Page 54 of All We Could Still Have

“Someday, all that’s going to catch up with you.” It probably wouldn’t. Dana had been thin her entire life. It wasn’t fair. We had the same genes. I took a bite of my salad. The sweet taste of a grape filled my mouth. “Thanks for bringing this.”

“I came to talk about Deeogee.”

At the mention of the puppy, I remembered he was penned in on the deck. I leaped to my feet to let him in. He moped inside without looking at me and slouched down at Dana’s side. Oliver was a different dog without Kyle here. He wagged his tail less, slept more, and stood guard by the front door, staring out the window, as if he were waiting for Kyle to return.

Dana bent down and petted his head. The simple gesture was the most attention she’d paid the dog since the day she’d dropped him off. “You’re going to be a Cape puppy.”

Her passive-aggressive way of broaching the subject again by talking to the dog instead of me infuriated me. My jaw tensed. I took a deep breath to relax myself and decided to play along. I reached for Oliver. “You’d rather stay right here in Stapleton, wouldn’t you, boy?”

“No, I’d rather go to the beach.” Dana spoke in a low voice.

I did a better impersonation of my dog. “I’m not going anywhere without Nikki.”

I shot up from the table and stalked across the room toward Oliver’s food. I tossed a biscuit in his direction, and he scrambled to catch it. “What’s he going to do when you’re at work all day?” I snapped.

“Same thing he does when you’re at work. Stay home.”

That’s not true. He goes to work with Kyle.The words rattled through my mind before I remembered they were no longer true. Since Kyle’s confession, I’d been leaving Oliver alone while I was at the office. The headache I’d had since running into the hockey wives early this morning worsened. I sank back into my chair and massaged my temples. “Can we talk about this later?”

Dana’s expression softened, and she slowly nodded. I had the distinct impression that she’d just now remembered what I’d told her on our hike. “Of course. I’m sorry.” She hadn’t said much that day, letting Aunt Izzie do all the talking. I wondered now what my sister thought of Kyle’s cheating.

She leaned across the table toward me. “How are you doing with ...” She stopped and looked up at the ceiling. “With the whole Kyle thing.”

The whole Kyle thing.

“It’s humiliating. I ran into two of the hockey wives this morning. I’m sure they know.”

“You’re being paranoid,” Dana said. Behind her, sunlight poured in through the kitchen window.

I squinted when I answered, telling her everything Missy and Janet had said at the grocery store. When I told her the part about how the women had invited me to ladies’ night at the Penalty Box, where Casey would be singing, Dana’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “We should definitely go,” she said.

“Are you out of your mind?”

“It will give us a chance to watch this Casey person, see what she’s all about.”

“How’s that going to help?”

“You said you can’t believe Kyle’s the father. We’ll find out if she’s sleeping with anyone else.”

“How are we going to do that?”

Dana picked up her burger. Pineapple chunks slipped out the sides and fell to the table. I reached for one and popped it in my mouth. “I’ll talk to her, Nikki. Believe me, I’ll get it out of her.”

“I can’t be there with her when all those hockey wives are there.”

“I’ll go without you.” Dana’s entire body vibrated with excitement, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to talk her out of it. I imagined her at the Penalty Box interrogating Casey between sets with Janet, Missy, and the other hockey wives gawking while they shoveled the pub’s complimentary popcorn into their mouths.

“I want to be there,” I said. “But let’s go when the hockey wives aren’t there.”

Chapter 33

Ever since I could remember, the Penalty Box had been a fixture in Stapleton. For years tourists had seemed to view the rickety, narrow wooden stairway leading to the entrance as a no-trespassing sign, and the place was frequented strictly by locals. A few years ago, the bar had changed ownership. The new proprietors made updates to capitalize on the tourist business, offering happy hour, food specials, and live entertainment and bringing in a fancy chef from the city. Tourists now referred to the pub as one of Mount Stapleton’s hidden jewels.

Tonight was the first time I’d been there since the ownership turnover. To me, the bar looked almost the same as before. The wobbly staircase still led to the entrance, but now a big sign at the bottom readALLWELCOME. Also, the wiry railing that didn’t offer much protection had been replaced with thick wooden banisters. Inside, a citrus scent masked the old stench of cigarettes and stale beer, the rustic oak floors had been resurfaced, and antique skis hung from the ceiling. The biggest difference was the addition of a stage in the far-right corner. I wished it had never been built, because then Kyle might not have ever met Casey.

Dana paused in the restaurant’s entrance and scanned the room. She pointed to the corner of the stage, where Casey crouched, pulling a guitar from a case. Her long auburn hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but a few strands fell across her face.

“Is that her?” Dana’s voice was higher than usual.

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