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“And why’s that?” I stuck out my hip and waited for him to give me a good enough answer.
“Because you’ll be there with me this time.”
“So,” I argued, clearly baiting him.
Before he could respond, the sound of Snickers’s hissing made both of us split up and start looking for Barley. I’d spent the night at Tony’s house, and I brought Snickers whenever I did. Sometimes, I caught the dog and cat sleeping together, but there were other times when I’d watch Snickers staring at Barley like he was a pest she needed to dispose of.
“They’re in the bedroom. Snickers is under the bed, and Barley’s trying to get to her.” Tony’s voice was muffled, and I knew he was on the floor as well.
When I walked in the room, I started laughing. Tony’s legs were the only things showing, Barley’s tail was wagging, and Snickers was on top of the bed, licking her paws.
“She’s up here,” I said, and Tony wiggled his way out from underneath.
“Seriously?” he asked before looking up and seeing Snickers watching him, her tail swishing back and forth. “Let’s leave before they do something else.”
Barley started hopping around the way he did when he knew we were leaving the house. He usually came with us, but it was way too cold outside. Not to mention the fact that he’d get wet and dirty and create more work for Elise at the inn, and then, basically, she’d kill me.
“Not this time, buddy. We’ll be back soon.”
He looked crestfallen as he sat, his puppy-dog eyes staring up at me.
“Be good,” Tony instructed, and Barley whined before giving Snickers a look.
“Oh, buddy, we know it wasn’t your fault,” I said, giving him a reassuring pat behind the ears.
My cat lived to torment the dog, and we all knew it.
We walked outside, all bundled in our winter gear, before Tony turned around to make sure the door closed all the way. The last thing we needed was the pets getting outside and causing chaos.
“When are you going to move in with me?” Tony asked, and I shouldn’t have been surprised.
He’d been asking me that for months. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to live with him or that I thought we were moving too fast. I just knew that I never wanted to give up my apartment above the restaurant. It had been mine when I had nothing else. I loved that place.
“We could rent it out during the busy months. Who wouldn’t love to sleep above the best restaurant in town? And with that view…” Tony kept talking until I finally caught on to what he was suggesting.
“Like Airbnb it?” I asked, and he made a noise that sounded like a yes.
“I already looked into it,” he said before putting both his hands in the air. “Not to pressure you. Just for information’s sake.”
“But you don’t even own your place. You’re renting. Why would we move in there?” I complained as we walked down the hill carefully, making sure not to slip on the ice.
“I bought it,” he said.
I stopped walking, his hand jerking my body before he realized that I wasn’t moving anymore.
“You what?”
“The sale just went through yesterday. I bought the house, the little piece of land in the back, and the boat slip at the marina.”
I started shaking my head in disbelief. This man—who, only a handful of months ago, couldn’t even bear to have a personal conversation with other people—was now trying to convince me to move in with him and the house he’d just purchased.
It was crazy. This was crazy.Hewas crazy.
In the best way, of course.
“What would Lydia do?” I asked out loud, the question lingering between us.
It had become one of our things. Whenever I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about a subject, I’d ask him what Lydia would do if she were in my shoes. It was my way of keeping her memory alive in a fun and lighthearted manner. At least, that was always my intention.
