The third piece flew, and he restrained himself with a whimper. The fourth slice, though, proved to be too much of a temptation. He was airborne in a blink, sailing over the steps in a single leap, snapping his jaws closed on the ham before it hit the ground.

While he walked the yard collecting his treats and then watering the grass, I ushered Dell inside. I settled her at the table then grabbed glasses and milk from the fridge. We ate in companionable silence, breakfast a quiet race to eat all I wanted before she devoured the rest.

“So, let’s talk about Edelweiss.” Plate cleaned, Dell leaned back. “The last thing I remember is pacing the road after you left. Did you see Ayer? Did she give you anything good?”

“Honestly?” I recalled her catatonic state. “I’m not sure.”

I woke my laptop, which had made the trip into the kitchen with me first thing so I could check for email from Thierry—none yet—and showed her the pictures I’d taken.

“What’s with that weird yellow staining?” She squinted. “It looks like when a guy tries to write his name in urine in the snow.” Her eyes flicked over to me. “What? Guys out here are the reason people need warnings like don’t eat the yellow snow.” She dipped her finger in a small pot of raspberry preserves and licked her finger. “I hope she wasn’t wearing that shirt when it happened.”

“Um, no.” My cheeks heated. “That would be my assistant’s fault.”

“Cord did that?” Her mouth fell open. “Eww.”

“My thoughts exactly.” Eyeballing the squishy package, I couldn’t wait to get it out of my house. “I’m glad someone else gets to explain that to Ayer when she checks out and they reissue her belongings.”

Her head cocked to one side, Dell waited for me to explain what I meant, and I did. I filled in all the blanks from the time I left her on the roadside with Thierry until when Isaac, Aunt Dot and I delivered her to Meemaw. I glossed over the confrontation in the woods with Imogen, or tried to, but Dell coaxed each tidbit out of me in excruciating detail.

“Wow. You actually did it.” She eyed me with newfound respect. “I heard you wiped the forest with Imogen, but it seemed so insane. A rabid wolf is chasing you, and you stop for a challenge? Really? Who does that?”

A tingle of apprehension coasted down my spine. “Who did you hear it from?”

She snorted. “Everyone.”

“I didn’t think anyone else saw.” I had been willing to bet we were alone but for the wolf at the time. “They saw it all and didn’t think to help?”