Page 113 of Hound Dog
Haylee slipped her arm around my waist. “Well, it’s nice to finally put a face to all those stories I’ve heard,” I said.
As Maisie took a sip, she eyed me over the lip, sizing me up.
I liked Maisie. She was super cool and reminded me a hell of a lot of Addy and Enzo. And just like Addy and Enzo, this was not a girl to be messed with. I had no doubt she’d have no problem chopping me up and feeding me to the coyotes if I dared to cross her or Haylee.
Too bad she was going to hate me by tomorrow morning. Along with Haylee, Enzo, Addy, Meryl, and just about everyone else in this town. In the short time Haylee had been here, she’d quickly become a town favorite. Loved by everyone.
Maisie nodded, eyes narrowed, then finally said. “I might’ve heard a thing or two about you, as well. It’s nice to meet you finally.”
But her tone didn’t match the words.
Like she already knew I was about to break her best friend’s heart.
I was about to break my own heart, too.
I cleared my throat and looked at Haylee, pulling her gift out of my back pocket and handing it to her. “It’s not much,” I said. “I actually bought it a while ago. Happy birthday, Haylee.”
She grinned and tore open the wrapping with the joy and abandon of a toddler on Christmas morning. “Kaufman’s Field Guide to Birds in North America,” she read the cover aloud.
I looked down at my feet, feeling kind of embarrassed about the gift. It was basically nothing. Tiny. Insignificant. “Yeah. I mean, your copy from the hike was so worn out and it wasn’t even on the top five list of best birding books. This one was number one. I know it’s not much, but…”
Her grin widened. “It’s perfect. Thank you, Finn.”
Beside us, Maisie flipped open the folder that Ben had given her. Her eyes bugged out. “Holy shit,” she said. “Ben put your house on the market and didn’t tell you?”
“Hewhat?” I asked. Jesus Christ. What anasshole.
“Maisie,” Haylee scolded and yanked the folder from her hands. “Boundaries. We’ve talked about this.”
Maisie pulled the folder back from Haylee’s hands, completely ignoring Haylee’s boundary statement. “It also says here that you have offers. Foroverasking price.”
I craned my neck and caught a glimpse of the top offer which was for $409,000. I didn’t know much about real estate in general or Rochester for that matter, but that seemed like a hell of a good offer to me.
Especially since I’d never even seen more than three thousand dollars in my own bank account.
“Oh my God, Haylee. Some of these offers aresogood—”
“Don’t start,” Haylee interrupted Maisie. “I’m already tempted to sell.”
“You are?” I asked.
She blinked and offered me her wide eyes and a shaky smile. “Well, yeah. There’s not much left for me in Rochester anymore. And even though I’m nervous to sell my mom’s house, I still think of it as that: mymom’shouse. Maybe it’s time I findmyhouse.”
Her best friend squealed and threw her arms overhead. A bit of her drink sloshed over the sides of her glass and landed with a splat between the three of us. “This calls for a celebration!” she cried. “I completely agree with you. Which only leaves one question: where will you move?”
“Well,” Haylee said, her eyes darting up to mine. “I really like it here. In Maple Grove.”
For all of a moment, hope and euphoria swelled in me.
The thought of Haylee here, day in, day out. Living here. Working here. It made me so fucking happy.
But then I remembered, she wouldn’t be mine. And just like that, the blow to my heart was so painful, I nearly couldn’t breathe. It was bad enough that she and I couldn’t be together. But at least with 700 miles between us, I could pretend I was over her.
I was torn between the utter bliss of knowing that she wouldn’t be completely out of my life and the torment of knowing I’d have to see her all the time. Watch her as she moved on. View it from the sidelines as she met, fell in love with, and married some other man here in Maple Grove.
My jaw twitched, and I grabbed a pint glass from Addy’s tray as she walked by, then quickly guzzled half of it before she had a chance to object.
Maisie eyed me carefully. Like she knew that on the inside I was fully losing my shit. “Meryl will love having you nearby,” she said, her eyes not leaving mine.
