I took her hand and gently pulled her forward. Luckily, she was in a ground-floor apartment, so there was nothing else we had to do but walk. “Let’s stop in the parking lot so I can grab a poop bag from the car just in case.”
I could see Harlow’s throat move as she swallowed hard, and then she nodded. “Okay,” she answered in a barely audible voice. “Hopefully, she’ll do her thing really quickly. About the only thing that got me out that door was knowing you have a gun and most likely know how to use it.”
“If the need to shoot someone should suddenly arise, I won’t miss,” I informed her drily.
I wasn’t about to tell Harlow that when Molly was in unfamiliar territory, she often felt the need to take a piss in several different places before her bladder was completely drained. My girl liked to spread her scent around, and that could make this a longer walk.
A quick glance at the tension in Harlow’s face told me that now wasn’t the time to share that information. It was likely to cause her to drop the leash and make a run for her apartment.
“Tell me about the Air Force,” I suggested, eager to keep her talking to take her mind off her own thoughts.
“There’s not much to tell,” she answered with a shrug. “I went in right after high school and served a six-year enlistment. My dad died when I was a sophomore in high school. Things were tight at home, so I knew I was going to have to get creative. I didn’t want to be completely buried in student loans once I finished college. I got as many college courses as possible knocked out while I was enlisted with tuition assistance, and I was able to use the GI Bill once I got out. The training also got me a higher-paying civilian job after I was discharged, which helped a lot while I was doing my master’s program.”
“I know what happened after that,” I told her. “You did a summer internship with us, and got offered a full-time position at Montgomery once you were finished.”
It was pretty rare for Montgomery to hire a summer intern, but Harlow had been one of the few exceptions because she’d done such great work during her internship.
She nodded. “I was really lucky. Montgomery has such good tuition assistance programs that I hardly had to take on any student debt to finish my doctorate.”
I could tell that she was starting to relax because her speech was a lot more natural than it had been when we’d left her apartment. “It wasn’t luck, Harlow. It was hard work. You played your military gig perfectly to get the most out of what they offer for college assistance. Plus, you picked a technical field with specialized training that would help you get a good job when you got out. I don’t think there are that many high schoolers who are mature enough to plot exactly the right way to graduate with a doctorate without being buried in student debt.”
“They do if they can’t afford to get a doctorate any other way,” she said, and then stopped abruptly.
I watched as she lifted her shades and stared at my vehicle. “What in the hell is that? I know it has to be yours because I doubt any of my neighbors can afford a Ferrari.”
I grinned as I opened the car door to grab a plastic baggie from the glove compartment. “It’s not just a Ferrari,” I informed her. “This is a 599 GTO. I’ve had her for years, and she’s still one of my favorites.”
Harlow let out a small groan as she dropped her shades back over her eyes. “Please don’t tell me that you’re a sports car crazy kind of guy. I was just starting to like you. A little.”
I had to force myself not to laugh as I closed and locked the door of the rare black Ferrari, and started walking toward the sidewalk. I kept a strong grip on Harlow’s hand just in case she decided she wanted to bolt. “What’s wrong with appreciating the mechanics of a really nice, high-performance vehicle?”
“Oh, God, you are a car crazy guy,” she said, sounding disappointed. “Vehicles serve a purpose. They should be functional. They’re supposed to take you from point A to point B, hopefully with decent gas mileage. I guess I don’t see the point of owning