I raise my brow. “Wow. Woooooow,” I say, pretending to be offended. “You promised both of us ice cream? What’s her name, Micah? I thought you said I was special.”

His lips do that quirk thing, and he sighs, faking exasperation. “Her name is Elizabeth, and she’s five.”

“A younger woman, then.”

He shakes his head with a grunt. “Lizzy, get to bed.”

“You promised!” Even from here, I can see her lips quiver, and I immediately melt into a puddle of goo. A voice from inside calls for her, but she doesn’t budge. Micah huffs, passes me the leash, and walks toward her. I follow at a distance, intrigued, pulling the dog. I’m an only child, and I’ve never had a pet. This entire detour is fascinating.

“Listen, Lizzy. It’s too late to take you tonight. But I promise I’ll check if there’re any ‘mistakes’ and bring one home for you.”

“Who are you?” she asks, looking at me and blinking huge eyes.

I love this kid. She’s direct. I wave with my free hand. “I’m Meg. Nice to meet you.”

“I like your hair,” she says.

“And I like your style,” I say. She glances down at her Frozen Elsa nightgown and spins once.

“I don’t think it will fit you.”

“Oh, man. Bummer,” I say, tucking away my grin.

“Well, as fun as this is, we should get going. Lizzy, go to bed. Tell Mom…” He pauses, straightening. “Never mind. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Lizzy goes inside, and we head out toward our original destination. I pass the dog back.

“This is Cash. He’s been cooped up all day, do you mind?”

“Are you kidding?” I stop, reaching for the pup and scratching his ears. He turns his head to lick my hand, and I giggle. “Easy, Cash, not on a first date.”

“So,” I say after we’ve resumed walking. “It’s new for you, too, huh?”

“Hm?” He turns to me.

“I just mean the whole living-on-your-own thing. Not having to check in.”

“Oh. Yeah.” He makes a face. “It’s this sort of weird situation.”

I think he’s going to say more. He doesn’t. I watch as Cash’s tail wags back and forth. He is the epitome of happy, and somehow, he’s made Micah 100 percent more attractive in the last five minutes. Well, that and promising his little sister ice cream. Holy bananas, this might’ve been a bad idea.

I clear my throat. “How so?”

“Hm?”

“How’s it weird?”

“Um. Just the … Well. You see how young Lizzy is? So, there’s me, I’m the oldest. And then Eve and Rachel who are twins. They’re seventeen. Then my dad, um … My parents split. A few years ago, my mom married Brian, and they had, um, three more kids. Lizzy, Zeke, and Eli, who’s a baby.”

“Wow, that’s a spread.”