“Oh no.” My stomach swooped. I’d never met Holly’s dog, but from the way she talked about her, I knew she loved Candy so much.
Taylor frowned at her plate. “It’s the hardest part of pet ownership, you know? We’re meant to outlive them, but that doesn’t make it any easier. But between you and me, she’s scoping out Violet’s puppies for herself.”
“She’s going to adopt one?”
“She hasn’t officially decided yet, but unofficially…yes.”
“Oh, that makes me so happy,” I said, then flinched. “I mean, not about Candy, obviously. But I’m glad one of the puppies will go home with her. They’ll have the best life.”
Taylor smiled as she cut a bite of her roast. “Yeah, I think it’s going to work out perfectly. Hopefully a new puppy will help her through her grief.”
“I hope so too. What about the other three? Has anyone applied to adopt them?”
“We’ve had a handful of applications, but nothing’s official yet. I like to wait until the puppies are older and let people interact with them before we make a match.”
“Makes sense,” I told her. “And Holly should get first pick.”
“She will,” Taylor told me.
My phone chimed with an incoming text, and I glanced at it as I took another bite of the roast. Then I almost choked as I saw Sabrina’s name gleaming on the screen. When I looked up, Taylor was staring at my phone.
“I didn’t know you and Sabrina were still in touch,” she said.
I swallowed my food and reached for my glass of water. My cheeks were hot, even though I hadn’t done anything wrong. “We’re not.”
Taylor said nothing, turning her attention to her plate.
“She’s texted me a few times since I got here, asking to talk,” I explained. “I haven’t responded.”
“Maybe you should,” Taylor said.
“I didn’t know what to say, and I still don’t.”
“So you left town without a word?” Taylor said. “Sounds familiar.”
“Whoa.” I held my hands up. “No. She broke up with me, remember? She dumped me because she was upset about all the attention I was getting from that meme.”
“Sorry,” Taylor said. “That was uncalled for. Still, it seems like maybe you two should talk.”
I clicked on Sabrina’s text, revealing the wordsI’m sorryon the screen. “Maybe we should grab a coffee sometime when I’m back in Boston and have a civilized conversation for closure’s sake, but it’s over between us, Taylor.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yes.” Unlike my split from Taylor, this one was meant to be. To prove my point, I composed a quick text to Sabrina, telling her all the things I’d just told Taylor. “I’m glad she’s realized she was an asshole for dumping me the way she did, but I’ve moved on.”
Taylor gave me a hesitant smile. “Good for you.”
I took her hand across the table. “So, your place tomorrow night?”
* * *
The following evening, I hopped in my car, headed for Taylor’s apartment. I was curious to see it. So far, she’d always come to me, mostly because of Violet. I drove down Mountain Laurel Road and made a right. Ten minutes later, the big white colonial she’d told me to look for came into view. I spotted her SUV in the driveway where it wrapped around behind the house, and I pulled in behind her.
The house had a large yard with a swing set in back and various kids’ toys scattered across the grass. I followed the walkway behind the house and descended three steps to the door to Taylor’s basement apartment. I knocked and was greeted by Minnie’s booming bark from inside. Moments later, her furry face appeared in the window, bouncing excitedly.
Taylor pulled the door open, waving me in. “Hi.”
“Hey.” I stepped into her arms and gave her a kiss, lingering there until Minnie’s paws landed on my thigh. “Jealous much?” I asked the dog.
