“Guys are into dogs, right?” Elizabeth asked Georgina. “His brewery is named for a dog, so of course he is.”
Elizabeth walked into HiveMind and was instantly comforted by the familiar aroma. Reid was behind the far end of the counter, laughing with a skinny older man in a flattop cap. She tucked Georgina under her arm and stifled a shriek when the puppy nipped the soft skin by her elbow. Elizabeth wasn’t sure what the rules were about dogs in food establishments, so she tried to make the puppy as invisible as possible, even if it meant sacrificing more skin.
The stranger turned abruptly and nearly ran into Elizabeth. He spotted Georgina immediately. “Oi, who’s this?” he asked, reaching out to stroke the puppy’s chin, and Elizabeth felt Georgina’s tail whip against the side of her body.
Elizabeth stuttered. “Um, her name is Georgina, uh, is it okay if we’re in here, Reid?”
“Of course, we welcome all sorts of customers, including Americans.” Reid walked around the counter, wiping his hands on a towel tucked into a black ticking-stripe apron and leaned in close to scratch Georgina on the head. The little traitor licked his cheek.
Reid nodded to the skinny man. “Bess, meet Nigel, HiveMind’s first and most loyal customer. Nigel, this is Trudy and Rowan’s niece, Bess.”
“Right, I heard they had a visitor! And by the looks of you, you could be their daughter. The Barnes nose. Your uncle has it, as did your father. Shame what happened all those years ago, innit?” He tsked and shook his head. “So how’s Trudy? Quite a fall, I hear.”
Elizabeth was both surprised and not that a complete stranger knew all about her ancestral nose and what had happened to Trudy a mere twelve hours before. “It was very scary. I’m still waiting for the latest news.”
“Rowan called me not five minutes ago,” Reid said. “He told me he rang the house but you didn’t answer.”
“Wait, he called you? You know what’s going on?” Elizabeth was upset she’d missed his call after waiting for so long.
“I’m sort of the second line of defense for them, after William. Oh, William stopped by with Major a bit ago. Said he was going to drop Maj off on the way to his son’s house, so he’ll be waiting for you at Rowan and Trudy’s when you return.”
She considered how the Major-and-Georgina meeting might go without a knowledgeable dog person in the mix and shuddered. It was sure to be fangs and bloodshed from all parties, human and canine. “Tell me what’s happening with Trudy. Is she okay?”
“She’s doing much better. Scans and tests all came out clear; it’s a mild concussion, lots of bruising, and a spiral fracture. She’ll be in a cast for a bit, so no weaving or crafting. Home this evening.”
Elizabeth exhaled and placed her hand on her heart. “Okay, that’s great it’s nothing worse. I was worried.”
“You and everybody else,” Nigel said. “Your aunt and uncle are tops. Please give them my best, speedy recovery and tickety-boo. Nice to meet you, Georgina.” He scratched the puppy behind the ears, and she refrained from biting him again. No one would believe that the puppy was out to get her.
Reid assumed his position behind the counter. “I said I’d pour you a cup if you agreed to talk apps with me. Are you able to focus on business for a bit?”
“Of course. I’ll have another Swarm, please.” Georgina started to squirm in her arms. The meeting was sure to be a quick one if the puppy had anything to say about it.
“A Swarm it is. Grab a table in the back. Would Georgina like something too? I’ve got a lovely raw marrow bone left over from yesterday’s beef and onion.”
Elizabeth had no idea if dogs could eat raw marrow bones, or what a marrow bone even was. She shrugged helplessly. “I know nothing about dogs. She’s not even mine, I found her last night and William made me keep her.” She held the wiggly puppy out to him. “You want a dog?”
“You found her? She’s yours, then. No question.”
Reid disappeared into the room behind the counter and returned with an empty burlap coffee bean sack and something nightmarish on a plate. He folded the sack in quarters and placed it on the floor next to where Elizabeth was sitting. He took Georgina from her arms, placed her on the bag, and presented her with a blood-speckled hollow white bone. The puppy snatched it from the plate as Reid lowered it, then turned her body so that she faced the wall with her prize.
“When’s the last time you fed this poor thing? She’s famished!”
“I told you, I know nothing.” Elizabeth felt like a wicked stepmother.
