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I slid another sweet potato through the gate. He yanked it from my grip and hurried away.
“A thank-you wouldn’t hurt.”
He yapped and growled.
But he loved the treat. That felt like a win.
Yara showed up each morning to walk him before taking him to town to her dog shop. When I opened the door for her, she wore the same smile she’d always had. The same smile that made me feel things for her that I wasn’t certain I should be feeling.
“Morning. I brought you a coffee,” she offered, holding it out toward me. “I figured you’d like it black like your spirit.”
I chuckled. “I would argue that, but it is how I like my coffee. Let me guess, you’re a chai tea extra foam upside down, spin around caramel drizzle with five pumps of poison white chocolate latte type of girl?”
She placed a hand on her hip and gasped. “How did you know?”
“I’m a quick study.”
“That’s good to know,” she mentioned. “Because today’s the day.”
“For…?”
“Our first trip to the dog park with Feliz.”
“That’s today?”
“That’s right now. Chop, chop, Mr. Black,” she said. “Let’s go.”
Yara wasn’t kidding when she said she was the dog whisperer. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Feliz was swapped out for another dog whenever she was around us.
When we arrived at the dog park, Feliz instantly took off running with Yara. She was convinced that if she tired him out, he’d sleep through the night. He was still waking after midnight for a few trips outside. Trips that were messing with my sleep.
I watched the two of them dart around with the other dogs and people at the park as I stood with my coffee. Everything seemed all good until someone spoke from behind me.
“Alex?”
The voice made every hair on my body stand. For a moment, I thought about dashing, but then I remembered that Feliz was around the corner with the golden retriever of a woman.
With a deep sigh, I turned to greet the person who said my name. The second I saw her, an old yet familiar rage began to boil throughout my system.
Catie.
I raised an eyebrow and took her in. She looked good. I hated that she looked so good. Her lips were painted a deep crimson, and her jewelry was all silver. She dressed in all black, just like her soul, and she had enough nerve to smile my way.
“Catie,” I dryly replied. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to see you and heard you might be here. The real question is, what are you doing at a dog park? You hate dogs.”
“I never said I hated dogs.”
“Well, you never said you liked them. We never even talked about pets when we were together.”
“Probably because our relationship was based on lies.” I shifted. “Why are you here to see me?”
“I’m here because Mandy and Noah’s wedding is coming up. I figured I should see how we’re doing after everything that went down last year. Plus, I heard about Teresa passing. I’m sorry to hear that.”
The way she brought up Teresa bothered me more than it should’ve. Maybe because my great-aunt hated Catie. She always thought she wasn’t the right one for me. Clearly, Teresa was right.
“You wasted a trip. There’s nothing to talk about. I’ll be fine at the wedding with you there. I’m not a child.”
“I’m bringing Henry,” she said. That felt like a knife to my chest.
“Noah said you weren’t bringing him.”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t going to. But we’ve been together for a while now, and when I look back on my sister’s wedding, I’d like him in the photographs. I wanted to give you a heads-up, so it wasn’t a surprise.”
“You hid your affair with him for a good while, so no need to be upfront with me now,” I bitterly replied.
“I get that you’re hurt because of what went down between Henry and me, but—”
“You cheated on me with him. That’s what went down. That was the end of it, so we need to leave it there.”
“It’s clear you’re not over it.”
Annoyance and anger built within me, but I knew I couldn’t showcase said annoyance and anger. The last thing Catie needed to know was that she still got under my skin.
“Listen, Alex. I understand you’re still hurt by what we did, and you still have feelings for me as you are trying to work through your emotions over the situation, but—”
“I don’t have feelings for you,” I told her. I meant that, too. “It’s been over a year. I’ve moved on.”
The condescending frown she shot my way made my nerves crawl. “I know that’s not true.”
“Why would it be possible for you to move on and not for me? Sure, you got a head start on your current relationship by screwing him during ours, but I have moved on.”
