“What’s going on between you guys?”
“Nothing’s going on between us.”Not yet.
“Are you okay?”
Her voice finally sounded worried. I tried to answer, but no sound came out.
“Emergency book club meeting tonight?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay, honey. I’ll round everyone up. Hyperbole’s at five o’clock?”
Too public.“How about my place instead?”
We hung up, and Aslan came to my side with his leash in his mouth.
I’d nearly forgotten about the shelter dogs. I jumped up and grabbed my coat. The dogs were counting on me, and they were just the distraction I needed.
The weather had turnedcold again, and the gray sky promised snow. Four dogs trotted happily at the ends of their leashes, oblivious to my heavy thoughts.
My phone rang as we entered Ginger Cake Acres. Shifting the leashes to one hand, I dug it out and flipped it open. When I saw Xan’s name scroll across the screen, I slapped it shut without answering. I couldn’t deal with Xan right now.
We had walked all the way to the bridge when my phone rang again. I juggled the leashes and pulled my phone out of my pocket. It was Xan again. I couldn’t avoid him forever.
“Hello?”
“Lacey!” He sounded breathless. “Don’t hang up!”
“Why not?”
“I need to talk to you.” He panted into the phone. “I’m here at the park,” he said. “I can see you on the bridge. Don’t go anywhere.”
He disconnected, and a moment later, I saw the flash of a bicycle skirting around a group of women pushing strollers. Xan pedaled fast, then stopped with a skid less than a foot from my nearest dog. He dismounted and let the bike crash to the ground.
“I’ve been so worried about you,” he said.
“That’s funny, considering you might have been the one to drug me!” My voice was loud enough to attract attention, and the ladies with their strollers swung in a wide berth around us.
“I didn’t drug you,” Xan said, lowering his voice. “I swear.”
He held his hand over his heart and looked down at me solemnly, his eyes pleading. Xan looked as miserable as I felt. His left eye was a pitiful site. Bloodshot and surrounded by a ring of black bruises, it was nearly swollen shut. It looked horribly painful.
“If you want to talk to me, you have to walk.”
“Fine.” He fell into step with me.
“What are you doing here? Are you following me?”
Aslan tensed at the tone of my voice, his entire body on high alert.
“I came here hoping to see you,” Xan said. “Please believe me—I didn’t drug you. I would never do that. My mother raised me better.”
Aslan growled at Xan, and I tightened my hold on his leash. “If you didn’t drug me, then what happened?”
“I don’t know. But I swear to you it was not me.”
My shoulders sank. “I believe you.” I glanced over at him. “We were drinking the same beer. Do you think someone tried to drug you and got me by mistake?”
