Thom Baron has been struggling with social anxiety his entire life. He's taken the medications, gone to the therapists, followed the programs, and concluded his best life is a solitary one. When he comes across a dog in obvious need at his local market, it rekindles the desire to have some company around. It may come with a dishevelled coat, a notched ear, and a refusal to respond to anything but its given name "Ugly," but it could still be a friend.<br><br>However, Thom's new fur buddy has no such need to keep to itself and immediately befriends the man Thom has secretly coveted since he moved in -- Justin, Thom's gorgeous, bright-eyed neighbour. No matter how Thom tries to evade the man, the dog keeps drawing them back into each other's lives, and it doesn't take Thom long to recognize it's simply pursuing the demands of Thom's own heart. With the dog giving him the courage to try, Thom reaches out to return the love being offered.<br><br>Until a stranger shows up insisting the dog is his and demanding its immediate return ... a loss Thom knows will take all of his efforts and newfound confidence with it.

But by the Grace of Dog

“Why don’t you tell me how the dog got out? You obviously care enough about the dog to come to court to get it back. So how does one lose something that one cares about so much? And did you put out flyers before—” she paused to read something “—before you saw the dog and Mr. Baron at the market? Did you try to find him?”


“Of course!” Terrence held up a hand-drawn notice that could have been a year old or a day old. “We had these up all over the neighborhood.”


She summoned the bailiff to hand her the notice. “And the dog ran away because…”


Terrence nervously scratched at his scalp. “Well, to be honest, my wife would put him out in the daytime. The dog was a bit of a nervous one, you know? So, like, if somebody walks by, he starts up. If a squirrel gets too close, he goes off again. All day, every day, and loud, too. It bounced right off the walls, it was so sharp. She tried to put up with him, but she just couldn’t stand the barking.”


Chapter 50