Page 23 of Just for Tonight

"Hank? He's got a Buddy Gear collar. I had to get him all tricked out, too. Have you met Hank?"

"No, but I heard he's here."

"Yeah, he and Ralph are best friends."

"She called you Ralph, dude." He spoke dryly to my dog, and I laughed.

"I call him Ralph all the time. He has about five nicknames."

"What were you doing right now?" he asked. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, not at all. I was hoping to see you. Your mom told me she was trying to get you to come in, but I never got word that you were coming."

"I just decided to come last minute."

I walked over to my couch and plopped onto it as he was speaking. "Come sit by me," I said.

"Are you sure I'm not taking you away from your work?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I need to quit for the day."

Beau came to sit next to me, and Ralphie jumped up, standing between us on the leather sofa.

"Do you want to go swing on the tire?" I asked even though we had just sat down.

"Or we can go on the water."

"Oh, Ralphie loves the boat. Were you talking about going out on the boat, or just to the dock? Either way, he would love it."

"He likes to ride in the boat?"

"He loves it."

"Let's go in the boat, then. We'll have to make sure nobody's out on the little one because I'm not taking the big one."

"I don't know how to handle either of them," I said. "So, I'm a passenger either way."

"What about you, Ralph Macchio?" Beau asked, looking at my dog.

"Ralph Macchio? Nooo," I said, being silly.

"Ralph Lauren?" Beau asked tentatively.

"Nooo," I said. "Not Ralph Lauren or Macchio. He's Ralph Waldo Emmerson." I said, making Beau laugh.

"I like Ralph Waldo Emmerson," he said. "The name, I mean. I don't know about the guy. Is he a poet?"

"I think so."

"Do you really call him that?" he asked.

"No, not until just now. I made it up when you were saying the others."

Beau smiled and scratched Ralphie behind the ears. He was so sweet. I loved how he handled my dog, he touched him like he had known him a long time. "You must have a dog," I said.

"No, I just like them," he said. "I've always loved animals. I thought about being a vet before I got into architecture."

"That would have been a cool job. What made you decide not to do it?"

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