The Heart Wants What It Wants

Chapter Five

Back inside, I'm not surprised to find Jennie crouching on the floor by the kitchen table, hugging my dog, kissing between his eyes, and generally fussing over him. Buckley seems more enthused about being with Jennie than being fed so I decide he'll be okay waiting a minute or two. "Gimme a sec to put my stuff away and clean up after Buck's day inside."

The pair of them are so engrossed in their reunion that they barely acknowledge I've spoken. It only takes me a few minutes to get rid of today's pee mat, move dog toys out of the thoroughfare and securely lock my work gun away. When I come back into the kitchen, rolling up the sleeves on my shirt, I spot Jennie and Buckley still engaging in their "I'm so pleased to see you" ritual. The image makes me smile. "You hungry?"

Jennie looks up, eyes creasing with amusement. "Me or the dog?"

"I know he probably is, but I meant you."

It takes her a few seconds to answer and it's a shy, musing, "I'm not sure."

"That means you are. Just let me feed Buckley and then I'll make you something to eat."

The moment I open the knee-high tub of kibble beside the fridge, Buckley abandons Jennie and rushes to sit beside the end of the counter where he gets fed. Jennie laughs and stands up, propping her elbows on the counter. "Nothing's changed."

"Not a bit. And you know, I still can't get him to eat anything except his special organic human-grade food. Thanks for introducing him to that super-expensive dog cuisine." I know she'll take it in the teasing tone I've intended, because we used to banter and fake-bicker back and forth about her bringing home the expensive stuff one day and how Buckie refused all brands of wet food except that one from that day forward.

"My pleasure." Grinning, Jennie indicates Buckley, who is intensely focused on me spooning his wet food onto his kibble. "Look how healthy and shiny he is though."

Smiling, I carry the bowl across the kitchen and set it down. There's no point in rebutting, as I used to, that he could be just as healthy and shiny for fifty bucks a week less. Buckie waits until I've stepped away and indicated he can go nuts before he digs in.

"Right. Food for humans now." I frown when I think about the contents of my fridge which, if Jennie's diet is the same as it was the last time she was in this house, would be boring and problematic. She's been a vegetarian since she was twelve. "Sorry, since you uh, left, we turned back into a house of omnivores. If I'd known you'd be around I would have prepared better. I mean there's food for you but nothing exciting."

She smiles fleetingly. "You couldn't have known I'd turn up on your doorstep. It's totally fine. Anything is fine."

"Grilled cheese and tomato it is." As I pull things from the fridge, I ask, "So, what did you want to talk about?"

There's a long pause before she murmurs, "I need a place to stay."

The quiet statement is so not what I expected, and I drop the tomato and package of cheese to the counter. The tomato rolls to the edge and I grab it before it splats onto the floor. "Oh." Carefully, I set the tomato back. My mouth has gone dry and I rub my tongue on the roof of my mouth until saliva flows. "I assume the place you want to stay is here."

Jennie's response is uncharacteristically shy. "Yes. Please. I'm so sorry, I just didn't know where else to go. After what happened today, I need to lie low for a while. Be somewhere that isn't my place because some people know where I live." Her words are running away from her. "Everyone I know is out of town for winter hiatus or working on other projects in other cities or countries. I really don't want to get on a plane right now to go hide out somewhere, and I can't go home. I'm sorry, I just couldn't think of anywhere else. Not anywhere private."