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The house felt empty without Sydney in it. Adam stared at the front door she’d just walked through, then looked down to see Sugarbelle doing the same thing. “They’re good company, huh, girl?”

She looked up at him and gave her tail a little half-hearted wag.

He nodded. “I know. I feel the same way.” He exhaled, glanced at the door one more time, then turned and went to the laundry room. He’d washed clothes, but he’d yet to dry them. He transferred the load to the other machine and started it.

He opened the first cabinet and found Sugarbelle’s things. He got the bag of dog food out and went to fill her bowl. “I hope you like this. Never occurred to me until just now that you might not.”

But she came over and ate.

He rolled the top of the bag down. “Good girl.”

Three hours until work. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do with himself. He thought about taking a nap, but he could easily nap at work. Once he was in gargoyle form and assumed whatever position he needed to be in, sleep was easy.

If someone approached, he’d hear them. His senses were highly attuned.

Maybe he’d do a quick workout. Push-ups, pull-ups, burpees, that sort of thing. “Wanna exercise, Sugarbelle?”

She was too busy sniffing around the crate to answer.

He sat on the floor nearby. “You like this?” He patted the bed inside, being sure to leave the door wide open. “Try it out. See what you think.”

She trotted right in, circled three times on the bed, and lay down.

“Huh.” Maybe she’d be all right in there after all.

He was about to get up when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket. Incoming call from the shelter. “Hello?”

“Is this Adam Rockford?” a woman asked.

“It is.”

“Great. This is Lois Nighy. We met at the charity auction.”

“Sure, I remember you.” She was the woman who’d helped him with Sugarbelle’s adoption forms.

“Wonderful. I’m calling for two reasons. First of all, I wanted to see how things are working out with Sugarbelle.”

“Things are going great. Did a big shop for her today at the pet store in town. Got her all kinds of stuff. And she made friends with my neighbor’s dog. They played in the backyard together.” He realized he’d given her a lot of extra information.

She laughed. “That’s fantastic. I’m so glad. That leads me to my second reason for calling. We’d like to confirm a date and time for your auction date. The woman who won would like tomorrow at seven, and the restaurant, Guillermo’s, is fine with that. Would that work for you?”

“I’ll have to check with my work before I can confirm. Right now, I’m scheduled to work, but I might be able to switch with someone.” As much as he wasn’t looking forward to the date, he also wanted to get it over with. Putting it off would only make him dread it more.

“I see. All right. Can you find out then and call me back?”

“Sure. Give me a few minutes.”

“No problem. I’ll wait to hear from you.” She hung up.

He dialed Nick, who was in charge of scheduling.

“Hey, Adam. What’s up?”

“Hey. I have a question about scheduling. The shelter wants me to go on my auction date tomorrow night, but I’m supposed to work.

Is there any way I can swap with someone?

I can probably be there by ten or maybe even nine.

Date is supposed to be at seven. I doubt it’ll take too long, but considering what she spent… ”

Nick laughed. “Eager to give your highest bidder her money’s worth?”

Adam rolled his eyes. “More like eager to get it over with.”

Nick was still chuckling. “I have the shift before you. I don’t mind hanging out until you get there.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want Willa mad at me because I kept you out.”

“She’ll be fine. She’s going out with some of her girlfriends tomorrow night anyway. I’ve got you covered.”

“Thanks.”

“Thank you . Willa was thrilled at how much you earned. Gotta say, man, it was impressive. You better give Birdie a good time.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Thankfully for you, I know Birdie isn’t going to expect more than dinner.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.” He glanced at Sugarbelle as if she was listening in. “Thanks again for covering for me. I’ll call them back and let them know I’m good to go on the date.”

“Have fun.” Nick hung up, but not before Adam heard him laughing again.

Adam found Lois’s number in his recent calls and tapped it.

She answered on the second ring. “Lois Nighy.”

“Hi again, Lois. It’s Adam. I can be at the date tomorrow.”

“That’s great. I’ll let your bidder know. I hope you two have a great time.”

“I’m sure we will.”

When he hung up, he lay down next to the crate. Sugarbelle was curled up and seemed to be sleeping. “She better not want more than dinner.”

He laughed to himself even as he said it. After a few minutes of watching Sugarbelle, who was somehow cuter when she was sleeping, he got up and changed into shorts and a tank top.

He got a good workout in, pushing himself to three sets of failure for each exercise. He really should join a gym, but he was trying to save as much money as he could. Chicago was expensive, and he didn’t want to struggle trying to find a place.

Especially now that he had Sugarbelle to think about.

He showered and got ready for work, then sat on the couch and watched a couple of episodes of one of his favorite cooking shows.

The chef was making duck, something Adam had yet to master. He watched closely, taking a lot of mental notes.

Before he knew it, it was time to leave.

He turned the television off and got down in front of the crate.

He really did not want to leave his little girl.

“Sugarbelle, Daddy’s got to go to work. You be a good girl.

Sydney’s going to come over and check on you.

Maybe she’ll bring Mackie, too, I don’t know.

But I’ll be home before you know it. Promise. ”

He reached in and gave her a little pet on the head, then closed the crate door. He hated the sound it made, even though he’d tried to do it gently.

Sugarbelle didn’t seem to notice.

With a somewhat heavy heart, he left, locking the door behind him.