Hair of the Dog That Dumped You
Naia released a blood-curdling scream, running for her life across the field, a pack of wild doxies hot on her tail. Her two little legs were no match for their four stumpy ones. They surrounded her, jumping up and attacking her with vicious licks and the odd slap of a happy tail wag.
Naia’s scream morphed into giggles until she just couldn’t take it anymore. Whipping her arm back, she tossed the ball as far away from her as she could—which was only about ten feet. The wild pack took off after it, droopy ears flapping in the wind. She let them fight over it before stealing it back and starting the process all over again.
Addison watched on from the gazebo while she ate her Sunday pancakes. Apparently it didn’t take long to fill up a five-year-old tummy, but it looked like Naia had found plenty to keep her occupied around the rescue center.
Piper had abandoned her seat at the picnic table for Aiden’s lap, where he lounged on the grass. Princess was sprawled out next to him, her pink belly exposed. He rubbed it absently while his own dog, Sophie, was part of the pack wrestling with Naia.
Piper watched the little girl play with a distant look in her eye. Addison recognized that face. It was the baby face. She’d had that look once herself.
Addison wondered if her friend was feeling the pressure of the ticking clock yet. She was twenty-seven. Had she and Aiden discussed it? She figured it wouldn’t be long before they were married and popping out ridiculously beautiful babies.
It had been a long time since Addison last thought about having kids. Could think about having kids. That was one fantasy she didn’t allow herself to dream about. Because it was one dream that would never come true.
“She’s a cute little girl,” Marilyn said, observing Addison over her teacup. She’d taken Picasso out of his tiny wheelchair, and he sat on her lap while she spoiled him with little bits of pancake.
“She sure is,” Addison said.
Bob placed another plate of sausages in the center of the picnic table and helped himself to one before sitting back down next to Marilyn. “You’re good with her, you know.”
“Maybe I’ve found my backup career,” she said. “Professional babysitter.”
Addison hadn’t planned on showing up for their traditional rescue center pancake breakfast, considering her hangover and plans to wallow all day. But it quickly became apparent that there was little to interest a five-year-old in her apartment besides, of course, a ton of Disney movies.
So Addison put Frozen on and grabbed a quick shower before heading to the center for some help entertaining Naia. But it turned out Naia was pretty good at entertaining herself. Well, the rescue dogs were entertaining her, and she seemed pretty thrilled by so many playmates.
When Addison shifted her attention from Naia back to her group of friends, she found Marilyn giving her a strange look again. Addison wondered if maybe she had something on her face and wiped a napkin over her mouth. But when the look didn’t disappear, Addison stuck her fork in another pancake. Not because she was hungry, but because she just wanted to avoid Marilyn’s probing eyes.
“So Addison,” Piper called from Aiden’s lap. “Still no news from the police, huh?”
Addison had been trying to avoid the topic around Aiden. She still hadn’t told him just how bad business was, and if she didn’t figure out who was stealing the dogs, it was only going to get worse. But there was still a chance that she could turn things around. She didn’t want to tell him if it wasn’t necessary. Or rather, she was too embarrassed to.
“No,” Addison said. “But Felix has been helping me look for information about the dognappings. He knows a lot of people who were working both parties when the dogs went missing.”
She stuffed another mouthful of pancake into her face. She didn’t want to explain exactly how they were looking, since it would probably worry her friends. Not to mention, some of it hadn’t exactly been legal, and what with Bob being a cop and all, she didn’t think he would approve.
“So you two have been working closely,” Piper said, hopping off Aiden’s lap and sliding onto the picnic table bench next to Zoe. “Spending a lot of time together.”
Her two best friends were watching her from across the table, watching her, she noted eerily, as closely as Marilyn. She fidgeted under their scrutiny and shoveled more pancake into her mouth.
“You and Felix, huh?” Zoe asked.
