Page 16 of September (New Orleans #9)

G wen woke up with a wet nose pressed to her cheek.

“Hi, Carly,” she said.

Carly barked, and Gwen had to open both of her eyes because Carly was now jumping all around the bed.

“Well, someone’s awake. I guess you’re a morning creature, like your mom. Time to go out. I know.”

The terrier barked excitedly again, so Gwen got up and dressed quickly.

Carly wouldn’t be getting a long walk yet, but since Juliet had given Gwen permission to walk her with some of the dogs Gwen would walk this morning, she’d get in a good one later.

Carly had had a good night. After Gwen had set up the second camera and confirmed that the angles were good with Juliet, she’d taken Carly home with her, and the dog had settled right in for the night.

Once they got outside, Gwen took Carly out to the corner, let her do her business, and picked up the little gift Carly had left for her before she took the dog back inside.

She let her eat a bit while she dressed for work and then took her on the streetcar for her first official ride.

Carly really was a good dog. She was well-behaved there and got along with the other dogs that were being walked that day.

Gwen took them to the dog park and let some of them run around off their leashes.

She only kept Carly on hers because she hadn’t asked Juliet if it was okay, but Carly seemed to like hanging out with Gwen and the other two dogs that didn’t much care for exercise.

After dropping the terrier off at home and texting Juliet that she could check in on her with the cameras now, she headed to Myra’s contracting company.

“Hey,” she said. “I got lunch.”

“Oh, great,” Myra replied.

They had agreed to hang out for lunch today, and it was the first time that they were spending any significant time together without Elisa, who always seemed to be hanging all over Myra these days.

Gwen already liked her, but she didn’t know that much about the woman who had captured Elisa’s heart, so she’d picked up sandwiches for them from Henry’s, the best Po-Boys place in the city.

Henry also happened to be Myra’s uncle, so when Gwen had mentioned that they were for the two of them, she had gotten their whole lunch for free.

“So, you wanted to talk?” Myra asked after they settled down in her office to eat.

“Oh, yeah. But not, like, seriously.”

“This isn’t the talk about how if I hurt your sister, you’ll kill me? I was pretty sure we’d already done that, but then you asked to come here for lunch.”

“No, it’s not that talk. But should it be?” Gwen glared at her.

Myra laughed and replied, “No. I can promise you that I would never intentionally hurt Elisa.”

“Because you love her?”

Myra had been about to take a bite, but she pulled the sandwich away from her mouth.

“I haven’t said that to her yet.”

“But you feel it?”

“Shouldn’t she be the first one to know?”

“Maybe. But I’m nosey,” Gwen said and took a bite of her sandwich. “So, you love her?” she asked as she chewed.

“My God!” Myra laughed and added, “Yes. But it’s too soon.”

“To love her?”

“To tell her.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s been a month.”

“Lame,” Gwen said. “But your choice.”

“Have you told Juliet you love her yet?”

“What?” she asked, nearly choking on the bite she just took.

“Why do you think Elisa and I went to sit at the bar? It wasn’t to play the stupid poker game,” Myra told her. “Elisa wanted you to talk to Juliet.”

“Well, I did,” she said. “But I’m obviously not in love with her.”

“She’s pretty,” Myra noted with a shrug.

“I know.” Gwen sighed. “She’s really pretty. Why is she so pretty? Why is she gay?”

“Isn’t that a good thing if you like her?”

“Not if she doesn’t like me. At least, if she were straight, I could blame it on that.”

“You took her home. How’d that go?”

“I didn’t, actually. We took a streetcar to my place, and I was going to drive her from there, but she got a car instead because she didn’t want to make me go out of my way.”

“Have you talked to her since?”

“Yes. I’m dog-sitting for her, remember? I talked to her a bunch yesterday.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“Is there anything there?”

“I came here to get to know you more.” Gwen laughed a little.

“We can get to know each other ,” Myra suggested.

“Okay. Well, in the spirit of doing that, I don’t know if there’s anything there. I’ve talked to her a little, yes, but mostly about her dog. So, while I think she’s pretty, and we’ve been flirting a little, I have no idea if there’s a possibility there.”

“And the woman she was with at the bar?”

“Work friend,” Gwen explained with a shrug. “I guess she got sick. When I talked to Juliet last night, she said that Molly was fine, though. She checked on her.”

“Last night?”

“Yeah. I set up some pet cams for Jules since she hasn’t ever left Carly alone for the night.

Carly is a rescue, and Jules doesn’t know how she was treated before she adopted her, so she was worried about Carly being by herself for the first time.

I wanted her to be able to check in on her, and I had some cameras lying around.

I FaceTimed with her so that she could check in on Carly before they were all set up, and we talked for a bit.

Then, I took Carly back to my place so that she wouldn’t be alone.

I dropped her off at Juliet’s this morning, though, and let Jules know that she was home.

She’s already texted me. She’s glued to the camera, watching her dog every free minute she has. It’s really cute.”

“Wow,” Myra replied. “You set up cameras for her dog?”

“For Juliet, not the dog. And I had them lying around. I get sent things every so often because I’m a top earner for the app in my area.

They ask me to mention products sometimes, post on social media, that kind of thing.

I get treats sent to me, too. Where do you think all those treats I give Buster come from? ”

“I honestly hadn’t thought about it. I figured you just bought them, or that Elisa did.”

“She buys some, yeah, but I gave her a bunch to get her started. If only my mom could see me now, huh? Peddling dog treats and pet cameras and getting nothing out of either.”

“You don’t get commission or anything?”

