Page 30 of September

Juliet laughed and said, “It’s not a big responsibility. It’ll give you better coffee, I swear.”

“Well, I guess I should trust you. Youarea professional, after all.”

“I am. They put you through a lot of training when you first join to be a trainer yourself. I worked in the roastery for a month and then spent two months in a store making the drinks for customers before I even started learning how to train.”

“That’s cool. They take it seriously, I guess.”

“They have to in order to remain competitive. They’re also a little cheaper than that other brand everyone knows.” Juliet smiled into the camera.

“Well, I’ll have to check them out again, then,” Gwen replied. “Do you want me to set up the other camera before I go?”

“Do you remember what you asked me this morning?”

“About?”

“Taking her home with you.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“If I can pay you after my first check, would you do it if you think she needs it? I don’t know if she does. You’d know better; you’ve been with her all day.”

“She seems fine, but she’s been glued to my hip a little, which is why I gave her the bone while I was setting up thecamera: I almost tripped over her twice.” Gwen chuckled a little. “I can take her if you want, though.”

“I really don’t know what the right answer is. I can see her now, which is great, but she’s never been left alone for the night; at least, not since she was found and taken in by the shelter. I’m worried she might think I’m not coming home.”

“What about this? I’ll set up the other camera and take her with me for the night. We’ll see how she does, and if she seems like she’d be better off here, she’ll sleep here tomorrow night, and you’ll have the cameras to watch over her, at least. We can play it by ear after that.”

“Are you this good with all of your clients?”

“Probably not,” Gwen replied seriously. “But she’s just really that cute.”

When Gwen smiled at her, Juliet suspected she wasn’t just talking about her dog, so she blushed a little and smiled back.

“Thank you. I’ll put you on my emergency contact list so that you can get through even when my phone is on do-not-disturb. Please call me if you need anything. And I mean it. Don’t worry about waking me up. You’re doing me such a huge favor here.”

“Okay. I will. But I’m sure she’ll be okay. Hey, do you let her sleep in your bed, or does she sleep out here usually?”

“I let her on my bed. Why?”

“Just making sure. She might want to sleep next to me, but if you have a no-bed rule, I don’t want her to pick up bad habits.”

“Please, that dog rules my life. If she wants something, she pretty much gets it.”

“I can understand that. I give Larry everything he wants.”

“What exactly does a gecko want?”

“Me to leave him alone,” Gwen replied.

Juliet laughed and said, “Well, that’s easy enough.”

“It’ll be fun, introducing Carly to Larry. Think they will like each other?”

“I think she’ll try to eat him, so make sure you put him somewhere she can’t get to.”

“I will. I’m no rookie at this, Jules,” Gwen replied.

It was the first time Gwen had used her nickname, and there was something about how it so easily rolled off Gwen’s tongue. She’d probably heard Molly use it the other night at the bar, and it sounded really good to Juliet.