Page 101 of Must Love Dogs… and Hockey

I sink down onto the couch. “Why are you here?”

“I’m home.” He smiles, his eyes crinkling up, his skin tanned, his graying hair a bit shaggy. “I wanted to be home for Christmas.”

“Oh. Does Mom know?”

“No. I’m flying to Syracuse tomorrow.”

“Oh my gosh, she’s going to die.” I bite my lip. “You better hope she hasn’t changed the locks on you.”

He shakes his head, smiling. “I don’t think she has.”

“I don’t know. I’d be pissed at you.”

“I know you would.” He pauses. “Actually, you are, aren’t you?”

I bite my lip. “Yeah.”

“Lillian. I’ve been open with Mom about what’s going on. She understands.”

Maybe she does. I’ll let them figure that out, I guess. Maybe I don’t know everything that’s gone on between them. If it was me, I’d have not only changed the locks but sold the house and moved in with a hot boy toy. Ha.

“Do you want to stay here tonight? We don’t have much room, but there’s a couch.”

He shakes his head. “Thanks, but no, I flew in late last night and got a hotel room.”

“Okay. So are you home for good?”

“Yes and no. I’m home for now. I still want to travel more. But Mom and I are going to talk about that.”

“Okay.” Eeep.

“What about you? How’s your dog-walking business going?”

“It’s going great. Well, mostly.” I sigh, thinking of Otis. “I have quite a few customers and I’ve been making some money. I’ve been thinking about expanding, maybe offering doggie daycare.”

He lifts an eyebrow. “You’d need a place to do that.”

“Yeah, I would. Which would cost money. I even have someone who’s interested in going into business with me, she’s a dog groomer. But it’s something I can work toward.”

“That’s my girl.” He smiles and tilts his head. “Something else wrong? You don’t seem all that happy.”

“Well.” I look down at my hands and twist my fingers together. “I was seeing someone. And it didn’t work out. And I’m kind of…” My throat squeezes up. “Kind of b-bummed about it.”

“Oh no.” He reaches over and takes my hands. “I’m sorry, Lilly.”

“It’s okay. I’ll get over him. I was trying so hard to not get involved, to just look out for myself and get my life back on track, and…well, I tripped and fell into feelings.”

He makes a sympathetic noise. “Who is this guy? Should I go punch him?”

“Ha ha, no, don’t do that. He’s a hockey player. He knows how to fight.”

“A hockey player? Huh.”

“He’s a good guy, really. It’s not like he did something terrible to me, don’t worry. He just…” I stop. “He has a lot of stuff he needs to deal with, and I thought he was feeling the same about me, and he wasn’t.”

“I’m sorry. That hurts.”

I nod, swallowing past the hockey puck lodged in my throat. I point at the TV. “That’s the game. But he’s not playing tonight.”

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