Loud knocking and Sam’s barking woke me from a sound sleep. Grabbing my purple silk kimono, I went to the kitchen door to find Sam facing it wagging his tail in excitement. I pushed the lace curtain on the door’s window aside to see Terry in a very bright green and blue Hawaiian shirt trying to balance an armload of grocery bags. His arms were so full, it was amazing he could even free one hand to knock.

I unlocked the door and let him in as Sam pranced around in circles. I guess they bonded yesterday. Terry started to tease me.

“Wish I could be an editor and hang out until 10:30 in my kimono. You should be ashamed to call that work”. He added with a wink. “Let me by please. I brought valuable supplies for humans and dog.”

He barreled his way into my kitchen and placed the two large paper grocery bags on my counter. Sam, his nose in the air trying to get a sniff of the bags’ contents, was hot on his heels. Terry pulled each item from the bags one by one like a magician. “Aha!” he exclaimed. “First we have a box of sweet potato dog treats.”

He held the box low enough for Sam to get a whiff. “What’s this? Here’s a bag of chicken biscuits, rawhide chews and a new big dog dish. Mazy’s old dish is nice but doesn’t cut it.”

Sam showed his approval by a long messy drool falling from the sides of his mouth. Terry’s green eyes looked mischievous as he rattled something in the bag with jingle bells. Sam’s ears picked straight up as my wonderful but sometimes crazy neighbor held up a collar made of plastic Christmas greens with red jingle bells. “Sam this is to get you in the Christmas spirit.” He placed the collar around Sam’s neck and the dog shook his head incessantly. I tried to be tactful about my next comment.

“Terry it’s not that I’m not grateful for all of this but we haven’t had our breakfast or coffee yet and I don’t know how long I can listen to jingle bells.”

My thoughtful neighbor smiled. “Got it. Sam let’s go for a morning jog. If Jessica looks in the bag, she’ll find some fresh honey dipped doughnuts with red and green sprinkles that will go perfectly with your collar and our morning coffee.”

Our coffee? It’s hard not to love this guy. He treats me like his little sister. As they left for a jog with Sam on Jeff’s donated leash, I made coffee and found my holiday mugs, plastic plates, and paper napkins. Might as well keep this good cheer going. Who knows how I’ll feel after I call the number on that charm?

Sam and Terry returned looking much too happy. “Sam met a lot of the neighbors. Of course, I told them you were just dog sitting but they all loved him and offered to spend time with him when you need a break.”

That’s just great, I thought. He’s become a local celebrity, and I still don’t even know who his owner is. I took off Sam’s jingle bells, washed his new red dish, and filled it with the vet’s food. Sam loved every morsel of it. I poured our coffee while Terry opened the box of delicious smelling doughnuts and placed one on each of my red plates. Like Sam, I sniffed the air drooling.

After Terry munched his doughnut and gulped his coffee, he told me. “Great Job Jess. We’re celebrating the holiday already. On no! Look at the time. It’s 11:30. Have a tennis lesson at noon. Love you both. See you soon.” With that, he got up and exited in the same whirlwind in which he entered. Sam finished his food and drank some more water. I stroked his back knowing I shouldn’t wait any longer to make that phone call. Since no one on the other end will see me, I didn’t want to waste time changing. This job was too important.

I gave Sam one of the large rawhide bones Terry brought and went into my living room and sat at my desk. My purse was on my desk so I pulled out the torn collar with the charm and read the inscription.

“His name is Sam. If he’s lost or hurt and you find him, please call 239-212-6457 Collect if necessary.”

Even a travel editor like me could afford a local call. I picked up my cell and dialed the number. A tape-recorded message answered. “You have reached the home number of Trey Musgrove of the law firm Musgrove and Garner. If I gave you this number for emergency reasons, I am either away from home or busy with another client, please contact my office at 239-212-6678 or leave a message after the beep.”

My hands shook. My mind raced with questions. Should I leave a message? What kind of emergency calls does this attorney handle? Suppose he doesn’t want Sam anymore, but why then leave a contact number? Leaving a cold recorded message will not do. I needed to speak to someone in person. I waited about ten minutes and called back hoping he would answer, but still had to listen to the same recording with the same results. This time, I wrote down his office number and decided to call it. By now, I had to find out how Sam got lost.

I glanced down at that beautiful gentle dog. He lay by my feet still chewing his rawhide, and, from the looks of it, content to do so. I took a deep breath to garner courage and dialed the office number on the recording. A sweet female voice answered. “Musgrove and Garner attorneys at law, this is Angelica speaking, how may I help you?”

My heart raced. I hesitated for a minute to regain my composure. More than a bit nervous, I asked. “May I please speak with Mr. Musgrove?”

Angelica responded at once. “Mr. Musgrove is out of the office temporarily. Would you like to speak to his partner Mr. Garner?”

I paused, “No. This is in regards to a personal matter.”

Angelica advised. “Every call is personal to us and will remain as such. Are you hurt? Are you in a safe place?”

Why would she ask me questions like that? Cautious, I answered, “I’m going to have to think about this and call back.”

“Please be careful. We’re here to help when you need us.”

I thanked her and hung up. That entire conversation seemed strange to me. How can I find out anything about this Musgrove guy? Since I was already at my desk, I opened my laptop. Google. That’s it. I’ll Google him. I entered “Trey Musgrove Florida Attorney”.

Sure enough, after I did, a plethora of information opened up. First I saw his work bio, office address, even some of the high-profile divorce cases he handled. I understood now why Angelica asked if I was hurt and in a safe place. He’s a divorce attorney.