Page 56 of Always Almost You

“Well now!” the judge declared. “Looks like our newcomer here has stolen everyone’s heart!”

Buddy’s tail drummed out his excitement.

“Best smile goes to this handsome fella!”

The crowd applauded again.

Mike stepped into the ring and picked up Buddy’s leash. “Thank you,” he said, shaking the judge’s hand before moving to make their exit.

“You’re not leaving yet!” a woman protested. “We haven’t picked Best in Show! There’s even a prize,” she added proudly, holding up a crown she had fashioned from a boutique tissue box decorated with tissue-paper flowers and glitter.

Mike grinned. “That’s really something,” he praised. “And this has been terrific fun.” He scratched Buddy’s ears. “But we’ve still got a long way to travel today.”

The woman reached down and stroked Buddy’s side. “He really does have the best smile,” she said warmly.

Buddy wagged his tail and looked up at Mike as if to say: Obviously.

CHAPTER 37

Mike stowed his suitcase and backpack in the rear of the SUV and closed the tailgate.

Buddy sat obediently at his feet.

“Remember what we talked about?” Mike said, crouching and lifting the dog’s muzzle gently with one hand so they were eye to eye. “I know you’re an extrovert, and you love saying hello to anyone you meet. You assume everyone will love you.” He scratched behind Buddy’s ear. “And they do, because you’re impossible not to love.”

Buddy’s tail thumped once against the bumper.

“But Flagstaff to L.A. is a seven-hour drive if we don’t hit traffic,” Mike continued. “And if we’re not that lucky, the trip could easily turn into nine or ten hours. I need to be in the office tomorrow morning, so I’d like to get home by dinnertime.” He stood. “I’m glad we helped that couple with their tire, but we don’t have time for any doggy shenanigans, like the dog show, today.”

Buddy blinked up at him as if he understood and agreed.

Mike walked around to the passenger side and opened the back door. He tossed a treat onto the seat. “Go on,” he said.

Buddy didn’t move. Instead, he was staring intently across the parking lot.

Mike followed his gaze. Thirty feet away, a slim woman with long dark hair was unlocking her car. At the end of her leash, a small, fuzzy brown puppy pranced in excited circles.

Mike shaded his eyes against the bright morning sun and looked more closely. For one quick, impossible moment, his heart did an involuntary flip. From a distance, the pair looked uncannily like Lauren and Pumpkin. But as the woman turned, the illusion dissolved. The dog was smaller. The woman wasn’t Lauren.

Buddy let out a soft, high-pitched whine.

Mike rested a hand on the dog’s head. “It’s not them,” he replied. “Sure looked like them from a distance, though.”

Buddy leaned against his leg.

“You’re searching for our friends from the hotel,” Mike said. “You’d like to find them again too, wouldn’t you?”

Buddy placed one paw gently on Mike’s knee.

Mike smiled and squeezed it. “I like the way you think,” he said. “Me, too.”

Buddy tilted his head.

“If it’s meant to be,” Mike said, “we’ll see them again.” He glanced once more across the parking lot before tossing another treat onto the seat. “And I doubt we’d run into her outside a motel in Flagstaff, Arizona.”

Mike pulled into his driveway in the late afternoon. “We’re here,” he said, shutting off the engine. He stepped out and opened the rear door.

Buddy bounded to the pavement, stretched his front legs long, and gave his entire body a satisfied shake.