Page 107 of Not That Ridiculous

He grunted when I climbed off him and let me go without any more complaints.

“Right,” I said. “I’m heading out. Phil’s already had his breakfast. Do not let him convince you otherwise. He can have a treat from the treat cupboard, but just the one.Ifhe even notices you’re around. He might not. He’s a dozy beast.”

“Can I take him for a walk?”

“He’d love that. He’s not fast, though.”

Kevin snorted. “I didn’t think he would be.”

“He’s great on the lead. I’m telling you right now that he will shit at least once, even if he does it in the garden before you go, so make sure you take some bags with you—there’s a box of them by the lead in the treat cupboard—and also, he’s got joint issues and can’t walk too far. Don’t take him on a hike or anything.”

Kevin rolled onto his side, bunched up his pillow, and smiled up at me. “I’ll take care of him,” he said on a yawn. “Go away. I’ll drop by the coffee shop later and say hi.”

“Okay.” I paused. “Kevin?”

“Mm?” His eyes were closed.

“Don’t redo my bathroom or anything while I’m out.”

“Not today,” he promised, and pulled the pillow over his head.

And now here I was, hours later, still thinking about him.

Who was I fooling?

I’d been thinking about Kevin non-stop since he first kissed me on my doorstep. I’d thought about him a lot before then, of course, but not like this.

I felt like an obsessed teenager. No shade to teenagers—they’re young, and new, and learning about life. They’re supposed to get obsessed. I was old enough and disappointed enough in life that I should be able to control myself.

But no.

The place was bustlingas usual when Kevin sauntered in later that morning. I did a double take when I saw that he had Phil with him.

Phil looked as if he couldn’t believe his luck. A big room filled with new friends he hadn’t met yet!

He made a beeline for the nearest table but before he could get far, Kevin’s hand firmed on the lead, and Phil had to make do with being cooed at from a distance by a group of young women who couldn’t seem to decide who was more worth the kissy faces, Kevin or Phil.

Hopefully Phil, because Kevin didn’t even glance their way as he walked Phil up to the counter. His eyes came straight to me the moment he set foot in the shop, and didn’t waver.

“How long did it take you to get his harness on?” I asked by way of greeting, trying not to feel flustered at the attention.

I’d bought Phil a very fancy, cool-dog harness when I first acquired him, but he wasn’t a fan. He preferred the pink collar and matching lead he came with.

On the few occasions that I’d tried to wrangle him into the expensive piece of equipment, he’d lain down and refused to help, and once I’d got him into it, he’d minced along, huffing and puffing as if I’d laced him into a corset. He was already having a sad time of it back then, what with missing Deirdre. Also, I was a pushover. I gave in.

We’d stuck with his preferred collar-and-lead combo.

Kevin looked down at Phil. Phil looked up at Kevin. “Uh,” Kevin said. “Ten seconds? Why?”

“He hates it.”

“Really? He pretty much took it off me and buckled himself in the moment I got it out of his cupboard,” Kevin said.

I narrowed my eyes at Phil. “You’re trying to match Kevin, aren’t you?” I accused my dog. “You want a rugged manly utility harness with buckles and webbing to keep up with the rugged manly man.”

Kevin leaned on the counter. “Is that me? Am I the rugged manly man?” He grinned. “We can butch it up even more if you like. I can buy him some little pouches to clip on the sides here, and a little backpack, and he can come to work with me. Carry my tools about.” He dropped a hand down to ruffle the fluff on top of Phil’s giant head. “Shall we do that, Phil?” Phil groaned. “Okay, that was a yes. Phil’s got a job now, he’s my assistant.”

I laughed, then became horribly aware that we were being watched by every regular in the place, and a few of the tourists besides.

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