Chapter 111

He could hear Sadie just outside the door, her tail thumping on the floor while she waited for him to come back out. A plan began to form in his mind, one that just might allow him to bump up a bit on the ladder of their little social group and knock her down a notch where she belonged, so he was sure to make as much noise as possible to keep her waiting. Flushing the toilet, washing his hands, moving things around on the sink so she’d know he was still inside and didn’t lose interest or wander off.

When he opened the door, she bounded up at him, paws on his thighs, and woofed softly. So much for training,he thought, rubbing her shoulders. “Who’s a good dog?” he asked in the crooning, babyish voice he always seemed to adopt whenever he spoke to her. “Is it you? Is it you?”