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“Nice to see you again,” Paulie said.
“Good to see you, too, Paulie,” he said with a smile. Her face grew pink...then red...then blotchy. That was some blush.
“Mrs. Tuggles, say hi to Lucas,” Bryce said. He bent down to kiss Mrs. Tuggles’s head, bringing his own head in the vicinity of Paulie’s chest. Her face went into the purple zone, and the dog licked Bryce’s face with exuberant gratitude and slobber. Kind of disgusting.
“You got a minute, Bryce?” he asked when the dog was done frenching his cousin.
“Totally. Girls, it was great seeing you both,” Bryce said. “All three of you, that is.” He scratched the pug on the head.
“Oh, yes...uh, I mean, yeah. You, too,” Paulie said. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath. “Colleen, thank you for coming with me.” Her voice was loud and expressionless. “I was so concerned about poor Mrs. Tuggles, and it was good to have a friend.” She took a shaky breath. “Bryce, you were so wonderful. Let me buy you a beer some night.” Her face went nuclear.
Lucas would bet a hundred bucks Colleen had given her those lines.
“Sure. That’d be great,” Bryce said, completely oblivious. Paulie’s eyelids fluttered, and she took an unsteady step backward, looking as if she was about to faint.
Colleen gave her a little push forward and picked up a bike helmet from one of the chairs. “See you around, boys. Paulie, I’ll walk you out. Come on, Rufie!”
The women and their animals left, and Bryce stretched his arms over his head. “I think Colleen might have a thing for me,” he said.
There was that flash of jealousy again. “I’m pretty sure that’s not it,” Lucas said.
“You never know. She and I—” He glanced at Lucas as if just now remembering that Colleen had once been with Lucas. “Uh...nothing. We hit it off. As friends, you know? At the bar, just shooting the shit. Friends. You’re right, there’s nothing there.” He cracked his knuckles. “What can I do for you, bro? You want a dog? Or a cat? My mom won’t let me have one, which is probably why I work here, you know?”
“I can’t have a pet, Bryce,” Lucas said. “I’m only in town for a while.”
“Right, right. Or you could move back.”
“Not gonna happen, pal.”
“Right. South Side forever.”
Lucas smiled. “I figured you could show me around, since you said you spend a lot of time here.”
“Sure! Come on back.”
Another door led to the kennels. The usual suspects—pit bull here, Rottweiler there, with a couple of older-looking dogs. Bryce had a kind word for all of them, even the snarling black mutt in the last kennel. Then on to the cat room, where there were far too many felines of varying colors and sizes.
Bryce picked up a kitten. “Who’s beautiful, huh? Who’s so pretty? You are, sweetie!” The kitten batted Bryce on the nose and mewed.
Lucas had never had a pet. He could get one, he guessed; he just wasn’t home a lot. Maybe now that he was leaving Forbes, he’d get a dog who could ride in his truck to job sites and lie at his feet at night. It’d be nice to have some company.
Well. He’d wait to get back to Chicago. There were plenty of animals waiting to be adopted in the city, he was sure.
“You ever think about becoming a vet tech, Bryce?” he asked. “You’re really good with animals.”
“Thanks! But not really, no. You need school for that.”
“So? You could do it part-time, I bet.”
“Well, whatever. Even so, the shelter can’t afford to pay anyone. We’re all volunteers, and Dr. Metcalf comes in when we need real stuff done.”
“Could you work for Dr. Metcalf?”
Bryce shrugged. “He has this hot chick who works for him. She volunteers here, too. We hooked up once or twice.” He scratched his head. “Maybe I should give her a call. I’m thinking about having kids.”
Wow. “Yeah, you’d be a great dad,” he said (and hoped). “But you need a job first. And possibly a place of your own, so you don’t have to raise a kid in your mother’s basement.”
“True enough. You wanna get a beer? I think O’Rourke’s is open.”
