Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 410(@200wpm)___ 328(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Actually,” I countered, as he bent and kissed me. “You need to call when you’re on the way home, sir.”
He grunted.
“Either way, you pointing a gun at the sweetest dog in the world could have been avoided,” I stated, petting Chickie, marveling again at how soft he was. It was very clear that Ian Doyle and Miro Jones took very good care of their dog. I couldn’t even imagine the brushing that had to happen on a daily basis.
“Agreed,” Sam grumbled, also petting Chickie as Hannah came up onto the deck and smiled at her father. “Now explain to me why we have a wolf in our yard.”
“Well,” Hannah began, “see, George was supposed to be watching Chickie this weekend because Ian and Miro had to go to a wedding in Los Angeles.”
“I’m aware,” Sam said, crossing his arms, waiting for more, because of course, there had to be more.
“But George got deployed, and I’m not going to worry about that, I’m putting it out of my mind, because I know Dr. Butler is having a way harder time than me.”
My dear sweet husband remained silent, and that was impressive. Really. I had actually interrupted at that point when I first heard the story, because I knew that Dr. Butler had a big house with two dogs and a cat and a yard that butted up against a preserve, so why in the world wasn’t Chickie staying there? It made no sense.
“Anyway,” she continued, “originally George thought Dr. Butler could watch Chickie, but the thing is, even though Dr. Butler’s dogs don’t attack the wildlife around his home, Chickie isn’t trained not to do that. So to him, the deer, the foxes, the rabbits, the birds—that’s all fair game. And apparently, Chickie wasn’t about to stay in when he saw what was happening outside, and as you can imagine, when Chickie wants out, he goes out.”
“I find it very hard to believe that Ian has only one person to watch this dog,” Sam stated.
“Well, I guess his friend who normally watches Chickie, she had to go to the wedding too, along with her husband and their two kids. They’re all flying to LA together, and there are some boys who Ian and Miro take care of—I didn’t really get that part when Dr. Butler was explaining it to me because he got it from George, and I think something got lost in translation. Do Miro and Ian have foster kids?”
“They’re ex-federal witnesses that they put into WITSEC, but that’s not important,” my husband assured his child.
“Oh, okay,” Hannah said, shaking her head. “Well, I guess they’re going to the wedding too, all three of Miro and Ian’s boys plus a boyfriend, I dunno, but they’re all gone.”
“All right.”
“And apparently George asked several members of your team when he found out he had to go, and they all told him no way in hell.”
“I see,” Sam said, pulling his phone from the breast pocket of his suit jacket before passing it to me. He pressed a button on the screen, waited a moment, and then we heard it ringing because he’d put it on speaker.
“Boss?”
“Kohn,” Sam nearly growled, using Director of Public Affairs Eli Kohn’s last name only. “Why is Ian Doyle’s dog at my house?”
“I’m sorry?” Eli asked, using that same technique my son did, the one where he asked a question hoping for more time to figure out what he was going to say.
“Why?”
Eli cleared his throat. “My understanding was that Ian asked George Hunt to watch his dog, sir.”
“And George Hunt was deployed, so you need to step up.”
“Begging your pardon, sir, but I was told that George’s boyfriend—I think it’s his boyfriend—was supposed to watch the dog. Apparently he’s got a big yard or something.”
“Well, now he can’t, so you need to––”
“Excuse me, sir, but that dog—have you seen the size of that dog?”
“Yes, Kohn, he’s here in my backyard. I’m looking at him right now.”
“That’s right, you have a yard,” Eli said excitedly. “I, sir, do not. I have a large apartment, yes, but it is not at all dog friendly, and I don’t even think Chickie would fit in the elevator.”
“I––”
“And, sir, is it fair, honestly, to try and put Chickie in an elevator?”
“He has a point,” I whispered, continuing to pet the dog.
“I bet you could stay at Doyle’s place with the dog.”
“I could, you’re right, if I hadn’t already made plans for the weekend, and as you know, all of us who work for you don’t always get free weekends and––”
“Fine,” Sam snapped.
“Thank you, sir. Have a wonderful weekend,” he told Sam before the line went dead.
“I will make sure he never has a free weekend again,” Sam assured me with a scowl. “Do you have any idea how many black-tie events occur on Saturday night that I don’t send Kohn to? How many requests I turn down? Oh, he is so screwed.”