walls were a light, cheery butter-cream, and there were tons of windows that looked out over the backyard.
Audrey stuck her head in the door opposite the kitchen and found a bedroom and nicely appointed bathroom.
“The previous owners had a son in college who lived here, I believe, when he no longer wanted to live at home, precisely,” Simon said. “I hope it’s acceptable?”
“It’s perfect,” Audrey said.
Much more than she’d expected to be able to afford on her own, given her lack of experience at anything and lack of formal job training.
“So, you can fix the lawn, fix the dog and keep it from bothering Ms. Bee?”
She took a leap of faith.
Either that or told a full-blown lie born of the desperation to be near her daughter.
“I’m sure I can,” she said.
“Excellent.” He named a salary she thought was more than fair, given the fact that she’d be living here for free. “When can you start?”
“When would you like?” she asked.
“I suppose this instant is out of the question, given the fact that you need time to move your things in. Dare I hope, tomorrow?”
“You don’t want any references or a résumé—?”
He shook his head. “Marion vouched for you. That’s all I need.”
Audrey nodded. “Did she tell you…I mean, you should know—”
“You’re one of her strays, aren’t you? Had some problems? Trying to get your life back together? And she’s taken you in for a while?”
“Yes.” He did know Marion well.
“Have you ever been arrested?” he asked.
“No, I haven’t,” she said.
“And Marion wouldn’t let you stay at her house unless you were clean and sober now, so…Good enough. I don’t need the details. I just need someone to fix my three problems. You’re going to do that for me?”
“Yes, I am,” Audrey agreed.
“Excellent.” He handed her the keys to the apartment, turned and started walking away, still talking to her.
Audrey hurried to follow.
“I’ll leave you to introduce yourself to Ms. Bee. She’s in the kitchen, expecting you. She’ll give you all the details you need,” he said, waiting for her to lock the door behind her.
“Thank you. I really appreciate it,” Audrey said.
“No, thank you. You’re going to make my life much easier.”
Audrey nodded.
“The dog should be returning any moment. We hired a dog walker, hoping we could survive the week that way. Yes, here they come.”
Audrey followed him down the stairs and waited as a young woman in shorts and a T-shirt came up the walk, half-dragged by what looked like a long-haired, mostly black-and-white, wiry but overgrown puppy, maybe six months old.
Although having just returned from its morning walk, the dog looked as if it had just gotten out of bed and was ready to run a marathon, looked hopeful that the opportunity might be offered. Its mouth stretched wide, it appeared to be smiling, happy and eager to take on the entire world, and as it got closer, Audrey could see its beautiful coat was shot through with silver.
He was striking looking.
The young woman said, “Hello, Mr. Collier,” and tried to turn over the leash to him, but he waved it off, motioning for her to give it to Audrey.
The dog’s tail whipped back and forth madly. It made a happy, yipping sound, then eased up on its back legs until it was standing practically straight up and rested its paws on Audrey’s thighs, mouth open, tongue lolling out in greeting.
Simon Collier grimaced and said, “Sorry,” then turned his attentions to dismissing the dog walker.
Audrey smiled, looked right into the dog’s eyes as she gently pushed it back and onto all four feet. She knelt on one knee, bringing herself to eye level with Simon Collier’s nemesis.
“Hello, Tink.”
Tink’s grin got even wider. The dog put his overgrown paws on her bent knee and then eased up to lick her cheek excitedly.
Simon made a sound of pure disgust.
“We’re going to be friends,” Audrey whispered to the dog, hoping it was true. Her job depended on it, after all, and the poor baby probably didn’t have any friends at all, except for Peyton Collier.
She stood up. Tink reared up and did a little dance of pure excitement but didn’t jump on Audrey, which she took as a sign of intelligence and eagerness to please.
“That’s nice,” Audrey complimented. “You can dance.”
“You’re not going to change your mind, are you?” Simon asked, as the dog walker turned and left.
“No, but why in the world did you get a border collie?”
“Because my daughter thought it was cute, and the woman who sold it to us claimed it was a smart dog, although I haven’t seen any sign of that. Why?” He looked worried. “Border collies are bad?”
“Not if you want an animal that was bred to herd sheep all day without getting tired,” Audrey informed him.
He froze for a moment. “You’re telling me I need to buy it a herd of sheep to keep it happy?”
Audrey burst out laughing. “No, just that this animal has a great deal of energy, which is why it seems destructive to you. It’s bored, probably extremely bored. It needs something to do.”
Simon frowned. “What does it do besides herd sheep?”
“Exercise. I’ll run with Tink every morning. Maybe in the evening, too, if I have to. The dog will be too tired to cause trouble.”
“That’s all it needs? To be too tired to cause trouble?”
“That should go a long way toward solving your problems with Tink. The good news is the person you bought the dog from is right—dogs of this breed are known for being very intelligent.”
“This one is not,” Simon insisted.
Audrey laughed again, petting the dog, who’d jumped back up and planted its paws on her, wanting to be close and unable to contain its excitement.
“See,” Simon said.
Audrey gave a little push against the dog’s furry chest and said, “Tink, off.”
The
