Passions of a Papillon

What People Are Saying About Passions of a Papillon

Excerpt from Passions of a Papillon

As Em approached the table juggling the wriggling Papillon, Finn pushed out the empty seat next to him. “I think she likes you as much as she likes me.”

“My oh my, I can certainly understand why.” The redhead stuck out his hand. “Hello, darling, I’m Harvey, but you can call me dear or sweetheart, or to breakfast or anything you want.”

Em laughed and shook the guy’s hand as he held Batshit with the other.

The stocky, bearded guy said, “Xavier. Glad to meet you.” The man’s voice was so surprising—high, light, almost feminine—Em had to work to keep the amazement off his face.

Em sat in the empty chair. “Pleased to meet you both.” Batshit squirmed and launched herself at Finn, who caught her with a laugh. He was clearly being sucked in by the charm of the Papillon, which was kind of a shame considering he had to give her up. Sad for Finn’s first dog experience to be cut short. There was a menu in front of him on the table, and Em glanced at it, although he ate at Café Z fairly often, so he was familiar with the offering. He looked up and found all three men staring at him. “Have you ordered?”

Finn shook his head. “No. We were waiting for you.”

Em leaned over toward Batshit. “What would you like, babycakes?”

“She wants turkey bacon with a side of turkey bacon. She already told us.”

Em pushed his menu away. “Turkey bacon it is.”

“You know what you want?”

“Yep.”

Finn waggled a hand toward the waiter and the guy hurried over. Finn nodded at Em, “Go for it.”

Em ordered his favorite scrambled eggs with spinach and cheese and a lemon scone.

Finn said, “That sounds great. I’ll have the same but with a large helping of turkey bacon on the side.”

“Woof.”

“I swear this beast knows what I’m saying.” Finn hugged Batshit with no regard for shedding on his expensive sweater.

The other two guys ordered and the waiter scampered off.

Harvey leaned in and waved a hand. “So, darling, you can’t mean to tell us that Finnny-poo has to give this gorgeous and adorable animal away, can you?”

Em glanced at Finn who looked more than a little stricken by the question. Obviously, the dog hater had been sucked to the fuzzy side. Em sighed. “Unfortunately, when I phoned the police, they said someone started calling at three a.m. last night to report her missing. Obviously she has owners who value her and want her back.”

Harvey waggled his brows. “But Finn tells us you didn’t say for sure who had the dog. Couldn’t he just keep her?” He chuckled guiltily.

With a shrug, Em said, “Despite the coat of dirt, she looks like a show dog. Regular pets don’t usually have such luxurious coats. Champion Papillons are worth many thousands of dollars, so she’d be way more than petty theft.”

Finn gave a loud exhale. “Plus, I work about a million hours a week. I don’t know what I’d do with her while I’m gone.”

“Oh poo, darling.” Harvey gave a disgusted snort. “You’d take her to the office, of course.”

“Oh right. Can’t you see my collection of mafia hit men and ponzi scheme perpetrators cozying up to Batshit?”

Xavier said, “They’d love her, just like I do.” He leaned over and cooed at Batshit while he scratched behind her ears.

“Uh, hit men?” Em cocked his head at Finn.

“I’m a defense lawyer.”

“For who? Vito Corleone?”