“Want to go outside and see if Miss Edith’s ready?” he asked the pup as he pushed himself back up to standing.
Boomer bolted for the back door, his tail wagging fast enough to start a cyclone. He kept throwing glances over his shoulder that seemed to saywhat’s you taking so long, Dad?He really was the best. Ten thousand Instagram followers thought the same thing. Only last week, one of them had mailed Boomer a travel water bowl. Conner grabbed it, a bottle of water, and a leash, and headed out back.
Focusing on the pup’s eagerness helped distract him from the barren walls and sparce furniture. A reminder that though Conner found a place that needed him, he wasn’t yet convinced things would work out. Wasn’t ready to get too comfortable. He’d learned the hard way that complacency could have dire consequences. Though he had a good setup in Sunset Ridge, it would take more than a couple months to stop expecting the other shoe to drop.
“How was dinner with the Evans clan?” Edith Banks asked from the other side of the fence as she stripped garden gloves and reached a hand to the back of Boomer’s neck. He was propped on two paws on the three-foot fence between their yards so she could reach the spot behind his ears.
“Wonderfully filling, as always.”
“And the company?”
“Small crowd tonight.” Boomer, satisfied with his greeting, pushed off the fence and took off in zoomies around the backyard before getting down to business. “Sadie’s going to fill in for Marylou for the week.” He still wasn’t sure how to feel about it, considering Marc’s reaction. He’d been around the Evans family long enough to figure out the two siblings were at odds more than any others. But why Marc was so convinced Sadie would fail before she even tried nagged at him.
He’d been friends with Marc since vet school. Conner respected him as both a veterinarian and a friend. He trusted his judgment. Or always had, until he met Sadie Evans. He couldn’t decidewhyhe didn’t agree with Marc, only that he didn’t. A gut instinct. Something that hassled him in whispers he couldn’t quite discern. But what did he know about reading people? If he was any good at it, Veronica would never have fooled him so easily. So effortlessly.
“You know, I’ve always liked Sadie,” Edith mused, reaching for her light jacket draped in waiting over the back of a patio chair. Sunday evening walks were fast becoming a tradition during the summer season. “I might not be with the popular vote on that one, but I admire her persistence. When that girl puts her mind to something, she doesn’t quit.”
He remembered Marc’s comment about her being fired three times, but he didn’t want to stir up rumors. He and his neighbor had become fast friends, but that didn’t mean he wanted to earn a reputation as a gossip by asking prying questions Edith may or may not even have the answers to.Hmm. Maybe I want this to work out more than I realized.
“Boomer, let’s go.”
The shepherd bolted from the opposite corner of the fenced-in backyard and nearly knocked Conner over in the process. After a very enthusiastic lick to the chin, Conner clipped the leash onto his collar.
The three set out on a route that had quickly become routine three times a week. They meandered through the charming residential neighborhood and headed west toward the water where the sun hung high in the horizon. Conner was still getting used to the endless summer daylight. The sun setting at eleven.
“My husband and I used to go fishing at midnight,” Edith offered, as if reading his mind. Or perhaps she caught him staring at the sun’s unusually high position in awe.
“Midnight?”
“It’s dusky then. But you can bait a hook without a flashlight.” They waited as a lone car passed, then crossed the street, taking the sidewalk that followed the shore. A couple of joggers off in the distance wove through the sprinkles of wandering tourists. It amazed Conner how alive such a small, remote town could feel. “You should try it sometime,” Edith added after several beats of silence.
“Midnight fishing?”
“Great way to woo a born-and-bred Alaskan girl.”
Ah, this again.
He spread his lips in an amused smile. At least once a week, his widowed neighbor hinted Conner should find himself a wife through her unsolicited dating advice. She thought it was a shame that he, a man nearing thirty-three, should be single. Edith meant well—of that he was certain. But Conner was no longer sure hewanteda wife. It was only a miracle he dodged the bullet he had.
Conner had alluded to a relationship that hadn’t worked out early in their friendship. But he hadn’t offered up details. Hadn’t wanted to relive that humiliation. How had he missed the signs? “Is that how George won you over?” he asked, hoping to divert. “Midnight fishing?”
“Oh, he got me hook, line, and sinker long before that,” Edith admitted, a bashful glow stretched across her features. “But the midnight fishing helped seal the deal. Really, you should try it. Surely there’s a woman who’s at least caught your eye by now. You’ve certainly caused enough of a stir with the eligible women in this town.”
“You make it sound like I’m on a dating show.”
“Now, there’s an idea.”
He chuckled, convinced she was joking. But the seriousness in Edith’s expression gave him pause. “They don’t do that here, do they?” He was almost afraid to know the answer.
“Oh, no. We haven’t been scoped out for reality TV yet.”
He breathed a surprising sigh of relief.
“But thereisa bachelor auction this year at the Blueberry Festival. It’s next weekend. Not too late to throw your name in the hat.”
Conner felt a little green. “No, thanks.”
“It’s for charity,” she added. “All proceeds are going to the local animal shelter. They’re in desperate need of renovations, as I’m sure you’re aware.”