Addison cleared her throat, pretending not to notice the thick layer of suggestiveness in her voice. “Yeah, he’s got his ear to the ground. He knows a lot of people in his line of work. He’s got his hands in everything.”
“Everything, huh?” Zoe bit her lip. “And how are those hands?”
Addison shot her friend a look, but could feel heat crawling up her neck beneath her polka dot scarf. “It’s not like that. We’re only working together to figure out what’s going on. We have a mutual interest in finding the dognapper. That’s all.” She jabbed another piece of syrupy pancake to show there was nothing more to say.
Zoe grinned back, clearly with plenty more to say. “Oh. I’m sure there’s loads of mutual interest.”
“We’re just coworkers. Associates.”
“An associate who babysits?” Piper asked.
“He was just desperate,” Addison said. “He needed someone to watch Naia or he might have lost his job.”
“He wouldn’t have trusted you with his kid if he didn’t feel comfortable with you.”
“I suppose,” she said, wondering if she should grab another pancake so they’d leave her alone, but she was already stuffed. “But it’s no big deal. We’ve just gotten to know each other well, that’s all.”
Then again, Addison thought, she obviously had a lot to learn about him yet. But he’d gotten to know her. If he already trusted her with his daughter, maybe it was kind of a big deal, after all. But what did that even mean?
Addison grabbed another pancake, ignoring that line of thought, because it didn’t go anywhere, right? He wasn’t that kind of guy. The one-woman, settle-down guy, and that was what she wanted. Although, she also wouldn’t have pegged him as a dad guy, either. And yet, here Naia was.
What exactly did a guy like Felix want?
“Phillip on the other hand,” Addison said. “Now there’s potential.”
Zoe leaned on her fist. “Oh, do tell.”
“Well, he’s cultured, and a humanitarian for animals, and a gentleman. Of course the good looks don’t hurt.” She was counting all the amazing things about him off on her fingers. “We’d never have to worry about money. If any big expenses came up, it wouldn’t be a big deal.” The thought of her dad’s business suddenly popped into her head. She wouldn’t be the only one who wouldn’t have to worry about her livelihood or her marriage surviving financial hardships.
It wasn’t the first time she’d dreamed about it. Heck, over the years she’d imagined a million different scenarios of how she could save her dad and herself from bills, and budgets, and bank loans. She felt a little guilty for spending Phillip’s money, even if it was only in her head, but what if…? And what was the point of money if you didn’t use it to help the ones you loved?
Phillip was a great catch who just so happened to be rich. It’s not like she’d planned to meet a man with a large trust fund, but she wasn’t about to complain either. Ending up with a guy like him would be like having that Prada dress and wearing it too.
“Sounds exciting,” Marilyn said. “Not to mention you could spend your weekends flying to Paris or Milan or London.”
Addison sighed wistfully. “It does sound exciting, doesn’t it?”
“Will we get to meet this Phillip at the gala on Friday?” Zoe asked.
“I hope so.”
Marilyn poured herself another cup of Yorkshire tea. “So after Paris and London, then what?”
“Well.…” Addison hesitated.
As she thought about the answer, Marilyn added sugar to her teacup. Her spoon clinked loudly in the silence. Everyone had stopped whatever it was they were doing, waiting for her answer.
She spread her hands. “The sky’s the limit.”
“Come on,” Piper said. “We know you better than that. I’m sure you’ve daydreamed your way through every romance flick ever made.”
“Yeah, like when Bridget Jones finally notices Mark Darcy,” Zoe said.
“Or the one where you’re Audrey Hepburn and he’s Humphrey Bogart.”
“Have you imagined him as a sparkly vampire yet?” Zoe asked. “Or better yet, Fifty Shades of Grey.” Her eyes practically rolled back into her head.
“Audrey Hepburn? Vampires?” Marilyn shook her head. “It’s all well and good to daydream about this man, but are you thinking about him? About what life would be like together? That’s the real test. Have you thought about what it would be like to live with him? Does he pick up after himself? What about waking up next to him when he’s got drool stuck in his moustache?”
