looked like two small boxes had been glued on the inside of a red silk skirt, and from there, it tapered down to a tight circle just above her knees. She was basically wearing an inverted triangle with a hoodie. It confused Max, and he didn’t realize he was staring before it was too late.
“Let me guess,” she said. “You don’t know what kind of costume this is.”
“I am . . . I really don’t get it,” he answered honestly.
She pushed the door open all the way. He could see behind her into a living area. Directly in his line of sight was a white couch, which he immediately considered the worst choice if one had a dog. On the arm of that couch, two bassets had perched their heads, side by side, lazily watching the door. Some guard dogs they were.
“You didn’t answer my texts,” she said.
He was a bit confused by this. “I didn’t?” He’d answered some of them. He thought back. “I guess there were a couple . . . but I didn’t think a response was necessary?”
Her gaze narrowed. “You didn’t think a response is necessary when someone texts you? Like, that’s the whole point of texting.”
“Not always. The picture of the orange thing—”
“My last good pillow—”
“Came without a question. It looked more like an observation. And the one in the garden bed? Wasn’t sure what the takeaway was and didn’t have the luxury of time to inquire.”
“Really? You didn’t get the takeaway? How about this? Your dog dug up my sister’s yard.”
He tilted his head to one side. He would really love to know how her brain worked, both professionally and personally speaking. “Do you know for a fact it was Hazel? Because there were two muddy dogs in that photo, and, incidentally, a little girl. She was grinning, so I thought maybe she’d done it.”
Carly’s eyes widened. “She didn’t do it.”
“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “She was covered from head to toe in mud, just like the dogs. Could have been any of them.”
She glared at him. “For the record, I will admit it’s entirely possible it was Millie because, God knows, those kids are out of control. But you’re missing the point here—generally, people answer their texts unless they are otherwise engaged.”
“Engaged,” he repeated. “May I ask exactly what bee has climbed into your bonnet? Because I am not understanding. Like, at all,” he said with a wave of his hand.
“Okay, I’ll just throw it out there. Did you go to Chicago with a woman? Did you make me feel bad about your brother so you could . . .” Her gaze swept over him. “Get freaky?”
“Get freaky?” He couldn’t stop a bark of incredulous laughter. “Are you hanging out at a high school in your spare time? Where the hell would you even get that idea?” He pulled out his phone. “Look,” he said, and showed her a couple of pictures of him and Jamie in front of the Midwestern Regional Dog Show sign. Max, smiling at the camera. Jamie, looking somewhere else.
She squinted. She put her hand on his, her fingers light, and pulled his hand and the phone closer. He swiped through a couple more. In the arena. The two of them with a German shepherd. “Adorable,” she murmured, and glanced up. “Okay.” She sounded only slightly contrite.
“Okay? Is that all you’re going to say after accusing me of lying?”
“Okay, sorry,” she said. “But do you blame me? I don’t know you, and you were so weird when I FaceTimed you. You looked nervous, like you were afraid of getting caught.”
“I was weird? You were the one who looked like you’d been on a bender.”
“Ha! Believe me, I wish I had,” she said. “All right, all right, I am truly sorry for accusing you. I get a little wound up when I think someone has chumped me.”
“Chumped you?”
“You know, when you become a chump because you’re naïve or too trusting or whatever.”
“I didn’t chump you, Carly. I’m sorry I wasn’t more responsive, but it was a long weekend. My brother needs a lot of attention. And are you going to keep holding my hand, or can I put my phone away?”
She jerked her hand away from his like she’d been bit and then nervously tried to smooth the strange panniers of her skirt. “Stop staring at my skirt,” she said.
He looked up. “I can’t.”
“Well, neither can I, and that’s a problem.” She whirled around and stalked into