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But she never responded. That felt like an almost bigger kick to the gut than coming home to find her note.
After a few weeks, he slipped back into his routine of being alone, although he did have Phoebe now. He’d grown to love the pup, but she was also a reminder of Utah.
The chick stayed here two nights. Get the fuck over it.
If she bolted because he’d scared her, he’d feel bad. He didn’t want her to be freaked out, but he was glad he hadn’t gotten invested in her any more than he had.
Cindy was as reliable as her mom, and between her and Janice, someone managed to be around when Peter came to put the doggie door and fence in. Thankfully it only took a day, and Phoebe had the hang of using the door by the next day.
Even though Liam didn’t bother locking Phoebe in the laundry room, she stayed in there most of the day—at least until Cindy arrived. After Cindy left, she was more apt to roam the house.
He didn’t mind. She was a good girl who slept on her bed—she had enough of them to choose from, and not the furniture, and she wasn’t destructive, so he didn’t see a reason to keep her cooped up in the laundry room. Besides, he liked her greeting him at the door when he came home.
Utah had been right; it was nice to have someone excited and waiting for him when he got home after a long day. At the time, he’d envisioned it being Utah, but she never contacted him again, so obviously any connection he’d thought was there had been one-sided. There was no point in dwelling over it.
Life went on.
**
He sat in Parker’s office for their weekly meeting. His friend hadn’t stopped smiling since the ARF gala where he’d met Alexandra, the girl who agreed to live with him for a month in exchange for Parker adopting an older bonded pair of Labrador Retrievers.
“So, Saturday is a month since the gala. What’s going to happen with you and Alexandra?”
Parker’s lips twitched, like he was trying not to smile.
“We’ve agreed to extend our arrangement until after my awards ceremony next Friday.”
“Then what?”
His friend shrugged like it didn’t matter but didn’t say anything in response. Liam knew he was full of shit.
“Jesus Christ, why don’t you just admit you like the girl and ask her to stay indefinitely?”
Parker met Liam’s eye, and with a soft voice, replied, “I think I’m past like.”
Liam felt his face split in a grin. “Congratulations, man. So, what are you going to do about it?”
“Not sure, yet.”
“Don’t let her go.”
“I know. I’m not planning on it. Speaking of women who delivered dogs… any new developments with Utah?”
“Nope. I never heard from her again.”
“That sucks, dude. Maybe Alexandra has a friend we can set you up with.”
Liam stood. “I appreciate the offer, and maybe eventually I’ll take you up on it. But I think I’m going to pass for now. Work is keeping me pretty busy, anyway.”
“Any progress with the hacking case?”
“When I talked to the FBI guy last Friday, he said there may be some new developments.”
“That’s good news,” Parker remarked as the two men walked toward his office door.
“Yeah, I’m not sure how much it would matter with the board. Someone’s head needs to roll for this, and it makes sense that it be mine.”
“Nah,” Parker said dismissively. “You’re too important to Boston General. Besides, I think if they were going to do anything, it wouldn’t be two months after the fact.”
