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“Go work for Tony. Pick up some shifts. He’s always looking for help on the overnight emergency calls. Take a few of those, they’re overtime.”

He threw his head back and groaned. “I hate working for Tony. You know that.”

“I covered for you,” I said quietly. “I lied for you. Do it. And if you don’t do it, I will. And then I’m going to tell her the truth about why you didn’t pick her up.”

He put his hands up. “Jesus, all right, all right.”

“I’m calling her tomorrow to check in. She better have her car by then.”

“Okay. God, why you being such a dick?”

“I don’t like lying to people. And you should have been here. This was a bad day for her. If you don’t want to fuck it up with her, don’t fuck it up.”

He didn’t look happy, but he nodded.

“I’m leaving,” I said, shifting the dog in my arms. “Don’t call me for anything else unless it’s after ten a.m. And make sure she takes this home,” I said, handing him the brown bag of bread from the café.

“Why do you have so much bread?”

“No calls before ten,” I said again, walking away.

“I love you!” he yelled after me.

“Yeah, yeah.” I waved him off.

I took the dog home. Stopped at the gas station on the way and grabbed a couple cans of food. Xavier’s animal hospital didn’t open for another hour, so I decided to clean the dog up a little while I waited. I realized I’d have to shave him before I could wash him, so I got out my clippers.

Wherever this dog came from, it wasn’t good and it hadn’t been good in a really long time. His fur was caked in dog shit and he had fleas. His nails were so long they were curled under. He was sweet though. Friendly. He let me shave him and then sat for a bath in the laundry room sink without any issues.

Once I got all the fleas and fur off, I realized how small he was. Five, maybe six pounds tops. Not a puppy, just tiny.

I fed him, played with him for a bit. Then I went to lie down and he took a nap on my chest.

This day had taken a very strange turn.

Larissa had looked nice in my hoodie.

And that I should definitely not be thinking about. I felt instantly bad.

I made a mental apology to her and got up and drove to see Xavier.

Xavier had moved to California with his wife last year. We didn’t get to see him much anymore, but he was in town for a few weeks to cover for Hank, the doctor who ran his Minnesota Veterinary Hospital, while Hank recovered from a knee replacement. It was nice to get to hang out with my friend again, especially with everything I had going on.

“Yorkie. Maybe four, five years old,” Xavier said. “No chip. Probably came from a hoarding situation. He’s not skittish enough to be from a puppy mill. They just rescued thirty dogs from a house near where you found him. I bet he was a straggler.”

“Is he healthy?”

“Considering,” he said dryly. “He’s got urine burns on his paws. He’s got worms. We’ll treat that now and get his nails clipped. Heartworm test is clear, so that’s good. He could gain a pound or two.” He pulled off his gloves and tossed them in the trash. “What are you gonna do with him?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. You know any animal rescues?”

“I know a lot, but they’re pretty overwhelmed right now. Best thing you could do is keep him.”

I laughed a little. “I can’t keep him.”

He crossed his arms and leaned on the exam table. “Why not?”

“Uh, because I work?”