“Well, Donovan, I drove one of Jameson’s cars here. Scrappy is actually a very good passenger, aren’t you, boy?” He let out a low, quiet bark as if to reply that he was indeed a good passenger, and a good boy.
“Can’t blame a guy for trying.” Donovan laughed. “It was nice to meet you again.” He extended his hand, which she politely took.
“Thank you again for your help, and for the numerous offers of a ride.” She gave him a sweet smile. “Come on, Scrappy, I’m sure the doctor has actual sick patients to see. Let’s go.”
Scrappy trotted over to Riley, who grabbed his leash. She let herself out of the exam room, but not before glancing back at Donovan, where she smiled again before she left. The door shut behind her and Donovan ran his hands through his thick, dark hair.
Oh man, she’s adorable.
8
Riley
“Thanks for embarrassing me, dog,” Riley muttered to him as she buckled his seat belt. Scrappy was big enough to sit in the front seat and be belted in like a regular person. She couldn’t believe he was only going to get bigger. He has to be almost as big as me.
After making sure the dog was snug in his seat, Riley sat down in the driver’s seat and sighed before turning the car on. She drove so little, she had to psyche herself up to do it. Some people truly enjoyed driving, and going on road trips, but Riley preferred walking and taking public transit. When she left to take Scrappy to the vet, Bernard had offered to drive them, but she didn’t want him feeling like he was her manservant. His doting was stifling for someone who typically spent a tremendous amount of time alone.
“Okay, let’s do this,” she said.
Scrappy let out a reciprocal “woof” in reply.
Riley chuckled and drove them back to Jameson’s house, where she’d made afternoon plans to go through some of his things.
Later that day, Riley sat in Jameson’s office, rummaging through his desk drawers. Bernard had asked if she needed any help, but she explained she was just trying to figure out what needed to be kept and what should be filed away. The truth was, she was snooping, and while Bernard may have known what she was up to, he wasn’t interfering and left her to it. Scrappy, meanwhile, had parked himself on the chaise lounge under the window. A bit of sun shone through, and he stretched his gigantic body out like a human stretches in the mornings. With his toes hanging off the edge, he fell dead asleep on his back.
Riley began by casually looking through Jameson’s book collection. On a giant wall behind the desk from about midway up the wall, all the way to the ceiling, were built-in bookshelves. She ran her hand across the spines gently, wondering if Jameson had read all of them. They were organized by theme and genre mostly, with the classics all together. Copies of Shakespeare, Bronte, and Fitzgerald sat side by side, and then there were business and reference books all neatly organized as well. He even had a set of philosophy books, the likes of which she hadn’t seen since college. Most of the books were hardbacks, although there were a few paperbacks scattered amongst the others.
Once she’d perused the shelves, she decided to settle in and go through his desk. Technically, everything here belongs to me, so it's not really snooping, she said to herself as she opened the first drawer and peeked inside. Nothing interesting. Just some pens and blank paper, along with random office supplies, like paper clips and staples.
The second drawer she tried to open was locked. She yanked on it harder, but it wouldn’t budge. Riley searched through the little boxes along the edge of the desk to see if any of them held the key to the drawer, but she found nothing but push pins, loose change, and more paper clips. A locked drawer tended to hold secrets and she decided if she couldn’t find the key, she’d break into it anyway.
Riley glanced around to make sure Bernard was out of earshot, and she took a large, metal letter opener from the other drawer and jammed it into the space between the locked drawer and the desk itself. She managed to damage the wood around the lock just enough to pry it open. “Yes!” she congratulated herself quietly.
She slid the drawer open quietly, pulling out a folder of photographs. At first, she didn’t recognize anyone in them, but soon she realized there was a picture of someone she knew better than anyone.
A knock on the door startled her and she shoved the photographs back in the drawer. “Yes?” she called out, trying not to sound as shaken as she was.
“Miss Maxwell, you have a visitor.” It was Bernard, but she wasn’t expecting any visitors. In fact, she wasn’t even sure she’d told Colette what was happening, or that she was in Port Henry. Making a mental note to call her best friend, she stood up from the desk.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“It’s me, uh, Donovan.” The doctor poked his head around the corner apprehensively.
“Oh, hi, Dr. Hunter… Donovan,” Riley replied, surprised to see him.
Scrappy peeled himself from his perch, stretched into downward dog, then trotted over to Donovan for head scratches.
“I just wanted to come by and see how you and Scrappy here were doing,” he said, a bit of apprehension in his voice.
Riley wanted to take the pictures but didn’t want anyone to see them, so she had no choice but to leave them in the now unlocked drawer. “That was very kind of you, but we’re both doing fine. As you can see, the king of the castle here is as spry as ever.” She nodded in the direction of the dog, who she was certain smirked at her. Can dogs smirk?
“It certainly looks like he’s just fine.” Donovan shifted nervously in place, continuing to rub Scrappy’s head, much to the dog’s delight.
“Um, would you like a drink or something?” She wasn’t quite sure of the protocol for guests who stopped by, since she wasn’t used to having any. Drinks seemed appropriate.
“Sure, that would be great,” he replied. Donovan appeared to relax at the offer of drinks, and he followed Riley out to the patio. The sun had begun to set and the temperature was a cool seventy, perfect for sitting outside.
“Is this okay?” she asked.