My phone buzzed again and I wondered who else could be calling. I wasn’t expecting any work calls at this hour. I pulled my phone up and saw it was a FaceTime from Rosie’s number. Excitedly, I answered the call. Cris and Rosie were huddled up together with a cute little black Labrador wedged in between them.

‘Oh, so cute! Who’s this?’

Rosie laughed when the dog licked her cheek. ‘This is Lola, we just had to call and show you our new foster.’

Lola kept blocking the camera with her little nose as she sniffed it. I was melting. ‘I don’t know how anyone could pass up adopting her, I’m sure she’ll be snapped up quickly,’ I said as Andie and Travis peered around to get a view of the screen without coming into the frame. They gave me big smiles at the sight.

‘We put her photo up today on the Pause for Paws site,’ Cris said, ruffling her big floppy ears with his hand. ‘We’ve already had a few applications. I’m sure we won’t have her for very long.’ Seeing Cris show such softness and affection toward Lola was in direct contrast with how I’d seen him interact with people so far, confirming my suspicions that underneath that awkward exterior was a man with a big heart.

Just as Rosie was about to say something, Lola jumped out of her arms and knocked over a nearby glass of water. Rosie tutted and rushed to the kitchen for paper towels. While she was gone, Cris and I looked at each other uncomfortably, not sure what to say without Rosie present.

Cris finally broke the silence. ‘Oh, I forgot, I found something in Teresa’s belongings that I think you’d like to have. Since we aren’t sure when we’ll see you next, I can drop it in the mail if you give me your address.’

A warmth filled my chest at the thought of having another personal belonging of my mother’s. The Nancy Drew book had been a nice start but I yearned for more. I was also intrigued about what it was. I rattled off my address while Cris wrote it down on a scrap of paper which he then shoved into his shirt pocket.

‘That’s so thoughtful of you Cris, thank you.’

Cris looked away for a second and seemed to blush slightly. ‘Yeah, well.’