Muffin took this opportunity to lick inside of her mouth, too.

“Gross!” She brushed the Chihuahua aside with a sweep of her arm and used the other to wipe vigorously at her mouth and tongue.

Muffin jumped off the bed and went to scratch at the door impatiently. Oh, right. He probably needed to pee. Harmony did, too, but at least she could be trusted not to mess on the carpet. So she grabbed a cardigan from the top of her suitcase, draped it over her shoulders, and led the little dog downstairs.

Her new landlady was nowhere to be seen, but the clock above the stove informed Harmony that it was nearly ten o’clock. The rest of the world was probably already at work for the day—and that included Mrs. Virginia Clementine, too.

Her stomach grumbled as she eased open the sliding glass door and let the little dog run out into the palmetto-lined yard. He, of course, chose the very largest tree to do his business, lifting his leg proudly to splash the base of the thick trunk and then shuffling his hind feet like a cat trying to cover up a mess in its litter box.

Does he miss his brothers and sisters? Harmony idly wondered and for a moment felt jealous of her new companion. This little dog had more of a support network, more of a family than she’d ever had even for just one single day in her life.

Lucky little thing.

She sighed and leaned back against the house as she watched Muffin entertain himself by alternating bouts of sniffing with fast, flying leaps around the yard. When he’d seemed to tire himself out, she let him back inside and took him up to her room.

“You’re going to be on your own for a little while,” Harmony informed him as she pulled on her nicest pair of pants and a button-down shirt. “I need to go find a job so I can afford to pay for your kibble.”

Muffin sat down on the edge of the rug and womped his tail on the ground.

“How do I look?” she asked him after dragging a tube of lip gloss across her lips and posing for her reflection in the mirror.

The Chihuahua tilted his head to the side and released a shiver so fierce that he practically fell over from the sudden motion.

“I don’t think I speak your language just yet. Any chance of you learning English?” She should have felt ridiculous, carrying on a one-sided conversation with a dog, but Harmony actually found it quite comforting to have someone who would simply listen without forcing his opinions onto her.

Muffin tilted his head to the other side, ran in a tight circle, and then went back to scratch at the door.

“Sorry, Muffs. You’ve gotta stay here for now, but tell you what—if I do manage to find a job today, I’ll bring you back a big bone to celebrate.”

In response, Muffin dropped his tail between his legs, pressed his ears back against his head, and went to sulk under the bed. That was how Harmony felt about the situation, too, but she needed a job to keep her mind busy just as much as she needed it to pay the bills.