She was mere seconds from closing the car door when she saw him. Startled, she crouched down to his level. "Eddie, what are you doing in the garage? How did you get here anyway?"
Eddie barked, as though in doing so, Daphne would have the answer to her question.
"Oh why didn't I learn to speak dog?" Daphne muttered, stroking Eddie's fur. "Well, whatever you're doing here, we'd best get you inside. Mr. Crane's probably worried sick and-." Her eyes widened when she realized that something else was amiss. "Where's your leash?"
Again Eddie barked and Daphne shook her head in dismay. Balancing the paper bags of groceries in one arm and Eddie in the other, she made her way into the building. Her efforts were made all the more difficult by Eddie's kisses on her cheek, but she couldn't bring herself to be angry at him. He was such a sweet little dog… most of the time.
"All right, come on. We'll get you inside to see Mr. Crane."
Her presence garnered an amused look from Morrie, the doorman whom she saw nearly every day. "Good afternoon Miss Moon."
She smiled and nodded in greeting. "Now Morrie, I've told you a hundred times, call me Daphne!"
"I'm sorry Daphne. I didn't expect to see you holding Mr. Crane's dog." When Eddie barked, Morrie scratched the dog's head. "How ya' doin' pal?" Again Eddie barked, perhaps in response to Morrie's question.
"I know." Daphne replied. "I found him the garage of all places without his leash and I can't imagine how he got there! I'm sure that Mr. Crane must be worried sick! He must have been down here a hundred times looking for him!"
"Actually I haven't seen Mr. Crane all day." Morrie admitted.
Daphne looked up in alarm. "What?"
"I said I haven't-."
"I-I heard you. I'm sorry. I-I need to get Eddie back home. It's nice to see you, Morrie."
Morrie smiled and tipped his hat. "Always a pleasure, ma'am."
Daphne sighed, wishing that, just once, Morrie would regard her as a friend instead of just a tenant in the building. But there was no time to worry about that. She had to get Eddie home and quickly. Something was terribly wrong. Why wouldn't Mr. Crane come down looking for Eddie? He was at home that morning before she'd left for the market and come to think of it, Eddie was nowhere to be seen. Had he been out all day? Something just wasn't right.
The elevator doors opened and maneuvering inside was tricky, but she managed to do it with room to spare. As they rode to the nineteenth floor, Eddie again began kissing her face, as though thanking her from rescuing him from the garage. And all she could do was laugh. "It was my pleasure, Eddie. I love you too. Mr. Crane will be so happy to see you."
The doors opened on the nineteenth floor and Eddie practically jumped out of her arms, nearly causing Daphne to drop the groceries. What a disaster that would have been. But at least they were home, and that was the most important thing. It was a huge relief when she finally managed to open the door. Eddie of course bounded inside, barking wildly at the sight of Mr. Crane who was sitting in his chair. The sight shocked Daphne as well, but for an entirely different reason. He looked much too calm for a man whose dog had been found wandering around the garage alone without a leash.
"Mr. Crane…"
Mr. Crane looked up and smiled. "Hey Daphne, how was the shopping?"
Slowly she put down the grocery bags on Frasier's credenza. "It was… fine." She replied carefully. "I found something of yours in the garage of all places."
"Oh yeah? What is it?"
As though on cue, Eddie jumped into Mr. Crane's lap, eager for attention.
"Hey! You came back!" Mr. Crane exclaimed, scratching Eddie's fur as though rewarding him. "I knew you could do it, boy!"
Daphne was perplexed. "You mean that you knew he was in the garage? But… how could you possibly know that Eddie was in the garage without his leash? Morrie said that he hadn't seen you all day."
"That's right. I've been right here in this chair watching my programs."
"But weren't you the least bit worried?"
Mr. Crane shook his head. "Nah, I knew that Eddie would be all right."
"Y-you knew? But h-how could you possibly-what was he doing in the garage by himself without a leash?"
"Actually this morning I let him out the front door. I guess he decided the best place to wait for someone when he was done was in the garage. I was trying to teach him."
"Teach him? Teach him what? How to dodge cars in order to avoid getting run over?"
"Nah, that would never happen. Eddie's smart!"
"Then why-."
"I wanted him to learn more about the neighborhood. Queen Anne's a big and confusing place. You see, Eddie doesn't know the streets around here very well and-."
Daphne shook her head in disbelief, unable to listen to anymore. The man was completely daft. And he made Eddie look smarter than Niles and Frasier put together.
~FIN~ (The End)
A/N: Thanks for reading and for your reviews. More of these will follow in the future.