“Sort of. The app gets most of the money, but whenever I mention a product and the customer gets it through my link, I get something. It’s pennies, really, so I don’t add it up.”

“I guess the way to look at it is that you’re so good at your job, the company you work for gives you free stuff because they know you’ll be able to sell it. People trust you that much.”

“I’m technically freelance,” she said. “I don’t work for the app exclusively, which is why I don’t make direct, bigger commissions. I’m listed on a few apps, and I kind of prefer it that way. Besides, if I decide to go out on my own one day, it’s easier to be freelance now.”

“Would you do that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” She shrugged a shoulder.

“It’s riskier. Right now, I have a near-endless supply of clients.

If I go out on my own, I lose the apps and have to go by my website or word of mouth.

While I have my regulars, people do move, and animals, unfortunately, pass away, so I can’t count on a consistent paycheck. I’m taking it day by day.”

“You could fall back on the money your parents gave you, right? Sorry; Elisa mentioned it,” Myra said and took a bite.

“I could, but I don’t want to. I’m saving that money.”

“Not for the business?”

“No. I would like to maybe get married, buy a house, and have kids one day. The trust fund I have now isn’t massive, so if I use the money to get by while I start a business, I’ll have less for the house and kids.”

“I understand,” Myra replied.

“I get more if I get married by the time I’m thirty-five, so I’ve got three years to find her and put a ring on it.

” Gwen laughed and added, “Not that I care about that. My parents think that money solves all problems, but I’m perfectly content with my one-bedroom apartment and my job that they see as being a dead end. ”

“That’s the most important thing: happiness. I started my own business because it made me happy to do it, not because I had to,” Myra replied. “And after a devastating divorce from my cheating ex-wife, I’m happy with Elisa now.”

Gwen nodded and said, “I don’t know if my mother’s ever found it; happiness.

I don’t think my dad would know the difference.

Archie definitely thought he had it, with Elisa being the dutiful wife, but I don’t think he did.

I think Annabelle pretends she does but is actually miserable, and Grant just kind of goes with the flow of whatever my parents suggest. I don’t know if any of that is happiness. ”

“And you?”

“Me? Well, I thrive off of driving my mother crazy, have a crush on a pretty girl, and I get to hang out with animals, so I’m living my best life right now,” she joked.

After lunch with Myra, Gwen walked two of her best boys, Marvin and Bolt.

Then, she needed an afternoon pick-me-up, so she decided to give Southern Roastery a try so that she would have something to talk to Juliet about.

It could even be a text message about how she had ordered a cappuccino and how she’d liked it better than her usual latte or something.

Juliet could reply, and they’d exchange messages for a while.

Gwen shook her head at the thought because she was planning conversation starters for a text exchange with Juliet just because she wanted to talk to her.

“Molly?” she asked when she noticed Molly on her way into the café.

“Oh, hi,” Molly said. “It’s Gwen, right?”

“Yeah,” she replied.

“Just grabbing coffee?”

“I am. Juliet was on my case because I’ve only been here once or twice, so I thought I’d give it a real try this time. How are you feeling?”

“Oh, much better now. It was a twenty-four-hour thing, I think, but it was brutal. I’ll save you the gory details.”

“Thanks for that,” Gwen replied.

“So, how’s Carly?”

“She’s good. I took her home with me last night. Don’t worry; Juliet okayed it.”

“I assumed so,” Molly replied and shifted her coffee to her other hand.

“Just grabbing a coffee, too?” Gwen asked, feeling the awkward silence now but not knowing what else to say.

“Yeah. This place is the closest to our office, so I usually come here a few times a week for the extra caffeine in the afternoon if I can get away.”

“What would you recommend?”

“Oh, I’m in HR. I don’t really know much about what’s good or not. Juliet is the one who went through all the training. I usually just get a vanilla latte.”

“Okay. That sounds good,” she said.

“So, Jules is out of town for a few days?”

“Yes,” Gwen replied, thinking Molly should probably know that since they work together and were close enough to hang out at the bar the other night.

“And you’re keeping Carly with you?”

“Probably. But she did well last night.”

“Could I maybe visit with her? She’s just a sweet dog, and I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“Oh, sure. I mean, I’ll have to check with Juliet.”

“Right. No problem. I’ll text her and ask.”

“I can do it,” she offered way too quickly. “I need to see the confirmation. It’s a rule thing,” she lied, trying to cover up just how excited she was at the mere thought of having a reason to text Juliet.

“Okay. Yeah, makes sense,” Molly replied. “Tonight?”

“Tonight?” Gwen asked back.

“Your place? To hang out with Carly for a few?” Molly then closed her eyes for a second and added, “And I realize how that sounds now. I’m not hitting on you.

” She laughed a little. “It really is just about seeing Carly. You know what? I’m being silly.

I can wait until Jules gets back from her trip. Just forget about it.”

“I didn’t think you were hitting on me,” she said, lying a little because it did kind of seem like Molly might have been trying to spend some time with her and was using the dog to do it.

“Good, because I promise, I wasn’t. I like someone else; someone from work, who has no idea. If she did, things could get awkward, but I can’t stop liking her, no matter how much I’ve tried.”

“Oh,” Gwen said. “No problem. I’ll text Juliet and ask if it’s okay.”

“Don’t bother. I’m being weird. I’ll see Carly when Jules gets back. You just take good care of her until then.”

“Are you sure?”

“Definitely.” Molly smiled widely. “Thanks. I’ll see you around?”

When Gwen nodded, Molly walked off, and Gwen was left standing there on the street, wondering if Juliet had any idea that her work friend liked her as more than just a work friend.