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WHEN I GOT BACK TO the living room—after having shoved Dylan full-tilt out my bedroom window—Lily had already lost interest in the whole proceedings. ‘naked pancake-gate’ had lost priority to Theo, who was frozen in half-fear, half-euphoria—staring at my dogs. Tommy, on the other hand, was perched on the edge of my counter at full attention. A twinkly-eyed, knows-too-much sort of attention. The kind that I loved to be a part of, but hated when it was directed at me.
“That took a while,” he said conversationally when I walked back inside. “Did you misplace your entire closet or something?”
A chill ran up my arms, and I shook my head with a frown. “What are you—timing me?”
He smiled sweetly. “So did you talk to Dylan?”
“Dylan—no. Why would I have talked to Dylan?”
Tommy cocked his head quizzically, and even Lily tuned in enough to roll her eyes.
“You were going to text him...” he said. “About getting coffee...?”
My face flushed as scarlet as my blouse. “Oh—right. Yeah, I did it right after you asked me to.”
Get it together, Rose!
“So why are you guys here so early?” I asked, changing the subject. “Is Leopold on another quest? Are you guys hiding out?”
“Quite the contrary,” Tommy answered, suddenly business-like. “We actually came up with a great idea last night after you two left, and wanted to tell you about it first thing.”
He went abruptly quiet. Staring after Theo and the dogs.
I put my hands on my hips and waited. When nothing happened, I finally said, “Well?”
He glanced up cheerfully. “Oh—we’ll just wait for Dylan. It involves you both. I can’t imagine he’d be long getting the...”
Much sooner than was realistic, Dylan walked through the front door. I suspected he’d just circled around the house once or twice—making no effort whatsoever to keep with the story.
Most conspicuously missing was the coffee.
“Well, speak of the devil.” Tommy looked up with a pleasant smile, zeroing in on me with that terrifying attention again. “Dylan’s back, Rose. From getting coffee.”
Lily pursed her lips as she bounced Theo up and down. “Seems to have forgotten something though...”
Dylan shot them a dry smile before turning to me. “I got a phone call and had to go over some business. Some things didn’t go according to plan and I was pissed. Getting coffee was the last thing on my mind. So sorry, Rose.”
“No biggie. I understand. Because that’s the wonderful kind of wife I am.”
“Right.” For a moment, Tommy’s eyes actually lightened back to their usual shine. “Well, Lily and I did some research about cases like yours. You know...fake relationships.” He paused for effect and a part of me fainted dead away. “Anyway, one of the biggest things that people did to help their case, wasn’t just bolster it up with details about the relationship itself—they got involved in the new community they were supposed to be a part of.”
“That’s great, Dylan,” I said with false cheer. “You can become a professional dog-walker. Start with Sage.”
Tommy ignored me. “So we had this idea, what if—”
“What if the four of us signed up to build a float for the Fourth of July parade like we used to do when we were kids!” Lily trilled, unable to rein in her excitement. Without knowing what it was about, Theo mimicked her movements and clapped his hands together with a squeal.
“A float for the parade?” I asked incredulously. “That’s your big idea?”
Tommy was undaunted. “It’s actually a really good one. There’s case law involved in this. Precedent. On a few occasions, a defendant’s involvement in the community was actually enough to tip the scale.” His eyes suddenly narrowed as they focused on his brother. “Between that and the fact that someone recently purchased a property in town...”
Dylan and I shot each other a panicked look.
“I was going to tell you yesterday, then that reporter showed up,” Dylan said quickly. “I know it’s kind of sudden, and it’s close to you. I didn’t know if you’d want me to be so close—”
“It’s Rose’s dream house,” Tommy said quietly. “Did you remember that?”
A question to which we all knew the answer.
Dylan shifted uneasily. It was one thing to boldly flout the reality of the relationship with just me, but he was as terrified of disappointing his little brother as I was.
“I...had a hunch.”
“A hunch.” Tommy’s blue eyes flashed, then simultaneously cooled—offering Dylan that same sweet smile. “What luck.”
The room fell into awkward silence. A tension punctuated only by Theo’s increasingly impatient screams as Lily refused to let him ride one of the dogs.
“You know the place is falling apart, right?” Tommy continued, eyeing his brother carefully. “You can’t go walking up on the roof like that.”
Dylan’s eyes flashed to me, before he dismissed the concerns with a casual shrug. “Yeah, I was planning on fixing it up a little. Try to get it done before the rain starts in the fall.”
Tommy’s eyebrows raised imperceptibly, and he pursed his lips. “Before the fall, huh?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
“So you’re going to use some sheetrock paneling—tear down the northern wall?”
Dylan hesitated only a split second. “Something like that.”
“And then the stucco finish. Are you just going to sandblast that away, or...?”
Even I knew enough about construction basics to know that nothing Tommy just said had made an ounce of sense. Dylan, however, seemed to know even less than me.
“I haven’t decided yet,” he stalled, glancing around the room as he tried to think of anything he could say to change the subject.
Tommy’s face melted into a patient smile. “Mind if I come along with you and check it out? Maybe we can bounce some ideas back and forth?”
I shot him a grateful grin behind Dylan’s back, and he rolled his eyes. He might not be his brother’s biggest fan, but he didn’t want to see him fall to his death either.
“Yeah,” Dylan’s face lit up, “actually, I was going to head over there this morning while Rose checks in at the animal clinic.”
“Cool.” Tommy knelt down next to Theo, rubbing Sage’s head as she nuzzled the little onesie. “I’ll just drop him off with Mom and Dad, and meet you over there. “That is...if I can ever get him away from this little girl.”
“Awwww,” I said.
Tommy shot me a quick look, before turning to Dylan in bewilderment. “She’s a total sweetheart.” As if on cue, she leapt up and licked the side of his face—wagging her tail incessantly as he chuckled and kissed her behind the ear.
Dylan headed for the door.
Tommy stood up with a grin. “Have a good day. And try not to be so forgetful. Rose loves her morning coffee. I wouldn’t want you to disappoint her.”
There was a hitch in Dylan’s step, before he disappeared out the door, waving over his head. “I’ll meet you at the house.”
The door swung shut behind him, leaving me alone in the room with my two best friends in the world—both of whom were looking up at me expectantly.
“Well...gotta go!” I called, catching the front door before it could close all the way. “See you at the house!”
The world was my oyster. I should make pancakes.
I must have been out of my mind...