I never thought I’d want anyone to be separated from their pet, but I hoped we never found the little boxer’s owner.
He took a deep breath. “Have you heard from anyone about Mags?”
At his question, Maggie Maye looked up at me.
“No, nothing. We’ve called the local hotels, too. And no one has checked for her at the local shelters, either.”
Seemingly satisfied with my response, Maggie Maye picked up her Kong and took it in front of the fireplace where she kept chewing on it to get at the peanut butter inside. “Come on in.”
We walked into the living room, and I pointed to the table. “Things are still a mess, so ignore that. Let me get some water. Or do you want wine? I don’t have much and tomorrow I plan to go to the grocery store.”
“Water works great.”
I found two clean glasses and filled them from the fridge dispenser. Mike followed me into the kitchen where he got paper plates and napkins from the counter.
The pizza smelled delicious. “Perfect timing. I was starving.”
“And my warning bell worked. So far today, you’ve had zero accidents in my presence.”
I threw my head back. “I’m never going to live down the last few days, am I?”
“Nope.”
“Good thing the most embarrassing things have stayed put in my mind.” My eyes widened, and Mike cocked his head to the left. “Forget I said anything.”
He leaned in. “I’ll let you in on a little secret…”
“What’s that?” My voice was barely a whisper.
“I’m just as affected, Sydney.”
We grinned at each other. He felt it, too. “That’s good to know.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
The air became ripe with sexual energy, so I took another bite of my pizza. Mike looked around the living room. “Virg mentioned that you’ve loved this place since you were a little girl.”
“I have. I used to come here to see Peggy and Wilbur. They were like grandparents to me. You’ve probably met Peggy.”
Mike nodded. “Yeah, she’s part of the Red Hat Society. I swear those women are trouble.”
“For sure. You might have to arrest them at some point.” We laughed. Then I asked, “How well did you know Grandpa?”
Mike looked around the room a moment or two longer before his eyes settled back on me. “As well as you can get to know someone in a couple of months, I guess. We shot the breeze at the coffee shop a few times a week. He told me about you and this house. Said he couldn’t wait to introduce me to you. Having come from Chicago, it was a nice change of pace.”
I wondered why Grandpa never mentioned Mike. Not that he said a ton about who he talked to, but I figured his name might have come up at some point. I had my suspicions that Grandpa might have had a matchmaking scheme up his sleeve and had planned to introduce us.
Sydney