Truth About Men & Dogs

by Andrea Simonne

  “Sure. I’ll let you know how things progress with the floor today.”

  We stood there staring at one another. His face had a day’s worth of beard growth, and his black hair needed a cut. He looked more like a pirate than ever. A handsome, roguish one.

  “It’s all going to be okay,” he repeated as he looked down at me and stroked my hair, his face solemn. “I promise you.”

  I nodded and bit my lip, trying not to cry again. I didn’t believe him. I knew he was only trying to comfort me. I also knew how easily businesses like mine went under. I’d read online how the first year was the hardest for any new company.

  After I left in my car, I kept thinking about what I could do to solve this mess. I’d come so far. I couldn’t give up.

  I tried calling Ivy, but of course she didn’t answer. I left a voice message asking her why she was doing this to me. I sounded hysterical, but I didn’t care. She already had Ethan. What more did she want? I considered calling Violet, even Daphne, then realized there was nothing they could do.

  In the end, I only had myself to rely on.

  It was a lesson I’d learned the hard way, and I wasn’t going to forget it now.

  I took a deep breath. I had to toughen up.

  First, I needed to find a lawyer. I figured I’d call my dad’s old law partner. He was retired now, but hopefully he could steer me toward someone reasonable—though I had no idea how I’d pay for it. I could dip into my trust, though it pained me to do it, since I needed every penny for Sullivan House. But what other choice did I have?

  Violet wanted to sell anyway. My stomach ached at the thought. If she sold the house, I’d get some money, but I’d lose my home. I’d be forced to move into an apartment in town, some generic place I’d hate. My birds would hate it too. Every morning, while they were still in their cage, I opened the windows so they could chirp and twitter with all the other birds in the woods. They loved it.

  My heart was heavy. It became even heavier knowing I might lose my business.

  I’d be back to zero again.

  I didn’t mention any of this to Sylvia when I picked her up. As usual, she was friendly, chatting about things with her book and her visit yesterday to the local library. In some ways she reminded me of Eliza, always looking at the bright side of life.

  When we arrived at Mrs. Lamb’s house, it turned out her son, Elliot, was there. Like his mother, he was a teacher—an archeology professor at the University of Washington.

  As I cleaned the house, Sylvia sat with Mrs. Lamb, asking her questions about the town and taking notes.

  To my surprise, Elliot joined the discussion. He seemed genuinely interested in the mystery books Sylvia planned to write.

  I liked Elliot. Right after he hired me, I could tell he was a thoughtful son who always made sure his mom had everything she needed. I had a number of elderly clients, and unfortunately, some of their kids were real jerks. Elliot wasn’t one of them. He was in his mid-fifties, handsome, divorced, with a couple of grown children. He seemed like your classic professor type. He was also quite adventurous and traveled to some pretty out-of-the-way places.

  “Pirates here?” Sylvia questioned. “I always think more of the Caribbean when I think of pirates.”

  “There was definitely activity here,” Elliot said. “Plenty of maritime stories about the Pacific Northwest involving pirates, rum running, and even ghost ships. You’d be surprised.”

  He and his mom told her about the legend of Iron Jim Sallow, a pirate who had buried treasure in the Seattle area. I already knew the story but listened for a while anyway before I left to go do Mrs. Lamb’s weekly shopping. Just as I was headed for the door, I heard Elliot suggest that he and Sylvia meet for coffee, that he’d like to hear more about her book series. I smiled to myself as Sylvia laughed lightly, saying she’d like that.

  Later, when I was done cleaning for the day and arrived home, I was surprised to discover Doug’s truck still sitting in my driveway. I was even more surprised when I went inside the house and found Philip in my spare room, laying down the laminate himself.

  “What are you doing?” I asked. “I thought someone was coming in for this today?”

  He reached over to turn down the radio. It was playing the same alternative rock station I listened to. “The guy never showed.”

  I opened my mouth. “You’re kidding.”

  “When I finally got a hold of him, he was drunk, so I fired him.”

