Page 48 of Fall for Me

She must have seen the question on my face; the one I didn’t mean to pose. A guy’s?

“My friend Mia. Lola is her boyfriend’s dog. Though, boyfriend is a loose term. They’ve only been dating… God, not even a couple of weeks?”

“Why does Mia have the dog?”

“She said something about someone giving him the dog, that he didn’t want it. He has a full-time job, and she doesn’t. Except she has an interview today—right now—that’s why I have her.”

“So what’s going to happen with Lola if she gets the job?”

She frowned. “I don’t know, actually. Lola’s adorable, but she’s a handful.”

“She just needs some training.”

Chelsea studied me a moment. “You know about dogs?”

“A little.” I reached for a bandage. I did like dogs. Some dogs, anyway. Some dogs very much. But I didn’t want to keep going with this line of conversation.

But for once, she didn’t get the hint. Or more likely, she didn’t want to. “Why don’t you have one? Your place would be perfect for a dog. All that space, the walking paths. Plus, they’re a nice non-verbal companion.”

For a moment, I froze. With that smallest comment, she made it clear she knew me. The truth was, I’d thought about getting a dog a hundred times over. But the thought made my chest clamp too.

I met her eyes, briefly. “Kevin had a dog.”

“Kevin?”

“My older brother.”

“Ah.” Chelsea said.

So she knew about Kevin.

She didn’t say anything for a moment, just watched as I took out fresh gauze, scissors, and tape.

She was giving me space to continue.

“She was our family dog, but really, she was Kevin’s. My parents got him when Kev was born, so they were already pretty established by the time I came along.”

“What was the dog’s name?”

“Lois.”

“Lois!”

I grinned. “My dad named her after his kindergarten teacher.”

Chelsea laughed, and the sound sent something tingling over my skin. I cut the gauze to size.

Her laughter died down, and she looked at me with such warmth on her face my heart cracked a little, knowing how her face would turn if she asked the natural follow-up questions. But I realized, for the first time, I didn’t want her to shy away from them. I didn’t quickly change the subject like I normally did, or walk away before she could keep going.

“Did Eli tell you how Kevin died?”

She shook her head.

My stomach churned as I ripped off a piece of tape with my teeth. So I was really doing this. “My brother drowned in the Quince. Lois died a week later.”

Chelsea blanched. Then, “Jesus. I’m so sorry, Seamus.”

I shouldn’t have said it. Fuck, I should have kept my stupid mouth shut. But it was too late now. My heart thudded, the truth out there, raw, vibrating with old pain.

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