Blessed Curse - Sandra R. Neeley Page 0,43
gone entirely too much, and sometimes without notice, to be able to take care of a dog.
She pulled the glass door open, and the secretary looked up from her computer. “Hi, Solange!” she said happily.
“Hello, Marilee. Is Gillian around?”
“Sure is, go on in. You're always welcome.”
Solange walked past Marilee’s desk with Mr. Scruffikins prancing along beside her like he weighed one hundred fifty pounds. She grinned down at him. He looked spiffy. He had a black and white leash, and his collar was a black bow tie looking affair complete with white accents. He was freshly shampooed and groomed and looking quite handsome if she did say so herself. She tapped on the office door before pushing it open and sticking her head in. “Gillian?”
“Solange! Come in,” Gillian answered, standing up and walking around her desk to greet Solange. The two had actually become quite close. They were very dear friends.
Solange walked in the office with Mr. Scruffikins beside her.
“And who is this?” Gillian asked, smiling and kneeling down to pet the little dog.
“This is Mr. Scruffikins. Scruff for short. He needed a home, and I couldn’t leave him behind. I tried, I even asked a few of the ladies in the little village, and a couple said they’d take him, but when it came down to it, I just couldn’t bear him looking at me so sadly as I started to walk away. So, here we are, and he’s in the market for a new mom.”
Gillian petted the dog and allowed him to brace himself on her knee with his front paws to give her kisses, before deciding he’d had enough and moving back to Solange’s side of his own volition. “Looks like he has one,” Gillian said, watching Mr. Scruffikins look lovingly up at Solange.
“I wish I could keep him. I just never know when I’m going to be here, or be called away. Since I have my new place and I’m living alone, I don’t see how I could possibly take care of him. It’s just not fair to board him all the time,” Solange explained.
“Well, maybe if you could find someone to take him when you’re gone. Maybe take him back to your grandmama when you have to go; then, you could just pick him up when you get back,” Gillian offered.
“I was hoping you could adopt him,” Solange said, coming clean.
“Me? But I’m no good with dogs,” Gillian objected.
“That’s not true. He liked you. He gave you kisses,” Solange said, smiling down at Mr. Scruffikins. “Didn’t you, sweet little man. Him’s a good boy, yes he is!” Solange said in her best baby talk, causing Mr. Scruffikins to dance in a little circle at her praise.
Gillian laughed. “That little guy has already picked out his new mommy. He wants to live with you. You can have pets in your condo, can’t you?” Gillian asked.
Solange smiled at her. “Yes, I can, and I love him, I do. But I don’t want to have to board him all the time. And I don’t have a yard, I’m eighteen stories up. There’s no place for him to play.”
“You’re in the penthouse, Solange. You have a private pool on your private terrace and quite a bit of space to relax around it. You have a small area you use for a garden. Dig up the plants and put down a little sod for him. And walk him often, he’ll be fine.”
“And when I’m called away suddenly?” Solange asked, looking down at the dog.
“Something will come up,” Gillian said. “Now, how about you have a seat and tell me what happened in Italy. You didn’t come rushing in telling me you got him, nor did you call me from Italy asking for clean up, so, I’m clueless.”
“I was close, so close, Gillian. I mean, seconds away from ending him. I had him believing he’d overpowered me. All that remained was to gut him and remove his heart…”
“What stopped you?!” Gillian asked, on the edge of her seat on finding out how close Solange was to killing Alastair.
“I was interrupted by someone thinking they were saving me, and he got away.”
“Oh, my gosh! Did they get a good look at you? Can they identify you? If you feel compromised, we can run interference if necessary,” Gillian offered.
Solange thought about Crispin. She recalled every nuance of his face, his scent, the feel of him near her — she could even feel his lips on hers. She decided in that moment to take