Part 65 (2/2)
On the kitchen island sat a clear-wrapped plate holding a cold-cut sandwich on a long roll, two pickle spears and a scoop of pasta salad. Beside it lay a Milk-Bone.
The sticky note read:
Guess which is whose.
”Funny. I guess we eat.”
He picked up the dog biscuit. The minute she spotted it, Barbie dropped her b.u.t.t to the floor while the look in her eyes went slightly crazed. Like a crack addict, he thought, about to take the pipe.
”d.a.m.n it, Barbie. You're a good dog.”
He went out on the deck and ate lunch in the sun with the dog sprawled contentedly by his chair.
His life, he decided, if you didn't count murder, break-ins and clouds of suspicion, was pretty d.a.m.n good right at the moment.
When he went back upstairs, he heard Abra singing. He poked his head into his bedroom first and, since the dog walked right in to explore, went over to see what towel art she'd left on the bed.
Unmistakably a dog, he thought. Especially since she'd fas.h.i.+oned a heart out of a Post-it. On it, she'd written:
BARBIE LOVES ELI
He glanced over, saw Abra had brought up a wide brown cus.h.i.+on. It sat on the floor near the terrace doors. Obviously, the way the dog snuggled into it, it had served as her bed before.
”Yeah, sure, make yourself at home.”
He left the dog to follow the singing.
In his grandmother's bedroom, she had the terrace doors opened wide, though it was a bit cool yet. He saw the duvet clothespinned to some sort of portable pole flapping in the breeze.
And though Hester wasn't there, a little vase of wild violets stood on the nightstand.
A small thing, Eli thought. Abra was good at small things that made big differences.
”Hi. How was your walk?” She picked up a pillow, shook it out of its case.
”Nice. The dog likes to swim.”
She'd noticed as she'd watched them from the terrace, and as she'd watched, her heart had simply glowed-and melted.
”It's a perk for her, being right on the beach.”
”Yeah. She's in on her bed, taking a nap.”
”Swimming wears you out.”
”Yeah,” he said again as he skirted the bed to her side. ”What are you doing?”
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