He’s just getting home from the library at the same time I pull into his driveway. He looks exhausted, which doesn’t make sense since he took some vacation days this week.
“Big run on Hemingway today?” I ask.
He grins at my joke. “Been cataloguing a new shipment.” He unlocks his front door to let us all in. “Hey, little guy,” he says, rubbing the top of Paco’s head affectionately.
“You wouldn’t happen to be in the market for a dog, would you?”
Why didn’t I think of this before?
It makes so much sense. Will isn’t allergic. He’s kind to animals. Paco already likes him. And he’s already offered to take him once, even though it was just for the night. If Will adopts Paco, then I can see Paco all the time. It’s a total win-win scenario.
“Lanie Miller wasn’t interested?”
“She was. Dharma wasn’t. So, how about it?”
“I don’t know, Luce. He seems like a great dog, but I’m at work all day. I’m too busy to give him the kind of attention he’ll need.”
“But he doesn’t need much,” I protest. “And I’d help.”
“What about Sebastian?”
“I already thought about him. He’s my last resort, but he’s busier than all of us combined.”
“I wish I could, but—stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Doing that thing with your eyes.”
“What am I doing with my eyes?”
“Making them all sad looking. It’s like you have deer eyes.”
I giggle. No one has ever told me I have deer eyes before. “Okay, I’ll try to look mean.”
He sighs. “Look, if you can’t find anyone else to take the dog, then I’ll do it.”
“Really?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Thanks! Hey, by the way, what you do know about an author named J.W. Quicksilver? Apparently, he writes these intense thrillers.”
“Never heard of him.”
“Really? I thought you were supposed to be a librarian. Anyway, Betty Jean’s book club is reading his latest. She promised me lots of big action and hot sex.”
He looks at me over the top of his glasses. “You’re joining Betty Jean’s book club?”
“It’s a big honor,” I tease. “She says she’ll push me to the top of the waiting list if I bring muffins.”
Before Will can respond, my cell phone pings. “Yes! It’s Travis. I’ve been waiting all day for this call.” Will opens his mouth to say something, but I put a hand up in the air to stop him. “Did the prints match?”
Travis makes a grumpy sound.
“I’ll take that as a yes?”
“Don’t get all bigheaded, but you were right. Derrick Delgado’s fingerprints are on the doorknob from the rec center. We already had his prints on file. He was arrested ten years ago for assaulting a guy during a bar fight.”