“I’m sorry to say this, but Edith is acting like a jerk.”
Carly gave up trying to pet the puppy after getting nipped every time she reached for her. We’d spent thirty minutes outside in the dusting of snow, letting Edith and Geneva run wild in Carly’s new fenced-in yard and now we were settled at the kitchen table, ready for coffee and gossip. Geneva was curled up in her bed in the corner of the room and every time Edith even looked at her she raised her lip in warning.
“Yeah, she’s a lot. But I think she might be the smartest dog I’ve ever met.”
In the weeks since I’d brought her home we’d sped through basic training, which meant she was the equivalent of one of those preteens that graduated from college. And shenevergot tired. She came to Frolic with me most days and despite the nonstop stimulation she was still raring to go when we got home. Poor Birdie spent most of her time up on my bed, the one spot where she was safe from Edith’s harassment.
I dug through my backpack then handed over one of the busy toys I’d packed for her. She settled down to work on it and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Can we talk about tile for a second?” Carly asked. “I have a bunch of samples for the floor in here and I’m stumped.”
“Anythingwill be an improvement,” I laughed.
The kitchen looked like it hadn’t been touched since the house was built in the 1940s. The linoleum floor was a worn coppery block pattern and the cabinetry was flat-faced dark wood. But it didn’t take much to see past the cosmetic flaws to the beauty waiting to be uncovered.
Carly dumped a dozen different tile samples on the table in front of me. “I have Pinterest boards for every room. Look.” She handed me her tablet.
As I scrolled through her ideas I was reminded of my own Pinterest boards that I’d put together for a Frolic expansion. I felt a little sick at the thought that maybe I’d spent all of the time creating them for nothing. Mike was being typically cagey about what was going on with the building. Anytime I asked him about it he told me that there was “lots of interest,” but then he let it slip that he’d dropped the price. It made sense, though. Not everyone saw the bland industrial building for the gem that it was.
I looked up from the tile options. “Don’t kill me, but would you ever consider hardwood in here?”
Carly’s mouth dropped open. “You read my mind! I’ve been so set on tile, but I keep seeing all of these amazing wood options and I was too afraid to switch gears.” She glanced down at the tiles spread on the table. “Crap. Now I have to start over.”
“You’ve got time,” I reassured her.
“Time for what?” Joe strolled into the kitchen and dropped his gym bag on the counter, causing both dogs to run to him. He stooped to greet them both.
“Kitchen stuff, don’t worry about it,” she replied, gathering up the samples. She widened her eyes at me and I realized that her indecision was probably frustrating Joe.
“Just saw your neighbor, Chels,” Joe said as he refilled his water bottle. “Hekilledme today.”
“Is that good or bad?” I asked, watching as he searched through the cabinets, finally settling on a handful of almonds.
“Very good.” He popped one in his mouth. “That guy is agenius. He knowseverythingabout the human body. Like, I asked him a simple question about squats and he goes off about Newton’s second law of motion and the new thinking about knees over toes. I don’t understand half the shit he says, but obviously he knows what he’s doing.”
Carly settled in the chair across from me. “Someone’s happy he lost four pounds.”
Joe wagged his finger at his wife. “It’s not about weight loss. It’s a journey.”
“Right, of course.” Carly laughed at her husband’s intensity. “You might want to leave now, we’re talking about kitchen design options.”
“Yikes, I’m out.” He grabbed his bag. “One parting word:budget.”
After he’d left the room Carly pulled her legs up on her chair and gave me a Cheshire cat smile. “Speaking of Andrew, you never told me the whole story of what happened with him.”
I rubbed my eyes. So much had changed between us since the night in the corn maze, yet it still felt like there was even more that I didn’t understand. I decided to focus on our history rather than our confusing present.
“Please keep this between us, okay? I don’t want Joe accidentally saying anything to him.”
“Promise. I can tell the man has split allegiances already so I’ll keep it to myself.”
I felt a little woozy at the thought of revisiting the night with her. Despite how things were evolving with Andrew the primary emotion I still felt when I thought about it was embarrassment. But Carly needed to know, especially as Joe and Andrew became closer.
“Andrew is best friends with one of my friends from high school, Nolan. Nolan and my roommate Samantha started dating so we were kind of forced into a foursome. But Andrewdespisedme. It was so obvious. He thought I was a dork who did nothing but study.”
“Were you?” Carly asked.
“I mean... yes, but he was the only one who judged me for it.”
