Inside, he heard a dog’s bark.
“Is that Carlo?” he asked.
She took her keys from Reed, who’d hit the button on the key fob to lock the doors. “Yes, that’s him.”
“Mind if we meet him?” Lyle asked. “And, seriously, we’d like to stick around and make sure everything’s okay before we leave. We’ll help you walk him. Or walk him for you.”
She cocked her head at him, apparently studying him. “Tony—Basco said that he should have taken it as a sign when Carlo didn’t like Kelly. His ex.”
She smiled, and despite the sadness there, Lyle caught a glimpse of how beautiful she must look in better times. “Yeah, maybe you should meet him now. Let’s see if you pass the test. Let me get the alarm shut off first.”
Leading them up the front walk, she unlocked the door and slipped in, closing it behind her, followed by the distinctive beep of an alarm being deactivated. They heard her talking to the dog, whose barks had turned into happy-sounding whines.
Then she opened the door again, holding onto the dog’s collar as she stepped out of the way so they could come in. It was dark inside, but she reached up and hit a light switch that turned on lights in the foyer.
“Sorry. I’m used to where everything is.” Once they had the door closed behind them, she released Carlo’s collar. “Carlo, this is Reed and Lyle.”
The dog had the head and ears of a cocker spaniel, and the buff-colored coat, but he also had longer legs and a lankier build than Lyle was used to seeing, as well as an undocked tail. As soon as she released the dog he rushed over to them, not quite all the way, stretching his head and neck out toward them, his tail falling still.
The men held still as the dog sniffed them, then finally started wagging his tail as he rushed all the way in and started begging for attention.
“Did we pass?” Lyle asked as he knelt to pet the dog.
She leaned against the wall. “Apparently. If he doesn’t like someone, or is scared by them, he’ll spook, turn, and run to his crate.”
At that, the dog turned and ran off.
“Uh-oh,” Reed said.
“No, this is good,” she assured them. “Just wait.”
The dog returned seconds later, mumbling at them around the large stuffed animal in his mouth, his tail still wagging, so hard that his butt was wagging, too. He charged at them, mumbling, jabbing his nose at them but then ducking away when they reached for him.
She laughed. “He’s bringing you one of his talky-wubbies.”
“Talky-wubbies?” Lyle asked.
“That’s what Tony called them,” she said, not correcting herself this time, Lyle noticed. “He only does that mumbling thing when he’s got one of his wubbies in his mouth. The game is you try to take it from him, but you don’t actually take it. Just make him think you’re going to try to take it.”
“Ah.” Lyle reached out, and the dog playfully ducked away from him, play-bowing at him and mumbling even more loudly and forcefully at him.
“Just like that,” she said.
“What is he?” Reed asked, also making a half-hearted swipe with his hand at the dog’s toy.
“He’s part cocker and part something. His mother was a pure-bred cocker spaniel show dog who had a wild party afternoon in the backyard, apparently, when one of the owner’s teenagers let her out when she was in heat and didn’t stay with her and bring her right back in. A male dog got into the backyard and had some fun before they could stop him.”
“How’d your brother end up with him?” Reed asked.
“He belonged to a friend of Tony’s who had to move overseas unexpectedly for work and couldn’t take him. Broke the guy’s heart, and he didn’t want to take him to a shelter when none of his family could take him. Carlo was only six months old. So Tony adopted him.”
“He hated your brother’s ex, huh?” Lyle asked, taking another turn reaching for the toy and laughing at the dog’s delighted reaction.
“With a passion. Tony said when she got home from work that night, she went to go pet him and Carlo growled at her and ran. They thought maybe he was just shy because of the new surroundings, or upset because of the move. His previous owner had him from when he was eight weeks old. But he never liked Kelly, and the feeling quickly became mutual. Carlo only tolerated her when Tony wasn’t home.”
“How old is he?” Reed asked.
“He’s about five.”
“He obviously loves you,” Lyle said.
