“So what did you want to tell me?”
“You know how I mentioned expanding the business? What do you think about branching out to the Hamptons? Half our clients escape here in the summer months.”
“But they already have dog-walking services there that they use.”
“Not all of them. I remember Claudia Richards saying that she wished there was a company like ours based here.”
“That’s one person.”
“I’m already walking five dogs.”
“One of those is Charlie. Don’t tell me you’re charging Grams to walk her dog.”
“She insisted on paying.”
>
“Fliss! You can’t take money from our grandmother.”
“Try telling her that. She’s more stubborn than I am. Once she makes up her mind about something, she doesn’t budge.” She couldn’t believe how close she’d become to her grandmother over the past few weeks. “She says that I’m losing work because I’m here with her, and so she’s going to at least pay me for the dog walking. And her friends are paying me, too. At this rate I’m going to be walking half the dogs on the South Fork.”
“I can’t imagine you with pampered pooches. Are you charging double?”
It was a relief to hear her sister laugh. “No. And I’m not walking any pampered pooches. These are all real, down-to-earth dogs.”
“And you’re thinking of making this permanent?”
“Why not? I’ve run the numbers and I think we have a scalable business. If you agree, then we can make it official.”
“But how would this even work?” Harriet sounded anxious. “You’re going to be coming home soon. How would you manage it then?”
Fliss paused. She’d spent hours thinking about the best way to say this. “I was thinking I might stay on a little longer.”
“You said Grams was okay.”
“She is.”
“So why stay? If you stay, you’ll keep bumping into Seth.”
Fliss stared at the wall. “I’ve been bumping into him quite a bit in fact.”
“Oh. That must be awkward for you.”
“Not that awkward. In fact, mostly on purpose.”
There was silence on the end of the phone. “You mean you’ve been seeing him?”
“Well, I wouldn’t exactly—” Fliss transferred her phone to the other hand. “Yes, I’ve been seeing him.”
“How much of him?”
“So far he’s been clothed the whole time, so not much.”
“I meant, how often?”
“Which proves that although we look identical on the outside, our minds are entirely different. I thought you were asking me how much of him I’d seen in the flesh.” And the answer was not enough. Apart from that brief moment on the boat, he hadn’t even kissed her, and it was starting to drive her crazy. “I’ve seen him every day. Twice on some days.” There was another long silence, and Fliss frowned and glanced at her phone to check they were still connected. “Are you still there?”
“I’m here.” Her sister’s voice sounded strange. “Why didn’t you tell me?”