  “You didn’t have to do this yourself though.”

  He shrugged. “Sometimes doing a job yourself is the best way to get it done.” He glanced up at me. “I know how badly you want this room finished.”

  I realized then that he was doing it for me. After the emotional morning I’d just had, between all the tears and worry, I was touched by the gesture. “Thank you.”

  He gave a nod.

  I looked around at the tools and stack of cut boards. “How do you even know how to do all this?”

  Philip explained that as a teenager, he’d worked for Gavin’s dad’s construction company doing whatever odd jobs needed an extra pair of hands. “We both worked for him. In fact, he’ll be here in a few minutes to help.”

  “Gavin’s coming here to help with my flooring?”

  He nodded, pointing at the doorjamb. “I’ve forgotten how to lay the end pieces, but Gavin says he remembers.”

  My phone buzzed, and I glanced down to see it was Leah. “It’s my best friend. I need to answer it.”

  “Sure.” Philip tilted his head. “What’s your best friend’s name?”

  “Leah.”

  When I answered the phone, Leah was already ranting. “That bitch is suing you? Unbelievable.” I’d left both her and Theo a voice mail earlier relaying what had happened. She agreed that Ivy had to be behind the whole thing. “You should countersue them for harassment. Countersue them for everything they’ve got.”

  I listened, but I couldn’t resist lingering in the doorway and getting an eyeful of Philip as he reached over to turn the radio up. His muscular shoulders looked powerful measuring out the floor. Despite my attempt to squelch the memory of us kissing the other night, it kept replaying in my mind.

  I forced myself to turn away. I shouldn’t be allowing these indulgences. It wasn’t like I could act on them, anyway. That kiss was a onetime thing.

  Leah wanted to know exactly what the letter from the lawyer said, so I found it on the kitchen counter, then went outside. I had a seat in one of my plastic Adirondack chairs and read the whole thing to her.

  She huffed. “You know she has to prove damages. That bitch can’t just make this up and expect you to pay.”

  “I’m worried though. What if she damages her own floors and then claims I did it?” I’d been analyzing the situation all day and was seeing all sorts of terrible ways it could go down.

  “There has to be some way to prove she’s lying.”

  I thought about it and remembered something. “You know what? Mona’s nanny was there that night I cleaned. She would know I didn’t damage her floors.”

  “So you have a witness?”

  Amazingly, I did. “I can’t believe I forgot about her being there. How do I get a hold of her though?”

  “Do you know her name?”

  “Only her first name. It’s Taylor.”

  Leah suggested I call the different nanny services in town.

  “It’s a long shot though,” I pointed out. “I mean, she might not want to get involved, especially if Mona is her employer.”

  “True.”

  “This whole thing is crazy. All I did was clean her stupid house.” A wave of anger came over me. “Between Mona and Ivy, they’re going to put me out of business.”

  “No they’re not. Don’t talk like that.”

  There was a sick feeling in my gut. It reminded me of the days and weeks after I’d found out Ethan was cheating on me. The terrible sense that my life had spun out of control, that I had no way to stop
it.

  “We’ll figure something out,” Leah said. “I’ll help you hire a lawyer if that’s what it takes. Don’t worry.”

  I sighed. I appreciated the support, but I couldn’t take money from Leah. She had her small yarn business and her farm. I knew she’d sunk everything she owned into them and was barely getting by.

  “You should have taken Theo up on her offer to infest Mona’s house with those flying tarantulas.”

  I laughed despite myself. “I thought they were cockroaches.”

  “Whatever. I say we have her do both Mona’s and Ivy’s houses.”

  A blue sedan I didn’t recognize made its way down my driveway. I could see Gavin behind the wheel as he parked right behind Doug’s truck.

  “I don’t want to generate bad karma.”

  “Bad karma?” Leah sounded incredulous. “The only bad karma is the tsunami of flying spiders coming Ivy’s way. In fact, I’m going to video the whole thing and watch it with a bowl of popcorn.”

  I laughed some more. In some ways, Leah was more vindictive toward Ivy than I could ever be.

