Lisbet was about to decline the offer, but I said, “When it comes to dessert, my mom always quotes Erma Bombeck: ‘Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the
Because Lisbet didn’t look quite won over, I added, “What happened to those thirty-two sweet teeth you told me about?”
“I suppose it is only right to remember the
“The chocolate mousse is heavenly.”
There was a meeting of raised eyebrows, and then I said, “Heaven can’t wait. We’ll take two mice.”
Later, as the two of us were searching with our spoons for any speck of mousse that we might have missed, I said, “I’m doing this for Sirius, you know. Chocolate is not good for dogs, so the mousse can’t be part of his doggy bag.”
“No sacrifice too big,” Lisbet said, patting her hips. “But I am thinking that you really should get him that Flying Dutchman.”
“I might even get him a three by three.”
“Is that more secret menu talk?”
I nodded. “Three meat patties, three slices of cheese.”
“Do you order with some kind of Masonic handshake?”
“That’s not necessary, but they’ll give you free fries if you drive up to the takeout window in a Shriners car and shake your fez in the prescribed manner.”
“Who could resist a man in a fez?”
“It’s the tassel.”
“Be still my heart.”
The waitress brought the check and our doggy bags. Lisbet said, “Can I…,” and I raised a hand.
“You cannot.”
“Next time is my treat, then.”
I liked the sound of the words “next time.”
She asked, “If I give you my doggy bag, can you be trusted to pass on the salmon to Sirius?”
“Scout’s honor,” I said, holding up my index and middle fingers in a
“Sirius will tell me whether you made good on your promise or not.”
“The salmon’s a bribe, I think. You’re trying to get him to forgive you for eating his dog biscuits.”
“It was
“That’s how it innocently starts. The next thing that happens is you’re hitting the kibble pretty hard, and then you begin experimenting with rawhide chews. Before you know it, you’re out on the corner doing Liv-A-Snaps and Snausages. I’ve seen it before and it’s not pretty.”
“I’m so ashamed.”
I paid the bill and the two of us took the long way to the car. By the time we reached the first of the inn’s two pools, we were walking hand in hand. The bright lights of LA make it easy to overlook the stars, but out in the desert the stars can’t be ignored. One bright flickering star stood out more than the others.
“Sirius,” I said, pointing, and then added, “the Dog Star.”
“After his heroics I’m thinking that Sirius should join Lassie and Rin Tin Tin with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.”
“Not a chance,” I said. “He thought it was a travesty that Benji never got a star, so he’s made it clear that if Hollywood comes knocking, he’s not interested.”
We paused in our walk to take in the stars. Lisbet leaned a little into me and I liked that. She said, “I used to go camping in the desert with this friend who would bring out his huge telescope and spend most of the night hunting down stars and planets and moons. He taught me to look up at the sky and see the constellations. Orion was easy: pick out the three stars that make up Orion’s belt and work from there. And finding Sirius always made it easy for me to work out Canis Major.”
I was feeling a little jealous of another man’s being Lisbet’s guide to the stars, so I decided to sound like I knew something about the subject. “You ever hear the story about how Orion and Sirius got up there?”
Lisbet shook her head, which allowed me to show off the lone piece of star trivia that I knew. “According to Greek mythology, Apollo tricked Artemis into killing Orion by challenging her to shoot an arrow at a faraway speck in the ocean. Artemis didn’t know that the object Apollo targeted was Orion, who was out for a swim. Because she was overcome with grief at what she had done, Artemis decided to place Orion in the heavens as a constellation. But Artemis wasn’t the only one grieving. Sirius was Orion’s faithful hunting dog, and when his master disappeared, he tirelessly searched for him. Because of that, Artemis decided that Sirius’s place was in the heavens right at Orion’s heel.”
With one hand I was pointing to Sirius; the other hand had found its way around Lisbet’s shoulder. Our heads moved from the stars to each other, and we kissed.
CHAPTER 16:
Gravity didn’t seem to have quite the same hold on either one of us after the kiss. It had been a long time since I’d felt good like that, and that feeling of exhilaration kept bubbling up and going to my brain. Lisbet’s smiles and animated conversation told me she was feeling the same thing, which made the return drive to the Garden of Angels and Lisbet’s car seem all too short. As I came to a stop in the cemetery’s parking lot, Lisbet surprised me by asking, “Where are you sleeping tonight?”
“I imagine the same place where I’ve slept for the last eight years.”
“Someone wants you hurt or dead. Maybe you should find another place to stay the night.”
“Sirius is the best guard dog in the world-no, the universe.”
Sirius heard his name spoken and thought that meant it was time to socialize. He settled in for some serious scratching, acting more like a lapdog than a guard dog.
“I do have a comfortable sofa bed,” she said.
“You don’t need to spoil Sirius. He can sleep on the floor.”
“He can sleep with you on the sofa bed.”
“I thought your apartment didn’t allow dogs.”
“As you’ve mentioned a time or two, Sirius isn’t a dog but an LAPD officer.”
“You really don’t need to worry about me. I’m pretty sure those bad guys are either holed up or on the run. No one is coming after me tonight, Lisbet.”
She didn’t look completely satisfied but didn’t push it further. I extended my hand, and we twined fingers.
“I am not ready for the night to end yet. If you’re not too tired, you’re welcome to come to my place for a nightcap.”
“I’d like that. But I will need to attend to bowser burger business on the way.”
“Then I’ll not get in the way of your alliteration or Sirius’s dinner.”
Sirius must have been eavesdropping-either that or his burger radar, which worked better than Pavlov’s bell, went off. The slap, slap, slap of his tail made it clear that he knew dinner was imminent.
Lisbet lived in a multicolored apartment in West LA not far away from Loyola Marymount University. The apartment’s color scheme looked as if it had been inspired by the choreography of
She was waiting in her car out front, and per her hand gestures I followed her down to the garage and took a space in visitor parking. Then Sirius and I crammed into Lisbet’s Civic and all of us drove over to her assigned
