Page 127 of Sit, Stay, Love
‘There you go, buddy.’
The dog eyed her warily.
It took a little over an hour and a full sachet of food to coax the dog close enough for her to loop a leash over its neck.
Sera wiggled out into the sunlight, and the men all rushed forward to help her off the ground.
‘All that work for that little thing?’ one of the men asked.
‘Yep,’ she said as she cradled the tiny dog in her arms and made her way towards her van.
‘Siri, call Toby.’
‘You’ve reached Petside Vet Clinic. The surgery is now closed. If it’s an emergency, please contact the Northern Beaches Animal ER.’
She frowned and hung up. In all the time she’d known Toby, he’d never put his mobile phone on the surgery after-hours service.Weird.
He had to be home. The fundraiser was less than—‘Shit!’
She practically fell out of her van, tucked the little dog under her arm, dashed to Toby’s door and rang the doorbell. He didn’t answer. She glanced around – his truck was parked in the carport. He must be there.
She tried his phone again, but still got the service, so she tried the doorbell, pushing it over and over. But there was still no answer. Irrationalpanic stabbed at her already panicky heart. What if something had happened to him and he was lying inside, unable to get help? What if he’d slipped in the shower and was bleeding out from a head injury? Why the hell didn’t she have his spare key on her keyring? What good was it hanging on a hook in her office?
She scurried to the side of the house, through the gate and into his yard. Then banged her fist on the back door over and over, calling out his name. The door flung open, and she was confronted with a dripping-wet Toby, hair hanging over his confused face and a towel clutched low on his hips.
She couldn’t stop the gasp that flew from her lips.
‘What’s wrong? Are you all right?’ He looked over her head and around his yard, as if he was expecting to see a bear or a knife-wielding maniac chasing her.
‘You didn’t answer your phone.’ She suddenly felt a little dumb. ‘Or the surgery door. I thought—’
‘I’m getting ready for your thing. I was going to swing by a bit early to see if I could lend a hand. I was trying to stop stuff like,’ he pointed at the dog, ‘that.’
He stepped aside and she shimmied past, acutely aware that, except for a rather small towel, he was totally naked and dripping wet. Possibly glistening.
‘Do you know what the time is?’ he said, looking at her as if she was insane. ‘What the hell are you doing?’
‘Tell this guy. I couldn’t leave him under the house. He’d get out, and he’d be gone and I’d never find him. He’s tiny.’ She held him up to Toby’s face. ‘Look at him.’
Toby turned his face away and scrunched up his nose. ‘He smells too. Go into the surgery. I’ll see you in there. I’ll just…’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Put some clothes on.’
She stopped herself from saying, ‘Don’t bother on my account.’
When Toby strode into the examination room in his underwear, pulling a t-shirt over his head, Sera stared. Just stared. Openly. Had he alwayswalked around half-naked in front of her? Surely she would have noticed that before now.
She closed her gaping mouth, not liking where her mind was quickly going. All she knew was this whole perving-on-her-best-friend thing was becoming inconvenient and awkward, and she could tell by the curious looks he was constantly tossing her direction that he’d noticed. He’d definitely noticed.
‘Don’t worry, I’m not wearing a t-shirt to your big party,’ he said, either being polite or mistaking her gawping for judgement.
‘I don’t care what you wear. Have you got room for this guy for the night?’ She handed him the dog, her entire body trembling. ‘I’m so late. I’m freaking out.’ She flapped her hands around, jumping up and down on the spot like a nervous Homer Simpson.
Toby put his one free and very capable hand on her shoulder. ‘Breathe, Ser. Just breathe.’ He took a couple of slow, deep breaths and she mirrored him. ‘Okay.’ He shook his head, his damp curls bouncing around his face. ‘I’ll look after this guy. You get out of here.’
She threw her arms around him and squeezed him so tight he grunted. Then she dashed out the door to her van.
Sera sprinted into the house, past a gaping Carol, past a bouncing Buffy and straight into the bathroom. She showered, shaved her legs and washed and dried her hair in Guinness World Record-breaking time. Then she slapped on some makeup, pushed her auburn tangle into what she hoped was a sexy rather than messy bun, slipped into the dress she’d borrowed from Linda and pulled on the ridiculously expensive sneakers. Then, with a spray of perfume, she headed back out to the reception area, puffing.
‘Can you zip me up, please?’ she asked Carol.
