one of my architects back on Edisto at four and it’s an hour drive. Do you need any help packing up this stuff before I go?”
I couldn’t hide my disappointment. “I have another run today!”
“I know, and I can’t wait to hear about it. I know you’ll kick butt.”
I stood and watched him fold up his camp chair and gather his cap and sunglasses. Cisco, sensing something interesting was about to happen, lifted his head from his bone alertly. “So is that why you came here?” I accused skeptically. “To meet with your architect?”
“Of course not. I came to be with you. And,” he confessed because he was, for the most part, an exasperatingly honest man, “to meet with my architect.”
Miles and I have a fairly casual relationship. Monogamous, but casual in the sense that I don’t keep tabs on him and he doesn’t keep tabs on me. His home base is Atlanta; mine is North Carolina. He flies to Dubai for the weekend and I pack up the SUV for a three-day dog show and neither of us feels the need to inform the other of our plans unless it comes up in conversation. I like it that way. I certainly didn’t expect him to check with me before he went on a business trip. Still…
“What’s in Edisto anyway?”
“A beachfront condo project.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, Miles! When are you ever going to stop pillaging the environment and improving on nature with a bulldozer?” And even though I wasn’t really surprised, I was a little disappointed to learn he hadn’t made the trip just to support me at the agility trial. That probably made my tone grumpier than it should have been.
“I’m not pillaging,” he replied mildly, glancing one last time at the screen of his phone. “In fact, this is an award-winning eco-friendly design.”
“Oh, I’m sure the sea turtles appreciate that. Not to mention all the residents who can’t wait to see their beach turned into a tourist trap.”
“Hate to tell you, hon, but it already is. There are more condos on that beach than seashells, and mine is the only one that’s moving toward a negative environmental impact.”
I really didn’t enjoy being outmaneuvered in my own area of expertise. I glared at him. “There is such a thing as ‘greenwashing,’ you know.”
“I sure do. There’s a ton of federal money available for it. ”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Miles.” Exasperation was exactly what I felt for him at that moment. “Is work the only thing you know how to do? Don’t you ever play?”
“Absolutely.” He took out his keys and snagged a mini bag of cheese puffs from my snack collection, presumably for the drive. “Eighteen holes every Tuesday and Thursday, weather permitting.”
“Will you be back tonight?”
“Probably not,” he admitted. “It depends on how long the meeting runs. Enjoy dinner with your friends. It’s on me.”
“You’d better believe it,” I muttered, hiding my disappointment with a scowl. Now I knew why he’d been so quick to suggest I have dinner with Aggie. But if I’d known he wasn’t going to be there, I really would have preferred room service.
He came forward and kissed me, gently but thoroughly, then tilted my chin with his index finger and smiled into my eyes. “See you tomorrow, okay?”
By now you’re probably wondering just what I see in Miles, anyway. Perhaps I’ve failed to mention his eyes. And his smile. And there’s that whole kissing thing.
I was just about to forgive him and send him on his way when there was a commotion outside. Cisco stood up, ears forward, and barked. I glanced toward the door just as a black-and-white blur streaked by, and I heard the most dreaded words of any dog show: “Loose dog!”
The echo hadn’t even faded before my own dog scrambled past me, barking gleefully, and sailed over the gate.
~*~
SIX
Twenty-one hours, thirty-two minutes before the shooting
The only thing faster than a border collie at an agility trial is a runaway border collie at an agility trial. Cisco on a mission might run a close second. That being said, the entire thing was over in a matter of seconds.
I bolted to the gate and stumbled through, shouting for Cisco, just in time to see my champion careening after the border collie, his ears slicked back and his golden tail whirling, a grin of pure delight on his face. They raced down the corridor that divided the livestock barn and out into the sunshine, a chorus of barking following them. A dozen