Page 42 of Fall for Me

Chelsea

Mia was waiting for me at our agreed-upon meeting spot a couple of blocks down from her interview. She was struggling with a franticly barking Lola, who pulled hard on her leash to greet me as I stepped out of my car.

The weather was starting to cool, and downtown was now festooned with Halloween decorations. It was sunny and crisp out.

I laughed as I knelt down to greet Lola, remembering how good I’d felt playing with her in Mia’s car the other day. I was looking forward to this, even though I could already tell Lola was going to be a handful out of a contained space.

Mia pulled Lola back down as she tried to jump on me, giving me a grateful smile. “Chelsea, you’re a lifesaver.”

I stood up and gave my friend a quick hug. “I don’t mind. Lola and I are pals, right Lola?”

In response, Lola jumped up on me again, nearly knocking me over.

“Sorry,” Mia said, pulling on Lola’s leash.

I took it from her. “You look nice.” Really, she looked stressed; frazzled, with her hair falling out of the bun she’d tried to wrangle it into. My heart squeezed for her. And a flare of anger hit me too, at Mike, who I didn’t even know, but couldn’t believe had foisted this rambunctious puppy on her.

“Hardly,” Mia said. “But you do too, Chels.”

Mia had this look on her face that I knew meant she was being genuine, but had an edge of pity to it too. Her eyes lingered on my bandage.

But I brushed it off, taking the leash from her. “Anything I need to know?”

Mia handed me a cloth shopping bag, opening it to reveal a zip-bag of dog food, several little white poop bags, and a spare leash. At least she came prepared.

“I shouldn’t be more than an hour,” she said, “but just in case.”

Mia had told me her interview was at a jewelry shop that had just opened up at the end of the block and that they need someone right away.

We made plans to meet back here in an hour. “Wish me luck,” she said over her shoulder as she rushed toward the shop.

I wondered just how late she was.

Looking down at Lola, I smiled. “Well, guess it’s just you and me, huh?”

Lola licked her lips and seemed to smile back, and I laughed.

She barked, then panted, her tongue lolling.

In truth, I was more than happy to be here, hanging out with Lola. When I texted Jude, he’d been disappointed, but then told me he’d probably have even more information about the cipher when we met again in a couple of days, the next time he was available. I could already see how that would go—Jude going on excitedly about the clues but then asking me about how the scars were doing; how I was doing; what my plans were…

And I didn’t know the answer to those last two.

Meanwhile, Lola didn’t ask anything of me. She also didn’t turn her gaze sideways when she looked at me to avoid staring.

The only human remotely like that seemed to be Seamus Reilly.

I leaned down to ruffle her fur. “You’re the best girl, aren’t you?”

I could swear she nodded her head.

After hooking the bag onto my shoulder, I looked around. I’d thought about getting back in my car and heading down to the other side of the river, where there was a secluded walkway that ran along the Quince, but my eyes went to the street up ahead. Indigo was only a half block away.

Lola was already tugging on the leash, her attention torn between the tufts of manicured brush and the garbage bins on the street.

I’d just walk her here. Indigo intersected the more urban walkway on this side of the river, anyway; lots of people took their dogs for walks there. Relief washed over me, knowing I had a normal, non-looking-for-Seamus reason to go down that street. Not that it was weird to want to know where his office was. I’d be curious about any friend. And that’s what Seamus was—a friend.

Lola pulled hard, dragging me over to a spot on the curb she found deeply interesting for some reason, and nearly pulling me right into a portly man in a suit staring at his phone. He jumped as I apologized for the dog, and looked like he was going to smile, then blanched as he took in my face. My stomach tightened, and I called out to Lola. The man quickly strode away.

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