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“Of course I am,” I said while putting black mascara on my eyelashes. “I think you’ll love this outfit.”

“Thanks for making the effort, Olive.” She sounded genuinely relieved.

“Duh. Why wouldn’t I? You have nothing to worry about, Mom. I won’t embarrass you by being the odd one out.”

Muffled sounds came through the speaker, and then I heard my mother call out to someone. “I’m sorry, honey, your father and brother need me in the kitchen. Apparently, finding the bowls to put the chips in is a quest too difficult for two grown men to accomplish. I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Bye, Mom.” I disconnected the call with my elbow, then dabbed a makeup brush in gold glittery eye shadow.

I had found the perfect fox costume for the party. The brown dress came with a fluffy tail, a hood with fox ears, and pompoms at the end of the hood strings. Two felt boot covers reaching up to my knees made the look complete. I knew the felt would keep me warm, a bit too warm probably, but the costume store had fifty percent off all winter outfits. Considering the sad state of my bank account, it had been a no-brainer.

After finishing my eye makeup, I put dark orange lipstick on and applied a layer of gloss on top. I used the camera on my phone to check out my look, as my bathroom mirror was too small to catch every angle.

Happy with the results, I snapped a couple of pictures. Who knew when I would look this cute again?

Since I had an hour to kill, I settled in on the couch and spent some time catching up on the articles published on my favorite dog blog. One article in particular drew my attention, and for a moment, I considered sending the link to Lewis.

I didn’t, though. He hadn’t answered my message about showing him around town yet. He’d most likely been too busy to reply, and I didn’t want to scare him off by coming across as too pushy.

At six thirty, I got into my car, which I had gotten back earlier that day. Gene had told me I could drive it for at least another year if I was careful. What a relief it had been to hear him say those words. Handing over three hundred bucks was a bit more painful, but at least I regained the freedom to go wherever I wanted, fast. Of course, I would still walk places whenever I could because gas was expensive.

I positioned my fluffy tail, so it didn’t bother me while driving and set course for my parents’ house.

When I arrived, I spotted my brother’s truck in the driveway. Benjamin was on summer break from college, and last I’d heard from him, he had been traveling with friends. It was nice of him to make an effort to show up.

I parked my car in the street and used my old key to get into the house.

“We’re in the kitchen,” Mom called out.

The closer I got, the louder their voices grew. As soon as I set foot in the kitchen, though, they stopped talking.

Mom’s eyes grew wide, and Benjamin burst out laughing. He smacked his hand on the table, tears rolling down his cheeks. Dad threw me a panicked look.

“What on earth is going on? Do I have something on my face?” I asked, groping my face to see if I could find anything out of the ordinary.

“On your face?” Benji said in between laughs. “More like on your entire body.”

Mom gave me the once-over, twice. “What are you wearing? And why?”

I frowned, dread filling my veins. “What do you mean why? You told me to dress up.”

Mom waved her hand toward me. “Honey, when I told you to dress up, I meant please wear something fancier than your usual hooded sweater and jeans. Not… this.”

I broke out in a cold sweat as understanding sank in. “Am I the only one who’s wearing a costume?”

Benjamin bobbed his head up and down, still unable to keep from laughing. “Oh, yes.”

“Stop laughing,” I said. “This isn’t funny at all.”

Dad put his hand on my arm. “Why don’t you go and change? No one has seen you yet. No harm, no foul.”

“I don’t have any spare clothes with me. And I don’t have any here either since my bedroom has been turned into a hamster hotel.” I slumped down in a chair at the kitchen table, my head in my hands. “I’ll just stay here all night. No one can see me like this.”

Mom arched an eyebrow. “Don’t be ridiculous, Olive. You can’t hide in here all night.” Then she turned her attention to my brother. “Why don’t you bring these pizzas out back? Everyone is in the garden, and I think we’re already halfway through our supply of hot dogs. I don’t want them to starve. Oh, and make sure the vet gets an extra piece. Such a nice guy.”

I looked up at my mother. “What vet?”

“The one who took over Pine Paw Prints.”