“Bad timing on the hunger strike. We’re barely past the second course.” He peered at Spencer under the table and Spencer thumped his tail back at him. “I bet he’d enjoy it.”
Sienna leaned over to block Luis from clearing Justine’s plate. “Don’t you dare give this to Spencer. I’m going to finish it for her.”
“Okay, all right, I like that spirit, girl.” His grin lit up his face and Justine watched as a flicker passed between the two of them. “Glad someone likes my cooking.”
When he turned his back Justine leaned over to whisper in Sienna’s ear. “Um, do you have something you need to tell me?”
Sienna made her eyes go wide in mock shock and she placed a delicate hand on her chest. “Excuse me?”
“You two.” Justine bobbed her head in Luis’s direction. “Am I picking up a vibe or what?”
“Maybe.” She burst out laughing. “Okay, yes. We’ve hung out a few times and it’s been great. I didn’t want to say anything because—” She stopped herself.
“Sienna, it’s okay. I’m fine.”
But she wasn’t.
It had been three weeks since the last time she saw Griffin in Brooklyn, and the raw feelings surfaced every time she thought about him. A tiny part wished that she’d stayed one last night with him, to give their final moments together an appropriately melancholy ending. But she knew the pain of the good-bye would outweigh the pleasure of having him.
Justine turned her attention back to the room and plastered on a fake smile when Ruth caught her eye and waved from her end of the table next to Patrick and the kids. Normally Full Moon Saloon night was a shut-down-the-joint party, but all she wanted to do was go home and sleep on her couch with Spencer. She’d spent more time than usual doing her makeup and getting dressed up in an effort to get into the spirit of the night, but the room was too bright, the food tasted bland, and she didn’t feel like making small talk with anyone since she had nothing good to talk about.
“Champagne?” An orange-labeled bottle appeared in front of her.
“Oh, no, thanks, Monty.” She covered her still-full glass. “I’m good.”
Monty squatted down next to Justine’s chair. “Taylor showed me footage of Spencer’s last scene with Anderson. Talk about a gut-wrencher. I sobbed.”
Justine managed a half smile. “You and me both. Even tough-guy Malcolm cried.”
Monty’s eyebrows shot up. “That tall, dark, and handsome man you were always hanging around? I wish you’d introduced me.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“He looked interesting.” Monty shrugged. “So, fill me in, girl. What are you up to these days anyway?”
It was the question she couldn’t escape since getting back to Rexford full-time. Everyone wanted to know what she was doing now that she was off the show and no longer at T&B, and the questions chafed her after a while. Sometimes she longed to be anonymous, just another body passing by on the sidewalk.
“I’m working on the curriculum for a canine acting class, so people can teach their dogs how to do what Spencer did. Plus, he auditioned for a dog food commercial, and we’ve got a conference call with a pet pharma company for some possible print work.”
“Look at you, Miss Busy,” Monty responded with an approving nod. She held up the bottle again. “You sure you don’t want some? Let’s party it up tonight, because it looks like we’re going to be snowed in tomorrow.”
“First storm already.” Justine wasn’t looking forward to being homebound in her current state of mind. “Thanks, but I think I’m going to head out. Can I settle up?”
“Absolutely not.” Monty shook her head so her giant dangly earrings shimmered. “This one is on me because they sacked Spencer. I’m still mad about it.”
The small kindness was just what she needed. “Thank you, I appreciate it.”
Monty stood up, brushed off the front of her tight black pants, and continued selectively pouring glasses of free champagne for the people in the room that she liked.
“Hey, do you mind if I go?” Justine leaned over and asked Sienna. “I’m not in the right mindset for all of this.” She gestured around the room with her nose wrinkled up like something smelled bad.
“Really?” Her eyes went wide. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay? Where are you going?” Sienna looked slightly panicked.
“I want to go home. I’m tired.”
“Want me to come?” Sienna was already gathering her bag.
Justine was touched by her friend’s concern. “No, I have a feeling someone wants you to stick around until closing.” She smiled as genuinely as she could and gave Sienna a quick kiss on the cheek.
Justine gathered her things and coaxed Spencer from the spot where food kept mysteriously raining down on him. She blew a kiss to Ruth and struggled to look like she was someone who had her life together and wasn’t on the verge of a major breakdown as she wove her way through the tables and out of the restaurant.
It was a freezing night under a dusky, starless sky, so she’d driven the short distance to Monty’s. They’d arrived late, so her car was in the back corner of the lot where the trees bordered it.
Spencer stopped walking and raised his head up, sniffing and licking the air.
“What’s wrong?” Justine asked.
He let out a muffled test woof and the hair on her arms prickled. Someone had mentioned spotting a black bear close to the restaurant and she wasn’t in the mood to see if it was truth or rumor.
Justine picked up her pace on the way to her car, but Spencer stopped and dug his paws into the ground, then threw back his head and let out a string of high-pitched barks that sounded like a one-sided conversation.
“Spence, come on, let’s go.” She took a few steps, but he didn’t move and didn’t stop barking. “What is up with you, dude?”
