Page 66 of The Words We Lost

I would need a quick shower before I’d be suitable for the public eye as I currently resemble a character from Whoville. Messy buns are no longer considered trendy after they’ve been slept in, worked in, and dusted by cobwebs.

And if possible, my walking fashion disaster look is actually worse from my neck down.

Joel

It’s actually for Rita. I was thinking I’d be home to take her by now, but I had a few meetings pop up and Madison is going out of town for the evening.

It’s impossible to see her name and not remember the conversation from yesterday. “I can’t speak for how she may or may not feel about me, but she knows exactly where I stand with her. She’s a friend. Nothing more.”I delete my first attempt at a reply and try again, this time with an exclamation point as if it can erase the awkwardness I’m not sure how to let go of when it comes to her.

Ingrid

Sure!

Joel

Great, thank you. Two fur balls in this office is two too many. I’ll ask M to drop her off at the cottage. She’s probably already en route. I’ll call you in a bit to check in.

Also, how about I make you dinner tonight—fish tacos? I can pick you and the pink princess up at five-thirty. That work?

My brain short-circuits as I realize Joel’s text means that Madison the Fashionista is on her way here—tothiscottage—in mere minutes. I stare down at the dusty knees of my pj pants and then at my braless sleep tank and hightail it across the open driveway through the kitchen door. I’m yanking the sad bun from my hair at the same time I’m brushing my teeth over the bathroom sink when I hear the electric security gate slide open out front.How did she get here so quickly?I barely have time to pull on a sports bra and a clean pair of jeans before the doorbell rings. I open Cece’s dresser in search of a clean T-shirt but the drawer is bare. I try a second one, and a third, and they’re empty, too.

I swipe the zip-up hoodie I discarded onto the corner chair after my last beach combing excursion and tug it over my head before racing down the hall to pull the door open. A smiling Madison is waiting on the other side in a short denim skirt, a red flutter-sleeve blouse, and trendy tan wedge sandals. Naturally, she’s adorable. Rita is not dressed in human clothing today, but she is wearing a rhinestone collar that should come with a warning that reads: Retina Protection Required.

“Hi, Ingrid.” Madison smiles sheepishly with her puppy clutched to her chest. “I’m sorry. I really hate to intrude on you like this. My mom’s allergic to dogs, and Allie is still in Port Angeles on a restaurant supply run. Are you really okay with this?”

And just like that, I remember how much I like her again. The Spencer sisters are nothing if not completely disarming.

“Of course, happy to help. Come on in.”

“Actually, if I can just hand Rita off to you, then I can bring in her sleepover stuff.”

“Right, sure thing.” I take a very happy Rita from her dog mom and watch as Madison dashes back to her Mini Cooper for a monogrammed pink duffle bag and a pink plastic dog pen. It’s an effort to press the smile from my lips. Madison’s love for Rita is next level, and it’s far more endearing than I would have expected.

She slips past me into the kitchen and begins to set up the doggy daycare center she’s carried into the living room. Rita whines in my arms for me to put her down.

“Oh, that’s her potty whine,” Madison says matter-of-factly as she snaps together a miniature corral. “Her leash is in the side pocket of her duffle there. Once you walk her out to the grass, she’ll do her lady business quickly for you.”

I take Rita to the grass and find Madison’s assessment of her puppy’s potty manners to be accurate. By the time we’re inside the house again, Madison has laid out a dog bed, food and water dishes, and set a few toys in the pen.

“There we go. I’ve measured her food out in bags for tonight and tomorrow. Also, she should be pretty content to play in here, so don’t feel like you need to entertain her or anything. This is how I take her with me to the shop, too. Although, it’s rare someone isn’t carrying her around like a baby.”

I’m beginning to suspect Madison is thesomeoneas she kisses Rita’s head and then sets her down in the pen. After commenting on the cuteness of Rita as she cuddles with her favorite stuffed squirrel, Madison worries her bottom lip and glances up at me with a curious look of uncertainty. “If you’re all good, then I should probably get on the road. I’m headed to Seattle, and you know how bad traffic can be the closer you get to rush hour.”

I eye her fidgeting hands and wonder if she’s nervous about leaving Rita. “We’re all good here, really. I can text you though if—”

“It’s a date.”

I blink. “What?”

“What I’m doing, the reason I’m going to Seattle. It’s a new thing. Well, an old but new thing, ya know?”

No, I definitely don’t know, but I smile at her encouragingly because Madison looks on the verge of passing out, and puppy sitting isn’t really on the same page as giving mouth-to-mouth to an unconscious acquaintance. “Would you like a glass of water?”

“Actually, yes, that would be nice. I’m just ... I’m nervous.”

I move to the sink and fill up a glass with tap water. She accepts it with a grateful smile.

“His name is Carter. We met years ago when I was on a West Coast summer dance tour—it was pretty casual back then since we technically weren’t allowed to date anyone on our production team.” She shrugs. “He ran the show lights. But he found me online a few months ago and we’ve been talking on and off ever since. I’m going to meet his parents and his sister tonight—they have tickets toWickedand invited me to stay overnight at their farm afterward.”

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