Page 79 of Now That It's You
“Real friends or Facebook friends?”
“I meant Facebook. Seems like the sort of thing your parents would have a problem with.”
“Maybe,” he agreed, and Meg tried not to let it sting.
“So, back to the dog,” she said brightly, and Kyle looked relieved.
“When I told an Australian friend I’d adopted one, he gave me the most incredulous look and said, ‘You got a kelpie, mate? As a pet? Isn’t that a bit like buying a tractor?”
Meg laughed. “So they’re more like farm equipment?”
“I guess so. A tractor you can snuggle with.”
“That sounds—different.”
“A switch from Karma, anyway. No more lazy Lab napping in front of the fireplace. It’s always go, go, go, go with Bindi.”
“I’d love to meet her sometime.”
Kyle shrugged. “If you want, you can go out to the truck and say hello.”
“What?” Meg set her fork down mid-bite. “Why didn’t you bring her in?”
He laughed. “The way you avoided me the last week I figured I was lucky just to get myself through the door. Didn’t want to jinx things by inviting my dog in.”
“Ah, see, that’s where you misjudged.” Meg grinned and dabbed up a cake crumb with her fingertip. “I’d have let you in no problem if you had a dog with you. Besides, you just helped me chop a billion pounds of vegetables. You can invite a whole pack of dogs in if you want.”
“What about Floyd?”
They both looked at Floyd, who twitched one ear and gave a low growl. “Floyd loves dogs,” Meg said.
“I’m sure he does.”
“Go get Bindi,” she insisted.
“All right.” Kyle polished off his last bite of cake and hopped off the barstool. Meg followed him to the door, more eager than she had any right to be about meeting a dog.
“I have to warn you, she might be a little nutty at first,” Kyle said. “I stopped at the park and let her run around for a couple minutes on the way here, but she might get excited and piddle when I first let her out.”
“I’ll try to keep my toes out of the way.”
Meg stepped out onto her lawn and waited while Kyle moved down the path leading to his truck at the curb. He’d parked beneath the streetlight, and Meg could see smudges of dog snot on the windows. Bindi must’ve heard his footsteps because she popped her head up and looked out the truck window. Her big, black ears swiveled like furry beacons as her black eyes stared out at him from the mask of brown over her long, black snout.
“She’s adorable!” Meg called as Bindi stood on her hind legs with her paws on the truck door, poking her nose out through the open window.
“She loves going for rides,” Kyle said as he popped the door open. “She hates summertime when it’s too hot for her to be stuck in the truck, so she goes everywhere now that the weather’s cooled off a little. Come on, girl!”
As Kyle swung open the truck door, Bindi leapt out onto the grassy patch beneath the door, her tail swishing frantically back and forth. Meg dropped to her knees on the lawn and patted the ground in front of her.
“Come on, girl! Come see me!”
Bindi pricked her ears, then scampered toward her on muscular brown legs that moved with uncanny speed. Meg opened her arms wide and Bindi scurried into them, a quivering bundle of tail wags and sloppy licks.
“Hi, there!” Meg said, rubbing her hands down the short, black fur. “Welcome! I love doggies and you’re such a pretty one.”
Bindi thumped her tail in agreement and collapsed onto her back, an invitation for Meg to rub her belly. Meg complied, looking up to see Kyle coming up the walkway toward them.
“Oh, my goodness!” Meg said, tickling little circles on the dog’s belly. “Aren’t you the sweetest thing? Who’s the sweetest thing? It’s you, that’s right!”
