Page 89 of Wag More Bark Less

“Do you have a coffee request?” he asked.

Coffee? What even was coffee? I couldn’t come up with a single flavor, so I just said, “Surprise me?”

Luke winked, and I was not prepared for the effect that had on my body. Heat coiled low in my belly. Seriously, a wink? That’s all it takes now? I was suddenly fixated on the subject of hot dogs but for a reason that did not involve a chili experiment.

Ellie let out a sharp, impatient bark.

“I better go,” Luke said. “Text me the grocery list?”

I nodded, because I didn’t trust what words might slip from my mouth. Then, I turned and hurried up the stairs as they backed out of the driveway. When I closed the door, I sank to the floor behind it.

“Okay, fine,” I said to the empty condo that did in fact look as though a small hurricane passed through it. “I like him. Happy?”

I waited to feel some sort of relief from the admission, but all I felt was a deep yearning for Luke to come back. Preferably in nothing more than his pair of Star Wars pajama pants.

“This is getting out of hand,” I mumbled, pushing to my feet to start picking up the place.

After I shot Luke my grocery requests, I busied myself with pulling the bedding from the sofa bed the boys had slept on, sweeping the floor, and wiping down the kitchen table. I searched the cabinets hoping to find a spare crockpot so we could test two pots of chili at once. I set out all the non-refrigerated ingredients I already had, deciding I should call Mom. She might know what ingredient or two I was missing from Grandpa’s chili.

But before I could hit the call button, the phone rang and another name appeared on my screen.

Jason.

My finger hovered automatically above the voicemail button, but I couldn’t seem to push it. The jerk would harass me on the day we were supposed to exchange vows. I punched the answer button, determined to put an end to this shitshow once and for all.

“What do you want this time?” I snapped.

“Maggie, hey.” Jason’s voice was soft, hesitant. It threw me, and I suddenly didn’t know what to say. He filled the silence. “I know I’m probably the last person you want to hear from today.”

“Gee, what gave you that impression?”

“Okay, I deserve that.” He said it as though he meant it, and the fiercest of my anger waned. “I don’t want anything from you, Mags.”

“Don’t call me that.” At one time, I convinced myself that the pet name was cute and special. But the truth was, it’d always grated on me. “And I find it hard to believe you don’t want anything considering the dozen voicemails that say otherwise.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.”

“Are you?”

“This isn’t how I wanted things to go, you know.” It was his tone, defeated and small, that kept me from laying into him like I’d planned to do for days. The man on the phone was the closest I’d come to the man I once knew, before we tried to force a future on a relationship that couldn’t withstand one.

“Me, neither,” I said gently, dropping onto the couch. “I’m not coming back, Jason.”

“I’m not asking you to.”

“Then why are you calling me?”

“I wanted to check on you. I thought today might be a hard day for you considering . . .”

“Considering I was supposed to be getting ready to marry you right now?”

“Um, yeah.”

“I’m fine.” But this time when I said it, it felt like a lie. It was easy to distance myself from the reality of what today was supposed to be as long as I stayed in my own bubble far, far away from it. Answering the phone was one of the stupider moves I’d made lately, but it couldn’t be undone now.

“For what it’s worth, I’m really sorry.”

“For what exactly?”