Luke scowled at Miles. “Do you mind telling me what in the world is going on?”
“Huh?” Miles asked, playing dumb.
“I’m going to give you ten seconds to explain to me why you had Stella’s dog locked up in the garage.” Luke looked at his watch and began counting out loud.
Miles threw his hands up in the air. “It wasn’t my fault. It was all Tess’s idea.”
Luke felt his eyes practically bulge out of his head. “Tess? Miles, you need to start talking. Fast.”
Miles drew in a deep breath. “Tess brought Coco Chanel over here because she wanted everyone to think she was missing.”
“Why?” he asked, knitting his brows together. Of all the ridiculous pranks to pull!
A sheepish expression appeared on Miles’s face. “Because she wanted you to race over to the beach to try and find Coco Chanel.” He wrinkled his nose. “She said it was a way to get the two of you back together.”
Luke felt his mouth hanging open. “Miles, do you have any idea of how worried Stella probably is right now? She’s crazy about this pooch.”
Miles hung his head. “It wasn’t my idea. I was just going along for the ride.”
Luke pulled out his phone and dialed Stella’s number. It went straight to voicemail. “Well, it looks like you’re going for another ride,” he said. “The three of us are heading over to Stella’s house, where you and Tess are going to explain everything and apologize profusely.”
Miles groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead. “Can you at least let Miss Marshall know that it wasn’t my idea?” he asked in a pleading tone.
“Let’s go, buddy,” Luke said, reaching for his keys with one hand while Coco Chanel burrowed herself against his chest. “Let’s go reunite Coco Chanel with her mama.”
***
By the time Stella headed back to her house, she was a nervous wreck. There hadn’t been a single sighting of Coco Chanel, and to make matters worse her phone had died midsearch. She was hoping and praying that her mother or someone else had located her baby and hadn’t been able to get ahold of her. Thankfully, Coco Chanel had been chipped, so any local vet would contact her if she was found. But it was theifs that were driving her crazy. What if she’d been hit by a car? Her baby was out there somewhere innocent and defenseless. Just the thought of it caused her eyes to well up with tears.
When Stella was within a few feet of her back patio, she stopped in her tracks. Luke was standing there with Tess and Miles. The sight of him caused a swarm of butterflies to flutter around in her stomach. A white T-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts had never looked so good. Before she could even say a word, Coco Chanel ran toward her.
“Coco Chanel!” she cried out as her dog began jumping up at her. The dog had a huge grin on her face as if she’d been on a grand adventure. Her tail was wagging like crazy. “Where have you been? Mama’s been so worried about you.” Stella scooped up her poodle and nuzzled her face against her fur.
After a mini reunion, Stella swung her gaze up and made eye contact with Luke. “Where did you find her?” she asked, trying to keep her voice from quivering. Seeing him only added to the emotion of Coco Chanel being missing for the last few hours.
“She was at Nick’s house, courtesy of these two,” Luke explained, jutting his chin toward Tess and Miles. “They hatched a plot to get us back together.”
“What?” Stella asked, practically shouting.
Tess began talking a mile a minute trying to explain her thought process and how she’d come up with the twisted plan to reunite her and Luke. It was quintessential Tess, and Stella was having none of it.
She wagged her finger at her sister. “Tess! How could you? I was worried sick. And you had me traipsing up and down the beach in this wretched heat!”
Tess hung her head. Stella could see tears running down her sister’s face. “I just wanted you and Luke to get back together. I thought if he heard about Coco Chanel being missing, he’d come right over to help you look for her.”
“It wasn’t my idea,” Miles said with a shrug. “Tess bamboozled me.”
Luke shook his head at his nephew. “Stop saying that! You went along with it.”
“Tess, I know somewhere deep down you meant well,” Stella continued, “but your method was cruel. And it was all a waste of time. You know that Taylor Swift song you like so much? We are never ever getting back together? That’s pretty much Luke and me at this point. So no more ploys or tricks or plots. Do you understand me?” She looked at Miles. “That goes for you too, Miles. Stay out of grown folks’ business.”
“We get it. It’ll never happen again,” Tess said. “We’re going to go inside for a glass of lemonade and to call off the search party.” She wiped a hand across her brow. “This has been exhausting.”
Stella resisted the urge to strangle her little sister as she and Miles marched inside the house.
“What absolute nerve!” Stella said as soon as they were out of earshot. She was pretty certain steam must be coming out of her ears. Her sister had done a lot of outrageous things in her young life, but dognapping had to be at the top of the list. She would make sure her parents instituted a proper punishment for Tess.
“I’m kind of glad the two of them came up with this harebrained plot,” Luke said, his eyes focused on her like laser beams.
