The Truth

Why do I suddenly care? It’s not like she has to check in with me or isn’t allowed to have interests outside of Fox Industries. Truth is, I have no idea what she does on Saturdays, have never given it a thought, but I find myself curious about what sent her from lazy hangover to instant panic in a single heartbeat.

“Everyone?”

“Long story . . . with an even longer backstory,” Tiffany says airily, waving her hand. “Happy ending, though.”

I look at her sharply, and she recoils. “No! Not like that, not that kind of happy ending.” Then she mutters, shaking her head as she stares at the ceiling. “Why, Tiffany? You could’ve said it all worked out fine, and then it would’ve been okay. But nooo—”

“Why don’t you fill me in? Maybe over dinner? I’ve been here all afternoon and could use a step away from number crunching for this damn contract.”

I gesture toward my desk, strewn with several stacks of paper. Tiffany’s eyes widen in surprise, and I realize that what I just said sounds dangerously like asking my daughter’s best friend out on a date.

And also, an underling at my office. Neither is particularly acceptable behavior.

But . . .

“Not anything questionable. Just two people eating a meal. We can go to Frankie’s.” I only eat at Frankie’s with Elle, a tradition we began when she was a small girl. So taking Tiffany there makes it seem fatherly somehow. Definitely more . . . appropriate.

“Uhm, okay?” she answers, not sounding sure at all. But I am acutely curious about what she did this morning. And about a thousand other things, things that the inner voices in my head are whispering about but I dare not let join my active thoughts.

They’re too dangerous otherwise.

Thirty minutes later, Tiffany and I are sitting at the outdoor picnic tables at Frankie’s Burger Hut, waiting for our food. It’s totally unpretentious, the sort of place where you can expect to get good food at good prices. But only if you’re willing to walk up to the window in the side of the brick building that looks more abandoned than inhabited, with a faded-out painting of a fox and some fresh graffiti, which we did.

I ordered my Stryker special, a black bean burger lettuce wrap, and somehow expected Tiffany to order something similar to Elle’s usual, a gut-busting mess of a burger. But she surprised me again when she also ordered a black bean lettuce wrap. I ordered a beer to drink, but Tiffany had crinkled her cute little nose and said she’d stick with water.

And now we wait for Frankie to call our number.

I fold my hands on the table. “So . . . this morning?”

“Okay,” Tiffany says, pursing her lips for a second as she forms her thoughts. “Okay. You know my brother Ace, right?”

“Know of him,” I admit. “At least I used to. Elle used to talk about him sometimes.”

“Hopefully, it wasn’t too bad. He was all kinds of messed up for a little bit. Rightfully so,” Tiffany says honestly, “but in the past few years, he got his act together. And he met a woman, which shocked the hell out of me, but she’s been so good for him.”

I nod, not knowing the feeling but glad for him.

“Well, the way Ace got his stuff together was with dogs,” Tiffany explains. “He’s got his own place, The Bone Zone. It’s a doggie daycare, but he also does grooming, walking, all that stuff. But he wanted to take Harper somewhere special this weekend, and who am I to deny him a chance at romancing his girl?”

I grin at her phrasing. “I’m sure you wouldn’t dream of telling him no.”

Tiffany snaps her fingers. “Exactly! Anyway, trying to be a good sister, I agreed to cover for him today. Ace made sure there wasn’t anything crazy on the books, no cuts or pedicures—”

“Wait. Dogs get pedicures?” I ask, shocked. “Uhm, with nail polish and everything?”

“Actually, they get pawdicures, and yes, sometimes with polish. But not today,” Tiffany says with a laugh. “I just had daycare, a little bit of playing, stuff like that. But this morning, I’d promised Ace, and I knew the doggos were there waiting for me, so I had to go, even if I felt like something they’d turn their nose up at. Side note, what bubble bath was that? I had dogs licking my legs all day. I’m not sure if I want to never use it again or if it just became my new favorite.”

I laugh aloud at her teasing. “It’s almond honey, so maybe it was the honey attracting the dogs?” She grins in answer. “It sounds like you were being very responsible. I’m sure it’s a big deal for Ace to trust you that way.”

Tiffany rolls her eyes, sighing happily. “Yeah, real responsible and mature, getting dragged across the floor by an undersized plow horse pretending to be a bluetick hound. Oh, then there was Daisy. She . . . sings.”