Rob let himself back into Kari’s house a half hour later, the smell from the bags he was carrying making his stomach rumble and the sound of her singing making him grin.
For a moment he hadn’t quite realized he wasn’t listening to music on her stereo. But no, it was her voice, unaccompanied, singing away to the tune of a Boz Scaggs pop song from the seventies. He laughed outright when he realized she was singing to the dog, modifying the lyrics.
Hugo, who-oh-oh.
He’s for the kibble
He’s for the toy,
He’s just the best boy-yo, boyo…
He let the door thump closed behind him, figuring she might appreciate the warning. But no, she kept singing, apparently unselfconscious, as he walked into the kitchen. Her voice was beautiful, rich and soaring. She was rinsing a glass as she sang, Hugo sitting next to her on the kitchen floor, his brown eyes rapt and pink tongue lolling out of his mouth.
“I see you’ve made a conquest of the fuzzball,” Rob said, putting the takeout bags on the counter.
She inhaled deeply, her eyes fluttering closed. “And you’ve made a conquest of me with whatever smells that good.”
“Peruvian rotisserie chicken. Fried yuca. Black beans and rice. Plantains. Corn. Plenty of sauce at a variety of heat levels.”
Kari clutched her belly. “Oh, man. I haven’t had that in years. It smells heavenly.” She opened an upper cabinet and pulled out a pair of dinner plates, pulling drawers open to get utensils and napkins and setting them out.
“Efficiency. I like it.” Rob pulled the takeout containers out of the bags and ferried them to the table, his mouth watering as the rich, savory smells.
Hugo followed them, plopping his haunches on the floor, eyes following the movement of the chicken and side dishes to the plates as Rob and Kari served themselves. “No chicken for you, boy,” Rob said.
“Not even a bone?” Kari asked.
Rob blinked. “Absolutely not. Chicken bones are bad for dogs.”
Kari’s eyes widened. “They are? I mean…dogs. Bones. Isn’t that a whole thing?”
“Beef bones. Not chicken. Chicken bones splinter. Bad news for the dog in question. Can even kill a dog if it gets them just right.”
She darted a look at Hugo, distress tightening the skin around her eyes. “Are you sure you want to leave him with me? Now I’m afraid I’m going to break your daughter’s dog.”
“Just only feed him his dog food and you both will be fine.”
“If you say so.” Kari pulled a morsel of chicken off the bone and dipped it in the sauce, glancing at Hugo. “None of this for you, Mr. Dog.” She popped the bite in her mouth, eyes sinking closed in rapture. “Thank you for this. It’s delicious” He felt a little pride at that, silly as it was. He’d only gone to the Peruvian chicken place and bought dinner. But it made her happy.
“You’re very welcome.” He dipped a yuca fry in sauce and took a bite. “Why didn’t you want to choose what we ate?”
She sucked at her fingers. “You’ve never gotten tired of making decisions?”
“I guess I haven’t thought about it.”
“Well, take it from me. Sometimes the most exhausting thing you can do is make yet one more decision.”
“I’m sorry you’re so exhausted.” Great. And here he was, loading another thing on her plate. Taking care of Hugo when she’d never owned a pet in her life. “Maybe I can do something for you when I get back from my trip.”
“Like what?”
“I’m not sure yet. But I’ll think of something.” Something bigger than chicken.
The next morning, Rob dropped Hugo off at Kari’s house with a quick kiss before heading to the airport. “Let me know if you need anything.”
“…And what are you going to be able to do from the other side of the country?”
“Good point. I’ll get home as fast as I can.”
“Just take care of what you need to take care of,” she said.
“Will do.” He handed Hugo’s leash off to her and she and the dog watched him lope out to his car and drive away.
“Just you and me now, Mr. Dog.” Kari closed the door and unclipped the leash. She half expected him to wander off and flop down, but instead, he followed her to her bedroom where she got her shoes. “I’m off to work. Be good,” she said, feeling ridiculous, but also somehow unable to not talk to the dog. “Sam will come and take you out in a few hours.”
Kari reviewed the long and detailed list of Hugo’s schedule, habits, and any other details Rob could think of that might help her spend three days with the dog with as little stress as possible. She had laughed at him as he composed it, trying to impose order on his scattered thoughts. “You’re learning, aren’t you?”
He had tapped her nose with the butt of his pen. “Always be learning. And if you can, learn from the best. That would be you, in case I wasn’t being crystal clear.”
Her cheeks warmed now at the remembered compliment. She picked up her handbag and keys and gave Hugo one last pat on the head. “Be a good boy.” She wasn’t sure if the dog whined as she closed the front door or if the hinges needed oiling. Either way, a flicker of guilt licked through her as she headed for her car. Before she started it, she dug her cell phone out and composed a quick text to Sam:
Let me know how Hugo is after you walk him today, please?
She turned on the car, setting her jaw. She could do this. Millions of people had pets. Her neurotic worrying was silly. Moreover, she wanted to do this. Rob could say what he would about her not owing him, but she did. He was in a jam and she could help him.
Sam’s reply came just as she was pulling into the parking lot at work.
