Free Do or Diner: A Comfort Food Mystery by Christine Wenger

greeted us. A dog. A big dog.
    I let my breath out. The big blond ball of fur came bounding in, dropped to the floor, and rolled onto his…er…
her
back. Ty rubbed the dog’s stomach, and she wiggled with joy.
    “You’re a sweetie. Yes, you are,” he said to the dog in a falsetto voice.
    “She doesn’t have a collar,” he said to me in his Texas twang. “I’ll have to take her to the Humane Association. Maybe they can find a chip, and I can return her to his owner.”
    I didn’t know much about dogs, but this one looked like a purebred golden retriever, and she wasn’t very old. Most of her hair was matted and dirty, and she was soaking wet.
    “Do you want to share my breakfast, girl?” Ty asked the dog.
    “Please keep her by the storage area, Ty. I can’t have her in my kitchen. I’ll make her some hamburgers,” I said. “She’s probably hungry.”
    “Can you get her a bowl of water, too?”
    “Sure.”
    I put four hamburger patties on to fry. I really didn’t know how much a dog of this size would eat, because I had never had a pet in my life.
    I got a couple of bowls, filled one with water, and set it down in front of her. She immediately started slurping the water. I cut up the cooked hamburger and put it in the freezer to cool.
    I put that bowl down in front of her, and she quickly ate it. She was done in seconds and licking her mouth. She sat regally and stared at me, and I wondered if her owners were missing her.
    I petted her head, then went to the sink and thoroughly washed my hands and the two bowls. I put the bowls under the sink, to be used just for the dog.
    “Do you mind if I take her out front?” Ty asked. “I’ll keep her out of your way until the Humane Association opens and they can see if she has a microchip or has been reported missing.”
    “I’d rather you didn’t take her out front. There are customers out there.”
    “Just a couple of plow guys before duty.”
    “Still. It’s against health laws,” I pointed out.
    “Mr. Cogswell was the only health inspector in this county. Until they hire someone to replace him”—Ty shrugged—“no one’s going to be the wiser.”
    I was just about to point out that he was supposed to enforce the law, not break it, but I decided that it’d be better to get rid of him, and get him out of my kitchen.
    I plated Ty’s order and handed it to him. “Go and eat, and take the blonde with you.”
    My hair was blond, like the dog’s, but she had a better haircut than I had.
    “That’s a great name,” Ty said. “Blondie.”
    As if the dog knew her name already, she wagged her tail and licked Ty’s hand.
    I stood there waiting for them both to leave, but instead of following Ty out the front door, Blondie walked toward me. She nudged my hand, then nudged it again.
    “Blondie wants you to pet her,” Ty said.
    “I’m cooking.”
    “Just do it, and she’ll leave you alone.”
    I squatted down and petted her. I should have gotten a dog or cat, since I didn’t have children with Doug. Maybe a pet would have made me feel less lonely.
    I scratched her ears, and she closed her eyes. My heart melted when I held her cute little face in my hand.
    “Okay, Blondie. Go with Ty. Don’t tell the health department. And no barking out front. Hear?”
    She gave a small yip, as if she understood what I was saying.
    “Trixie, can you join us?” Ty asked.
    I looked through the pass-through window. I should mention that we don’t pass the food through the pass-window for some reason. The waitresses always pick up completed orders from the steam table’s shelf, and the pass-through is just used as a window.
    “I can’t join you. More customers are coming in. Duty calls.”
    He walked out of the kitchen with Blondie walking at his side as if Ty had owned her forever.
    They say that a dog can judge a person’s character better than another human can. Judging by how Blondie warmed up to me, I was definitely a good person.
    I hope Ty noted how