Page 93 of Wild Card 13

"No thinking. Thinking is how you talk yourself out of perfectly good adventures."

"You sound like Buzz." The words escaped before I could stop them.

I closed my eyes.Wonderful.

Arlo cleared his throat first, mercifully letting the comment drift away. "I'll save you a table," he said gently. "Come by around eleven."

Before I could answer, another thought occurred to me. "If I come..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm bringing Bea."

His laugh returned immediately. "I figured you might."

"I should warn you she's liable to attempt adopting every single dog."

"Then I'd better make sure the paperwork stays behind the bar."

A smile finally settled across my face. "I'll see you around eleven."

"Looking forward to it, sis."

The call disconnected.

For another minute, I remained standing beside the window, staring out at leaves chasing each other across the sidewalk in the breeze.

Then I picked up my phone again.

Brunch? Arlo's hosting a dog adoption event.

Bea: OMG YES.

Bea: Alois has team stuff until this afternoon.

Bea: THIS IS PERFECT.

Bea was waitingoutside my building before I finished locking my apartment.

She leaned against the passenger door of her SUV, sunglasses perched on top of her head despite the overcast sky, an oversized cream sweater disappearing into dark jeans tucked inside brown ankle boots. Her dark hair moved with the breeze, and she held a travel mug in one hand while waving the other dramatically the second she spotted me.

"You came!" I called out with a quick wave.

Bea laughed as I crossed the sidewalk. "I was invited." She pulled me into a quick hug before stepping back to study my face. "You look tired."

"I appreciate how gently you said that," I snickered, jabbing her with a quick, joking elbow.

"I considered lying."

"I would've known."

"You would've."

There was something comforting about Bea. Maybe it was because she never tried to fix people. She simply noticed them.

She handed me my favorite coffee order without asking. "I stopped on the way."

"You remembered."