It was like she didn’t exist, and Justine realized that his behavior wasn’t playful insubordination. Something weird was going on. And it got even stranger when he started jumping up and down at the end of the leash.
“I really don’t want to get eaten by a bear tonight. Can we please go?”
Spencer gave another high-pitched scream-bark and Justine looked down the street where he was focused.
A shadow was moving toward them. Her pulse sped up as the figure moved into the light of a streetlamp.
It was him.
Griffin, walking toward them with a determined look on his face, like he’d know exactly where to go even if his former dog wasn’t barking a frantic welcome to him. She wanted to cry with relief at the sight of him in his perfect coat, walking his perfect walk directly toward them. A smile cracked Griffin’s face and he sped to a jog when he realized that Justine had spotted him.
He looked as happy as the first time she’d seen him in the park running toward Spencer.
Only this time he was running to both of them.
He was panting a little by the time he reached her, his cheeks red from the cold. She couldn’t believe that Griffin was right in front of her, in Rexford. Her heart turned cartwheels at the sight of him, while Spencer came close to turning literal cartwheels trying to pummel Griffin with his paws. Griffin reached down and gave Spencer a hearty pat and tried to calm him.
“Hi.” It was the only thing she could think to say because she was still trying to figure out what Griffin was doing in her town when he was supposed to be off doing trajectory things.
“Hi.”
He looked suddenly unsure of himself, like he was crashing her party.
“Where’s your car? Why are you walking?” She looked over his shoulder as if his car might be following him like an obedient dog.
How was it possible that she was forming coherent sentences?
“Parked in town, right in front of Tricks & Biscuits. I wanted to see what you built, Justine. I could only p
eek in the windows since it’s closed, but I could see your fingerprints everywhere inside.” He paused. “And I needed to walk here, to clear my head.”
“But how did you hear about this place?” She gestured over her shoulder at Monty’s.
He graced her with half a dimple. “The new owner at T&B is a great conversationalist. A wealth of information. She was locking up for the night when I got there, and she recognized me. We chatted for a bit and she said everyone was headed here.” Griffin paused. “Let’s just say she was very excited that I stopped by.”
Suddenly Sienna’s worried face when Justine said she was leaving made sense. Justine could only imagine the flood of tarot card intel she’d probably subjected him to.
They stared at each other, the silence punctuated by Spencer’s jingling dog tags and little whines. He jogged a few steps and pulled the leash from Justine’s cold hand.
“Spence, stay close,” she admonished as he anchored his nose to the ground.
Griffin’s face went dark as he reached into his coat and fumbled with something. “I wanted to give this to you in person. I don’t trust the mail anymore.” He pulled out the red file with all of Spencer’s paperwork. “I meant to give it to you a long time ago. Every document is in there. You should keep the vet records, but you can burn everything else. The license, the microchip documentation, the adoption paperwork . . .” He trailed off. “We both know that Spencer has always been yours. Case closed.”
Griffin looked ready to turn on his heel and run at the slightest sign of conflict as he passed the file to Justine.
How many times had she imagined opening the little end table in his apartment and stealing the documents? Or stealing only the critical ones and leaving the rest, to make him think he was losing his mind? But now the red file was hers and it was practically burning her fingertips.
“Thank you, Griffin. For this. For everything you’ve done for us.”
What might happen next spun out in a thousand different variations in her mind.
“Did you hear about the storm?” he asked.
She nodded and shoved her hands in her pockets. “Sounds bad. It’s definitely going to interrupt your travel for a while.”
“Not really.”
Justine tilted her head at him.
“I resigned.”
“You what?”
“From the new gig,” Griffin continued quickly. “It wasn’t a fit after all. My heart wasn’t in it. I opted for a position that got me off the road. A little less money, but lots more peace. Fuck the trajectory.”
“Okay. That’s . . . major.” She didn’t know what to make of the change, or the unfamiliar expression on his face.
“It is.” He nodded. “We have a lot to discuss, Justine.”
There was something in his eyes that she didn’t recognize. This wasn’t customer-service Griffin. This was Griffin on a mission.
“You sort of picked a bad time for a road trip. The storm is supposed to start soon.” The tip of her nose was starting to feel numb and she wished she’d worn a hat.
“Not for another three hours, actually.” He cleared his throat. “And it’s not going to take me long to say my piece.”
Justine didn’t know how to respond, so she stood in front of him silently as feathery snowflakes started coming down around them. She pointed. “Guess they were wrong.”
The snow didn’t seem to register since Griffin’s gaze was locked in on her face.
“We made a mistake,” he finally blurted out. “We shouldn’t have given up on this. On us. Because I’m better when I’m with you, Justine. Everything is better when you’re around.” He paused as if working up the courage to continue. “I started falling for you the first time I saw you with Spencer in the park, and even though I fought against it as hard as I could, all I wanted to do was be near you.”
She felt pinpricks behind her eyes and a tickle in her nose.
“And it’s so much more than that. Way more. Do you have any clue how much you taught me, Justine?”
She sniffled. “What?”
