“Norton,” an excited voice yelled from the next aisle over. Layla was still trying to figure out why the voice sounded so familiar when Sasha rounded the corner, Kimberly right behind her. “Miss Layla! Miss Layla.” Sasha threw her arms around Norton. “Hi buddy hi buddy hi buddy.”
“Hi,” Layla said to Kimberly, who could not have looked more confused.
“Hi. Is this my husband’s dog? I mean…” She let the sentence trail off as if she hadn’t gotten used to saying “ex.”
“It is. I’m dog sitting.”
“You’re watching Josh’s dog?”
“Sasha asked me one day at school if I liked dogs, which turned into me watching Norton. I think it embarrassed Josh a little bit that she asked, but I told him it was no big deal.”
“I didn’t realize you saw Josh that often.”
“I see him every day,” Layla said. “The fine arts teachers handle the morning drop-off.” Stop talking, Layla. Just stop talking.
“Oh, I didn’t know about the morning. I’ve only done the afternoon pickup. So, Sasha asked you to watch the dog?”
“Yes, but I live alone, and I don’t have any kids or pets of my own to juggle. It’s no trouble, really. And he’s a great dog.”
“So, you’re single?” Kimberly asked.
“Yes.” Layla couldn’t quite discern how this revelation made Kimberly feel, but it did look a little like the wheels were turning in her brain. “How were your holidays?” Layla asked, mostly to change the subject.
“Fine, fine,” Kimberly said, waving her hand in the air as if Christmas and the arrival of the new year weren’t important.
“Do you have a pet?” Layla asked.
“We’re getting another hamster,” Kimberly said.
“Oh, fun,” Layla said.
Kimberly smiled brightly. “We don’t have a pet at my house and Sasha thought we needed one so it will be with me all the time. I can’t compete with a dog, but I’m not home a lot during the day and when Sasha isn’t with me, I tend to work extra hours so I thought this would be a good compromise.”
Oof, Layla thought. A dog would always trump a hamster. “I think that’s wonderful. It’s obvious that Sasha really likes animals.”
“Well,” Kimberly said. “I’ll let you get back to it. I’m guessing Josh will pick up the dog tomorrow night when he gets back?”
“Yep, that’s the plan.”
Sasha gave Norton a few more kisses and grabbed big handfuls of his fur and buried her face in them. “Bye Norton. I will see you tomorrow.”
“C’mon, buddy,” Layla said, giving a gentle tug on the leash. “Let’s get out of here.”
chapter 27
Layla
Josh texted Layla to let her know that his plane had landed and that he’d be over to pick up Norton as soon as he got home. An hour earlier she’d been lounging on the couch in a pair of sweats and her favorite stretched-out-but-too-cozy-to-get-rid-of sweater. She’d changed into a pair of jeans and a much nicer sweater and she’d run a flat iron through her hair and applied lipstick.
“Hi,” Layla said when he arrived forty-five minutes later. “How was your trip?”
“Good, but I’m always happy to be home. Especially after a trip to Vegas.”
Layla laughed. “I get it. Norton’s asleep in the basement. I put a dog bed down there and he seems to like it.” Josh followed her downstairs. She hadn’t planned to show him her basement sanctuary, but it wasn’t like he didn’t already know about it, and that was where Norton was anyway.
“Wow,” Josh said when they entered the room. “This is quite a setup.”
“It’s something,” she said with a laugh. It had changed a lot since the day he saw her playing. She’d bought a couch and a large rug. There were two end tables with a lamp on each one to bring more light into the room. She hadn’t put anything on the walls yet, but she’d been narrowing down a few choices she’d found online.
Norton was still curled up in the dog bed in the corner. “You’d think the volume level would bother him,” Layla said. “But if I’m down here playing, he’s with me.”
“I think he’s almost fully deaf now. I noticed the other day that he didn’t come when I called. As soon as I made visual contact, he charged at me like he thought I’d disappeared or something.”
“Well, that would explain it.” Layla looked over at Norton. The dog opened one sleepy eye and bounded out of the bed. “Is that something to be worried about?”
“He’s almost thirteen.” Josh crouched down to accept Norton’s enthusiastic welcome, ruffling his fur as he said, “Hey, boy. You happy to see me? I missed you.”
“I knew he was a senior dog, but I didn’t realize he was that old.” Norton looked so happy. Layla wished he were staying another night, but Josh undoubtedly missed him more than Layla would. “We took a little field trip to PetSmart. He seemed to really like that.”
“Yeah, I heard about that. Sasha was thrilled to run into you and Norton.”
“I thought he’d enjoy getting out of the house.” No need for Layla to mention that she’d utilized him purely for wingman duties. And she’d bought him some treats while they were there, so the outing had probably been a win from Norton’s standpoint. It was Layla who’d failed spectacularly.
“Thanks for sending all the pictures. Sorry I didn’t respond as much. Sasha likes to play on my phone. She and her cousins kept swiping them when we were at the condo. Playing some game, I guess.”
He said it in such a way that she understood what he was really saying. Oh, you didn’t want your daughter to accidently see the texts you’re exchanging with her music teacher. In case those texts took a flirty turn, maybe? “No problem,” she said.
“Ready for school tomorrow?”
“I am, actually. Going a little stir-crazy.” She’d been home alone in an empty house a few days too long. If it weren’t for Norton, she’d probably have been climbing the walls by then. “It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to. Humans, that is.”
“So, what you’re saying is you’re having lots of conversations with my dog.”
“More than I’m comfortable admitting.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I, too, have been known to have conversations with Norton. I wouldn’t admit that to anyone else, but it seems we’re both doing it so why hide it.”
“He’s a great listener,” she said.
“You ready to go home, buddy?” Norton looked like he could take it or leave it. Why not? His two most recent caregivers were in the same room. Josh took another look at the microphone and the guitars in their stands. “You must have been a real force to be reckoned with back in the day.”
I was, she thought. But it wasn’t enough.
* * *