Fliss looked unhappy. “Say something. Are you flattered or are you about to go batshit crazy? My money is on crazy. Go ahead. Yell or shriek. Throw something, only not a ball or the dogs will try and fetch it.”
Harriet looked stricken. “We’re so sorry, Molly. We never should have let him borrow Brutus, but our business is exploding right now and that dog is a handful, so to be honest we were glad to have someone walk him.”
“And then there’s your romantic side.” Fliss turned her accusing gaze on her sister, who flushed.
“I know this is partly my fault. Fliss thought it was a bad idea, but you have to understand, Daniel has never really shown attachment to anyone or anything. I really thought having responsibility for the dog every day might be good for him. If I’d thought he was going to be unkind—”
Molly thought about the way Daniel had gently removed the stick that had become embedded in Brutus’s fur. “He wasn’t unkind. Not to Brutus.” She couldn’t get her head around it.
He’d borrowed a dog. Brutus wasn’t his.
Anger started to simmer.
“But he didn’t actually lie,” Harriet said, her expression hopeful.
“He lied by omission. He knew I thought the dog was his.” Molly’s legs stopped functioning and she sat down on their sofa, sinking into throw cushions. Something sharp dug into her thigh and she realized she’d sat on a book. She hadn’t even noticed it. She tugged it out from under her leg and saw the title.
Mate for Life.
“That’s mine.” Harriet snatched it from her and tucked it under a stack of other books. “I was hoping for some tips. Although this is too advanced for me. I need the beginner version. Mate for Five Minutes. That would be a start, but unfortunately Aggie hasn’t written that one yet. Have you read it? It’s good.”
Molly made a noncommittal sound. What an irony, she thought. Harriet was reading her book and she had no idea Molly was the author. And it hadn’t crossed Molly’s mind that Daniel was the twins’ brother.
“I thought if Daniel spent time with the dog, he might form an attachment,” Harriet confessed. “I admit I wasn’t thinking about the woman he was chasing. I apologize.”
“Don’t. It wasn’t you, it was him.” She told herself it was normal to feel angry, but the truth was she felt so much more than that. She felt sick.
All her first instincts had been right. The only thing that had confused her had been the dog, and it turned out Brutus wasn’t even his. None of that was real. To think she’d actually been excited about seeing him again and finally accepting his invitation to dinner.
“I shouldn’t have interfered,” Harriet muttered. “It’s not as if Fliss and I make attachments either, so we’re not so different to him.”
“We make attachments,” Fliss protested. “I’m attached to you, and to my clients, and to the dogs I walk. I just happen to not have a man in my life right now.”
Harriet looked at her sister, challenging. “Ever.”
“Being attached to a man comes with strong feelings and when it all goes wrong you have to find something to do with those feelings that doesn’t involve breaking the law. And there’s the fact that I love being single.”
“Daniel did a bad thing, but that doesn’t make him a bad person.” Harriet’s defense of her brother was touching.
“What are you going to do?” Fliss was looking at Molly.
What was she going to do? She didn’t know.
Molly looked at Brutus, snuggled with Valentine. “So what is happening to Brutus?”
“Someone came to see him the other day. They’re coming back to get a second look at him tomorrow, and then there will be a load of checks of course, but if it works out Brutus will have a new home.”
Molly remembered how attentive Daniel had been to the dog in the park the day before. An idea formed in her head, and suddenly she knew exactly what she was going to do.
“Can I borrow him for a few hours?”
“Why?” Harriet’s tone was a shade cooler and Molly realized that although Harriet might seem gentle, she was more than ready to fight for a cause she cared about. And top of that list was vulnerable animals.
“There’s something I want to do. I promise I’ll keep him safe.”
Harriet relaxed. “I never doubted it. But what are you going to do? I must admit, I’m surprised you’re not madder than you are.”
“I am mad.” Molly stood up and this time her legs felt steady. She was still angry, but she was no longer afraid she might break something. “But there are many different ways of letting out that mad.”