Pet Friendly by Sue Pethick Page A

quick, light footsteps. The door swung open.
    â€œSurprise!” Emma said.
    Before Todd could ask what the surprise was, Archie dashed through the doorway, jumping and barking, whirling like a dervish.
    â€œArchie!” he cried.
    He scooped up the little dog and hugged him gratefully. Archie was okay! He wasn’t trapped; he wasn’t starving; no bear or coyote had mauled him. Todd felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. It was like witnessing a miracle.
    He buried his face in Archie’s fur.
    â€œBoy, you smell good,” he said.
    â€œThat’s baby shampoo,” Emma told him. “I just finished blowing him dry.”
    Todd stared at her. “You did?”
    â€œCome on in,” she said, laughing. “I’ll tell you all about it.”
    His first impression of the cottage as a dollhouse was reinforced when Todd stepped inside. He’d remembered the place being much larger, a maze of supplies and broken appliances that Emma’s grandmother had used as the hotel’s de facto storage shed, but which he, Claire, and Emma regarded as their personal clubhouse. What he’d thought of as a vast space was in fact a studio apartment with scaled-down appliances in its efficiency kitchen, a table for two, and a sleeper couch. Todd looked around at the modest, tasteful furnishings and felt pleased that his old friend—a rootless, unhappy orphan—had been able to create such a warm and inviting home for herself. He tried not to contrast it with the cold, avant-garde furnishings that Gwen had recently filled his own house with, reminding himself that it wasn’t fair to compare the two, especially since his girlfriend wasn’t there to defend herself.
    â€œArchie showed up this morning around two,” Emma said. “He was muddy and it looked like he’d rolled in every sticker bush on the property.”
    She picked a wicked-looking burr up off the table and handed it to Todd.
    â€œThis was stuck in his right front paw.”
    Todd stared at the sharp, yellowish spines, which were nearly an inch long.
    â€œThat’s a spiny cocklebur seed,” Emma said. “The plants are invasive around here. Livestock that eat those things get sick; some of them die.”
    â€œPoor guy.”
    â€œI picked the burrs out last night,” she said, “and saved the bath for this morning.”
    Mud? Cockleburs? A bath? Todd was blown away. Gwen would never have done so much for an animal that wasn’t hers, especially one that had interrupted her beauty sleep.
    â€œThank you,” he said. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”
    He set the burr aside and gave Archie a gentle shake.
    â€œYou had me worried, you little poop.”
    Emma smiled. “He ate pretty much everything I had in the fridge, but you’ll need to get him some dog food before you go to Claire’s. And don’t blame me if the pizza gives him gas. It wasn’t my idea.”
    Pizza?
    Todd decided not to pursue it. Emma had saved his dog. If Archie turned into a stink bomb, at least he was still alive.
    â€œAnyway,” Emma said. “I checked with the weather service and the roads should be clear in another hour or so. I’m sure you’d like to get back on the road.”
    Todd felt his good mood evaporate. He’d been so glad to have Archie back that he’d forgotten it meant there was nothing to stop him now from leaving. It felt as if he’d just arrived. Did he really have to go so soon? Todd was in no hurry to get rid of Archie, and he and Emma had barely had time to catch up with each other. Besides, she’d washed his dog and comped him a room for the night. Didn’t he owe her something for that?
    â€œMaybe you’ll let me do some chores around here to pay you back before I go.”
    She raised an eyebrow. “I thought you had to get to Claire’s.”
    â€œHer place is only an hour