Page 53 of Wag More Bark Less

I ignored the confused look Maggie shot me. I had to. The kiss—the axis-altering fucking kiss—was a mistake. A line that was never supposed to be crossed. I couldn’t walk home with her now. I didn’t trust myself not to leap over that line a second time and drag her right to my bedroom. And where the hell would that leave us tomorrow?

It was better this way.

“Sure thing, Chief.”

I opened the front passenger door, ushering Maggie in because I sure as hell didn’t trust myself in the back seat with her. She looked at me once more, irritation I wholeheartedly deserved in those baby blues.

Because it was for the best, I donned the stoic mask I so easily wore, and with ice in my tone said, “That was a mistake. It won’t happen again.”

“You’re an ass,” she muttered quietly at me before dipping into the passenger seat.

I didn’t argue as I closed the door, because Maggie was right. I was an ass.

NINETEEN

MAGGIE

“This is the dress?” Alyssa said, eyebrows hiked to her hairline as I arm-wrestled the wedding dress out of the closet to show her.

“Yep. This is the dress my monster-in-law just had to try on despite how many times I told her no.” I draped it over the guest bed because it was easier to spot the damage from this vantage point. That’s why I invited Alyssa over after I ran into her at The Trailhead Café—to see the train wreck for herself.

Although, the invitation might’ve been partially motivated by the desperate desire to keep my mind off Luke and that insanely hot kiss. And his asshole-level reaction after we nearly got caught.

He’d been icing me out ever since, which would feel less hostile if I could simply stay out of his way. But that was all but impossible since the planning and construction of the Legion’s parade float was happening inside the Legion Hall—the same place I agreed to meet Phil to help him with his VA paperwork.

If it’d just been Phil, I could’ve been in and out within an hour. But Phil brought friends, and no matter how uncomfortable it was to have Luke hovering in the background, taking charge of the whiteboard the group was using to brainstorm, I refused to turn down any veteran who needed my help.

Since yesterday morning, I’d assisted eight vets with logging in to their online accounts and resetting passwords. I helped four of them request their medical records, and filled out forms to enroll another five in VA healthcare. And this hardly scratched the surface of what they needed help with. I could spend my entire vacation parked at the Legion Hall with my laptop and still not accomplish everything they needed.

In hindsight, however, I wish I’d picked the library or a café with Wi-Fi to meet them. Somewhere away from Luke Mason wielding power tools and that grumpy scowl.

“This is such a beautiful dress,” Alyssa said, sighing. “Or . . . was.”

“Nope. No pity, remember?”

She nodded, patting the satin as if to flatten it. But it was no use. The dress would never function properly again.

“Did I mention Monster-in-Law offered me five hundred dollars to try it on for five minutes?” I said, dropping into the sitting chair.

“She sounds like an absolute peach.” Alyssa ran her fingers over the beading, or what was left of it anyway. “How did you not toss her body into the bottom of a lake after that?”

“It was tempting, but I couldn’t leave Ellie motherless while I served a life sentence.”

I leaned forward, hugging my pup around the neck. She licked my cheek once.

“What are you going to do with it now?” Alyssa asked.

“I don’t know.” I let out a heavy, defeated sigh, because this really was the million-dollar question. “I picked this dress out with my mom and sister.” I stared at the gown, envisioning the way it once looked, before that awful woman got ahold of it. “When I decided to move across the country to live with Jason, I made a detour to Lansing on the way. Mostly, I wanted them to be part of helping me pick out the dress without having to ask them to fly across the country twice. I hadn’t met Luanne yet, so I didn’t invite her. Apparently, she took that as a slight.”

“It can’t be repaired?”

“I took it to three of the best seamstresses in Seattle, and all of them said it was too far gone.”

“Did you get any of that in writing?”

“I might have an email from one of them. Why?”

Alyssa’s phone rang before she could answer. “Sorry, got to take this. It’s my grandma.”