A huff escaped me, forming a cloud against the cold air in front of me. “Nope.”
“You’ll get it.”
Sebastian came around from the front. In one hand, he held his leather bag full of medical supplies. He carried that thing everywhere he went, always prepared to tend to an animal in need. A canvas dangled from the other. The image faced him, but a few smears of color lined the frame.
“How’s Honey been?” he asked.
“Still no side effects, still no limping. No one would know she was a senior dog unless I told them.” Crossing my arms, I nodded at the canvas. “What’s that?”
“Uh.” Sebastian trailed his tongue along his teeth, cheeks bright red beneath a bushy brown beard. I couldn’t tell if it was the cold wind slapping against his face or just his typical embarrassment at any mention of his work. “I was a little inebriated over the weekend.”
“Lucky you.” I gave a half smile and cocked my head to the side. “And you want me to admire your wonky, drug-induced creation?”
“No.” His breath smoked before his face. “I mean, yeah, it’s a little weird, but not the weirdest thing I’ve made.”
“Judging by that look you’re giving me, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a lizard giving a lap dance.”
Which wouldn’t be at all out of Sebastian’s artistic style. He had an affinity for animals doing something odd and humanlike. The first time I went to his veterinarian office with Honey, I chuckled at the cigarette-smoking frog and the horse wearing a sombrero proudly displayed in his waiting room.
“No, it’s just—I don’t know. I guess I had Honey on my mind.”
An awkward laugh escaped him as he spun the canvas around. I had to join in on the laughter. Stretched out on the cloth canvas was a perfect rendition of my corgi, dressed as a barista, serving coffee behind a checkout counter. While the backdrop looked a bit cartoonish, the painting of the dog could’ve been a photographic print.
“I was just playing around,” he said, “and this is what came out. I didn’t even realize until the next day how much it looked like Honey. She’s your baby and everything, so I figured, if you want it, it’s yours.”
Laughing, I took the painting in my hands and marveled at it a moment longer. He wasn’t wrong—it truly was a perfect rendition. Everything from the big pointy ears half the size of her head to the white stripe descending her little snout.
I told him, “I love it. How much do you want for it?”
The redness in his cheeks receded. A smile I usually knew as crooked reached all the way to his hazel eyes. He waved me off and shook his head. “Nothing. I was just a little tipsy, having some fun, and then I thought, ‘Gwen would like this.’ So. Here we are.”
“I’ve got to give yousomething.” Gazing at it, I slid my finger down the puppy’s cheeks, admiring each intricate brushstroke. “What is this—oil paint?” I looked back up at him. “That shit ain’t cheap. At least let me pay for the materials.”
“It was all stuff I had laying around. I don’t know how much they cost.” Another dismissive wave of his hand before it found perch against the back of his neck. “I did have a question for you though.”
“And what’s that?”
He opened his mouth to speak, then snapped it shut. His smile returned, cheeks burning bright again. “You think we can get this shot done real quick? It’s getting late, and I still gotta pick Lizzie up from school.”
“Right. Obviously.” I started for the door, glancing at him over my shoulder. “You want me to just bring her out? She’s easier to control inside, but if you’re in a hurry?—”
“No, no. I’ll just come in, if that’s okay?”
I glanced back at him, assuring him it was fine, and led the way up the steps. Sebastian had come into my cabin a thousand times to give Honey her medicine. What was the apprehension this time?
Honey’s barks erupted on the other side of the door once we were closer. The fact she hadn’t heard us talking in the drivewayhad me curious about her quality of hearing these days. When I opened the door, her barks only got louder. Her nub of a tail wagged hard enough to shake her whole body as she jumped at me, then Sebastian, licking our hands and faces. That didn’t stop when we crossed the threshold.
Honey had seen a lot of vets in her life, and even though Sebastian stabbed her with a pain management shot each month for the arthritis in her little legs, she still adored his presence. I couldn’t blame her. He wasn’t much of a people person, but the way he was with animals could warm any girl’s heart. Crouched on the ground beside her, he let her lick him all over.
I gave her head a scratch and kicked off my snow-covered boots. “Guess I’m chopped liver.”
“She’d probably like you more if you were,” Sebastian said.
Jaw dropped, I shot him a certain hand signal. He only laughed.
Knowing the two of them, this greeting would last a while. Especially after Sebastian told her, “Go get your toy.”
So while he sat cross-legged on the floor and gave her all the love and attention she desired, I sank onto the old, floral print sofa.
