Page 78 of Wag More Bark Less

I pulled one of three drinks free from the carrier and held it out to her, hoping to distract her with coffee. I had a fifty-fifty shot it’d work.

“You forget who you’re competing with. Connor lives to please people, so it’s not even a fair competition,” Kira teased, happily accepting the iced beverage and taking a long sip. “Damn, this is good. Almost better than sex. But nothing quite beats⁠—”

“Don’t say it,” I pleaded, holding out a hand. “I don’t need to think about my sister having sex with my best friend.” I was happy for them, truly. But for how fresh this relationship was, I was still adjusting to the new reality. “Where is Beckett? And Husker?” I scanned the store, but the only traces of the blond husky were the sprinklings of white fur against the dark hardwood floors.

“They’re out for a walk while the weather’s still good. It’s supposed to rain all weekend. Beckett will come help with the float when they get back. Oh hey, I don’t know if you heard, but family dinner’s canceled this week.”

“Canceled? Why?”

“Opal’s birthday trip.”

“I thought she just had a birthday last month?”

“She did.” Kira looked at me funny. “This is part of her present. You chipped in. They’re all heading to Denver, remember? You were at the party, right?”

“Yes.”

But clearly, I’d skipped out before the special birthday trip announcement. My normal justification sat lodged in my throat, because after seeing the mayor’s log filled with the many examples of my unnecessary intervention during scheduled time off, it was a helluva lot harder to distinguish which calls were true emergencies and which were distractions. Because that’s what I’d clearly been doing—finding every excuse possible to distract myself, and calling it my duty.

I hadn’t heard a peep from a single officer on my team in the past week, which only cemented that conclusion more. They managed just fine without me. I didn’t know how to feel about that.

“Did you hear anything I just said?” Kira asked, eyebrows furrowing.

“Sorry, I didn’t.”

Kira reached a hand to my forehead, and I shoved it away.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking if you’re okay. Because I think you just said the word sorry and actually meant it.”

“That’s a crime now?” I frowned at her.

“When you add that to the very much appreciated but unsolicited iced coffee, the smile you keep letting slip, and Ellie, it’s certainly cause for concern. Are you and Maggie . . . together?”

“No,” I said immediately, despite the internal devilish voice whispering but you could be.

“But you like her.” Kira looked at Ellie. “Clearly.”

“She’s my neighbor. Temporary, I might add. We’re just friends.” Because that’s what we decided last night, right? Never mind that I had two palms full of tits five minutes before that decision was made.

“If you say so,” Kira said, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

“There’s been a line five vets deep since we got to the Legion Hall this morning. She’s been helping them get signed up for VA healthcare and stuff. I took a break from working on the float because Phil and Bernie are arguing about the damn tractor again and offered to take Ellie out to stretch her legs. That’s all.”

Ellie sat up, pawing at my thigh.

“What is she doing?” Kira asked.

When I glanced down, Ellie sank her teeth into her leash and let out a low, playful growl. One I’d learned meant she was annoyed. I let out a sigh.

“Fine,” I told her, bending down to unclip her leash. “But only until we leave. You have to wear it when we go back outside.”

“What was that?” Kira asked when Ellie trotted off toward a water bowl.

“She was thirsty,” I said nonchalantly, noting there weren’t any customers in the bookstore because scanning the environment, as I was so trained to do, was safer than my sister’s question.

I frowned, not sure what to make of the empty store. It wasn’t quite lunchtime yet, but it was Friday. Since my sister had decided to take ownership of the failing business a couple of months ago, the place was almost always busy. But that might have more to do with Kira revealing the author identity she’d kept secret from the world than anything else.