“So what did you want to talk to me about?” Teo asked.

“I need a dog.”

“The Humane Society has plenty. Somebody there can help you make a good choice.”

“That was just my lead-in. I need a special kind of dog. Here’s the thing. I seem to be a bad-guy magnet.” I gave him an abbreviated version of the attack at Wendy’s town house.

“What is it about you, Ryan?”

I wondered the same thing. “The deputy who showed up to take my statement said a dog would be the best deterrent. We already have a security system. But I’m taking care of my sister’s little girls for a while. And I want to keep them safe.”

“Why? What’s up with your sister?”

Teo had never met Wendy. That was a reminder of how short-lived our relationship had been. Or maybe it was a reminder of how territorial I had felt. I hadn’t wanted to be diminished by Wendy’s splendor.

I phrased my answer carefully. “She’s away helping a friend, and her husband’s on a nuclear sub somewhere out in the ocean. I’m temporarily Aunt Everything.”

“Your parents are okay?”

“Dad just had heart surgery, and Mom’s busy taking care of him. So I came home to help out.”

“Just how long do you need a dog?”

I stumbled over that. “Well, not forever.”

“That covers a lot of territory.”

“I don’t know for sure when Wendy will come home. So I don’t have a good answer. It just depends on circumstances.”

He let that go, although I was afraid he’d filed his curiosity away to pull out again if needed. “I don’t suppose you’re looking for one to take with you when you leave town again?”

“I guess since I work at home a dog’s feasible. I probably have room for a small one. But I need something large and fierce right now, a dog so intimidating even raindrops won’t fall near the town house.”

“And a dog gentle enough to be safe with your nieces.”

I realized how foolish I’d been. “You don’t happen to have a dog I can plug in to guard the house when I need him and unplug when I don’t?”

“You’re describing any well-trained dog, a dog who does the job at hand, no more, no less. We train security dogs, and we train them to obey. The thing is, we don’t rent dogs. It takes time to train an owner to work with a dog. Mutual respect is involved.”

“I fully realize how stupid this sounds. I guess I was feeling desperate.”

“Desperate enough to talk to me instead of jogging by?”

I could feel my cheeks heating, but I didn’t deny it. “It’s a fine road for jogging.”

“I almost came after you last time to tell you it was safe to talk to me again.”

“I wish you had.”

“I liked watching you work up your courage. I wondered if you ever would.”

“It wasn’t easy.”

“Bismarck,” he said, as if that was the next sensible thing to say.