Page 60 of Wag More Bark Less

Ah, crap.

Stupid leash.

TWENTY-TWO

MAGGIE

“Dear sister, do tell me . . . who is that delicious man in flannel with you at the ice cream shop?”

Violet’s face filled the screen of her latest video message, her voice lowered so the littles hopefully wouldn’t hear her. But of course, they did, because Carson picked up on ice cream immediately.

Within thirty seconds, the boys were begging for their own.

Ellie wormed her way between my arms, shimmying onto her back and resting her head on my shoulder, as though she wanted to see her nephews, too. Or maybe she just wanted morning snuggles before I dragged myself out of bed.

“We’re not having ice cream for breakfast,” Violet said over her shoulder. From what I could tell, they were in a hotel room, but where was anyone’s guess. This video message was two days old, and I still had two more to catch up on. “As soon as Ethan gets out of the shower, we’re hitting the road. We’re headed to the Bighorn Mountains today.”

“Mountains, mountains, mountains!” Ollie chanted, his entire face brightening. I loved both my nephews equally, but I was pretty sure Ollie and I were besties in another lifetime. He would love it here.

I almost paused her message to record one of my own to say as much, but I didn’t want my sister deciding it was some cry for help. And considering I was still a little messed up from what went down in the guest room last night, Violet would sense something was off. Worse, she might alert Mom.

Why I thought it was a good idea to try on that deathtrap of a dress was beyond me. If I’d simply stuffed the damn thing back in the closet after Alyssa bailed on me, my dog wouldn’t have retrieved Luke to save me from it.

I was still haunted by the anguished expression on his face when he froze in the doorway, gripping the frame like it was a lifeline. Clearly, there was some sort of trauma there. Considering his line of work, it could be anything really. A bad or possibly fatal car accident involving a newlywed couple was my top guess.

Except, the things he said to me after I was breathing again seemed . . . personal.

“Ready to go to the mountains?” Ethan’s voice sounded in the background of my sister’s video, and the boys cheered.

“I’m so happy they’re in a good mood this morning,” Violet said quietly. “Last night was . . . hard.”

She forced a smile, but there were bags under her eyes that spoke the truth. I wanted to reach through the phone and hug my sister.

“Well, we have to hit the road,” Violet said, standing from the bed she’d been perched on. “But you better tell me who that mystery man is. Please tell me he’s the rebound guy and you’re getting”—she looked over her shoulder for the boys—“good and canoodled? My back hurts, my feet are swollen, and a snake couldn’t find its way through the overgrown grass in my jungle if it had a machete, so I need to live vicariously through my big sister. Love you, bye!”

“If only I was getting laid.” I dropped the phone onto the mattress. I’d listen to the other two messages after some puppy snuggles and a cup of coffee.

Ellie licked my cheek, and I hugged her tighter.

We were supposed to be headed to a trailhead a few miles outside of town with Alyssa this morning, but of course, I hadn’t heard a peep from her since she canceled yesterday. I wasn’t surprised, if I was being honest. This is how it went with female friendships. They started off with such promise, and over time, those friends became less and less available until I couldn’t reach them at all.

Ellie nudged her cold, wet nose against my neck and let out a gentle groan I’d come to recognize as boredom.

“You know what?” I said, scratching her head. “We can still go on that hike, right?”

Ellie’s tail thumped against the comforter. If Alyssa decided to reschedule next week as she’d said she would, we’d just go again. I quickly checked the weather—my days of rucking in the rain by choice were long behind me. The forecast promised partly sunny skies, a high of sixty-seven, and only a ten percent chance of rain.

“Looks like there’s a hundred-percent chance this hike is exactly what we need. So, what do you say, Ellie Belly? Should we go on an adventure?”

Ellie ran circles around my legs from the moment I forced myself out of bed until the moment the Forester was loaded for our hike. Promises of adventures were one of the only things that riled my dog up like a toddler on a sugar high.

“Hop in,” I said, holding open the door to the back seat. I glanced at Luke’s place as Ellie shot inside like a rocket, but there was no movement through the front living room window. Considering his truck was missing, he might be down at the Legion Hall. I’d be there too if I hadn’t made plans with Alyssa and cleared my schedule as a result.

“It’s better we have some distance,” I mused.

I learned the hard way in my twenties that trying to fix a broken man was a lost cause that only ended up costing me in the end. I could have compassion for Luke without shouldering responsibility for something that clearly had nothing to do with me. But that didn’t let him off the hook for an apology.

At the stop sign out of the neighborhood, I hesitated a few seconds longer than required. A left turn put us on the road to peace and serenity for the next several hours. A right turn put me at risk for running into Officer McGrumpy in this too-small downtown. But it would lead me to coffee.