Second Chance Girl (Happily Inc. #2)

Everyone had a talent but her, Carol thought wistfully. Violet with her buttons and eye for fashion, Natalie with her mixed-media pieces. Wynn designed posters and banners and everything that could be printed. Pallas created beautiful weddings. Even Silver, who owned a trailer that had been converted to a traveling bar called AlcoHaul made mixology magic at weddings and other events. All Carol did was take care of a bunch of animals. They were special and she was, well, not.

“Nick’s father is a famous artist,” Pallas said, setting the paper bird on her palm. “Everything I’ve heard says he’s really difficult. What if he hates me?”

“He’s not going to hate you,” Silver told her. “You’re too likable.”

“I wish.” Pallas turned to Carol. “Mathias told me he’d asked you to help him with the planning. You’re going to do it, right?”

Violet stared at her sister. “You’re helping plan the wedding?”

“Mathias asked me to, so I agreed. He says he wants a female point of view, but he has Pallas and Maya for that. I think of myself more as his emotional support animal.”

Everyone laughed, then went back for seconds on the tacos. When they were done eating, Silver pulled a tall bakery box out of her bag.

“Okay, I know this is really strange, but it’s cool, too. Tell me what you think.”

She opened the box from the bottom, pulling off the top and exposing what looked like several pink flowers in a flowerpot. Only the flowers were made from meringue, as were the leaves, and the so-called dirt was actually mini dark chocolate chips.

“The flowerpot is cake,” Silver explained. “The fondant icing can be in any color so it coordinates. The same with the flower meringue.”

Carol had never seen anything like it. Judging from everyone else’s look of surprise, they hadn’t, either.

“You could put these on the table,” Pallas breathed. “They’d be decorations and dessert. Tell me you have contact information.”

Silver pulled a business card out of her jeans pocket and handed it over. “Now let’s find out how great this cake tastes.”

She picked up a knife. Carol reached for small plates only to see movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned and saw a tail-wagging beagle racing toward them.

“Sophie,” she called as she rose and walked toward the bounding dog. “What are you doing out here?”

Sophie rushed toward her, then stopped at her feet. Carol crouched down and petted her. “Are you all by yourself? Where’s Mathias?” She scanned the area but didn’t see him anywhere. How on earth had Sophie ended up here?

“Did she escape?” Natalie asked with a sigh. “She’s good at that. Yesterday I couldn’t find her for nearly an hour. It turned out she’d crawled into an empty cabinet in the lunchroom and was curled up there, sleeping.”

“I don’t know where she came from,” Carol admitted. “Our fencing is designed to keep our grazing animals in, not small dogs out.” Sophie could have easily slipped through the slats or ducked under one of the gates. The bigger question was how she got out of Mathias’s place. That had to have been her starting point. There was no way she could have made it all the way here from town.

“Come sit by me,” Carol told the beagle as she returned to her chair.

Sophie followed her happily, then flopped at her feet. Carol kept her in place with bits of chicken and cheese. She kept trying Mathias on his cell only to be sent directly to voice mail.

Lunch broke up about twenty minutes later. They all helped with cleanup. Carol herded Sophie to her car, then stored the extra food in her trunk. No way she could trust the dog in the same space as leftovers. She doubted there was a plastic container made that was Sophie-proof.

“We’ll stop by my place first,” she told her canine passenger as they started down the road. “I need to put the rest of the lunch away, then we’ll head over to Mathias’s place and figure out how you got out. After that I have a meeting.”

Actually a teleconference with Maya to help plan her wedding.

“Let’s see, if you’re Elaine’s little girl and Maya is marrying one of her sons, then she’s your what? Aunt-in-law? Sister-in-law?”

Sophie barked and Carol laughed. “Yes, family relationships are complicated.”

So were boy-girl ones, she thought as she drove toward her house. If only Mathias were slightly less attractive. Or not so interested in sexy bridesmaids. If only she were special enough to capture his attention with wild plumage or gorgeous fur.

She paused, realizing she’d slipped into an animal metaphor, which was okay, as long both she and Mathias were animals in that metaphor. Because if she walked in wearing feathers or some kind of animal skin she was pretty sure he wouldn’t think she was much more than frighteningly insane. Still, it would be nice to be one of those sultry, sophisticated types he seemed to favor instead of just herself.

She pulled into her driveway and quickly unloaded the leftovers, then continued her journey to his place. Sophie jumped out of the car and led the way to the front door.

Carol knocked but there was no answer. She tried the knob and it turned easily, so she let the dog in and followed Sophie.

“Mathias, it’s Carol. I brought your dog back.”

There was no answer, but that was hardly a surprise. The house was huge and Mathias could be anywhere.

Sophie barked, then started down the hall. Carol went with her, through the kitchen and out toward the sunroom where she knew he often sketched.

Sure enough he sat at a big drafting table by the window overlooking the animal preserve.

She took a moment to study his broad shoulders and short, dark hair. He had a pad of paper in front of him. His hand moved, creating more quickly than the eye could follow.

“Hey, Sophie,” he said absently, reaching down to rub her ears. “You just wake up?”

“No, she just got home.”

Mathias turned to stare at her. “Carol. Hi. Did I know you were stopping by?”

“I’m not stopping by. I’m returning your dog. She was out on the savanna.”

He dropped the pencil and frowned. “She couldn’t be. She’s been here with me. We came back here and I let her out to do her thing, then closed the back door.” The frown deepened as he stood. “I know I made sure the door latched.”

They walked to the back of the house where a door stood open. Mathias closed it and checked the lock, then turned to Sophie.

“Now you’re scaring me.”

She wagged her tail.

“Maybe she’s like those dinosaurs in Jurassic Park,” Carol teased. “She’s learning how to open doors.”

“This dog is going to take over the world.” He glanced at his watch. “Come on. We have a meeting at Weddings Out of the Box. I’ll drive.”

Because they were going together? Maybe on the way he would turn to her and express his undying lust. They could pull to the side of the road and...

Carol held in a groan. The side of the road? That wasn’t exactly romantic. She couldn’t even fantasize creatively.

“I have no idea why you want me at the meeting,” she said as he clipped a leash onto Sophie’s collar and led the way to his car. “You’re creative enough for ten people. As for the female point of view, Pallas and Violet will both be there. You really don’t need me.”