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“I like it,” Kamala said. Then she raised her eyebrows at me and I couldn’t quite read what she was trying to say, but I sensed it was something like,See, he’s really nice, your lies are going to blow him up.Or maybe she wasn’t saying that at all and I was just projecting.

“All this to home a dog?” Dale asked. “Why doesn’t anyone want him? What’s wrong with him?”

“Nothing is wrong with him,” I said. “It’s people who have all the issues.”

I wasn’t sure what kind of look Asher was giving Dale behind my back, but the next words out of his mouth surprised me. “Well, we can have the first Bean Game at my house.”

Rule:Never let the guy you want to date hang out with the guy you’re sort of dating.

“What are you doing?” a voice from behind me asked.

I jumped up from attaching a leash to Bean’s collar and turned around. “Chad, you scared me.”

Bean let out a single bark.

“Don’t worry. I’m not stealing your girl,” Chad said to Bean.

I laughed. Chaddidknow how to tell a joke. But his face was serious, with no hint of it being a joke at all. I turned my laugh into throat clearing.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Chad said. “Are you taking Bean somewhere?” He stood on the other side of the chain-link door, staring into Bean’s kennel. He was still as cute as ever with that dark hair and cut jaw. He was also holding a leash, the sweet corgi from the other day on the other end.

“Where are you taking her?”

“Francesca has been adopted.”

“Really? Is she staying with her brothers?”

“Yes, all three have been homed together.”

“That’s amazing.” I never thought the three would get to stay together. Hopefully there was some of that elusive magic left over for Bean. “Me and some friends are going to have a puppuccino drinking contest for an online game we’re starting to try to home Bean. When people see the video, hopefully they’ll sign up for the next contest.”

“Oh, right. The impossible task: Place him before the end of summer.”

I covered Bean’s ears and gasped. “Watch your mouth.”

Chad calmly looked at Bean standing there. Chad was always relaxed and steady, like he was grounded in reality—things I’d always appreciated about him. Bean did not return his gaze.

I patted Bean’s neck. “You don’t think it’s possible?”

“Youdo? That dog has been here forever.”

“We just need a miracle,” I said.

“I don’t believe in those,” Chad said.

I usually didn’t either, but Asher and hisgenerating buzztalk had turned me into a believer. “Yeah, well, a little hope never hurt anyone.” I made sure Bean’s leash was secure and stood. His tail immediately started wagging with the knowledge that we were leaving his kennel.

Chad, still on the other side of the door, said, “Can I help? I just need to pass Francesca off to Rodrigo and then I’m done for the day.”

“If you don’t mind drinking a dog coffee,” I said, “you’re in.”

Chad had insisted we use one of the dog seat belts from the shelter, and much to Bean’s frustration, he was in the back seat of my car,unable to move very far. It was probably safer for all of us this way, but I felt like Bean spent most of his life trapped, so I liked to let him stick his head out the window.

“I know,” I said. “Chad is a meanie.”

Chad let a breath out his nose. “I’m the only one who cares about your life, Bean. Maybe you should lovemeinstead.” He reached his hand back and I watched in the rearview mirror as Bean turned his head, pressing it against the seat, in a rebuff.

“Ouch,” I said. “Rejected.”