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One kiss and she put him on the floor with an unspoken promise that she’d take over now. She tiptoed down the hall and really hoped no one saw her. It was a ridiculous thing to do in her own house, but Rachel being in Harris’s private office space seemed pretty ridiculous, too. Stepping into the doorway, Elisa found Rachel immediately.
“What are you doing?” Elisa asked but she could see. Rachel had Harris’s emergency vet bag on his desk and was looking through it.
“Shit!” Rachel jumped back. “You scared me.”
That was the point. “Why are you in here?”
Rachel nodded at the open door across from her. “I needed to use the bathroom.”
The one attached to the office and not the hall bathroom? That didn’t make much sense to Elisa. “How did you even know there was a bathroom in here?”
Rachel’s mouth opened then closed again. She smiled. “You caught me.”
“Doing what exactly?”
“Your house is stunning. Historic properties aren’t really my thing, but I got curious and went snooping. That’s so rude, I know, but I wanted to see what all the rooms on this floor were used for.”
The tone of her voice sounded right. A mix of amused and a bit guilty. Color even rose in her cheeks.
Elisa didn’t buy any of it. Every time she thought she “got” Rachel, something new happened.
“And the bag?” Elisa stared at it and at the bottle on the desk.
“More nosiness, I’m afraid.” Rachel shrugged. “Sorry about that, but I’ve seen these sorts of bags on television. Never in real life, so I wanted to see what’s inside.”
Before Elisa could come up with a line of questions that might get them closer to the truth, Josh walked up behind her. Because of course he did.
“What’s going on in here?” he asked.
Elisa didn’t try to sugarcoat it. Mostly she wanted to see if Josh would have a reaction. “Rachel is digging through Harris’s bag.”
He looked confused. “What?”
“No.” Rachel laughed. “She’s kidding.”
No, not really. “Actually...”
Rachel ignored Elisa’s comment and reached out a hand to Josh. “I’m afraid I was being nosy and looking around the house. I know I should have asked first.”
“And looking in the bag,” Elisa added because that was the part that really mattered to her.
Josh took Rachel’s hand. “I can take you on another tour. The one I did when you first came here was abbreviated.”
They continued to act like they had free rein in her house, as if Elisa weren’t standing right there. “If she wants to see all of the rooms I can take her. This being my house and all.”
If Josh heard the sarcasm, he ignored it. “There. It’s settled.”
Nothing was settled and Elisa needed that to be clear. “My bigger concern is about Harris’s bag.”
Rachel looked stumped. “What about it?”
Elisa wondered if these two had rehearsed this. Elisa’s feelings about Rachel bounced all over the place. She showed up at the least helpful times and tended to just pop in, but at other times she came off as supportive and acted like she understood why Josh’s actions might be problematic. Now... this.
Elisa tried the same question she’d asked earlier. “Why are you digging through the bag?”
“I wasn’t.”
Elisa was so sick of people lying to her. “You’re saying it was on the desk?”
