As I hurried off toward the kitchen, where I’d left my purse sitting on the counter, I realized Rufus had scampered into the entry and was once more bounding around Benjamin Blake’s legs. Why the dog had taken such a shine to someone who seemed like an inveterate grouch, I had no idea.
To my surprise, when I came back to the foyer, Benjamin had actually bent down and was scratching Rufus behind the ears, the little dog nearly flattened to the floor as his tail wagged ferociously.
“He likes you,” I said, and my neighbor shrugged.
“It would seem so.”
I went to the door and was about to close it so I could lock it behind me when Rufus started to whine. “I’m just going across the street for a couple of minutes,” I told him. “I’ll be back soon.”
He whined again and then gave a little bark,
