Santa Next Door by Lacy Williams

Author:Lacy Williams [Williams, Lacy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lacy Williams Books LLC

Chapter 6

An afternoon shower had just broken, and Will knew this was the opportune time to take Ollie out for a potty break.

As Will turned his back to grab his cell off the arm of the couch, the dog bolted out the cracked front door and escaped.

"Hey! Ollie—!"

Two and a half weeks of recuperation after his surgery had helped the animal recover quite a bit of his natural energy, and Ollie wanted to run and swim and do everything else he wasn't supposed to do.

On the vet's orders, Will had done his best to keep the dog inactive and quiet so the broken leg could heal.

But the past few days, Ollie had been making it difficult. He was like a little kid, wanting to play and not understanding that it could reinjure his wound.

Will hit the front step, but Ollie wasn't anywhere to be seen. Could he have run around the building or down the street that quickly?

"Ollie!" he called.

He heard a familiar thumping from above. Will tilted his head to see the dog sitting prettily in front of Bridie's front door, his tail beating on the wooden planks of the balcony.

Will shook his head. "I don't think she's home, dude.”

Bridie had had to tuck Ollie back into Will's apartment earlier because of an afternoon appointment. He hadn't heard her car return.

Something was happening between them. Over the past two weeks, he'd seen her almost every day. Sometimes it was just to exchange Ollie after she'd babysat him all day. They'd talk, sometimes for half an hour before he realized the time had passed.

But he frequently found himself being invited up for dinner. And accepting.

He liked her. Her unique sense of humor and her easy smiles lifted him in ways he hadn't experienced in a long time. Hadn't let himself experience.

She hadn't pushed him for details about his family since that Saturday when he'd mucked everything up, but he'd found himself sharing with her about his life. How he'd gotten into coding because of his love of video gaming in high school. His favorite pastimes, like baseball and swimming, even though he hadn't competed in years.

And he'd learned that she loved working with her sometimes-eccentric writer clients. That she experienced joy when she helped them grow a project from idea to completion. And that the work wasn't always regular.

He worried about her a little, as a friend, but he hadn't brought up her finances since the movie night, too afraid to ruin whatever tenuous thing was growing between them.

Ollie barked.

"C'mon down," Will said on the end of a sigh. "She's not there."

But her door cracked, and she peeked out. Saw Ollie and then stuck her head and one shoulder outside. She leaned around to see him. "Hey."

Something in her soft greeting was off. He could hear it from where he stood, even though he wasn't close enough to see her expression clearly.

"Ollie and I were thinking of taking a walk down by the water," he called, even though he'd only been planning to take Ollie to do his business up the street.

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