Chapter Four

“OKAY,” JULIAN MANAGED before Molly could even say hello to him.

“Hello to you too, dearest brother.” He could hear her chuckling over the phone. “Okay what?”

“Okay. I’ll dogsit for you.”

“I…well, I already interviewed someone who I think would be great for the job. And you were so adamant about not taking it. I leave for Paris in a week and—”

“Molly, seriously. I wouldn’t be swallowing my pride and calling you if I didn’t need this desperately.” Julian had given up all pretense of not letting his hopelessness show this time. “My apartment building is…well, okay. It’s been condemned.” He tensed up, waiting for the inevitable laughter or response or whatever Molly might have to say about that. Instead, she just responded with a small gasp. “So…yeah. That’s where I am right now. I don’t have a job, and now I don’t really have a place to live.”

Silence. Silence like disappointment, Julian thought. Or maybe silence like pity. He knew this would get back to their mother within minutes, which was why he hadn’t really wanted to say this much in the first place, but if she’d already interviewed other people, what choice did he have?

“Molly, please,” he said quietly. Would he really be volunteering to watch her dog if he didn’t desperately need the month it bought him to sort out his life?

“I’ll call her and tell her I’ve changed plans. Go ahead and pack up. You can stay in the guest room, use the garage to store anything that doesn’t fit, and I’ll go over the basics.”

“I don’t have to stay at yours until you leave, Molly. Really. I can just come over in time for you to go over the details.”

“Your apartment has been condemned.”

“Only if they don’t renovate it by the end of the month! We have until then to get out.” Julian didn’t see the problem. If it was really as bad as all that, they would have made them evacuate immediately. The building had been standing for decades. It was fine.

“Well, then I’ll just keep my other dogsitter’s name on hand for when your building inevitably collapses on you.” She said it jokingly, but it came out more forcefully than Molly probably intended it to.

“Thanks, Mol. That really inspires the confidence.” With that, and a promise to see her in a couple of days to go over all the details of watching Sprinkles, all Julian had to do now was pack.

*

“SO, REALLY HER day starts around 5:30 in the morning.”

Julian had to resist the urge to choke on the ice-cold lemonade she’d offered him. “I’m sorry, 5:30?” They were standing in the kitchen, and as he leaned against the white marble counter, he watched Molly’s face for any sign she might be joking.

“She likes to go outside then and do her business. Then she’ll bask in the sun in her favorite chair while you use the bags to clean up after her.”

“You have a fenced yard. What on earth do you need to clean up for?” He could understand cleaning up at a dog park, or an apartment, or in a shared yard, or a walking trail. But in a fenced yard? The whole thing sounded ridiculous.

“I don’t want to attract bears.”

“Bears,” he deadpanned. They lived in the city. There was no way in hell a bear was coming out here for her dog’s shit. He swallowed heavily and took another sip of lemonade. “Okay, 5:30. Poop bags. Then what?”

“She’ll bask for about an hour and then want to go inside for her breakfast.” She tapped her nail on the itinerary on the counter. Everything from there, Julian tuned out. He was thankful for the written daily plan, because Molly’s whole idea of what Sprinkles needed sounded…overwhelming. Something about fresh boutique food and…yoga? Did dogs do yoga? No, the yoga was probably Molly’s yoga and Sprinkles did…what during yoga? He didn’t have any idea. He just nodded and smiled and drank the lemonade, looking at the paper once in a while and hoping to God he was getting this correct enough that he wouldn’t accidentally ruin the dog. After a while, he started to zone out. He tried listening, but there were a lot of notes, a lot of things to consider that simply got to be too much. Some subheadings would have helped, something to keep his mind all together.

“Any questions?” Molly asked.

Only a billion of them. What came out of his mouth was, “Yeah, actually. How in the hell do you manage to squeeze all of that in with work?”

“Why do you think Sprinkles has a regular petsitter, Julian?”

Julian blinked at her. He didn’t realize the petsitter was essentially a full-time dog nanny. “Right.”

“I do most of the work for her care in the mornings and evenings, but I do have assistance during the day to make sure Sprinkles has her social needs met, gets her lunch, and has plenty of exercise.”

God. Julian was trying not to gag but this was ridiculous in ways he couldn’t fully express. Molly was a nightmare pet owner, a rare breed for sure. “And where’s Sprinkles now?” He was surprised she wasn’t in Molly’s arms, or jumping up and down on his leg, or yapping somewhere loudly like their mother’s dogs.

“She’s taking her afternoon nap. Did you not listen to her schedule at all?” She pointed.

“Right, yeah, no. I just didn’t notice the time.” Shit. “I didn’t realize it was already that late.” Don’t screw this up for yourself before she’s even out of the country, Julian.

As if on cue, he heard a small bark from another room. “Ooh, there’s my little cupcake.” Molly left the room and, moments later, returned with the tiniest, fuzziest, most fluffy white dog Julian had ever seen in his life. She looked like a cross between a miniature teddy bear and a snowball. Molly held Sprinkles out to him. “Go ahead. Hold her.”

He reached out and his huge hand almost eclipsed the tiny dog. “She’s so…small.”

“She’s a teacup Maltese.”

“She doesn’t weigh anything.”

“Three point four pounds,” Molly said proudly. “Aren’t you my sweet little big girl?”

Little big? Not contradictory at all…

“I look ridiculous holding her.” She practically got lost in his hands and when he cradled her to his chest, she looked even smaller. He would have laughed at the contrast if he’d had a mirror to see it, but even looking down at her, he was concerned about accidentally crushing her. Who made dogs this small, anyway?

“Oh, don’t be silly. It’s adorable. You’re a natural.”

Sprinkles looked up at him, letting out a small, high-pitched growl. Clearly, she disagreed with Molly.

“She’ll learn to love you.”

God, he certainly hoped she could learn to at least tolerate him, or this was going to be an incredibly long month. Mostly, he hoped he didn’t step on the damn tiny thing. The whole situation was a disaster waiting to happen.

“So, you can kind of see where everything is. Her leash is here”—she opened a drawer near the fridge—“and the emergency contacts are on the fridge. Waffle maker is right here, next to the espresso machine.” He didn’t plan on making waffles, and espresso seemed out of reach. Who didn’t have a basic coffee machine lying around somewhere? Oh well.

“Okay. Good. That…helps.” Julian still felt completely in over his head.