Page 66 of Men or Paws

“Wow, you’re going to have the whole place to yourself? It’s time to party.”

“Yeah, keep dreaming,” I said. “Hey, put Holly on the phone. I haven’t talked to her in forever.”

“Holly said she doesn’t want to be your friend since you replaced her with Rocco,” Josh said.

“I did not say that!” Holly yelled in the background. “Give me the phone, Bozo!”

Josh laughed. “Hold on, sis.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Holly said after she took the phone from my brother.

“Yeah, why would I start doing that now?” I said. “How are you? I miss you.”

“I miss you, too. It does feel odd staying at your place when you’re not even here.”

I stuck my Captain Clapton T-shirt in a bag and frowned. “I know. This just happened so fast and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.”

“Hey, I don’t blame you one bit. I seriously can’t believe you’re staying at Rocco Romano’s house. Does he look just as sexy in person as he does on the big screen?”

“I can hear you!” Josh called out. “Rocco can eat my shorts!”

I laughed. “Sounds like someone is jealous. Anyway, let’s just say that his title of sexiest man alive is well-deserved and leave it at that.” I smiled when I heard a bark on the phone call. “How is my precious Sage?”

Sage is their beautiful golden retriever. She’s like a smaller, female version of Houdini.

Come to think of it, it might be fun to get the two dogs together.

“She is wondering where her auntie Beth is. Can you stop by for a little bit to visit? In fact, bring Houdini and we can set him up with Sage! It will be love at first bark.”

I laughed. “I was just thinking the same thing. But I’m watching Houdini around the clock since Rocco just went to New York. I should probably stay around here until he gets back, but I will definitely come see you. I’m planning on checking out one of Josh’s shows, so maybe we can do dinner the same night.”

“I would love that,” Holly said.

Houdini walked toward the door and turned around, letting out a loud bark.

“Oops, gotta run,” I said. “I think Houdini has to do his business. I need to get my things and head over to the main house soon. Can we chat a little later, like in an hour or two?”

“Of course. I’ll call you after I take Sage for her afternoon walk,” Holly said. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

After disconnecting the call, I grabbed a poop bag and opened the door for Houdini. “Okay, let’s go.”

We walked past the swimming pool to the large grass area on the other side of the yard.

A few seconds later, Houdini lifted his leg and peed against his favorite palm tree.

Douglas popped his head over the property wall and scared the daylights out of me again. “Why, hello there, Beth! How are you doing on this lovely day?”

I glanced up and smiled. “I’m fine, Douglas, although I’m wondering how you magically appear over this giant wall. Are you ten feet tall or something?”

Douglas chuckled. “It’s not magic, really. Since the properties on this street go up the hill, the part I’m standing on is five feet higher than the part you’re standing on down there. No tricks, no ladders, just simple elevation and inclination. As you kids say, this slope is dope.”

I’d never heard a kid say that.

And how old did he think I was?

“Where’s Rocco today?” Douglas asked. “Busy going through scripts again?”