Cade's first thought was he finally had her number, then his second was she was engaged. When he had seen a call from an unknown number, his blood pounded through his veins. Robocalls weren't allowed at ten at night. Paranoia was a hard habit to break.

After the call, his phone vibrated with a text. He stared at it for a long time. Sorry. She was sorry. While she cuddled up with her fiancé, he sat in fear. He still woke in a cold sweat most nights. Being in his own bed and home helped. Usually Confetti sighed from the crate in his room.

Cade was one nightmare from letting him on the bed. Unfortunately, the dog had gotten into trouble when unsupervised. After working for a few hours one day, Cade found an entire roll of toilet paper shredded all over the house. He was lucky his pup hadn't ingested the paper. He had to keep the bathroom door closed and place a gate in the doorway to keep him in the office. Cade worried what the dog might get into while he was asleep.

His companionship made up for all the hassles of the naughty dog. Cade loved the way he barked over package deliveries to the front door. No one stepped onto his property without Confetti being alerted. Unfortunately, his warnings included people walking by although those barks stopped quickly. The house across the street had kids who played in their driveway. That had become a big problem especially when Cade was working. He was nervous as Confetti pulled him across the street when he took him out to pee.

The dog was determined to meet the two boys who stopped playing when they saw Confetti. Luckily, the kids were trained better than his dog, because the older one asked, "Hey, mister can we pet your dog?"

He hesitated, but said, "Put your hand out slowly."

Cade held the leash next to his collar ready to jerk him away. When Confetti licked the boy's brown hand, Cade breathed. The second one repeated his brother's actions.

As he pet Confetti who lavished attention, he looked at Cade. "Do you have any kids?"

Cade shook his head no. The older one said, "That's what my dad said."

His brother tried to outdo him by adding, "Mommy thinks it's a big house for one guy."

Cade laughed. Oddly, it didn't bother him to have his neighbors talk about him. At least, he knew someone was looking out for his house. Maybe they would call the cops if Vinnie's thugs showed up.

"Your mom is right, but Confetti likes the room."

"Confetti!" The younger boy bounced around. "I like Confetti." Cade saw movement at the door. Feeling uncomfortable put his hand up in a brief wave. The jubilant boy turned. "Mom, come see Confetti."

The mother wasn't much older than Leigh. Confetti moved towards her, happy to meet another friend. She smiled. "Confetti?"

Cade shrugged. "He came with his name."

"Welcome to the neighborhood. I'm Amita. This is Nikhil and the little guy is Sanjay."

"Cade. I live alone."

She blushed slightly and said, "I guess the boys were talking. You'll come over and meet Bodhi. He's working today."

On the weekend. "What does he do?"

"Emergency doctor at the Brigham."

Cade nodded. "And I draw pictures. I'm a graphic designer."

She smiled. "Sanjay likes to draw."

Cade looked at the youngest. "You'll have to show me some day, but right now Confetti needs his walk."

Meeting the family gave Cade peace. His neighbors across the street were nothing like Vinnie and his thugs. Slowly, Cade moved back into the land of the living.

When Leigh brought takeout for dinner, he told her about his neighbors. "... and Confetti liked the kids."

"That's good, right?" The dog was affectionate with Leigh. He liked collecting people.

He nodded and cleared his throat. "I, um, got a text message Friday night."

Her eyes opened wide. "Mom?"

Cade hadn't spoken to her since he stopped by the day they sold CEJ. He shook his head as he opened his phone. She took it and read the text.

"She wants to talk?" Leigh's voice hid her opinion.

"About why she hooked up in front of her fiance?"

Leigh sighed. "That one is bizarre. At least she is sorry. Don't you owe her a thank you?"

"Do I?" Cade's anger surprised himself. He could have felt something real for her, but he had no right. He was the guy with the bachelorette on his lap. Why would a guy think that was okay?

"You need to respond to her. You owe her that much."

Cade stared at his sister. "You were the one who was mad she took her time coming forward."

"Because you were wasting away and wanted to give her time." Confetti barked and Cade flinched. "You're still not yourself."

"I eat." He looked healthy. His jeans didn't fall off his hips.

"You're too tense. Abbie does yoga. I went with her after work. You should try it." Abbie was Leigh's new legal partner. From everything Cade heard she was a superwoman — raising kids, practicing law, and doing yoga.

"You did yoga?" He laughed. "You never relax."

Leigh scratched the dog's head. "I do now. Thanks for getting arrested. You saved me from dying in my cubicle doing thankless work."

"I'm glad you're happy, but yoga."

"It's a workout and adds flexibility and balance. I bet you would run faster with fewer injuries."

Cade shook his head. "I don't know. It's a girl thing."

"Not only, but there are lots of women."

He laughed. "You want me to meet someone. Remember what happened the last time?"

"You would be in jail if you went home alone."

Cade could argue but he knew his sister was right. Maybe he owed Meg a simple thank you. Get it over with and move on, but no yoga.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Me at yoga. I'll stick to running. We have our first dog class."

Leigh smiled. "Maybe you'll meet a nice dog owner."

"Why don't you get out there first and tell me how it goes."

"I'm divorced. I don't trust men."

Cade laughed. "Bullshit. Seriously, how am I going to answer 'what have you been up to the past four months'?"

"Cade, trust that something good will come from the ordeal."

He frowned. "Easy for you to say, you finally left the sweat shop. I've got my buddy." He rubbed his dog. "I'll be okay. You don't need to come over to check on me."

Leigh laughed. "I came to see Confetti, not you."

Cade laughed. "Yeah right."

They finished eating and then lounged on the sofa with the dog between them. Leigh stood. "I'll head out, but don't think you're a burden."

Cade stood after Confetti followed her to the door. The siblings hugged; then he watched as Leigh climbed into her car. He clipped the leash on. The dog was good about doing his business, especially in the rain. If Cade could stop looking over his shoulder, he would take a walk. Chances were Vinnie had no clue where he lived. Keep eating pasta Vinnie, maybe he would develop a bad heart. It was already rotten.

Once he returned safely inside, he took Leigh's glass and put it in the dishwasher. His thoughts lingered back to their conversation. He should thank her.

Before he flipped on the TV, he tapped out a text. Thank you for coming forward. Have a nice life.

The last line sounded harsh, but he didn't want to mention her engagement. Trying to understand bubbled up his anger. Out of spite he hit send, then he put his phone down and put on a stand-up act. Leigh was right, it was good therapy.

On Monday afternoon, he let Confetti into the car. The school was on the other side of Cambridge.  Confetti barked when he saw other dogs. Once out of the car, he pulled Cade to the others showing off his bad behaviors. Thankfully, the instructor was non-judgmental. Cade wanted his dog to get good grades. He quickly learned he would be the one on the hook. Consistency was key to good training. Good thing, Cade had plenty of time.

The facility was no frills with room for the dogs to socialize after class. When Confetti sniffed the butt of a girl dog, Cade apologized to the owner.

She smiled. "It's no big deal."

Cade had seen her smile before. Women noticed his blue eyes. Meg had. He was supposed to be done with her. Have a good life meant for him to move on too.

"I take Daisy to the dog park. If you want to meet us, I could text you."

Cade felt his chest tighten. She was in his doggie class. He couldn't blow her off. "I'm busy with work and now training, but thanks for the offer."

She shrugged and nodded. "See you next week."

He stood and waited for her to leave as sweat pooled on his back. He looked down at Confetti who looked up at him with his cocked head. "Maybe I need yoga or therapy or both."

As he left, he vowed to make Confetti the star of the class. The dog had already wiggled his way into Cade's heart.

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