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I glanced at my watch. “Gotta go. I’ll have more time on Friday for an outing. Back to college for me. The place is absolutely crawling with handsome young men—except they all seem like teenagers somehow.”
“None of them are worth a damn until they pass twenty-five—at the earliest.”
I hustled off to my next class, Ancient Civilizations. My lectures were all in huge auditoriums packed with hundreds of young people traveling through the higher education assembly line. Irving became more serious, making sure I wasn’t lost in the herd of students entering and exiting.
After classes ended for the day, Irving drove us to the animal shelter so I could visit Charley.
“Hey,” said the head volunteer there, “I was about to call you. You can take Charley today, if you’re ready. Actually, we could really use the space since there’s an abandoned litter of puppies we’d like to take in…”
“Oh.” A slow smile broke out on my face. “If I can buy or borrow a kennel from you to get him home, I can take him right now.”
“We’ll figure something out.”
Charley stood up on his hind legs and waved his paws at me, his mouth open and his tongue hanging out. He whined and pressed himself against my leg, his pointy little face seeming to smile.
I knelt down in front of him and scratched his head. “Come, Charley. Come home with me.”
His eyes lit up and his tail wagged harder. He barked once. I took the leash from the volunteer and gave Charley a piece of kibble from a small bag I’d bought in their office. My eyes stung a little—I had my first fur baby.
Charley was nervous and a little frantic when his kennel was loaded into the back of Irving’s SUV. The head volunteerwalked out with us. “Try to stay calm,” she said, handing me a stack of brochures.
Irving drove us straight home with Charley whining, barking, or growling the entire way. I pulled on my earlobe and didn’t say anything. What had I gotten myself into?
I’d done some reading about bringing a dog home and had a plan for introducing Charley into the house and getting him settled in—which was completely thrown off by the homecoming being two days early. Also, Tyrese had taken over my office. Even so, I stuck to it as much as possible by keeping Charley on the leash, walking him around the yard, and then introducing him to everyone he’d live with out front before we went inside. Charley had a decided preference for women, especially Hazel, who had her hand licked.
“He’s the cutest little white dog I’ve ever seen,” Hazel said.
“How many little white dogs have you met?” I asked.
“Not sure, maybe not any. Look at that smile—I think he has a sense of humor.”
After Charley calmed down enough to go to the bathroom, I brought him inside for a tour, ending with the office where his daytime dog zone was set up—and a trundle bed for Tyrese, who was currently outside paroling the grounds and installing cameras. Charley would sleep in my room.
The doorbell rang, startling my little dog up from his food bowl and into frantic barking and a dash toward the front door. My phone buzzed with a text.
Tyrese: DO NOT ANSWER THE DOOR. UNIDENTIFIED MALE.
Sally: Got it.
I patted the Taser in its holster and went to a window to peek out. Peter stood on the threshold, his eyes wide open and his hands in the air.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Iput Charley’s leash back on then opened the door. Tyrese squinted at me behind Peter, his mouth drawn down. Peter had his eyebrows up.
“This is a friend of mine, Peter. Come in—and this is my new dog Charley who is freaking out at the moment. Come, Charley.” I walked to the office, gave Charley a treat, then closed him in there.
“Busy around here,” Peter said, his hands in his pockets.
I sighed. “You have no idea. I brought home a dog today and I’m already questioning my sanity. Glass of wine?”
“Yes, thank you.” He followed me into the kitchen.
“How are you?” I asked, grabbing the corked bottle of rosé from the fridge. “Did you start teaching today?”
“Yes. It reminded me of my theater days, when I walked out in front of two hundred faces.” He sighed, watching me pour into two glasses. “Went well enough, I suppose. How are you?”
“Let’s go sit outside. Just a moment.” I found Hazel cleaning the upstairs half bath. “Would you open the officedoor and keep an eye on Charley for me, please? Maybe take him outside on his leash in a bit?”