“You’re the bravest person I know. You live life without a net. You take risks. You fight back when things get tough. You can pick a broken lock with a toilet brush, for fuck’s sake!” He laughed at the memory. “You showed me how to cliff dive through life and inspired me to take some chances of my own.”
Justine tucked the red file under her arm and dragged her fingers beneath her eyes, knowing it wasn’t doing any good. She was one more Griffin-confession away from becoming a soggy mess.
“I reevaluated everything I thought was important to me. Justine, even as I was signing on the dotted line I knew I was making the wrong choice. But you have to understand, I had a lot of history to get past. When I used to think about what I needed to be happy, it was all about goals and milestones. Now I know all I need is you and Spencer.” He swallowed hard. “If you give me a chance, my only goal will be to make the two of you half as happy as you made me. I choose you, Justine.” Griffin took a deep breath then let out a shaky exhale. “Because I love you.”
Her tears were falling freely, mixing with the snowflakes that melted on her cheeks. Justine felt dizzy and giddy, like she’d downed all of Monty’s Veuve Clicquot.
“Griffin.” It came out in a whisper. “I love you too.”
Justine took the lapels of his jacket in her hands, pulled him close, and kissed him so hard that he stumbled a step. He recovered quickly and she could feel him smiling against her mouth as he wrapped his arms around her.
She tried to keep kissing him but had to pull back to sniffle and brush away the tears.
“Sorry, I’m all snotty.” She laughed and quickly wiped her nose.
“I don’t care,” Griffin said, looking at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He gently traced the wet tracks on her cheeks with his lips until she forgot they were in the middle of a parking lot during the beginning of a blizzard.
The red file hit the ground as they kissed, and a few sheets of paper blew away. Spencer trotted over to examine what was left of his history.
“You need to pack. Now. Hurry,” Griffin murmured against her mouth, suddenly part caveman.
“What do you mean?”
He finally found the strength to step away.
“I’m here to kidnap you two. We’re going to beat this storm back to the city and get snowed in together. And I’m going to supervise your packing since we’re on a deadline. Let’s get moving.” He did a wrap-it-up hand signal.
Spencer seemed to understand that they were getting ready to go and started dashing around them over and over, like a border collie trying to close the distance within his flock.
“Hey, Spence,” Griffin said, bending over playfully. “What are you doing, you crazy mutt? Get over here!”
He opened his arms and Spencer leapt up to give Griffin a hug.
Justine shook her head as she watched their reunion continue. It was naughty and inappropriate and it drove her a tiny bit insane. There was no fixing the Spencer-and-Griffin manners problem.
But it finally dawned on her; it didn’t need fixing.
Spencer and Griffin were perfect for each other, just like she and Spencer were perfect as a team. Different parts of a matched set. The two halves that made her heart whole.
And they were all even better together.
“You two ready to hit the road?” Justine called to them.
For the first time ever, Spencer dipped into a play bow, barked a joyful “yes,” and ran to stand next to Justine’s car.
Griffin walked over and gently took her hand in his.
“We’re all ready. Let’s go.”
epilogue
ONE YEAR LATER
I think that was the best day ever,” Justine said, resting her head on Griffin’s bare chest. The morni
ng sunshine streamed in the two oversized windows flanking their bed.
“Last night wasn’t too shabby either,” he answered, squeezing her and giving her a kiss on the forehead.
She ran her thumb over the slim silver band on her finger, then glanced over at the heap of white silk and tulle on the chair next to the bed. She sat up abruptly. “Willa is sleeping on my wedding dress.”
“Relax, you’ll never wear that dress again. And what’s wrong with a little cat hair, anyway?”
Justine settled back against his chest. “You’d never think she was so well trained with the way she acts around here. It’s her world and we’re just living in it.”
“You’ve finally surrendered to your feline overlord.” He chuckled.
They were interrupted by a clatter of paws as a tornado of fur, teeth, and tails leapt onto the bed. Spencer went into a play bow in front of his new little sister, Eunice.
“Eunice, ouch,” Griffin shouted, pulling the blanket over his chest and doubling over. “How does a dog so small deliver so much pain? I swear, she hits my balls every time she jumps up here.”
“Have you ever noticed you’re the only one these dogs abuse?” Justine hid a grin and reached over to pat the brindle mixed-breed dog that looked part pug and part Muppet.
They hadn’t planned on a double adoption when they visited the Rescue Society of New York, especially just a few months before their wedding. But year-old Eunice and Willa the gray long-haired cat with striking blue eyes had been surrendered as a bonded pair when their owner died unexpectedly. Justine knew how hard it was to find a home for two pets at once. She and Griffin had fallen in love with the duo immediately and she’d been pleasantly surprised to discover that both animals loved learning new tricks alongside Spencer. Shockingly, Willa was already in high demand after a few successful print ads and a hysterical Chewy commercial.
“Did you manage to have fun yesterday?” Justine asked as Spencer and Eunice wrestled at their feet. “Because I did. It was everything I’d dreamed about.” She paused. “No, actually, it was better, because no one knew I had sneakers on under my gown.”
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