She found a glass and dropped some ice cubes from the freezer into it before finding the pitcher of lemonade in the refrigerator. “Can I get you some?” she asked Freya, who shook her head, then motioned to the counter where a large opaque cup sat near the window.

“Already got iced coffee.” She set the pan of blondies on the top of the stovetop’s iron grate. “And you’re avoiding the issue. I asked about Slade.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve got lots of problems with Slade,” she admitted. “Too many to count.”

“Hmmm.”

The back door was open, and through the screen door, Val could see the lump of fur that was Bo, sitting quietly on the porch, looking inside the kitchen. So intent was he that he didn’t notice the stray cat slinking across the yard. Merlin, a black tom with a long tail, disappeared around the hedge.

“You’re losing your edge,” Val confided in the dog. At the sound of Val’s voice, he cocked his head and hoisted himself to a sitting position for a better view.

“I see you,” she said, smiling.

God, she missed the old hound.

He thumped his tail on the painted floorboards as she walked outside, the screen door slapping loudly behind her. “You’re a good guy,” she admitted, scratching the hound behind his ears. “You know that, don’t you?”

From inside the house, Freya said, “He misses you.”

“I suppose.”

“I wasn’t talking about the dog.”

“Oh. Slade?” She shook her head. “I doubt it.” Val couldn’t imagine Slade missing anyone, especially not a suspicious wife who was intent on divorcing him.

“I know the signs.” Freya appeared at the other side of the screen, her oversized cup in hand.

“This from a woman who’s had two husbands.”

“And an extra fiancé.”

“And a live-in boyfriend.”

“Don’t remind me.” She walked outside and hoisted herself onto the railing. “But I know what I know, and I see how that guy looks at you.”

“Enough! I get it, okay?” Val placed her cold glass to her forehead to fight the headache that was beginning to form. She closed her eyes, blocking out Freya, Slade, and the whole damned world for just a few minutes. “Didn’t we have an agreement when I moved in that we wouldn’t put our noses in each other’s love lives?”

No answer.

“Freya?” Val prodded. “I distinctly remember—”

“Okay, okay, I’m just sayin’—”

“I know what you’re saying, and I hear you.” Opening her eyes, she sighed, then took a long sip from her glass.

“Want a vanilla brownie?”

“In the worst way. You?”