Lexi
After lunch, we walked around the village asking about the mysterious golden retriever. Gray handled the talking while I trailed behind, Ginger glued to my leg. Every time I tried to step away, she matched me perfectly, her tail thumping.
At one point I ducked behind a bench to see if she’d lose track of me. She didn’t. She just leaned around it, nose twitching, eyes full of mild judgment. If I didn’t know better, I would swear she was laughing at me.
Basia laughed so hard she snorted. “Oh my God. Ginger is like a stalker boyfriend. A really, really cute stalker, though. You’re not going to shake her, Lexi.”
“Why does this always happen to me with animals?” I asked, sighing, but Basia only giggled.
We continued asking random people about the dog without luck until we came to a groundskeeper raking a section of the ground. “Excuse me, do you happen to know to whom this dog belongs?” Gray asked hopefully.
The groundskeeper studied us and then the dog. “Nope, and no collar, I see. I’ve never seen this dog, but it looks like a nice enough one.”
“Are you sure you haven’t seen her before?” Gwen asked. “She’s clearly well-groomed and fed. Surely she must belong to someone around here.”
“No, ma’am. No one who works here has that dog,” the man said, taking off one of his gloves and pushing the hair from his forehead. “I’ll admit, strays do wander through here from time to time. But they soon move on.”
Basia frowned. “But what if she’s not a stray?”
The man shrugged. “That’s someone else’s problem, not mine. Unfortunately, I’ll have to shoo her off the premises at closing time, which is in about an hour.”
His words hit hard, and we all looked at each other in concern. As we walked on, I decided I had to be the voice of reason. “Okay, guys, I know what you’re thinking, and it sucks. But we’ve done our civic duty. Clearly, she belongs to someone. If we leave her here, her owners will soon find her and everyone lives happily ever after.”
“And what if they don’t?” Gwen asked.
“Maybe someone can take her to the shelter,” I said. “It’s possible she lost her collar, but she might be chipped or something. Then the vet or shelter can find her owners that way.”
“Maybe the someone to take her to the nearest shelter is us,” Basia said pointedly. “You know, just to make sure she’s safe.”
“I’m okay doing that,” Gray said, and Gwen agreed by vigorously nodding her head.
Now everyone looked at me. I knew what that meant. I held up my hands. “Fine, sure, if everyone wants to take the dog to the shelter, we can do that. It’s Gray’s car, and if she’s willing to take the dog in the car, then who am I to protest?”
“Excellent decision,” Gray said in amusement. “Come on, Ginger.”
We headed toward the parking lot and car with Ginger trotting beside me, tail high and expression serene, as if she already knew how this story ended.
Gray unlocked the car and swung open the door behind the driver’s seat. Ginger leaped straight into the car with Olympic-level agility and landed squarely in my seat. She sat down, gave one satisfied huff, and stared through the window at us like she owned it.
I blinked. “Did she just…steal my seat?”
“She did,” Gwen said, laughing. “Way to go, Ginger.”
“Unbelievable.” I crossed my arms and stared at the dog. “Listen, you can’t just hijack someone’s seat. I was there first.”
Ginger tilted her head at me but didn’t move.
“Don’t give me that look,” I continued. “You need to vacate the seat immediately.”
She didn’t move.
Gwen opened the back door. “Come on, Lexi. You can ride in the middle between two gingers, or you can pick her up and forcibly move her to the back.”
Gray couldn’t stop from snorting, and even Basia couldn’t hide a smile. I glared at all of them, but mostly at Ginger. She gave a single wag of her tail, which settled my decision.
“Fine. I’ll sit in the middle,” I grumbled, sliding in on the other side. “But if she starts licking me, we’re pulling over and letting her out.”
Basia burst into laughter, doubling over. “Oh my God, I can’t even right now. Lexi and animals. Don’t worry, Lexi. We’ll find the nearest shelter and see what we can do.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “This has been the best afternoon ever. We’re definitely winning on the fun meter.”
