“They’re warm aren’t they?”
I sighed. “It’s wool.”
She snorted. “You are a Susie Sunshine aren’t you?”
I didn’t have an answer for that one and kept my damn mouth shut before she gave me another name.
The trip up the beach to the path felt eternal. My sneakers kept sliding on the icy sand and she caught me every time. The dog circled around us, whining when we didn’t move fast enough to suit him.
I was pretty sure it was a him.
He was all white save for the patches around one eye and the opposite ear. His tail, a feather duster with a coil at the end, kept wagging. The minute he got close to us, it tucked between his legs.
Both of them, oddities.
Just like this whole damn day.
“You’re quite tan. Not from around here?”
I looked down at her, then to my chest with its matted hair full of grime and sand. “How could you tell?”
“Well, the sneakers in the winter were a clue. The sparkly new parka was another. Pretty sure your zipper still has theplastic protector over it. Chest was also a clue. It’s very nice, but it’s a bit cold for exhibitionism.”
Speechless, again. I just stared.
“Tall, dark, and mute? Okay, then. Well, I’m Phoebe.”
“Dutch,” I muttered.
“Pleased to meet you, Dutch. I knew the Hendersons. Great house. Killer view.”
I grunted at the pain in my ankle radiated up my thigh. “Can we just get up to my house?”
“You got it, Porkie.”
“Can you not call me that?”
“Now that I know you hate it, nope.” She gave me that sunny smile as her fingers sunk into my side to keep me upright.
Damn, perplexing woman.
THREE
Phoebe
Wow,he was a jackass.
Hot jackass, but a rude jerk nonetheless.
We shuffled our way up the path from the beach. I could tell he didn’t know where it was, which only added to the weirdness.
Would he have died out there if I didn’t look out the front window? I spent ages in my studio and didn’t pay attention to the world for sometimes twelve hours at a time. The fact that I’d been in cooking mode was the only thing that may have saved him.
Not that he had a whole lot of gratitude for it.
“Okay, there’s a path under here, but it’s like stairs.”
“No wonder I tripped.”
