Chapter 16
When Walker woke up, it was quiet.
The sun was streaming through the sheer curtains, which was strange because he didn’t have curtains. The sheets smelled floral-y and when he opened his eyes, the sheets looked floral-y, too.
He also smelled coffee.
Three signs that he was not in his own apartment.
When he’d imagined Lindsey’s room, which happened with alarming regularity when she first moved in, he’d pictured gauzy curtains and lots of pinks and purples and, for some reason, a lot of fake fur.
Aside from the curtains, he had it totally wrong. Her room was a riot of bold, bright colors—a bright blue bedspread over floral sheets, red curtains made of raw silk, a small area rug with splashes of yellow and orange. But rather than looking like a rainbow threw up, everything somehow tied together. It didn’t match at all, and yet, it completely matched. For someone who claimed to have no artistic ability, she had a good eye for color.
Also, there was no hint of fake fur. A sign of good taste.
There also was no hint of real fur, which concerned him because when Booger was quiet, that usually meant Booger was doing something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. Walker rolled out of bed and found his jeans, threw them on, and followed his nose to the coffee.
It was in the kitchen, but Lindsey was not. Instead, there was a note. On pink paper.
You looked so cute and peaceful that I didn’t want to wake you up, and yes, I said you were cute and peaceful because I knew it would make you all scowly. I’m at work. Help yourself to coffee. Booger (still mad at you for naming my dog Booger) must have locked himself in your apt—sorry in advance if he tore anything up. I’ll make it up to you. XXX Lindsey.
His scowly face morphed into a smile. He poured himself some coffee—black, in a purple mug—and went through the laundry room to see what havoc Booger hath wrought.
There was no havoc—at least, there was no havoc that hadn’t been wreaked before. There was also no Booger. Walker started walking through the house, calling the dog, saying “treats” and “walk,” knowing those were two things Booger couldn’t resist.
Still no Booger. And no Booger when Walker put down the coffee and went outside, even as he increased the volume on Treats and Walk. Then he noticed the hole in the fence, and the freshly dug up grass in front of the hole.
Crap.
He went inside to throw on some more clothes, chugged his coffee, and hopped in his truck to track down his dog.
Lindsey’s dog.
Whatever. The lost dog.
“What’s gotten into you?” Myron asked as Lindsey turned off the TV in his room.
“Nothing,” she said, throwing the curtains open. “It’s a beautiful day, Mr. Harris. Don’t you think you should enjoy it?”
“Why, you know something I don’t?”
“I know it’s sunny and that television will rot your brain.”
“Fine, I’ll sit inside and read.”
“Or you could go outside and read.”
“You trying to get rid of me?”
“No, I’m trying to get you to embrace the day. And to get you out of here. It’s cleaning day.”
“Fine. I’ll go outside. Tell those guys not to move my stuff!”
Lindsey saluted Myron as he shuffled out the door. She ushered the cleaning crew in for the scrub-down, and got out of the way as sheets and disinfectant started flying.
It was a beautiful sunny day, mercifully not too hot. She was well and truly headed toward her first real autumn. For now, there was a shed full of outdoor equipment just waiting for some intrepid head nurse/activity director to pull out and organize. Today, that intrepid person was going to be Lindsey.
As she strode merrily across the lawn, she waved at Mae and Gladys, who were gossiping on a bench under the old oak tree. “You look happy, Miss Lindsey,” Mae shouted.
She was happy. The world was bright and clear, there was a bocce ball tournament in her future, the grass was waving, the flowers were blooming. If she wasn’t so totally, blissfully happy, she’d have thought she was trapped in a feminine hygiene commercial.
With old people.
And bocce balls.
As she slid the bocce ball set out of the shed, she heard a few shouts behind her. Then the ground shook with a mild thumping, and before she could turn around, she was thrown on the ground, face first.
It only took a second to recognize those giant feet that had her pinned to the gently waving grass. She rolled over and let Booger lick her face before sitting up and looking around.
“Where’d that dog come from?” Mae shouted.
“My house,” Lindsey shouted back.
The question was . . . how?
She heard a whistle and turned to see Walker running across the lawn toward her. He was holding a leash. She imagined the leash used to be on the dog.
She should be mad. But Walker looked cute and disheveled in yesterday’s clothes, and his messed-up hair reminded her of all of the fun things they did last night to get his hair to look like that, and she just couldn’t work up the anger. She took his hand when he offered it, and let him hoist her off of the ground.
“You found the dog,” he said.
Lindsey looked down at Booger, who was digging into the grass at their feet. She took the leash from Walker and snapped it onto Booger’s collar. “Yup.” She handed the leash back to Walker. “How’d he get away from you?”
“Uh . . .”
“Is this the dog we were supposed to go look for?” Myron asked, coming up behind Walker.
“Yeah,” Walker said.
“Found him,” said Myron.
“What do you mean, the dog you guys were supposed to look for?”
“Uh . . .” said Walker again. “He kind of . . . got out of the yard.”
“What? How did he do that?”
“He dug a hole under the fence. Must have done it while we were sleeping.”
He lowered his voice on the last word. As if Myron couldn’t guess. As if they all couldn’t guess, with the way she’d been running around like a happy tampon.
“Oh, you poor baby,” she said, kneeling down to squeeze Booger’s face. “Why are you trying to escape our love? Don’t you know we’re your best friends and we’re going to love you forever and ever? Oh, you’re just too precious. I want to cut off your cute little ears and put them in a sandwich.”
“I can’t imagine why the dog would run away,” Myron muttered.
The lady was talking so funny. He had no idea what she was saying (it wasn’t “treats” or “walk,” he knew that), but he liked when she talked funny and got close enough so he could lick her face. He liked this place. There was lots of grass and lots of nice-smelling people who petted him a lot. He was going to have to dig out from under the fence more often.