“I’ll look forward to that.” He glanced over. “Here comes Bree.”
This time the chef scooted Trey over to look directly at Sonya. “I can’t look in your eyes with a text, so tell me again you didn’t overcook the scallops or pasta.”
“You scared me enough on that. I set timers. My mother was so shocked and impressed she forced me back to the kitchen on Saturday and whipped me through a chicken dish. So my thanks is qualified by fear and annoyance, as she told me she’s going to teach me a different dish whenever she visits.”
“Didn’t she ever teach you growing up?”
“She tried. I’d chop and stir if cornered. But I was slippery, and I stand as one of her few failures.”
Bree nodded, considered. “I still like you. Rock Hard’s back in Ogunquit next week,” she told Trey. “I’m going next Monday. You should come. Bring her. I gotta get back.”
She hopped up, took off.
“So.” Sonya picked up her wine. “She and Manny have solidified their thing.”
“Looks that way. Do you want to go hear some music next week?”
“I would. Rock Hard and Manny live bold in my imagination. But Cleo’s coming in a few days. I don’t want to ditch her for an evening so soon.”
“Does she like music?”
“She does.”
“Owen will definitely be up for going. We could make it a group thing.”
“It sounds like fun. I’ll ask her. But then there’s Yoda.”
“My parents take on Mookie if I’m going to be gone more than a couple hours. They’ll take Yoda.
“Think about it. Ask Cleo.”
She would, and did some of that thinking on the drive home.
“I should get Yoda a doghouse. The weather’s breaking, and he’d have somewhere to chill when he’s outside.”
“You should ask Owen to build him one.”
“Owen builds doghouses?”
“Not for everybody, but Owen can build anything. You should see the one we built for Jones. It’s a dog palace. It’s got Wi-Fi.”
“Get out of here.”
“It’s heated, with a circulating fan to cool it in the summer, two bunks, in case he has a pal over like Mookie last weekend. It’s got a frigging porch, windows—with screens.”
“You said ‘we built.’”
“I’m just the free labor. He’s the genius.”
Which explained his workingman hands, Sonya thought.
“Does Mookie have one?”
“Mookie’s is more of a playhouse. He’s still a kid, really, and he lacks Jones’s taste for the finer things.”
“Does it have Wi-Fi?”
“It does not.” He pulled up at the manor. “Mookie also lacks Jones’s spookily superior intellect. I’m not sorry about that. But it has its amenities.”
“Yoda wants one.”
“Discuss it with Owen,” Trey said as they walked to the door. “He believes in the barter system.”
After the dogs greeted them, and everyone had a walk around, Trey took her hand at the door.
“I’d like to stay.”
Her answer was to pull him inside with her. “Did you think you were going somewhere?”
* * *
He woke when the clock struck three, and beside him she stirred. Pulling her close, he pressed his lips to her hair.
“Not tonight. Just sleep.”
If she dreamed, she didn’t remember, and fell smoothly back into routine.
By midday she had a selection of photos to consider for the Doyle project. Asking Corrine, she decided, had been the perfect move. Not only good photos, but the woman knew all the subjects, and it showed.
She didn’t think twice about which to use of Trey.
His mother caught him leaning back against his desk, his phone at his ear. Untucked shirt, dark jeans, scarred boots crossed at the ankles.
It captured his calm energy. A contradiction in terms, she thought, but that was Trey Doyle.
Just as she’d captured her father-in-law, in his three-piece suit, glasses at the tip of his nose as he pulled a law book from the shelf.
“These are good, they’re damn good. Let’s make them work.”
She spent the rest of the day on it, and most of the next.
And in her opinion, it did work, and well.
In anticipation of Cleo’s arrival the next day, she took Yoda into the village for some supplies and flowers.
On her way out again, her phone rang. She tapped the button on the steering wheel to answer.
“This is Sonya.”
“Hey, Sonya, Anna. I’m right behind you.”
Sonya glanced in the rearview. “Oh, well, hi.”
“I don’t suppose I could talk you into turning around. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee. I was going to text you. I’d like to talk to you about a couple of things.”
“I’d turn around, but I’ve got the dog with me. Why don’t you come up? I’ll buy you the decaffeinated beverage of your choice.”
“Love it, thanks. I’ll see you in a few.”
* * *
While Sonya chose happy daffodils for Cleo’s room, Cleo pulled up in front of the manor.
As she didn’t see Sonya’s car, she considered the wisdom of her one-day-early surprise. With a shrug, she decided she’d just haul some of her things to the front door, then send Sonya a text.
She muscled out a suitcase, pleased that spring teased the air instead of winter biting it. If Sonya planned to come back soon, she’d wait. If she planned not, well, she’d just drive down to the village and do some exploring until.
After dragging the suitcase to the door, it opened.
“Hey. I didn’t think you were home, I…”
Sonya didn’t stand there. No one did.
She hesitated, then squared her shoulders. She’d live here, so she’d better get used to it. When she walked in, the music pumped. Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s “Welcome Back.”
“I’ll take that as a good sign.”
As a precaution, she propped her suitcase against the door. It weighed a ton because she had a ton of clothes. And wasn’t sorry.
She hauled her second one, then her weekender, then the last of her boxes before shutting the door.
She looked at the staircase, looked at her suitcases. Sighed.
She still wasn’t sorry.
She’d pulled, yanked, carried the first to the landing when the banging started.
And the servant’s door creaked open.
She heard the bell, dim but insistent. She stepped toward it.
Chapter Twenty-three
Sonya spotted Cleo’s car when she made the turn, and everything in her lit up bright.
She pulled up, jumped out. She expected to see suitcases, boxes when she peered in.
“Either you bought a second car or you already have company.”
Anna walked over to Sonya.
“It’s Cleo’s. I didn’t expect her until tomorrow.”
“The friend who’s moving in. What a nice surprise. Listen, I’ll take off, leave you two alone to get her settled in. We can do this later.”
“No, come in.” From her car, Sonya grabbed the flowers and grocery bags. “You should meet her. Wherever she is. She must be inside. I don’t know how because I always lock up when I leave.”
They walked to the house together.
“See?” At the locked door, Sonya took out her key. Yoda raced in first and sniffed at the suitcases.
“Her things. Cleo!” Her voice just echoed back. “Hell with that.” Taking out her phone, she texted.
Where are you?
The response took a minute.