“I—Yes.Unfortunately.How did you know?”
“Sweetie, it’s written all over your face.Does he know?”
“No, he doesn’t know.I’ve never told him.”
“If you love him, why did you break up with him?”
“It’s a long story.”
“And you don’t want to talk about it with a nosy old lady.”
“I would never say that.”
“Did he do something wrong?Like cheat on you or try to boss you around?”
She wished Bonnie would shut up.Every question she asked made Letty feel stupid.“Riley wouldn’t cheat.And he never bossed me around.”
Bonnie gave her a surprisingly shrewd look.“He wasn’t abusive, was he?”
“Riley?Abusive?God, no.He never raised a hand to me, and he never would.”
“Well, that’s good.I suppose you must have a reason for breaking up with him, although I’ll be darned if I can figure out what it is.”She muttered something that sounded like ‘girls these days.’
She’d hurt him.And she’d gone on hurting him even though he didn’t deserve it.Because she was scared.Which wasn’t fair to Riley.
“Can I help you with something, Bonnie?”she asked, changing the subject.
“I need a new book for Norm and me to read.We just finished one of his choices.”
“What did he choose?”
“It was historical fiction about Genghis Khan.I thought I’d hate it since it’s totally not my style.But I really liked it.”
“You two are reading awfully fast.”
Bonnie laughed.“We’re a little competitive.So what can we read?”
“Hmm.I know you read romance.Have you ever read any romantasy?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a combination of romance and fantasy.TryFourth Wing.It’s long and complicated and wonderful.And I know men like it too.I’ll find a couple of copies for you.You’ll have to tell me what you think.There are more books in the series.”
“Sounds perfect!Thanks, Letty.”
Luckily she had two copies plus a number of electronic copies, since it had been very popular a few months ago.Still was, in fact.There had been a huge uptick in popularity of romantasy.She knew Bonnie was eclectic in her reading but she wasn’t sure about Norm.She’d hear from Bonnie, though, whether it was a success or not.
She liked helping people find books.Liked recommending books.It was part of her job but it always made her feel good.Which was nice since that was about the only thing she’d felt good about lately.
*
Riley’s discussion withLetty about dogs had started him thinking.She needed a dog.Not a large dog but a small to medium one who’d be happy in an apartment.He considered—very briefly—giving her one of his dogs, but he was too attached to them to do it.So the animal shelter it was.
He wasn’t sure why he was doing this.It was none of his business, not anymore, whether Letty had a dog.But once he thought of it the idea wouldn’t leave him alone.It was dangerous for him to go to the shelter.He was a sucker.He knew that about himself.He reminded himself that he had seven dogs of his own.No, eight now, counting the latest, but Sergeant was now his mom’s dog so Riley figured he didn’t have to count him.
He asked to see smaller dogs.There weren’t as many of them as they tended to get adopted first.They passed several large dogs on the way to see the smaller ones.There was an absolutely gorgeous German shepherd who he made the mistake of making eye contact with.He could tell from the dog’s gaze that he was intelligent.He seemed to be saying, “I’ll be so good if you take me home with you.I’ll love you forever.”
“How long has that dog been here?”he asked the worker, pointing to the big shepherd.
