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Blake’s shoulders drooped. What a loser she was. On all counts. Aside from the fact she was too old at twenty-eight to have her big bro taking care of her, she knew living every day around Harper and Marni with their new baby would be like pouring salt on a wound. She would never tell them her secret, would never want to dampen their happiness, but she just could not handle that right now.
“Thanks, Harper. You and Marni are so generous, but I will work this out. I shouldn’t have called you. I apologize for being such a wuss. I’m just jittery tonight. Probably drank too much coffee.”
“Do you want me to come over right now?” he asked her. “I could be there in twenty minutes with a state-of-the-art flashlight and check out the grounds.”
“What? No,” she said, completely ashamed now. “You need your sleep.”
“Not really. You know I always have more energy than I can burn in a day. I could hang out with you till morning.”
“Oh, I’m sure Marni would just love me for that.”
“She wouldn’t mind,” Harper said. “You are my baby sister, ya know.”
“Well, right now I am definitely acting like a baby and I am really sorry about that.” She blew out a sigh. “I can’t believe I called you in the middle of the night. I don’t know what got into me.”
“Stop it, Blake. You can call me anytime, any place. You hear me?”
Grateful for the warmth he’d always surrounded her with, she said, “You are the best brother anyone could ask for, but you have enough on your plate without needing to worry about me. I think I should just get a dog.”
“A dog would be a great idea.”
“Yeah, Elena said pets were okay here as long as they don’t ruin her furniture. And I haven’t had a dog since I was in high school. Remember Tawny? ”
“I sure do.”
“He slept on my bed each night, guarding me.”
Harper chuckled. “Yeah, he ignored the rest of us but would do anything for you.”
Blake smiled at the memory. “Okay, that is what I’m going to do. Get a nice big dog.”
2
The next morning Blake shuffled around the living room and kitchen, picking up the wrappers and cartons and the remains of all her late night snacks. Frozen pizza, granola bars, yogurt, ice cream, and a whole box of peanut butter crackers. Pathetic. She had finally gotten about forty minutes of sleep dozing on the sofa where she’d spent the rest of the night flipping through TV channels—with the sound off so she could listen for any sign of an intruder.
In the light of day, she laughed at herself and analyzed the situation with more clarity. The downhill tumble of her marriage two years ago after getting downsized from the university, then starting over alone back east, only to lose her latest job just as she was finally feeling settled, was…well…unsettling. She had been knocked off her feet again and simply had to regain her balance.
Her phone buzzed and Blake was not surprised to see it was Harper. Picking it up, she said, “I’m sorry about my frantic phone call last night. I am so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be,” he said. “You just lost your job, for God’s sake. And I know how hard it is to get those college teaching positions in your field. That would put a lot of people into a paranoid state.”
“Thanks for understanding. I think I will be fine here if I just get a dog. In fact, I remember seeing an animal shelter when I drove to your house the other night and I’m going to head over there today.”
“No need to do that. I’ve already got it solved for you. Come to lunch at noon.”
“At The Blue Albatross?” Harper owned a bar restaurant in Greenport with their uncle.
“No, at my house. Marni is doing something with a friend and taking baby Jack with her and I’m not due in to work until three. That should give you plenty of time to get acquainted with Morgan. You’ll really like him.”
Blake laughed. “Morgan, huh?” So, Harper had already gotten her a dog. Typical of her can-do hero-to-the-rescue brother. “Okay. What can I bring?”
“Just yourself. Listen, I’ve got to run now. See you at noon.”
Blake spent the morning looking through job listings. The art and technology institute where she had been teaching a few history and world culture courses had handed her a pink slip at the end of the summer session. She’d been a recent hire, not even full time, so they owed her nothing when her contract was up, but still, she had been working like mad in hopes of being taken on full time and given a full course load.
It was already September. Too late to get a teaching position for the fall semester. She might be able to land something by January if someone left unexpectedly, but even that was difficult. Could be she would not find anything until next fall, but she was going to try like mad to land a position by next summer.
By eleven o’clock, her eyeballs were ready to fall out and she could not read through one more list. Stretching her back and finger massaging her neck, Blake got up and headed for the shower.
