Page 19 of Heavy Petting

“Gah! I’m so bad at this.”

“At what?” he asked, turning to look directly at me.

“Dating.”

“I think you’re doing okay,” he said. “You’ve definitely got the kissing part down.”

His arm came around my shoulder again, hugging me to his side as he looked back towards the TV screen. He pressed a quick kiss against my temple then said, “Oh look, it’s the good part.”

“The whole movie is the good part,” I laughed.

“I know, that’s what makes it so great.”

I spent the rest of the movie snuggled up against him with Esmerelda sleeping on my other side. By the time the movie was over it had started raining, wind blowing the drops against the window in sheets of rain.

“Oh crap, I didn’t realize it was going to storm tonight.”

“Did you walk over?” he asked.

“Yeah, I hardly ever use my car since I moved to Starlight Bay.”

“I’ll drive you two home then,” Joshua offered. “You shouldn’t walk in his. It’s pouring out there.”

“I’d appreciate it,” I said gratefully. “Esmerelda doesn’t like the rain. Plus I didn’t bring her rain jacket.”

One blond eyebrow rose and I wagged my finger at him.

“Don’t you dare make fun of me for making my dog wear a raincoat,” I said primly. “She gets cold.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Joshua replied, his lips twitching again. “Why don’t you wake her up and we’ll hit the road.”

Joshua

The next couple of weeks passed quickly. As usual I was working a million hours at the Veterinary Hospital, but at night or when I was on a break from work I was texting with Mabel like a teenager with his first girlfriend. We sent GIFs, talked about our days, and even shared stories about our clients.

We met for pizza again on Friday night, escalating the level of gossip in town about whether we were dating and what was going on with us, then on Saturday we went to explore one of the neighboring towns. We spent the day wandering through antique shops, visiting a farmer’s market, and eating at a local brewpub.

And we made out. A lot. I hadn’t enjoyed kissing this much since my first girlfriend when I was sixteen.

So far we hadn’t gone any farther than kissing and a little heavy petting. I could tell that Mabel still needed time before we took the next step. The more time we spent together, the more comfortable she was getting around me. I wasn’t sure what had happened with her ex-husband, but I was pretty sure he’d done a number on her. As confident as Mabel appeared, she still had these periodic flashes of insecurity that always seemed to take me by surprise. She always waited for me to make the first move.

That’s why I was surprised when Mabel showed up at the clinic Tuesday night around five o’clock, Esmerelda in tow. I rushed out as soon as the receptionist called me to say that they were in the lobby.

“Is Esmerelda okay?” I asked, my eyes going right to the dog.

“She’s fine,” Mabel said, suddenly looking shy. “I uh, never mind.”

She turned as if she was going to walk out, so I grabbed her hand.

“Come back to my office where it’s private,” I suggested.

I kept a hold of her hand, ignoring the curious glances from my staff, then went back to my office. Closing the door, I sat her in a chair, then leaned against the desk right next to her, studying Mabel’s face. I couldn’t get a read on her mood, but she seemed kind of uncomfortable.

“What brings you here?” I asked, bracing for the unknown. “Is everything okay?”

I hoped she wasn’t going to tell me that she didn’t want to see me anymore. That would really suck. I hadn’t had my heart broken since I was sixteen, but I was certain Mabel breaking up with me was going to bring me back to that time.

“No, I mean yes, everything is okay. Sorry to freak you out. It’s just that last night when we were texting, you mentioned that you were struggling with processing your year-end tax forms on QuickBooks,” she reminded me. “I wondered if you wanted some help? I’m pretty good on QuickBooks and I’m glad to help you get it fixed.”