Once I began the actual physical work, I realized that I probably should have called Billy or Jordan for help or even called both of them. I decided to move the furniture around in the living room. It was sitting in the same arrangement for years. I wasn’t really sure exactly how long. Then I woke up one morning and decided that I wanted a change.

Unfortunately, my back didn’t want the change as much as my brain did. My back understood that it was more than forty years old while I think my mind was stuck believing that my body was at least a decade younger.

After shoving the couch five times and realizing it only moved about five inches, I collapsed onto it instead of moving it further. I lay there for at least fifteen minutes just staring at the ceiling and getting my breath back when the phone rang.

It was Billy. In a treacly sweet voice, he asked, “What are you up to on this beautiful morning?”

I said, “I was trying to move furniture, but now I’m exhausted. Aren’t you at work? I thought they didn’t really like you making personal calls at work.”

He said, “I took the day off.”

“Are you sick? Is someone else sick? Is Becca okay?”

Just as he said, “Don’t get all excited, Marshall. I’m doing fine,” I heard what sounded like the bark of a dog.

I asked, “What was that, Billy?”

“What was what?” I heard him whisper to someone or something else, “Shhh now.”

“Who’s dog is there with you? Are you at the animal shelter with Becca?”

Billy laughed. He said, “Wrong guess. Should I give you three guesses to see if you get it right?”

“Did you get a dog?”

He said, “You are a smart one, Marshall Easterling. I can’t put anything over on you.”

“Becca convinced you to get a dog? Are you sure you’re feeling okay?”

He sighed and said, “Well, technically he belongs to Becca and me, but she kind of has her hands full at home with the Great Dane, so I guess that tells you where this puppy is going to live.”

“You’ve got a dog!” I said it loud. “Can I come over and meet him? Or her?”

I had no interest in owning my own dog. It worried that it would tie me to my house much more rigidly than I wanted, but I liked dogs. My grandparents always had a dog. I liked cats, too. I always had fun meeting the dogs and cats that belonged to family and friends. They usually liked me, too.

Billy said, “Yes, you can come over to meet him if you make me one promise.”

“A promise?” I asked.

“Yes, a promise. I’m asking that you be willing on occasion to dog sit for me. You could do it either at your place or come over here. I would even let you bring that young kid of a boyfriend you have with you.”

I smirked and said, “That’s very generous of you, Billy. Is it okay if I’m there in fifteen minutes?”

He said, “We’ll be waiting for you.”

I grabbed my keys and headed out of the house. I made sure that I had five minutes to stop by the dog shop in my neighborhood. I picked up a bag of fresh baked dog biscuits and a squeaky toy. I laughed to myself when I heard the loud squeaks of the toy. I was certain that Billy would love me for adding more noise to his household. Noisemaking toys were the best gifts for other people’s small children and pets.

When Billy’s kitchen door opened, he was squatting down and holding firm to the collar of an adorable golden retriever puppy. Billy growled, “Shut the door, Marshall! He doesn’t know yet that he’s supposed to stay inside unless he’s on a leash.”

I gushed, “He’s adorable, Billy. What did you name him?”

“I wanted to name him Marshall, but Becca said that would be too confusing. The floppy ears somehow reminded me of you.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled the squeaky toy out of the bag. I dropped the toy to the floor, and Billy let the puppy go. He immediately grabbed the toy. Then he went bounding off to the living room leaving loud squeaky noises in his wake.

Billy frowned and said, “You had to buy that, didn’t you?”

I smiled brightly and said, “I’m a very good doggie uncle.”

Billy said, “So we finally named him Ernie. It made me laugh, and Becca said it’s her brother’s middle name.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Ernie? Poor little puppy. You might need to get another one and name it Bert. It’s not my favorite name, but I guess I can get used to it.”

Billy nodded. “Since he’s not your dog, I guess you will just have to get used to it.” He said, “Let’s head into the living room and sit for a minute. I’ll warn you. He likes laps, but he doesn’t sit anywhere for long.”

I stepped up to the couch and gave it a light shove to try and compare with the one at my house. It moved fairly easily across the floor. I grabbed it firmly to try and make sure it didn’t go sliding a foot or more across the floor.

“What are you doing?” asked Billy. “You said you were moving your furniture around. Mine is fine where it is. It doesn’t need to be moved.”

I laughed and said, “I was just testing. Trying to move my couch feels like I’m pushing a truck load of cannonballs. You’ll have to help me when you come over.”

Billy collapsed on one end of the couch and said, “I guess it’s the least I can do for my new dog sitter.”

I sat at the opposite end and raised an eyebrow. “Just how often are you expecting to need this dog sitter?”

Billy waved a hand in the air and said, “Oh, don’t you worry about that. I’ve got everything worked out for the next few months. It’s not too much of a commitment.” Billy brushed his hair over his shoulder and stroked his chin. “Have you told me the reason for moving your furniture?”

I said, “I’m not really sure exactly, but I woke up this morning and just thought that different would be better. I’ve been feeling like that for the last week or so. I want to go shopping for some new clothes, and I made a short list of new kitchen stuff that I want.”

Billy asked, “Did you talk things through about Neil with Jordan?”

I nodded and said, “I did. He was great about it. We even went out to the cemetery together.”

Shivering slightly, Billy said, “Cemeteries give me the creeps. No thank you.”

I held up a hand. “Wait a second, Billy. I’m not sure I understand this. You have your motorcycle. You wear a leather jacket as often as you possibly can with skull pins decorating part of it. I’ve seen you before in serious goth makeup. Cemeteries are creepy to you? I detect a disconnect.”

“Marshall? Do I have to give you a lesson on the difference between fashion and behavior?”

Ernie leapt up into my lap. His entire body was quivering as I scratched behind his ear with one hand and raked the fingers of the opposite hand down his back. “So you’re saying it’s all fake?”

Billy shook his head. He said, “It’s not fake at all, but just because I like how I look in long hair, that doesn’t mean you should make assumptions about what the rest of my life is like. I do like to stand out, but I’m a pretty normal guy. I even made cupcakes last night. I thought about my knee-jerk comment about cookies, and I decided to try baking something. Would you like one?”

I rubbed at my belly. “I would like one, but I’m always trying to keep this under control. I’m in the age danger zone for belly development. I try to keep the sweets at bay.”

“Someday, Marshall, you will just have to totally let go and become the happy-go-lucky slob with a round little belly that you were meant to be. It’s okay to let go once in awhile.”

I said, “Part of that I agree with. I think that’s why I want to move the furniture and buy clothes. I’m letting things go a little bit. I don’t want to be quite so rigid. It feels good.”

Billy said, “I have to ask one thing. Does the loosening up include about Neil?”

I smiled confidently and said, “Yes, I think it does, and that has really surprised me. Back before I told Jordan about Neil, one of the reasons I was reluctant to say anything was because I thought it would put Neil on my mind all the time even more than he was already there.”

“And? What happened?” asked Billy.

I said, “It has pretty much been the opposite. I feel like I’ve let Neil go. I don’t mean his memories are completely gone, but it’s all lightened up compared with the past. I feel more like he’s looking over me now. He’s watching out for both Jordan and me instead of sitting there in the back of my head haunting everything.”