Ruffed Up Murder (Pet Shop Cozy Mysteries Book 10) Read online

  He glances up at me and smiles. “You don’t have to do that.”

  “What, help you pull weeds? No big deal.” I grin. I know that’s not what he means.

  “Well, things are alright. The barber shop is doing better, but still not great. I lost a lot of trust with people after the blackmail scandal. There are still plenty of folks that don’t want to see or talk to me.”

  “I’m really sorry about that, Sam.”

  “Eh, it was my own fault. Besides, you stood by me the whole time.”

  “What are friends for?” I tug a few more weeds before I ask, “Anything else going on?”

  He laughs a little. “You’re fishing, my friend. Alright, alright. The truth is, there’s nothing going on between me and Karen. We’re just friends right now. I can’t tell you what the future holds, and I know I should have told you about it, but… I thought you might react badly.”

  “Who, me? When have I ever reacted badly to anything before in my life?”

  He glances at me deadpan. “After your divorce you spent almost four years alone. I had to literally drag you out of the house on more than one occasion.”

  “Okay, that’s fair. Are you… attracted to her?”

  He shrugs a little without looking at me. “Yeah.”

  We pull weeds in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the sunshine and a bit of manual labor and trying not to let any awkwardness set in between us.

  “Hey,” Sammy says at last. “Runside tonight?”

  “Yeah.” I smile. “Runside tonight.”

  THE END