Page 68 of Echoes

“Yeah, I tend to stay late a lot.”

“That’s why Igota dog, honestly,” Violet shared. “I realized thatI was staying late at the office all the time and didn’t have much going on outside of work, so I thought I’d get a dog. And he’s been great.” She smiled. “He’s protective of me, too. Barks at anything that moves. Loves on me when he thinks I need it, and I snuggle into him. He’s a sweetheart, really.”

“He gets that from his mom,” Rachel said.

Violet knew immediately that she was blushing due to the warmth she felt rushing over her entire body, but she couldn’t stop it and only hoped the dim lighting of the bar helped hide it.

“Thank you,” she replied.

“Here’s your merlot,” the waiter said as he arrived.

The bottle was set down. The glasses were filled. Then, the waiter left them alone.

“So, I can meet him?” Rachel asked as she pulled the wine glass toward herself.

“Whenever you want,” Violet said, meaning it. “This weekend, if you’re free?”

“I am. I pretty much always am when I’m not working.”

“Come over, then. We can have coffee, and you can watch him run for no reason. He has a rope toy he likes when I throw.”

“Okay. That sounds nice,” Rachel said.

“Want to try your wine now?”

Rachel lifted her glass and waited.

Violet lifted hers, too, and said, “To your new job and a new… friendship?”

“To a new friendship,” Rachel repeated and left out the job part of the toast, which Violet thought interesting.

They clanked glasses and took a sip. Rachel seemed to like the wine, tilting her head at it and giving the glass a nod. Violet watched her and couldn’t help but smile at her.

Saturday

By Saturday, Violet had cleaned the whole house from top to bottom, even though she wasn’t a messy person to begin with. Apollo, whom she’d also bathed on Friday night, was still getting used to his name, looking at her with that cute, confused expression whenever she said it in the same tone that she used to call him ‘Little Guy’ in. She’d put an adorable little green tie around his neck this morning, and he’d been trying to get it off ever since.

“You’re going to be dressed like a gentleman to meet a lady,” she instructed and handed him a bacon-flavored treat.

He devoured it and had no idea that it was good for his tiny puppy teeth, too. Proud of herself, Violet finished getting dressed, trying to go for casual-Saturday-morning-alone-in-her-house but also look like she cared that company was coming over at the same time. She turned the coffee maker on and was glad that she’d bought the expensive one, but she also had the electric kettle ready in case Rachel wanted tea instead. There was also a platter of pastries on her kitchen table that she’d bought from a good bakery that morning, making an early trip to get them fresh. She’d chosen a variety because she didn’t know what Rachel liked. After pulling her hair back into a ponytail that clearly saidcasual, she heard the doorbell ring and took a deep breath.

“Here we go.”

“Hi,” Rachel said when Violet opened the front door. “Oh, you look…”

“I look?”

“I mean that you look nice.”

“I do?” She pretended that she hadn’t spent an hour picking out what to wear to literally let someone come over for coffee and to play with her dog.

“Yeah. Like, casual. I haven’t seen you in casual yet; just in business attire.”

“You too. You look nice, too,” Violet replied and gave her a smile.

It was true that she hadn’t seen Rachel in casual wear,either. Technically, the older Rachel had been wearing a pair of jeans and a sweater, but Violet didn’t think that counted.

“Come in,” she said, remembering one second too late to invite the woman in, making things a little awkward.