She ignored me.
“Actually, you don’t even need to nag him. All you need to do is casually mention wanting a dog—or cat, ferret, lizard—in front of Brio, and he will just show up with one.”
“I don’t want a long rat living in the apartment.”
That got a giggle out of Charlotte.
“And, just so you know, having a lizard means you’d have to feed it bugs. Daily. Really big ones.”
Charlotte was notorious for shrieking out of nowhere, making her brother and me stumble out, ready to fight, only to realize there was a spider or shield bug in the apartment. I prayed for her that she never had to have firsthand experience with a New York City cockroach. She’d have a stroke.
“Cats are good when no one is home all day,” Alara said. “Or a cranky old dog like Tuna. Do you want Tuna?” she asked.
Apparently, it was a running joke in the Family about how Alara pretended to just tolerate her dog. When in reality, she’d once slept in the waiting room of an emergency vet when Tuna had some sort of seizure. And ordered him a specialty diet. And bought him a stack of Christmas presents high enough to crush him.
Clearly, she wasn’t the only one who’d become an “avid observer.”
“Alright, Charlotte. Let’s get out of here before she convinces you to start your own animal rescue,” I said, leading my niece toward the door. “Thanks again for the call,” I said. “I appreciate you keeping an eye out for him.”
“He’s family,” she said with a shrug.
I stepped outside but couldn’t seem to stop myself from glancing back.
And seeing a shadow cross her face.
She wasn’t looking at me anymore, though. She was glancing toward the back of the shop.
It was startling enough of a change that I wanted to step back inside and ask her if everything was all right.
But I knew she wouldn’t want that.
So I sighed and followed Charlotte toward the subway as she prattled on and on about the best pet for our family.
I paused at the top of the subway steps, glancing back at the shop as the lights inside flicked off.
And the whole way back to our apartment, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was going on.
I guess I was going to have to keep a closer eye on Alara.
Whether she liked it or not.
CHAPTER TEN
Alara
That little Charlotte saw way too much.
It was obvious she picked up on something between me and her uncle. Which, looking back, was why she’d insisted he walk me to the bookstore. Not out of some desire for him to be a chivalrous man, but because she wanted us to have some alone time.
As soon as Christopher walked out of the pawnshop to go look for Liam, she launched into a monologue about how good an uncle he was, listing his positive traits like she’d been working on it in case she got a chance to talk him up to me.
There was no way to tell a twelve-year-old that when I’d made a move on the guy, he’d pushed me away and told me that nothing could happen between us.
So I made little grunting noises and nods until she finally ran out of steam and got back to talking about books.
In just the couple of weeks since I’d seen her, not only had she finished the series she had me reading, but she’d started and completed two other series.
“Is that what you want to do someday?”
