A Dog in the Hand is Worth Two in the Yard

“Miss Lulu’s turning tricks again,” Starsky announced when Hutch came in with the take-out Chinese food.

“She isn’t!” Hutch retorted, placing the Asian Palace bag on the kitchen table. “We discussed this—”

“I don’t think she was paying attention.” Starsky poked through the bag, removing the distinctive Chinese containers, the smell making his mouth water. “Saw her with Arturo not ten minutes ago.”

“Why didn’t you stop her?” Hutch widened his hands in the air as if pushing the couple apart.

“Hutch, she’s a grown…” Starsky sighed, laughing to himself.

Hutch thundered out the back door. Starsky laid out flatware and spooned Mu Shu pork, fried prawns in a thick sauce, and white rice onto two plates. While the wrappers for the pork warmed in the microwave, he unrolled the napkins that came with their order and set the fortune cookies to one side.

“Miss Lulu, I’ve told you so many times!” Hutch walked inside with a pint-sized gray poodle under his arm. “Arturo is three times your size!”

“Good thing she was fixed when we got her at the rescue shelter.” Starsky dug into his dinner, rolling his eyes with the wonderfulness of the food. “She’s a tart for every bigger dog on the block.”

“She’s…lonely,” Hutch defended his princess, grabbing the doggie treats from the cupboard. “She really needs a friend, Starsk.”

Still amused at how much Hutch adored the pretty little dog, Starsky pretended to resist her charms.

She sat on Hutch’s lap, a doggy smile making her dark eyes sparkle. He murmured sweet nothings to her, feeding her not one but three of the high-priced beef bon-bons.

“We already got one dog and a cat.” Starsky spied his house panther, Athos, prowling around the room, waiting for any stray shrimp to fall to the linoleum. “You were the one who didn’t want pets. Now you want a friend for Miss Lulu to play with.”

“She and Athos don’t get along, and if she had a friend, she wouldn’t go over to see that Lothario mutt,” Hutch groused, forking up Mu Shu to pile onto the pancake wrapper.

“You’re elite-ist now.” Starsky chuckled. “Nothing but a pure bred for your Lulu?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Hutch glared at him. “I—”

“To that end, you were gone an awfully long time to pick up the Chinese.” Starsky pointed his fork at his husband, watching Hutch take an extra breath to defend himself against any accusation. “You couldn’t possibly have dropped in on the rescue shelter, so conveniently next door to Asian Palace, did you?”

“There’s a whole slew of new dogs,” Hutch said breezily. “I may have… put our names down on a cute chihuahua …”

“You softie.” Starsky pressed a kiss to his cheek. “What’s it look like?”

“Brown and white.” Hutch nodded to Lulu, setting her on the floor. “She’s called Torino.”

FIN