“Welcome to life with dogs,” Barbie said, laughing. She tried to help me get some of the hair off my shirt when she noticed the cross hanging around my neck.
“Wow, that’s beautiful,” she said. “And surprising. I guess I just didn’t peg you as the religious type.”
I reached up and caught the cross gently in my fist. “This was a special gift from a…friend.”
Basia snorted while Gwen choked on a laugh.
Barbie looked between them, frowning. “What? What am I missing here?”
“Okay, maybe not exactly a friend,” I corrected myself. “But possibly. More like extended family, I suppose.”
More snickering in the car until Basia said, “Just tell her, Lexi. She’s our friend now.”
I sighed. “Can I trust you, Barbie?”
She didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely. You helped me get Tootsie back. That makes you more than a friend. It makes you family as far as I’m concerned. Connections forged in chaos are binding for a lifetime. I won’t break that. Ever.”
I met Gray’s eyes in the rearview mirror. She gave a small shrug.
“Okay, then what I’m going to tell you remains off the record and secret,” I said. “I mean it.”
“Consider it done. I swear.”
“The pope gave it to me,” I said.
Barbie froze. “You mean…the real pope? Like the one who lives in the Vatican in Italy and is the leader of the Catholic Church?”
“Yep. That’s the one.”
“He gave you a present? A necklace.”
“He officiated her wedding,” Basia said. “He’s sort of connected to Lexi’s husband.”
Barbie thought for a moment and then snapped her fingers. “Wait. Just wait. Are you…part of that famous mystery couple from DC I read about last summer? The pope was in Washington for you?”
I winced. “Sort of?”
“I knew it,” she breathed. “I knew there was something unusual about you guys. But wow. I did not expect all this.” She looked at me for a long moment, then smiled, warm, conspiratorial, and protective. “Regardless, your secret is safe with me. You’re safe with me—all of you.”
Something in my chest softened at that. The Barbie talking to me now was a woman who loved her dog, fought like hell for animals, and had decided we were her people now. I guess we were.
“Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate it.”
She fell silent, but after a moment she spoke up. “Okay, I promise it will stay off the record, but someday, I do want to hear about the Cook Islands coup thing.”
“It’ll have to be over drinks,” I said. “It’s a pretty wild story.”
She fell silent and then sighed. “Don’t hate me, but I can’t help myself from asking, and yes, I promise everything you tell me is off the record unless you give me permission otherwise. But I guess this means you know the president, too, right?”
Basia didn’t miss a beat. “Only socially.”
At that, we all broke out in laughter. It was five in the morning, and with two dogs in the back seat and the sun still an hour or so from rising, laughter felt like the most genuine response of the entire weekend.
I sat in Gray’s SUV covered in fur, holding a rescue dog I hadn’t planned on, and riding home with a woman who’d somehow become a trusted friend in the span of twenty-four ridiculous hours. I didn’t know why things like this kept happening to me.
But…I was starting to like it.
Chapter Forty
