Wallis cried out. I think I might’ve cursed. Melinda Darley definitely did, and all appearances of civility dropped from her face like an anvil in a cartoon. Crabtree, with all the intelligence of one of the birds he so desired, jerked free of Wallis’s grasp and made for the hills. “I’m sorry!” Wallis exclaimed as she gave chase, Atlas close behind her. “I’m so, so sorry!”

One of Melinda Darley’s staff had procured a wet wipe, and she was rubbing the stains irritably.

“He’s not our dog,” I pointlessly explained. “I just—we’re sorry. Excuse me, I better go help my sister.”

“Daisy.” Before I could make my getaway, she laid a hand on my forearm.

“Ma’am?” I said.

She quit work on the stain, gave the trash to her staff. Then she was leaning in, encouraging me closer. I noticed the blond fuzz on her cheek, the wool of her suit jacket, which she wore as easily as someone might wear pajamas.

“Your father,” she said, “I didn’t know him well, but he told funny jokes. His punch lines, I mean, they were really good.”

This—from a woman who’d publicly accused my father of being a traitor and me and my boss of being morally unfit. Had I been unfair? I was caught off guard. “Thank you,” I said, as sincerely as I could.

“You’re a smart woman, right?” she asked, a finger tapping the corner of her mouth.

It took me a beat to pivot. “I’d like to think so.”

She pressed her lips together, hummed. “Surely, you’ve already calculated cost/benefit of your sister’s relationship with my son.”

“They’re very happy together,” was the only response I could muster.

“That sounds like a shrug off.” Again, with the lip press and the hum. “It isn’t good,” she said softly, “for either of us. You see that, right?”

Yes, I did see that. On paper, their relationship wasn’t sensible, but I’d made the effort to get to know Blake, and the kind of person he was outside of his family. “My sister is a good person.”

“So is Blake.” She surveilled me, managing to look down her nose even though I was taller.

“Well, in that way, they are a good match.” It felt odd to be defending a couple I had been so wary of a month ago, but the evidence of their love was everywhere, and all of us, even Melinda Darley, would have to heed it.

Wallis reappeared from behind the trees, lunged for the leash and missed. Then she was out of sight again. I should have run off to assist, but I had to hear, as unreasonable as it was, what came next.