She grinned. “Yeah. Tony brought him over to meet me right after he got him, even before Kelly got to meet him. Carlo was snuggling and loving all over me. Tony didn’t tell Kelly that the first night. It wasn’t until later, when they brought him over to me to watch for a weekend when they went out of town, that she saw how much Carlo adored me.”
“Bet that pissed her off,” Lyle said.
She snorted. “Yep. Ask me if I care.”
“Where’s his leash?” Reed asked. “We’ll walk him for you.”
“Oh, I usually turn him out loose in the backyard and watch him. Come on, I’ll show you around.”
She turned and started walking through the house. It was obvious Carlo didn’t want to move from his new friends, so she had to call him. “Come on, buddy. Walkies!”
The dog froze, spat out the wubbie, and bolted past her, obviously knowing where he was going.
The men laughed and followed.
* * * *
Vanessa wouldn’t deny that she felt relief. The two men had passed the Carlo test with flying colors. He did like most people, although some he would regard with distrust, or at least be wary with them until he got to know them better. Not everyone got the immediate paws-up from him the way the men had.
The only person she’d ever seen him outright hate was Kelly.
After flipping the switch to turn on the lights in the backyard, she led them through a back sliding glass door in the kitchen-dining room area, and they walked out onto the screened pool lanai. From there, into the yard, where Carlo immediately went to go do his thing.
“When I can,” she said, “I take him around the neighborhood for exercise.”
“Does he stay out here all day?” Lyle asked.
“Oh, no. He’s an indoor dog totally. He doesn’t even like to go outside if the grass is wet. He’s like, ‘Ew! Wet-grass poisoning!’” She mimed high-stepping with her hands. “It’s hysterical to watch.”
“Does he swim in the pool?” Reed asked.
“Hell, no. He hates it when I go into the pool. He’ll whine and walk around the edges, all worried about me. We take him to the groomer…” She caught herself. “He goes to the groomer for baths and trims,” she said, now feeling a little more subdued.
It was tricky how Tony slipped into her mind and conversations in so many things, so many places, so many ways…There wasn’t much in her life she couldn’t talk or think about that didn’t have a direct connection to her brother.
After Carlo finished, he streaked back into the lanai, eagerly waiting at the sliding glass door to go inside. She opened the door for him and he ran into the kitchen. There, he plopped his furry butt down in front of the counter, staring up at it eagerly.
“What now?” Lyle asked.
She reached over and got Carlo his treat out of the Batman cookie jar. “He knows the jar is right there.” She laughed as she handed the treat to him. “He’ll sometimes stare at where he knows it is, like he’s trying to tell me, ‘It’s right there!’”
After she rubbed his head, the dog bolted out of the room, returning a moment later with a different wubbie and continuing his earlier game, mumbling at the two men.
“Oh, you’re in trouble now,” she said. “He wants to play some more.”
She liked that both men dropped down to their knees to play the game with Carlo. She knew the dog had to be hurting as much as she was, knowing there was something seriously wrong with his one human, but without the understanding that his daddy wasn’t ever coming home again.
<
br /> After a few minutes, she knew she couldn’t let the men sit there all night playing, even though that wouldn’t be a bad thing. “So, eight tomorrow morning?”
Reed didn’t look up from where he was faking out Carlo. “Yes, we’ll come get you.”
Carlo’s tail was wagging furiously, the happiest she’d seen him since…
Since a week ago.
In fact, it’d been a littler earlier than this time exactly a week ago when Tony had died, and she stood there in shock next to his bed while a hospital chaplain and a nurse observed her from close by. She’d stroked his hand, telling him the joke wasn’t funny, that he had to open his eyes and look at her.
She slumped against the counter.
In a flash, both men were up and moving, on either side of her.
“Are you okay?” Lyle asked.
She slowly shook her head, bursting into tears. Hell, she hadn’t cried in years, and it felt like all she’d done the past week was cry.