Sure thing, dog-mommy.
God help her, she was a dog-mommy now. Maybe even a dog-grandmommy.
“Flight sixteen-thirty-five to Los Angeles is now ready for boarding.” The gate agent’s voice cut through Rob’s review of an email from Sandra. So far, none of the rest of the D.C. staff was throwing red flags for potentially harassing behavior and the offender had been fired and escorted off the premises without incident. Investigations were proceeding in the Los Angeles and Austin offices to make sure they weren’t harboring any other troublemakers.
Rob rolled his shoulders and rocked his head, standing and picking up his carry-on. Not for the first time he wondered what he’d done to get saddled with everything at once. Mia moving, Hugo, this clusterfuck at work, Kari…
At least Kari was a positive in his life. He rubbed his lips as they curved into a little smile and he joined his boarding group. They had had time for a brief cuddle on the sofa after dinner the evening before, then he dragged himself and Hugo next door, him to pack and prepare for the training session in L.A., Hugo to look soulful and sad, the poor dog all too accustomed to humans putting things in containers and leaving him lately.
Rob would be able to fix that after he got home from this trip. His travel for work was normally minimal—a few visits a year to the other two corporate locations, the occasional conference or training seminar in another state. Maybe when he got home he could take a few days off. Even better, if he could convince Kari to take a few days too—a little staycation to continue exploring what they were starting to have between them…maybe that could fulfill the promise he had made of making it up to her when he got back.
The gate agent scanned the boarding pass on his phone and Rob proceeded to the plane, finding his seat and settling in. His knees nearly touched the seat-back in front of him and he frowned. He knew he wasn’t getting taller, so airline seats had to be getting smaller. Yay.
His phone chimed. A text from Mia, a selfie in front of a rental van. Heading North. Thanks for everything, Dad.
Rob tried to swallow the enormous lump that had taken residence in his throat and blinked, typing slowly. Knock ‘em dead, kiddo. Let me know if you need anything from your old man.
Dots pulsed on the screen. Will do. I’m nervous, but I have the world’s best dad in my corner, so I can do anything.
Rob’s eyes squeezed closed and he rubbed his chest over his heart.
He might not be the world’s best dad, but he was pretty sure he had the world’s best kid.
Kari hurried from her car to her front door. All seems okay on the doggo front had been Sam’s message around noon, but Kari had been preoccupied and aware that there was a living creature in her house the entire day. Kari opened the door, finding Hugo right behind it.
“Poor Mr. Dog. You want your dinner. And your dad. I want him back too.” Kari gave him a distracted pat and strode to the kitchen, putting his food in a bowl and setting it on the floor. He looked at her as if he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do, and Kari remembered Rob telling her that not eating was a sign of stress. She crouched down and tapped the edge of the bowl with her fingertip. “It’s okay, Mr. Dog. Eat the food.”
Hugo sniffed the mixture and looked at her again. Had she done it wrong? The incorrect combination of kibble and canned food? He took a tentative bite, then another, then steadily ate. Kari sighed and stood, her tense shoulders relaxing as Hugo chomped in earnest.
“You finish all that and I’ll go get changed. Then walk.”
Hugo’s head came up and he looked at her.
“You understand words? Like walk?” Kari felt ridiculous, but also felt like she was having an actual conversation of some kind. Hugo looked from her face to the bowl. “Keep eating. We’ll…w-a-l-k after,” she said, spelling the word that seemed to distract him so easily.
She left Hugo wolfing his dinner to change into shorts and a tee shirt. The dog came clicking and jingling into her room as she was tying her sneakers, blowing dog-food-breath into her face. Kari screwed up her eyes and twisted her head away. “Ugh. Thanks for that.”
Hugo merely sat and thudded his tail against the floor in a steady rhythm.
“Okay. Fine. Walk.” Was it her imagination or were his eyes brighter at the sound of that word? The dog followed her to the front door where she collected his leash, clipping it to his collar and looping the handle around her wrist. Sam had told a story at the dinner party about losing Graham’s dog Honey when she was jumped by another dog. Kari didn’t think another dog would be stupid enough to attack Hugo, but then again, what did she know about dogs?
Rob had told her that Hugo was very well trained, and she had to admit she appreciated the way the big dog stayed at her side, not ranging around or—God forbid—pulling at the leash like she’d seen around the neighborhood. In contrast, his trotting stride next to her was a light, graceful float.
This was nice. She’d never seriously considered getting a pet before, but there was something soothing about Hugo’s solid bulk and furry, watchful presence. They reached a little area that wasn’t quite park, wasn’t quite woodland—kind of a borderland between a house and the little neighborhood park. Hugo paused to sniff and then looked back at her. “You’re fine, do what you need to do.” Hugo nosed around some more, then squatted.
Oh. Yeah. Thanks to Rob’s extensive notes, Kari had remembered to bring a plastic bag with her, but she hadn’t been quite prepared for the sheer size of what Hugo left behind. She pulled the bag out of her pocket as he stood, peeling it back over her hand and squatting. Best to get this over fast. But Hugo kicked his hind legs backward, as if to cover his poo with debris. Kari closed her eyes and stood, waiting for the sounds to stop, cautiously cracking one eye open to see Hugo sitting on his haunches again, tongue lolling as if he was proud of his accomplishment.
