“And you also know that my love life is a no-fly zone. Seriously. Cut it out, okay?”
“Maybe you’re not interested since you were locking lips with a certain penguin trainer this afternoon.”
I just about choked on my chip. “Where did you hear that?”
“Kirby said he caught a glimpse of the two of you standing there in broad daylight on the side of the road. If you’ve already got your eyes set on Alex, that’s fine. Bodie’s coworker was just a suggestion.”
“What is it with married people wanting other people to get tied down so bad? We never had conversations like this when we were both single.”
“That’s right. We used to stay out until the sun came up and thought peeing in public was being efficient,” she said. “Times change.”
I eyed another chip. “What time do you want me to come over tomorrow?”
“Early afternoon? Say one?”
“I’ll see you then.” I hung up and set my phone back down on the bar.
Times may change but I didn’t. I’d never allowed myself to imagine the kind of things Lacey yearned for. Being on my own for so long, I knew the only thing I could expect out of life was what I took from it. I didn’t deserve a happily-ever-after any more than the next person.
Dreams were just that . . . dreams. My dreams had gotten me nowhere in the past and I’d finally stopped believing in them when I had to put in for an early hardship discharge from the military so I could come home and deal with my brother. Zeb was doing better now thanks to the Pets for Soldiers program I’d managed to get him into. But he might not ever be able to live on his own. He’d always need me to check in on him, make sure he kept up with his meds, and that the horrors of his military career didn’t pull him back down into the darkness.
And that was precisely why I could be the honorary aunt to Lacey and Bodie’s baby, and care for the hundreds of poor pit bulls that made their way through the rescue and feel good about the difference I was making in others’ lives. But dreaming about finding the kind of happiness Lacey had found? That was a waste of time.
Alex
I pulled to a stop in front of the Burger Bonanza. Somehow, I’d managed to burn the macaroni and cheese Char had set outfor me to make for dinner. I was still trying to figure out how I’d accomplished that. Might have had something to do with accidentally leaving the burner on while I tried to break up a fight over whose turn it was to brush the blond Barbie’s hair.
Didn’t matter. What mattered was I had to feed four kids and Gramps, buy a piece of poster board, help Izzy salvage her project, and get everyone settled down for the night before Char got home. I’d tried to order pizza but there was only one place that delivered and they had an hour-long wait. I figured I’d be better off just running to the burger joint in Ido to grab everyone a bite. Everything would seem better on a full stomach.
“Everyone out of the truck. One, two, three . . .” I tapped the girls on the head as they piled out. Gramps stood on the sidewalk, the three older girls clustered around him. “Where’s Dolly?”
Izzy shrugged. Frankie messed around with something in her bag while Jordan’s fingers skimmed across the screen of her phone.
“Gramps? Where’s Dolly?” I peered into the back seat of the truck. It wasn’t that big. Nowhere for a kid to hide, not even one so small as my four-year-old niece.
Gramps shrugged and shuffled toward the door of the restaurant.
Dammit. The last time I’d seen my niece she’d been twirling around in that sparkly nightgown on the front lawn.
“Maybe you left her at home.” Jordan didn’t look up from her phone as she followed Gramps toward the door.
No. I couldn’t have left her at home. Could I? Char was going to have my balls on a skewer if I lost her daughter. And on my third night in town. “Gramps, take the girls inside and get a table. I’m going to run back and see if Dolly’s at the house.”
Izzy rolled her eyes. “Uncle Alex, Mom’s going to be mad.”
“You know, you don’t have to tell your mom everything.” I ushered the girls toward the door. “Jordan, you got this?”
She held the door open while Gramps and her sisters filed past. “Yes, Uncle Alex.”
“Good. I’ll be back in a minute.” I rounded the front of the truck and practically dove into the driver’s seat. How could I have misplaced a kid? Visions of what my sister would do to me flashed through my head on the short drive home. Char was like a mama bear. Cuddly, easy tempered, and sweet as honey until something bad happened. Then she would rise up, bare her teeth, and rip apart anyone and anything that threatened her family.
As the truck screeched to a stop, I jammed it into park and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Dolly sat on the front stoop, her head in her hands. The sparkly pink dress was spread out around her.
“Hey, baby girl. You okay?” I sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
She glanced up, big, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. “You left me.”
My heart cracked in two. Like someone pounded a chisel into it and busted it open. “I’m so sorry. Everyone was in the truck. I know you were with us. I counted heads. But when we got to the restaurant, you weren’t there.”
