“Yes.” He glared at Madi. “You need to rethink your sleeping habits.”
Madi wagged her tail.
“Oh—” Harriet pressed her hand to her chest and he frowned.
“What’s wrong? Indigestion? Chest pain?”
“No, I—” she said, and let her hand drop, “it’s you. You’re teasing her.”
“Teasing? I was scolding her.”
“You were teasing her, and she knows you were teasing her because she’s wagging her tail.”
“Then she clearly isn’t well tuned in to the subtleties of body language.”
“You like her.”
Ethan ignored that. “Have you been here all afternoon?”
“You like her.”
He sighed. “She’s not completely awful. Compared to some of the humans I meet, she’s pretty cute. Now answer my question.”
“Yes, I’ve been here since four o’clock. I didn’t like to leave her. It didn’t seem fair.”
“Thank you.” He lifted his hand. “And before you say anything, I know you are talking about the dog, not me. That’s fine. You’re right, it isn’t fair. But life rarely is and in the meantime we have to find an option that works for all of us, because we can’t carry on like this. She’s cute, but she is wrecking my life. I have to be able to concentrate at work, so if you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them.”
&nbs
p; The irony of it didn’t escape him. He was used to making split-second decisions in a fast-moving, tense working environment but he had no idea what to do about this unexpected disruption to his life.
Was he going to be sleeping with the dog until his sister returned?
“I don’t suppose you’d consider working shorter days until she is settled?” The way she said it made it obvious that she didn’t think for one moment he would consider it.
And she was right.
Ethan thought about the throng of people in the emergency room and his already overstretched colleagues. “Not an option. Can you come more often?”
“You want me to come three times a day? I suppose I could, but I’m not sure that will help. It won’t solve the fact that she’ll be alone in between those times.”
“Could you put her in your backpack and take her with you on your other walks?”
Her eyes widened. “She’s a dog, Ethan. Not a sandwich lunch.”
“I’ve seen people carry dogs in handbags.”
Her head turned toward Madi. “She’s not a large dog by most standards, but she wouldn’t fit into any bag I’ve ever seen. That’s not an option, either.” She hesitated. “I know you’re not super keen on the idea, but I could take her home with me.”
“No.” Ethan shook his head and then realized how rude his response probably seemed. “Don’t be offended. It’s not that I don’t want to. Frankly, it would be the best option all round but Debra wanted me to take her. I can’t go against her wishes. I said I’d give Madi a home, and I’ll give her a home. We have to find another way. And taking her back to your place won’t work if the problem is that she wants company.”
Far from being offended, her gaze softened. “I’m not offended. I’m impressed at your loyalty and the fact that you do what you say you’re going to do. Plenty of people don’t.” She looked at Madi. “I suppose we will have to go with the three walks a day option and see how we get on. But I’ll need to get Debra’s approval because it will cost—”
“Cost doesn’t matter. I’ll pay. Let’s not bother Debra with this. And before you say anything, it’s not simply because I don’t want her to know I’m inept. She has a lot on her plate right now and I don’t want her worrying. But you don’t think three walks a day will work, do you? And if you do more it will hardly be worth you leaving.” He stared at her, wondering why that option hadn’t occurred to him before. “That’s it.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s not worth you leaving. So you could stay. Dog sitting. I have a comfortable guest room with its own bathroom. You can treat the place like home.”