Page 51 of September

Juliet’s laughter filled the room, and she replied, “I’ll get you some more, then.”

“Please do. I’ll pay you. You’ll be my coffee dealer.”

“I get it for free,” Juliet reminded again. “Want to try the espresso now?”

“Later. Can we just sit and enjoy this while we watch an animal video with Carly?”

“Yes, that sounds really nice, actually.”

“Oh, hey, I wanted to ask you something,” Gwen said. “Elisa has a new dog, Buster.”

“I remember.”

“Well, I thought he and Carly might get along. Would you maybe want to bring her over to the house, and we can see?”

“Carly making friends? Yeah, that sounds good to me.”

CHAPTER 15

When Juliet rolled up the window, Carly knew they’d arrived wherever it was they’d been heading, but she turned to look at Juliet as if to verify that fact while her tail wagged like crazy.

“Okay. Please behave for me.” She looked at Carly and patted her head. “We want these people to think I can handle training a dog.”

The terrier didn’t answer her, obviously, but Juliet felt like their eye contact meant that Carly had heard her and understood what she had said. She got out of the car and walked around to let Carly out, grabbing the leash she had left her on before the dog got a chance to make a run for it.

“Hey, girl,” Gwen said.

Juliet looked up and saw her walking out of the house next door.

“And hey to you, too,” Gwen said to Juliet this time.

“Hey. I see I come in second place behind my dog?”

“Nah. She’s just always more excited to see me.”

Juliet thought that Gwen had definitely underestimated how excited she was to see her. It hadn’t been all that long since she laid eyes on Gwen, but she had missed that face. She let go of the leash, and Carly ran straight for Gwen, who knelt down to pet her.

“We’re over here,” Gwen told her, nodding toward the house she’d just walked out of. “I gave you Elisa’s address, but we’re actually hanging out at Myra’s because they’re doing construction on Elisa’s place right now.”

“Myra’s place is–”

“Next door, yes. It’s how they met,” Gwen explained before she stood up and grabbed Carly’s leash. “Well, technically, they met because Myra is a contractor and Elisa called to get an estimate on the work. They didn’t know they lived next door.”

“Really? What are the odds?” Juliet asked as they walked toward the house.

“Yeah, it’s crazy. Meant to be, I guess.”

“How long have they been together again? You mentioned it at the bar, I think.”

“Not long at all. About a month.”

“That’s right. And anything I should know?” Juliet asked.

“About what?”

“I don’t know. Like, things I can bring up in conversation or things I should avoid.”

“I can’t think of anything, but it’s cute that you asked,” Gwen replied and opened the door.