loyal canine companions.
Rufus edged forward and handed her the dog over the gate, keeping his eyes on Jake. Once the transfer had been made, he took a big step back and said, “I have a box of his stuff in the car. I’ll leave it on the porch.”
“Hang on,” she called, and he paused in his retreat. “Repeat after me. ‘I’ll leave a box of his stuff on the porch, and I swear on Chloe’s perfect, perky resident boobs that I will never contact you again, Nora.’”
Jake guffawed, and Rufus rolled his eyes.
“I’m not kidding, Rufus. Say it, or find someone else to take the dog.” It was an empty threat, but she was banking on him not knowing that.
“I’ll leave a bag of his stuff on the porch, and I swear on Chloe’s perfect, perky resident boobs that I will never contact you again, Nora,” he mumbled, not making eye contact.
She turned away from him for the last time. It really felt like the last time, and it felt…good. She smiled.
Jake whistled and took a step back.
“That,” she said, “was Rufus. Species: disgusting ex-boyfriend who makes me question my taste in everything.” She pressed her nose to the fur on the dog’s head, inhaling his comforting, familiar smell. “And this is Sir Mick. Species: miniature basset hound.”
“Sir Mick as in Jagger?” Jake asked, still reeling a little from watching Nora take down her ex in such spectacular fashion.
“Yep.” She kissed one of the dog’s long, floppy ears, and she must have interpreted Jake’s snort correctly, because she added, “Named by Rufus long before I came on the scene.”
“Not that there’s anything wrong with the Stones,” he said, following her around to the front of the house.
“I know, but they’re not the Beatles—am I right?”
“You are right.”
She eyed the box on the porch.
“Let me get that.”
They went in the front door, and Nora set about unpacking the box and filling a water bowl for Mick.
After Mick had had a drink, they went back outside and sat on the edge of the deck. She looped Mick’s leash around her ankle. He gazed pitifully at her pizza and started whining.
“You, my little friend, are supposed to be on a diet, but from the look of things, Rufus has not been prioritizing your BMI.” She looked out at the yard. “I don’t suppose you do fences? I suddenly find myself in need of a fence.”
Not really. Like decks, fences didn’t really fall into the fine carpentry category he and Sawyer focused on. “Sure. And you know, your bathtub desperately needs to be recaulked. I can do that for you, too, if you like.”
“What about dishwasher repair? Do you do that, too? Because mine is toast.”
“I’m not an expert, but I can have a look. And you have some exposed wires in a corner of the living room. I assume they’re not live, but we should make sure.”
She snorted. “I was kidding. I figure a fence is my problem to solve, but all that other stuff is my landlord’s job. I sent him a list.”
“Which I can pretty well guarantee he’ll ignore.”
“So you’re just going to do it for me?”
Pretty much. He shrugged.
“Well, that’s nice of you. Freakishly nice. And I’ll absolutely hire you for the fence, but let me at least try to get Harold to take responsibility for the rest.”
Mick, who, once he’d given up on begging for pizza, had curled up and fallen instantly asleep at Nora’s feet, emitted a loud snore. She looked at him affectionately. “I wasn’t a dog person before I met Rufus, and Mick is a pain in the butt. He snores and drools, and he’s got all kinds of geriatric ailments. But damn, I missed him.”
“Dogs’ll do that to you.”
“You have one?”
“Used to, but it went with the ex-wife.”
“That sucks.”
“You know, I didn’t actually want her. I mean, I like dogs. But Daisy—that was the dog—and Jude adored each other. Seeing Daisy without Jude was…” He didn’t know how to explain it.
“Like a wound that never healed?”
“Yeah.”
And this was why he was here. This was why he had built her a deck. Why he was going to talk her into letting him repair her dishwasher and caulk her bathtub. Because, for the first time in four years, he wanted to talk about Jude. With her. It was unprecedented and a little bit weird, but he was going with it. Even if it made the waves come. Because they came anyway, didn’t they?
“You want to see a