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I grabbed the broom and picked up the mess. “I should be taking photos of this. It’s evidence.” I gave a cold glare to a smug-looking Houston.
“Oh, Charlie, your time-off request for next week is fine. Gina’s back from her vacation, so she can cover you.”
“All right, awesome.”
“Doing anything special?” Shelly asked.
I shook my head, grabbing my wallet and keys from the cubby before clocking out. “Just staying at my parents’ cabin for a few days. I’ve been wanting to clear my head.”
“You have been a little distant these past few days. Everything okay?” Shelly put down the binder and turned to me. She always had her tough-as-nails exterior and biting sarcasm wielded almost like a whip, but when Shelly cared, she cared. I could tell in her warm honey-gold eyes that she really meant it when she asked if I was okay. She’d been one of the first people to offer me a job in the months after my accident, when even my short-term memory was shot and the constant pain in my shoulder had me taking multiple breaks.
I didn’t want to stop working, though, and Shelly made sure I was taken care of.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, dodging the truth. I didn’t want to unload all my crap on Shelly, especially not after a long and stressful workday. She didn’t need to hear about how I hadn’t been able to sleep much, tossing and turning until the sheets fell to the floor, racking my brain and trying to dig up any kind of memory between Austin and me.
Shelly shot me a skeptical look before turning back to the computer and binder on the cramped desk. “Okay, if you need more time off, just let me know.”
“Thanks, Shelly, I will.”
“I can’t guarantee it’ll be approved, but I’ll see what strings I can pull with upper management.”
“Aren’t you upper management?” I asked. Houston cawed from his perch as if agreeing with me.
Guess he doesn’t want to kill me after all.
Shelly pointed over her shoulder toward Houston, not even moving in her chair. He gave another caw and lifted his yellow crest, bobbing his head up and down.
I take that back.
I laughed and finished clocking out, grabbing my stuff and telling Shelly not to stay too late. She promised she’d only be here for six more hours, earning another caw from Houston. At this point, I fully expected him to start speaking full sentences and helping out at the store.
I gave him a little head scratch on my way out and left the back room, walking through the empty store. I glanced at the stairs that led up to Stonewall Investigations, wondering if Austin was working late today, too. We were supposed to meet tomorrow for an update on my case. I had actively been trying to avoid him before then, feeling bad about the way I’d practically jumped him with my lips at the park. As much as I loved kissing him, I realized that I might have overstepped.
In my world, I was kissing one of the most attractive men I’d ever laid my eyes on, someone I’d never spoken a word to.
In Austin’s world, he was kissing a man who couldn’t remember the last thing they ever spoke about together.
Outside, the sun was still up, and the sky was a cloudless blue. I was so busy admiring how beautiful the evening was that I almost didn’t see the man of the missing hour across the street, shielding his eyes from the sun and looking up at something behind me. I briefly considered pretending like I never saw him and walking home where I could lie in bed and give myself a headache trying to dig up any old memories of us.
Austin waved, and I waved back, forgetting all about that dumbass plan and instead crossing the street to where he stood. Darien was there, too, both of them smiling up at something. I turned and followed their gaze, earning an impressed “oh wow” from me when I spotted what they were looking at.
The pet store was a two-story building with a stone front and large windows looking into the display of pet supplies and alcohol. The landscaping in the front was pleasant and inviting, with ferns and poppies lining a red-bricked path leading up to the store. Next to the entrance was a stone sculpture of a dog with its paw over a cat, a parrot sitting on top of the cat’s head. The color of the sculpture faded over time from the sun and all the people who needed selfies next to it, pressing their hands over the now extra-smooth stone.
Austin and Darien weren’t admiring any of that. Instead, they had been looking up at the signage that hung above the door. It used to be a large, almost cartoonish sign that read Barks, Birds, and Booze across the center, with a tiny space for the tax office that used to be above us.