  I waved to Gavin. “I appreciate you coming by to help,” I called out to him as he came closer.

  He grinned and waved back. His eyes roamed over the outside of my house. “Damn, Eliza told me it looked like something out of a fairy tale, but I guess I didn’t believe her.”

  I got up from my chair. “I hear that a lot.” He followed me as I went to open the front door. “I’ll take you to Philip. Can I get you anything to drink?”

  “Who are you talking to?” Leah wanted to know.

  “Nah, I’m good.”

  “Gavin is here to help with the flooring,” I told her.

  “What?”

  He glanced around. “This is really… cute.” His brown eyes seemed to stop on my bed, but then they found the large cage, and he grinned. “Your pirate birds?”

  “That’s them. They’re being quiet at the moment.”

  Meanwhile, Leah was squawking louder than any parrot I’d ever heard. “He’s there right now? Gavin Stone is in your house right now?”

  “Yes,” I said to her, watching as he went over to the cage.

  Philip poked his head out from the spare room. He grinned when he saw me, and I couldn’t help grinning back. He was so handsome. My stomach dipped.

  “What exactly is he doing there?” Leah wanted to know.

  “Well, he’s talking to my birds right now.”

  It occurred to me that I rarely had visitors, and yet there were two hot guys in my house. When had my life taken this crazy turn?

  “He’s here to help Philip lay the laminate in my spare room,” I explained as I walked back outside, realizing I’d left the letter from the lawyer out there.

  “Are you freaking kidding me? Philip’s there too?”

  I reached down for the paper. “Yeah, they’re both helping.”

  “So let me get this straight. You have a couple of billionaires laying down the new floor in your spare room?”

  “Billionaires?” I was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

  Leah didn’t answer because she was too busy laughing.

  I knew Philip was successful, but Leah had to be wrong. “Are those two really billionaires? That can’t be true.”

  She caught her breath. “I don’t know their individual net worth, but NorthStone is worth a fortune. They’ve invested in nearly every major tech start-up from the last decade.”

  I glanced over at Doug’s dented late-model pickup truck. The one Philip had been driving around town. Then there was Gavin’s plain blue sedan parked right behind it. Granted, it was a rental, but it wasn’t exactly glamorous.

  Wouldn’t a billionaire have at least rented a sports car or something? The only thing I knew about billionaires was what I’d seen on television and movies.

  “No way,” I said. “You’re wrong.”

  “I’m not wrong.”

  “They don’t seem anything like that guy.”

  “What guy?”

  “You know, the billionaire guy from those sexy movies.”

  Leah snorted. “Don’t be silly. That’s just fiction.”

  I thought more about those movies. Some parts were hot, but other parts weren’t my style. “Do you think Philip’s into all that bondage stuff?”

  “How should I know?” Her voice took on a sultry tone. “Has he mentioned his ‘special red room’ or how he wants you to sign a contract?”

  “Very funny.” I thought about Philip’s beat-up sneakers. He was wearing them right now. “Unless he’s a billionaire on hard times, I don’t think you’re right.”

  “Trust me, he’s loaded. Not all billionaires are living on private islands. Think about Warren Buffett.”

  I headed back to the house, still doubtful. Leah continued to gush about Philip and Gavin. “They’re badass, but they’re not ostentatious. That’s why I always thought they were so cool.”

  “I have an idea. Why don’t you come over and meet them?”

  I heard her sharp intake of breath. “What do you mean, like right now?”

  “Yeah, right now.” I walked back into the house. The radio was playing a Pearl Jam song, and I peeked inside the door of my spare room. Sure enough, both men were laying down the floor. It looked like they were almost done too. My room would finally be finished.

  “I don’t know.” Leah sounded excited but nervous. “Do you think I should?”

  “Looks great,” I said to them, stepping inside the doorway. “My friend Leah is coming over to celebrate the room’s completion. Do you guys want her to get anything?”

  “Sure,” Philip said. “Maybe have her pick up a pizza. I’ll pay for it.”

