“Of course, whoa! Hey, now.”
Ashur and Mars skidded to a stop and dropped into a polite sit at Ethan’s side. Gun’s arrival was more of a crash-landing into the back of Ethan’s knees, but he still sat, panting happily at the new friend in front of them.
“Say hi, boys,” said Ethan. As before, each dog lifted a paw and waved it at Melvin, who was instantly charmed. He squatted down and greeted them all in turn and when he stood up again, Ethan knew he’d changed the man’s opinion.
“What happened at the park was a misunderstanding,” said Ethan. “I spoke with the women involved and when I left, they didn’t seem upset anymore.”
“They didn’t file the complaint, Mr. Nash,” said Melvin, looking even more uncomfortable now, but not about the dogs. “It came from the Mayor’s office.”
Chapter Five
‡
“I’m deeply regretting some of my life decisions right now.” Carrie stumbled into the kitchen the next morning, and cast a dark glare at her perky cousin. “My eyes hurt. My head hurts. My hair hurts. I blame you.”
“You had four itty-bitty glasses of wine over three hours, plus nachos and jalapeño poppers,” said Jess, sweeping toast crumbs off the counter. She was fully dressed, hair done, makeup on. “You’re hardly on track for detox. Have some coffee, you’ll be fine.”
Carrie took a tentative sniff in the direction of the coffee pot. “Ugh.”
“A big plate of bacon, eggs, hash browns and waffles is the best cure, but since you live in the boonies, and we’re out of groceries, I’d suggest toast slathered with butter and jam.” Jess gathered her purse, then glanced into the mirror beside the fridge and smiled, bright and brittle.
“Why are you so chipper?”
The grin fell away and Jess’s jaw tightened. “This is my game face, honey. You know what they say. Fake it ’til you make it. Worth a try.”
Her armor cracked for a brief moment, just long enough for Carrie to see the effort it took for her to appear strong and impenetrable. The job at the garage was indeed hellacious for a girl who liked things pretty and clean and fun. But she was doing it. No one kept Jess down for long.
At least, not until now.
Jess gave her hair one last pat. “I’m off to work. Wish me luck.”
“You don’t need luck.” Carrie’s voice softened. “You never have.”
“Shows what you know.” Her voice was husky. “Coffee, Care-Bear. And carbs. See you tonight.”
She gave Carrie a quick hug, then left the house in a swirl of perfume and hairspray. A moment later Carrie heard the disturbing rumble and thump of her cousin’s junker car starting up in the driveway. The thing was a deathtrap.
Even though Jess was dealing with so much of her own crap, she’d been an excellent, non-judgmental shoulder for Carrie to unload on. It felt good to share her worries with someone who cared, and reminded her of how much she’d missed having her cousin around.
She took a quick shower, dressed, gave Belinda enough attention to keep her from destroying the place, then poured a cup of coffee and sat down with her laptop. She clicked into her usual social media sites, eventually making her way onto Bethany’s personal page. She was curious how the poor girl was doing.
Over the past year, Bethany had posted tons of romantic photographs documenting their engagement and the wedding plans. Carrie’s heart went out to her, thinking of how much more difficult a broken engagement was now, in the days of instant information and breakups via status updates.
Would she have taken all her photos down, or just stopped posting?
She thought of what Ethan had said about how nothing was really secure anymore. Did Bethany know how vulnerable her images were, how many people were out there, looking for ways to hurt others, just for the sake of hurting them?
To her surprise, there was no announcement about the wedding being off. The romantic pictures were all still there. And there were new ones, too!
Only nine weeks to go! read one caption.
A drop of coffee caught in Carrie’s throat as she registered the close-up photo of a woman’s hand, outstretched so that her diamond ring sparkled in the light.