“Whoops, someone just snatched it.”
“Story of my life,” Mackenzie grumbled, picturing the table in the center of the café. “Table seven it is.”
“It needs to be cleared. Just a coffee mug and a plate, but a fresh water bowl is already there for Muttley. I’ll meet you in a sec.”
“Thanks,” Mackenzie said, grateful for that tip.
Tia wasn’t blind, but she’d grown up with an autistic brother who benefited from an emotional support dog and dedicated her spare time to helping others in similar situations. Her superpower was to recognize dogs with the right temperament for service training and understand the obstacles the impaired faced every day.
She didn’t pity Mackenzie. In fact, Tia rarely gave Mackenzie any special breaks—one of the reasons she made such a great sponsor. Tia was conscious of what Mackenzie was up against and was always willing to lend a helping hand—as long as it wasn’t used as a crutch.
Feeling bold, Mackenzie walked to table seven and—would you look at that—carefully navigated around the table without knocking anything over. With a proud snort, Muttley settled at her feet.
He was on his best behavior. In hopes of snagging a treat, he kept all four paws on the ground, choosing to rest only his head on Mackenzie’s lap.
Mackenzie gave him a nice cuddly ear rub when Tia came over. “What can I get you?”
“A double chocolate chunk muffin,” she said. “Heavy on the chocolate.”
“That sounds ominous.” Tia pulled out the chair and sat down, purposefully ignoring Muttley, who was vibrating with excitement over the impending treat. “Does this have anything to do with the shiny truck with the mud tires and lift kit parked in front of your house last night?Andthis morning?”
Mackenzie’s face heated. “You saw his car?”
“I think everyone who drove past your house saw the car. But I didn’t know your houseguest was ahim.” Tia leaned forward. “Spill.”
“Not much to spill. It was a guy I used to work with. More of an old friend. He gave me a ride home, then stayed the night to make sure I was okay because I’d had a drink or two.”
“That’s a long explanation for some guy. Unless?” There was a long beat of silence. “Oh. My. God. I know that look.” Tia snapped her fingers. “It wasn’t justaguy, it wastheguy.”
Tia had spent a lot of hours over the past year working with Mackenzie and Muttley. In that time, they’d both opened up about their pasts, shared their secrets. Some dark, some hilarious, but all of them told in confidence.
The quiet life Tia had left behind in northern California hadn’t been one of her choosing. So one night, she’d packed up her car and made her way to Nashville, searching for a radical life makeover. One that included living loud and following her dreams of starting a training school for guide dogs.
Mackenzie had been fleeing the heartache that came from losing everything she held dear. She had known she’d needed to change things up as soon as Hunter proposed to Hadley. Being secretly in love with your best friend was one thing. Being secretly in love with your married best friend? Talk about tempting karma.
Neither one had ever revealed what they were running from, just why they were running. But that too was about to change.
“He ambushed me at a friend’s party,” she said, silently flipping karma the bird.
“You, at a party? Socializing with people other than your agent? Wow, talk about a gold-star week.” Mackenzie would take that gold star and leave out the part where it was Brody’s party. “But being ambushed?” Tia grimaced in sympathy. “How did that go?”
“I kissed him.”
Tia choked on her own air. “I’m sorry. That is so not what I thought you were going to say.”
“Trust me. The shock is mutual,” Mackenzie whispered through the embarrassment. Although embarrassment wasn’t enough to dull the residual tingling. “I told him I liked him and then I kissed him.” Mackenzie held up a hand. “And before you get all girlie on me, he didn’t kiss me back.”
There was a complete beat of silence. “You made it clear that you were kissing him?”
“The only other clue I could have given was sticking my tongue down his throat.”
“But he spent the night? Doesn’t sound like a total disaster.”
“He slept on the couch and only hung around because he wanted to talk about collaborating with me on a project.” Mackenzie took in a big, humbling breath. “As for kissing me back, he said I was too complicated.” Or had he said he didn’t want to complicate things? Bourbon-brain made remembering all the details difficult, but either way it stung. “We finished the night with him stating he wanted to be friends.”
“That long silence is me rolling my eyes, because what a jerk,” Tia said. “He’s missing out.” She paused to instruct Muttley through a series of commands, ending with ordering him to give her a high five and then lie on the ground. All of which he did without question.
Show-off.
