Page 79 of How to Ruin a Wedding

I text Valerie, asking if she needs any help with wedding planning, then call Taina for a catch-up, but surprisingly, it goes straight to voicemail.

In case Anders comes home, I get ready for the day, then head out back to the shelter to see if Dainese needs any help. When I get there, she’s delighted, as am I by her welcoming reaction.

Dainese says there’s nothing much to do today other than give the dogs lots of love, and lucky for them, I have so much to offer. I try to spread the love equally, and we open up the cages and let them all have fun, but I can’t help but gravitate to Sora, who keeps trying to play with the other dogs, then gets scared when they approach him too fast from behind.

Eventually, I sit with him against a wall, and we roll a small ball back and forth between us.

Dainese joins us. “Any news on the adoption?”

I shake my head. “I haven’t had the chance to talk to him. It’s been a little busy.”

“You should make the time,” she says, kneeling by Sora, giving him a stomach rub. “We’re getting a couple more dogs in, and I won’t be able to give Sora the attention he deserves.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “How dare you?”

She laughs. “You know how it is,” she says. “Willing to do anything for the dogs, including manipulating with guilt.”

“I respect that.”

“So,” Dainese says after a while, when the dogs all get tired and just lie in the middle of the floor, “what’s so special about Save a Paw?”

“Why?” I tease. “You want me to stay here with you? Already attached?”

She sticks her tongue out. “I got nosy and looked it up, and it’s great. I’m not going to dog out another shelter—”

“Ha, dog out.”

“But,” she continues, unimpressed, “it’s so big, how can you have the time to care for all of the animals?”

“You know, I think you may have forgotten since your sister and mom went away, but there is a thing called staff.”

“Ha ha,” she counters. “I’m just thinking about you specifically. I mean, you’re just visiting, but you fell in love with Sora instantly at the market, then came all the way here, did free labor, and you’re back again. You just feel like the kind of person who, when doing a job, wants to dedicate herself to it fully. Don’t you wish you had more time to be with all the dogs?”

I tilt my head back against the wall. “Well, sure. There’s never enough time in the day.”

“There is here.”

I laugh. My phone vibrates, so I pull it from my pocket. It’s Anders.

“On that note,” I say, pocketing the phone, “I should probably get back home.”

“To talk about adoption?”

“Yes.” I laugh, because even if I’m drawing lines between Anders and me, I’m willing to scribble them out for Sora.

“Good luck.” She salutes.

When I get back to Anders’s home, instantly something feels off. I sense it even before I open the door, and when I kick off my shoes and spot the designer heels beside Anders’s, it skyrockets into overdrive.

I consider turning my ass around and going straight back to Sora.

But if Anders brought a woman to the house—his house—I should see it. It would be beneficial to engrave that image in my head. I shouldn’t be having any romantic thoughts about Anders and vice versa.

Good. This is great.

I drag myself down the hallway, enter the living room, and my eyes widen so much I blink before they feel like they’ll slip from the sockets.

Anders is the first to stand when I enter, like his Lucy radar rang in his head.