“It was a week ago,” she whispered. “About a week ago right now.”
They got her out to the sofa, flanking her, sitting with her. Carlo’s tail slowed as he stood in front of her, then eventually he dropped his wubbie and sat in front of her, his head in her lap.
Breathing hurt.
Everything hurt.
“When does it stop hurting so bad?” she managed through her tears, no longer caring that these men were almost strangers. She was done pretending she was strong enough to deal with this alone. Now she wished she hadn’t shuffled her parents off as quickly as she had. They’d been calling her every day to talk, to check on her, and she’d been putting on an act for them so they didn’t worry about her.
“I don’t have an answer for you,” Lyle gently said. “I wish I did. Everyone processes things in their own way.”
“Are you going to be okay alone tonight?” Reed asked. “Would you like us to stay here with you, or call Jenny or Eliza or someone?”
She shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine. I need to do this. I have to get used to this.”
“You don’t have to get used to it alone, or all at once,” Reed said.
“I know, but I need to.” She took a deep breath. “It just kind of hit me all at once. Again. Sorry.”
“Please don’t apologize,” Lyle said. “You need to do what you need to do.”
She focused on Carlo, who looked worried beyond measure. “I’ve got this guy to keep getting up for every morning. I’ll make it through somehow. I don’t have any other choice.”
* * * *
Lyle hated like hell to leave her there alone and hurting, but he knew they couldn’t force their company on her. She wasn’t a danger to herself or others, so he couldn’t even call Tilly in against her will for that reason, to evaluate her.
She was just very, very sad and lonely. Understandably so.
And it broke his heart he couldn’t fix this for her, and wasn’t in a position to hold her while she cried and let her fall asleep in his arms.
Which was exactly what he wanted to do.
Once she’d pulled herself together, she walked them to the door and gave them both long, strong hugs.
“Thank you for bringing me home. And thank you for tomorrow. I appreciate it. I guess I do need to get out and do something to shake myself out of my head for a while.”
“It’s our pleasure,” Reed assured her.
Once they were back in the car and pulling out of her driveway, Reed laid his head against the headrest and let out a long, sad sigh.
Then he filled Lyle in on the conversation he and Vanessa had on the drive from the club. He finished that just as they were pulling into their own driveway.
“So…what, exactly, are we doing?” Lyle shut the engine off and sat there. “Are we pretending, with her, that we’re getting together to fool Eliza and Tilly, or is she genuinely interested in getting together with us?”
“Does it matter? Tell me I’m wrong, but you’re into her, too, aren’t you?”
Lyle stared at the front of their house. “Yeah,” he quietly admitted. “At the very least, I’d like to be friends with her. Preferably more, if she’s ever open to it. I don’t want to rush or pressure her when she’s obviously vulnerable right now.”
“No, of course not. But friends, for sure.”
“For sure.”
“And then, who knows what else,” Reed said.
“Are we sure we’re into her for healthy reasons?” Lyle asked.
“Why?”
“Basco,” Lyle said.
“Well, I guess if we take it slow, we’ll figure that out, won’t we?” Reed opened his door and headed for the house.
Lyle hoped he could follow his own advice to take things slow.
Because the last thing he wanted to do was screw things up with her and scare her away.
Chapter Fourteen
Despite her exhaustion, Vanessa had difficulty falling asleep after the men left. Her thoughts raced, about Lyle, about Reed.
About “the plan.”
Sure, she could easily mask her own needs under that perfect guise, but was it fair or right to do that? To emotionally slurp off the two men who so obviously and generously wanted to be friends with her?
Then again, life is short. Too short not to chase happiness.
Tony’s own words in his journal had taught her that.
She had managed a few hours of sleep before having to arise the next morning, walk Carlo, and grab a shower. When she started to reach for a T-shirt, she thought about it.
All she had was a one-piece bathing suit. She’d never been trying to impress anyone, and either she’d been swimming at home or at the gym.