Zoe was fighting a grin. “Speaking from experience, Marilyn?” She glanced meaningfully at Bob’s thick moustache.
Bob subconsciously dabbed at it with his napkin. Marilyn turned a shade of red that Addison had never seen on the woman before. And she’d known her for five years.
Raising her chin, the proper British woman focused studiously on stirring her already-stirred tea. “I’m just saying that it’s important to be realistic. Imagine your man the way he really is. Not how you want him to be.”
“Does he leave the toilet seat up?” Piper asked.
Zoe rolled her eyes. “Does he get crabby when he doesn’t get his way?”
Addison remembered how Phillip treated his head of security after the dogs disappeared at his fundraiser. She didn’t blame him for being upset, but she also thought he’d been a bit harsh. Maybe even a little condescending. At the time she tried to blow it off, but she realized that it bothered her even now.
Piper’s eyes drifted over to where Aiden sat on the grass. “Do you dream about holding hands with him when you’re wrinkly and old?”
Addison pushed her half-eaten pancake around her plate, feeling suddenly deflated. Drool and toilet seats weren’t quite as romantic as sparkly vampires and dreams of Paris in the spring.
She supposed she was getting a little ahead of herself. It was something she always did when she started to date someone new. Even when she gave out her number. Okay, she’d even done it when a guy gave her a wink while serving her a latte the other week—and she was pretty sure he was gay.
But the stories in her head always went so much better than real life. They were places where anything could happen. She could have any life she wanted. It could be perfect.
As Addison helped clean up after breakfast, she recalled the last time she’d truly dreamed about the real things with a man. Not just dreamed. She’d been living it. Buying matching comforter and sheet sets, comparing paint swatches for the nursery, and making a home in the Sunset area with her then-boyfriend where she could imagine their children playing in the yard.
At the time, it felt like a fairy tale, like she’d found her happily ever after. But it must have been a fairy tale told by Brothers Grimm, because the baby was never born.
It was a cervical pregnancy. One that led to severe hemorrhaging that threatened Addison’s life. The emergency room surgeon had no choice but to perform a hysterectomy.
Addison recovered, physically anyway. Eventually she came to terms with her loss, both of her pregnancy and any potential to have a child. However, her boyfriend never did.
He wanted a family, and apparently she alone wasn’t family enough for him. When she’d suggested they adopt, he said he wanted a family of “his own.”
Soon the sheet sets were divided in half and the home rented out to a new family. No more happily ever after for Addison. Or at least she’d thought so.
Addison was walking back from inside the house for more dirty dishes when she paused on the wraparound porch to watch Naia play with the dogs again. She wasn’t sure how long her focus had been on the little girl, but when Marilyn laid a hand on her shoulder, she jumped in surprise like she’d forgotten where she was.
Marilyn gave her a look, one that made Addison feel like she could read her mind. Of course Marilyn knew all about her past. She’d known her since Addison had first graduated from pet grooming school five years earlier. The volunteers at the rescue center had become like family to her, and Marilyn like a mother. Although she was sure Marilyn wouldn’t appreciate being thought of like that.
Marilyn wrapped an arm around Addison and watched Naia with her. She chuckled as Colin, Piper’s black and tan doxie, grabbed the ball right out of her little hand, like Mine. All mine!
Addison sighed. “I guess I haven’t really thought about the real things with Phillip. It’s still pretty new.”
Since the moment she met Phillip, heck, even in the moments leading up to it, she imagined life could be perfect with him. She supposed she didn’t really know what to expect yet. She’d formulated ideas about him before she’d really gotten to know him. The same way she did about Felix. And look at how wrong those were turning out to be.
“Well, think about it,” Marilyn said in her no-nonsense tone. “Really think about it. You might think you know what you want. But sometimes life doesn’t always give us what we want. If you’re lucky, it gives us what we truly need.”
Addison nodded, taking the advice to heart. So what was it that she really needed?