Frustrated, Grace looked around the street, wishing there was someone passing who might recognise the dog and know who it belonged to. Foxglove Street wasn’t usually this quiet. There were always pedestrians coming and going, especially dog walkers at this time of the evening. And yet the street was almost eerily quiet now.
“Maybe the dog knows exactly where it’s going and I’m making something out of nothing,” Grace said. “Perhaps if I just head towards my house, it will go on its way.”
But when she reached for the garden gate of her terraced house, the little dog stood up and attempted to follow her onto the front path to the door.
“The poor little guy looks a bit confused,” the man said. “And he’s definitely a he, by the way.”
“I think he’s surely lost,” Grace said. “Or maybe he’s a stray. Considering the fact he has no collar, and seems pretty stinky, he might even have been lost for a while.” She looked up at the man and sighed. “What should we do?”
“We?” he said, an amused smile lifting his mouth.
“You wouldn’t rush off and leave me to sort this out on my own, would you?” He might be a stranger, but Grace felt they were sort of in this together as far as the lost dog was concerned, and as she had no clue what to do with the creature next, she was hoping the man might have an idea.
He must have heard the panic in her voice, because his expression turned serious. “Of course I won’t rush off and leave you with the little guy. If the dog has a microchip, we could get him scanned to find out who his owner is. But it’s late and I think the local vet’s practice is probably closed already. We’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”
“So who’ll look after him until then?”
The little dog yapped and jumped up on its back legs, and scrabbled at Grace’s knees before he launched itself intoher arms. Too shocked to do anything but catch the creature following this canine athletic feat, Grace let out a yelp of her own as the dog licked her face and wriggled against her with excitement.
“Seems like he’s picked you as his temporary care giver,” the man laughed.
“I can’t look after him!” Grace frowned. “I’ve got studying to do tonight.”
“I hate to say it, but he looks pretty devoted to you already.” His smile was back, as if he was thoroughly enjoying her discomfort. “Look, I’d offer to take the dog home with me, but I’ve got cinema tickets tonight, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave a lost dog alone in a house he’s never been inside. He might get upset or pee all over the place. Are you planning on being at home tonight?”
Grace wished she’d got in there first with an excuse about having proper plans outside the house. Instead, she’d stupidly admitted she would be at home and studying, and now this guy had jumped in and announced he was going out to the cinema. It was probably just a lie, so he didn’t have to get roped into dealing with the stray dog, and in all fairness to him, he had been minding his own business until Grace stopped him in his tracks and conscripted him into helping her.
Grace looked at the squirming dog in her arms. He might be scruffy and dirty and, yes, a bit smelly too, but he was cute, with that daft canine smile and his bright button eyes. Finding herself responsible for a stray dog hadn’t been on the agenda for tonight, but she wasn’t about to just dump the poor animal and leave it to its fate on the streets.
“Yes, I’ll be home all night,” Grace said with a resigned sigh. “I’ll look after him. I was the one who found him, after all.”
As if understanding every word, the dog let out an excited yap and licked her face.
“Thanks for that, Doggo,” Grace said, laughing in spite of herself. “I don’t even know your name, you silly little mutt.”
“He looks like a Stanley to me,” the man said.
Grace laughed again, sizing up the name as she studied the excitable dog in her arms. “You’re right. He does look like he might be a Stanley. He has a sort of whiskery old man look about him. All right, Stanley, it looks like you’re stuck with me until tomorrow morning. Let’s just hope the local vet’s practice knows what to do with you, because I have to get to work by eleven.”
“Listen, if you like, I can come with you to the vet’s tomorrow,” the man said. “That way, if there’s any problem finding out who this little guy is and who he belongs to, I can be there to help work out what to do next, so you don’t end up late getting to work.”
Grace gave him an appreciative smile. “Thank you. That would be a big help.”
“I’m Ryan,” the man said and held out his hand. “Ryan Lewis. I live on Riverside Road.”
Grace awkwardly shook his hand while clutching the happily panting Stanley. “I’m Grace Burton. Let’s swap numbers.”
Grace set Stanley on the ground while they exchanged contact details. The dog showed no sign of wandering off. Instead, he planted his bottom on the ground at her feet and looked up at her adoringly.
“Are you sure he isn’t your dog?” Ryan said again, an incredulous grin on his face. “He definitely likes you.”
“It’s the weirdest thing.”
Stanley barked, as if in agreement, making them both laugh.
“I’ll drop by tomorrow morning and we can go to the vet’s together and see if we can’t get Stanley back to where he belongs,” Ryan said.
“See you then. Enjoy your trip to the cinema tonight.”
If Ryan had been lying about his plans for the evening, his face showed no sign of it as he ruffled Stanley’s fur and waved goodbye before walking off towards Riverside Road at the other end of the street. Grace watched him go and then turned to the little dog still sitting at her feet.
How had she ended up looking after a smelly stray dog?
Stanley barked and cocked his head.
“You’re a mind reader, are you?” Grace asked.
Stanley barked again and ran in a circle.
Grace couldn’t help but laugh as she headed towards her front door with the little dog hot on her heels.