  “No, I’ll pay,” I said quickly. “I owe you guys for doing all this work.”

  I could hear Leah shouting, “For God’s sake, let him pay!”

  “Yeah, I’m starved,” Gavin agreed. “Have her get two pizzas. One of them pepperoni and mushroom. And maybe some cold beer.”

  “Did you hear that?” I said to her. “Two pizzas. Cold beer.”

  There was silence on her end of the phone, and I suspected she was lying flat on her back on her living room floor.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” she muttered. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  ~ Claire ~

  “I think I’ll call Theo too,” I said, still standing in the doorway with the phone in my hand after hanging up with Leah.

  Philip looked over at me. “Theo?”

  Even Gavin had stopped what he was doing and seemed interested.

  “My other best friend.”

  Philip’s mouth gaped. “Your other best friend?”

  I dialed Theo’s number. Happily, she picked up right away. She wanted to know about Mona suing me, but I said I’d explain it all to her later. I told her about Philip and Gavin working on the room. “It’s nearly finished, and we’re going to celebrate with pizza and beer. Do you want to come over? Leah’s already on her way.”

  “Sure.” She paused. “Have you kissed Philip again since last time?”

  “No.” I felt embarrassed since he was standing right there watching me.

  “Why? Come on, he’s hot. I think you owe it to yourself to use him for sex.”

  “Um….” My face grew warm. I hoped Philip couldn’t hear any of this conversation. “Let’s talk more later,” I mumbled.

  “All right, fine.” She told me she’d be over after she wrapped up a few things.

  Philip’s eyes were still on me as I hung up. I got the impression he was trying to decipher my phone call.

  “She’ll be here soon,” I told him.

  “She?” His brows went up. “Theo is a female?”

  “Theo is short for Theodora. You met her briefly—Leah too—when we ran into each other at Bijou's. She’s tall with red hair. Don’t you remember?”

  “I did?”

  I nodded.

>   Gavin smirked. “I think Theo’s name nearly gave Philip a heart attack.”

  Philip rolled his eyes and looked at me. “Ignore him. He always likes to make trouble.”

  While the guys finished up the floor, I made sure my birds were fed and had fresh water. My house was too small for everyone, so I put a blanket outside and then moved the two Adirondack chairs in closer. I brought in a couple more lawn chairs from the back so my guests would have a place to sit.

  By the time Leah arrived, Philip was in the kitchen washing his hands.

  Gavin moved my boom box radio outside. “It’s nice out,” he said as he came back into the kitchen and snagged a beer from one of the packs Leah had brought. He put his hand out to her and introduced himself. “I’m Gavin.”

  She nodded with wide eyes and shook his hand, though she didn’t speak.

  Philip grabbed a beer and shook hands with her too. “Apparently we’ve met already. Thanks for picking up beer and pizza. What do I owe you?”

  “Nothing,” I interjected. “I’m paying as a thank-you, remember?”

  Philip gave me a funny look before the guys helped carry the pizza outside along with plates and napkins.

  “Should we invite Eliza and your mom?” I asked Philip after we took a seat.

  “Eliza has rehearsals tonight,” Gavin said, popping a slice of pepperoni into his mouth. “Sylvia wasn’t around. I think she said she was meeting someone for coffee.”

  Philip brows drew together. “Meeting someone?”

  “Oh, I think it’s Elliot.” I turned the cap off my beer. “He invited her out earlier.”

  Philip considered me. “Who is Elliot?”

  I explained about Mrs. Lamb’s son, though I could see right away that Philip wasn’t thrilled.

  “What do we know about this guy? Is he okay?” he asked.

  “He’s okay. He’s great, actually,” I told him.

  When Theo showed up, we were all still on our first beer, though the guys had already devoured a few slices of pizza. More introductions were made. I got up to give her my lawn chair and moved to the blanket.

  To my surprise, Philip came over with his plate and beer and sat next to me. “I wouldn’t want you to get lonely over here,” he said with a grin.