Milo moved a little closer to make room on the path for a couple pushing triplets in a giant red stroller. The two of us brushed shoulders. “Sorry,” he said.
“It’s okay.”
The spot where we touched felt warm.
Even though the family had passed, leaving the path wide open, Milo stayed close. Not touching me, but almost.
“You know, if you walked a few dogs at once, you could add a bunch of new clients and make more money,” said Milo.
“I guess.” I shrugged. “But any more might get confusing. I can only keep track of so many house keys. And I don’t want to push things with my parents. I’m already lucky they agreed to let me keep this job, since they’re so obsessed with me finding enough time for schoolwork.”
“Maybe we could join forces,” said Milo. “Be a dog-walking duo.”
I frowned up at him. His floppy hair was still pretty floppy, his eyes bright—no longer so troubled.
When I didn’t answer him he looked away. “Or not.” He shrugged, bent down to pick up a stick, and tossed it. “Just something to think about.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Okay?” he asked.
“No, I mean, okay I’ll think about it.”
By the time we dropped off Nofarm, the sun had started to set and it was nearly six o’clock. My parents wouldn’t want me walking dogs in the dark. Once winter arrived, it would be hard to fit them all in. Of course, Isabel and Preston would be in Paris after the first of the year. But three was still a lot to manage.
Maybe it would be good to get some help, to add more clients.
I glanced at Milo, but only for a quick second, because I didn’t want him to think I was checking him out.
The thing is, I really liked him. But did I want to work with him? It seemed like a big commitment. And still kind of soon.
Plus, how could I be sure he wasn’t going to have a relapse and fall back into his habit of dog borrowing?
Maybe he’d object to all of Cassie’s doggie clothes and decide to teach her a lesson by taking Bean.
Or maybe he’d decide that Beckett’s family’s tiny apartment wasn’t fit for a dog as energetic as Nofarm. Okay, I knew the odds were slim, but you never knew. People are surprising.
Of course, I didn’t say any of this out loud because I didn’t want to spoil the moment. So we continued to walk in silence, heading off together into the sunset. But not in that “happily ever after” way. I mean, I was happy. And the sun happened to be setting, the sky radiating warm pink and orange light, just like in a painting. Except better because it was real.
I could picture what we looked like from the outside: a girl and a boy walking together. And, well, you know …
It’s funny how pictures don’t necessarily lie, but they don’t tell the whole story, either. You really have to look closely. Consider each angle and weigh every possibility before you Connect the Dots.
Because even though on the surface this looked like a happy ending, it wasn’t the end. Not by any stretch.
It was only the beginning.
We parted ways at Garfield and I continued walking alone, passing lots of brownstones along the way. Some were reddish brown like mine. And some were white or olive green or blue, and one was even Pepto-Bismol pink. It occurred to me that people lived in every one. People with complicated lives and probably plenty of mysteries, too.
I could do something about that.
Be more than Maggie Brooklyn, Dog Walker.
This was the perfect time to try something new. Turn myself into Maggie Brooklyn, the Dog-walking Detective.
Or perhaps I already had.
Acknowledgments
♦ ♦ ♦
Special thanks to my Brooklyn research team of tweens for reading an early draft of this story and telling me which parts had to be cut because they were boring or confusing or just kinda dumb: Megan Superville, Layla Beckhardt, Julia Candea, Sophie Nauman, and Zack Palomo. Megathanks to Laurence Richardson for sharing the ins and outs of dog walking in the Slope.
This book would not exist without Michelle Nagler, editor extraordinaire. Thanks to her and to everyone else at Bloomsbury, including Melanie Cecka, Caroline Abbey, Jennifer Healey, Nicole Gastonguay, Donna Mark, Vanessa Nuttry, Rebecca Mancini, Stacy Cantor, Ben Holmes, Deb Shapiro, Beth Eller, and Diana Blough.
Finally, I’m eternally grateful to Laura Langlie, Coe Booth, Ethan Wolff, Jessica Ziegler, Amanda McCormick, and my incredibly supportive and highly entertaining family: Jim, Leo, Lucy, and Aunt Blanche Margolis.
ALSO BY LESLIE MARGOLIS
Boys Are Dogs
Girls Acting Catty
Copyright © 2010 by Leslie Margolis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher
First published in the United States of America in October 2010
by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers
E-book edition published in October 2010
www.bloomsburykids.com
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Margolis, Leslie.
Girl’s best friend / by Leslie Margolis.—1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.—(A Maggie Brooklyn mystery)
Summary: In Brooklyn, New York, twelve-year-old dog-walker Maggie, aided by her twin brother Finn and best friend Lucy, investigates someone she believes is stealing pets.
ISBN 978-1-59990-525-9 (hardcover)
[1. Dog walking—Fiction. 2. Junior high schools—Fiction. 3. Schools—Fiction. 4. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 5. Twins—Fiction. 6. Family life—New York (State)—Brooklyn—Fiction. 7. Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)—Fiction. 8. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.M33568Gio 2010 [Fic]—dc22 2010000562
E-book ISBN: 978-1-59990-649-2
Table of Contents
Cover
Add Card
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Acknowledgments
Girl's Best Friend Page 17