Steve thought he was beginning to understand why Bob had been left at the pound. “He needs food. You know how it is with youngsters, if you don’t keep feeding them, they get cranky.” He leveled a look at Bob that implied neutering might follow obedience school. The warning wasn’t necessary. At the mention of the word food Bob snapped to attention. His mouth tipped up into a smile. His tail thumped the cement floor. His eyes brightened.

“I have just the thing,” Daisy said. “A nice nutritious stir-fry dinner.”

“We’ll follow you home,” Steve said. “I want to make sure nothing else happens to you today.”

Daisy rolled her eyes. “That isn’t necessary. I’ll be fine. Until today I had an impeccable driving record.”

“Humor me.”

Steve and Bob got back into the Explorer and waited for Daisy. A moment later she drove by and waved to them. The car was yellow and maroon, or at least might have been yellow and maroon when it was new. Steve could barely see for the exhaust. New had been a lot of years ago. Valves clattered, the fan belt squealed, the muffler rattled, and the beast left a trail of oil that reminded Steve of Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs.

Forty-five minutes later Daisy had a mound of food on her chopping block and was waiting for her electric wok to heat up. “It’s my mom’s,” she said to Steve. “She sent over a box full of pots and pans, hoping Kevin wouldn’t starve to death before they returned from Texas.”

Kevin was forlornly staring into an empty bag of chips. “Bob ate all my chips.”

“He’s a puppy,” Steve said, throwing a black look at Bob.

Daisy added oil to the wok. “I hope he hasn’t ruined his appetite.”

Kevin looked at Bob sprawled across the kitchen floor. “I don’t think this house is big enough for the two of us. He’s a nice dog, Steve, but he’s moving in on my territory.”

Steve could appreciate Kevin’s point of view. Bob was getting more than his share of attention from Daisy. He was getting hugs and kisses and tasty morsels of food. When they got home tonight, Steve was going to have a long talk with Bob. He was going to tell him about hogging the chips and moving in on a budding relationship.

Daisy dumped the meat and vegetables into the wok and stirred.

Bob was on his feet beside her. His tail was swishing back and forth, his ears were perked up, his mouth was open in joyous expectation.

“He sure gets excited about food,” Daisy said.

“So do I,” Kevin told her. “I get excited about food. Doesn’t anyone want to feed me?”