Still, better than nothing. And it wasn’t like she wanted to try to cram her frame into a bikini, anyway. Seeing her wearing a flowing skirt that truly hid her wide-load, one-sixty ass, and seeing her pop out in the bad ways of a two-piece suit were different things.
She pulled on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, and grabbed a spare change of clothes, including undies, and a couple of towels to take with her. She found a hat, her sunglasses, and a pair of flip flops, and was ready, travel mug of coffee in hand, when they arrived at five after eight. She’d even managed to nibble on a toasted bagel with some cream cheese.
Yay, me.
Lyle gave up the passenger seat and moved to the crew cab’s rear seat so she could ride shotgun.
Reed offered her a smile. “Feeling a little better this morning?”
“I’m sorry I was such a flake last night.”
“Please, don’t apologize,” Reed said. “As friends, we want you to be able to be honest to us and around us. If you need to cry, cry. If you need to scream, scream—”
“If you need to fart, fart,” Lyle piped up from the backseat.
That made her laugh.
“Mr. Romantic there,” Reed said, but he responded to her laugh with a smile of his own. “Oh, I have motion sickness medicine if you want to take some. I keep it on hand for my charters.”
“Might not be a bad idea. What’s in it?”
He pulled a package out of the center console built into the armrest between the seats. “Here you go, you can read it for yourself.”
She did, and then took one of the capsules, swallowing it with her coffee.
Couldn’t hurt. It would be bad enough crying around the men.
The last thing she wanted to do was puke her guts up, too.
* * * *
Lyle had awoke that morning worried they were moving too fast. Reed assured him this morning would only be about being friends with her, being there for her, supporting her, and trying to get her mind off her troubles the only way Reed knew how that didn’t involve impact play or sex.
Fishing.
He had to admit, he enjoyed going out on the boat. He even enjoyed fishing, but there was something soothing about lying in the sun, the boat gently rocking on the water, relaxing and…just being for a little while.
&nb
sp; Since he worked weekdays, and Reed rarely took a weekend day off, Lyle didn’t get to go out with him as often as he wanted. Sometimes, on long summer evenings when it stayed safe light until after eight, after work Lyle would go straight to the marina, meet up with him, and they’d take a near-shore dinner jaunt to watch the sunset and get back to the marina before full dark.
They parked the truck and Lyle helped Reed grab the cooler and fishing poles and other things they’d need from the truck bed, which was protected by a locking topper.
“Can I help?” she asked.
“Nope,” Reed said. “Usually, I’m doing this alone. Lyle knows the routine. Mine’s right down there.” He pointed. “I’m the third from the end, the green Mako.”
She headed down the dock.
Reed looked at him. “We need ice, gas, and bait and we’ll be all set.”
“And a lot of luck,” Lyle added.
Reed grinned. “That’s a given.”
By nine o’clock, they were motoring out of the marina basin toward the channel. She sat on the cooler in front of the control console, one hand on her hat, the other holding onto the cooler’s rope handle once they left the no-wake zone and Reed eased the throttles forward to bring the boat up on plane.
It would be a warm day, but so far, the water still looked smooth, glassy, the sea breeze not yet kicking in to even ripple it.
They couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to bring her out for her first trip. Once they were out of the channel and in safe water, Reed even had her take the wheel and showed her how to run the boat.
It took them thirty minutes to reach their first spot, a honey hole Reed didn’t often bring customers to. Once he got on the numbers and verified the spot with his bottom finder, the tossed the anchor to keep them just up-current from the spot, shut the engines down, and switched the XM Radio unit on.
It was the one splurge Lyle had been able to talk Reed into early on, reminding him that his customers would appreciate the ready-made music selections, or even sports programming, and he wouldn’t be out of range.
And yes, Lyle had been right.
Reed set it to the Margaritaville channel that played a heavy rotation of Jimmy Buffet’s music, perfect for the day and the situation. Mostly upbeat, fun, and tropical.