the large single-storey building. ‘She’s called Suzy. She’s been in a foster home rather than here at the shelter.’
‘Cesca. I can’t get a dog,’ I tell her.
She stops and spins round to look me. ‘Suzy isn’t a dog.’
‘Oh. Ooohhh.’ Cesca’s right, Suzy isn’tadog.
Large brown eyes meet mine as I crouch down to greet her. She smells of earth and leaves and a subtle hint of salmon. I touch her silky fur and her tail thumps on the ground.
‘Hi, Lily,’ I whisper.
She bows her head and tucks herself into me.
‘Oh, she likes you,’ the woman from the rescue centre remarks.
Lily chuffs happily as I hold her tighter. ‘Let’s take you home,’ I tell her.
And now there’s only one final thing left to do.
Lily pushes her soft snout into my hand as we stand in front of the door, giving me the strength to ring the bell.
He opens the door dressed in a perfectly ripped pair of jeans and the same grey washed-out T-shirt he’s rocked in so many other worlds.
‘Bethany Raven,’ he says and his lips hitch into a lopsided smile.
‘You don’t sound surprised to see me.’
‘A little birdie told me you’d be coming.’
I stare back at him. ‘Who?’
‘He made some further improvements in the communicator so it now works to talk with universes without their own receiver. It was a bit of a surprise when he started talking to me.’ He chuckles softly. ‘Thought I’d finally lost the plot entirely. Anyway …’ He tilts his head slightly as if he’s finally seeing me. ‘He told me to tell you that Amina sends her love and she has everything under control.’
‘He knew I’d come to find you?’
‘He told me you promised. And then he made me promise that if you didn’t then I had to find you.’
‘Oh.’ I have a million questions to ask. ‘How is he? And his Bethany?’
‘He’s good. And she’s finally left that awful husband of hers.’
Relief floods my system. I hope she kicked him in the bollocks and then went after all his money. Bastard.
‘I think he might be developing a bit of a crush …’ Tyler says, somewhat enigmatically.
I hold up my right hand so he can see my crossed fingers. ‘Hopefully,’ I say.
‘So I guess I have quite a lot to catch up on. I’m feeling a little on the back foot here, seeing how you’ve spent a lot of time with the other Tylers and I still think of you as …’ He trails off.