Kari gulped and wrapped her plastic-shrouded fingers around the mass. It was squishy. And warm. And utterly disgusting. Holding her breath, she inverted the bag around it and tied it off, swallowing down a spurt of nausea. Holding the bag with her fingertips, she stood and looked at Hugo.
“If I was in any doubt about my feelings for Rob, this would end them. Guess we better finish your walk, Mr. Dog.”
If she didn’t know any better, she would have sworn he winked at her.
Rob pushed his key card into the hotel room lock for the third time before he got the blessed green light. His neck was tight, his eyeballs felt like they’d been sandpapered. The day with the Los Angeles I.T. team had not exactly gone swimmingly. While there had been some earnest faces in the training room, there had also been some accusatory stares.
He hated surveilling staff. For the most part, his attitude towards staff internet use was: keep it clean, keep it safe and as long as you do the job we pay you to do, I don’t care. He knew the more you clamped down on a bunch of smart geeks, the more they would waste time figuring ways around the surveillance technology and the less time actually doing their jobs. But there was a line to walk there, and he was worried he’d fallen too far on the lenient side.
His job now was to not compound the problem by falling too far on the hard-ass side.
The door thudded behind him as he found the light switch. His shoulder, supporting the strap of his carryon, was shrugged up near his ear. It ached. Just about everything ached. He dropped the bag on a little padded bench and flopped backwards onto the bed, the springy surface bouncing underneath him. He rubbed his eyes and imagined it was Kari’s cool fingers, not his rough, blunt ones, that caressed his face. The thought eased the tension in his neck and shoulder, though a sharp emotion spiked through him at the same time. His hands slid away from his face and he stared up at the ceiling, the sprinkler head an unexpected focal point.
He missed her.
He hadn’t even been away from her for a day, but he missed her.
His phone chimed. “What,” he muttered, twisting his hips so he could retrieve the infernal device from his back pocket. Pulling his reading glasses out of his shirt pocket he slid them on and looked at the screen with Kari’s name on it. It took him a moment to register he was looking at a photo of a sketch of Hugo, the dog’s eyes watchful and solemn. Another chime, another sketch, this time of Hugo in motion, presumably bounding after some toy. He had that ready-to-pounce look. Next, the dog lying down, eyes closed, head resting on his front paws.
The sweet ache of missing Kari intensified and then flared when the next message came in. This one wasn’t a sketch. Instead, it was a selfie. Kari and Hugo, with a message:
Sitting on the floor with him because he wouldn’t hop on the sofa with me.
Rob smiled and typed. Mia would be proud. She’s worked hard to train him.
A chagrined-looking emoji popped on his screen. I take it he won’t sleep in my bed either?
Rob shuddered at the idea of the huge dog in his bed. He had yet to be able to get a good night’s sleep next to Kari. Hugo, with his fur and his dog-breath and his pointy nails, would be a nightmare. Yeah. NO. Please don’t undo his training. I don’t want him hopping in my bed.
She called then, and he brought the phone to his ear. “This is Rob.”
“I know.”
“Don’t ding me for old habits. I’ve been answering the phone like that for at least twenty years.”
Her voice softened. “No dinging. It’s very…you.”
“I’m not sure how to take that.”
“It’s the whole Rob Fox package. Taking care of people. Dorky dad-jokes. Being proud of your daughter. Answering your personal phone like it might be a business call, even though you know it’s me.”
He shifted his shoulders on the mattress, took off the reading glasses he didn’t need now. “I’m still not sure how to take it.”
“I like it. I like the Rob Fox package.” She paused. Coughed. “I mean…”
He resisted the urge to make a joke about the double entendre. “Thanks. I like the Kari Halvorsen package an awful lot too.” The gorgeous, creative, generous package that was Kari.
“You do?”
“Yeah. The totally organized yet spontaneous artist. The maker of great food. The creator of that Norwegian cozy thing you told me about.”
“Hygge.”
“Yeah. That. I think she’s pretty special. In fact, before you texted me, I was thinking how much I missed her.”
“You saw me this morning.”
“Yeah. For two seconds. And I’m not going to see you for another two days. And I can usually trot out my front door and see you in less than a minute. So, I miss you.”
Silence. Maybe the sound of her swallowing. It was hard to tell. “Yeah. I miss you too. It’s weird seeing your house all dark, knowing you’re not there.”
“I’ll be home Friday.”
Exhaustion washed over him. He had to get on another plane early tomorrow morning, fly to Austin, do the whole depressing dog and pony show yet again with that staff. Introduce the trainer who came at an exorbitant price due to the last-minute booking, make it clear that he was personally invested in the message the trainer was going to hammer home, be the bad guy even though some shithead in his own office had tried to victimize someone. He liked his job. He was good at it.
But if he could transport himself home right this minute and be with Kari, he’d be home faster than he could say, “Landing party to beam aboard.”