“Trudy will teach you. She knows dogs.” He crouched down and looked at the puppy. “Can you make it a few more hours till your great-auntie gets back?”
It sounded like an insult, but Elizabeth chose to ignore it. She wanted to stay on Reid’s good side and learn more about his app concept. She wanted to get paid.
“I just have to log in for a bit and rearrange my schedule before we start the meeting, do you mind? Looks like I’m staying an extra day or so to help Trudy get settled.”
“That’s wonderful, I’m sure they appreciate it. I’ll finish your cup and get your slice warmed up. Would you like sweet or savory pie?”
Normally she wouldn’t touch either, but her hunger was making her light-headed and prone to bad decisions.
“Sweet, please.”
Elizabeth’s phone sang an angelic chorus as it connected. She browsed through the texts and emails, hoping for word back from recruiters or any of the Entomon photo feelers she’d put out. Someone had to want her.
But there was nothing in her inbox but spam.
She felt a wave of anxiety ripple through her. She was not only unemployed, she was unemployable. An about-to-be-broke has-been with no future. Her nose prickled painfully but she pinched the skin between her thumb and pointer finger to stop the tears. She blinked and sniffled rhythmically, trying to make it seem like she was fighting off allergies instead of overwhelming emotions.
Elizabeth’s hands trembled as she checked her social feeds. Watching the likes pile up always made her feel better. She squinted when she saw the numbers. It couldn’t be. Was her phone even working? Was the Fargrove Wi-Fi screwing with the algorithms? Based on her latest engagement metrics, she was invisible.
Everything she’d worked for was crumbling away like a sand castle in the tide. She was worthless. Elizabeth grabbed onto the sides of the table to keep the room from closing in on her and tried to harness her breathing. Did anyone even know she was alive? Did anyone care?
She jumped when Georgina pressed her head against her calf. Elizabeth eyed her warily, afraid that if she moved too quickly the puppy would playfully nip her leg. Instead, Georgina looked up at her with an expression that made Elizabeth well up again.
The little dog knew. Perhaps the molecules around Elizabeth were charged with her sadness and fear, or she was giving off some sort of distress pheromone, but there was no doubt that Georgina could sense that something was very wrong.
She held Elizabeth’s gaze, then stood on her back paws so she could rest her chin on Elizabeth’s leg. Georgina tipped her head to the side and swatted a paw at Elizabeth’s hand.
“You want me to pet you? Do you promise not to bite?” she asked quietly, still sniffling.
Elizabeth reached out tentatively and stroked the puppy’s head. It fit perfectly in the palm of her hand. Georgina remained motionless and watched her with inky eyes as Elizabeth caressed her wiry fur.
She felt her shoulders relax as she massaged the little dog. She wasn’t sure how she knew it, but she could tell Georgina wasn’t going to bite her. For the first time, now that she wasn’t fearing for her fingers, she could understand the appeal of a furry best friend, particularly one that seemed to psychically understand her need for comfort. They were connected by something visceral and so unlike anything that Elizabeth had ever experienced that she didn’t want the moment
to end.
“Thank you,” she whispered to the puppy with tears in her eyes. “Thank you for noticing.”
Reid came stomping around the corner and placed a giant yellow mug in front of her alongside a hunk of food-blog-worthy pie, not realizing that he’d interrupted something magical. “Right, here you are. Apple raisin,” he said, nodding at the slice. “And how’s the little one faring with the bone?”
Georgina immediately reengaged with the bone as if their moment of telepathy hadn’t happened, clutching it between her tiny front paws and gnawing with her eyes closed.
“She’s doing great.” Elizabeth smiled at Georgina, then switched into business mode and locked onto Reid with the look that made most men forget what they were about to say. “So tell me about your app. What’s the elevator pitch?”
Reid dove into his concept, outlining how his service-speeding app would modernize his coffee shop. Elizabeth was impressed with the buzzwords he used as he described his vision, but as he explained it she realized that he wanted something far more complicated than he actually needed. Reid was so excited about his app that Elizabeth felt like she was about to tell him that Santa doesn’t exist.
Elizabeth steepled her hands in front of her. “Reid, I’m going to be honest with you. I love your enthusiasm for this app, and it’s obvious you’ve done a ton of research, but I don’t think you need it.”
It wasn’t the response he was expecting, and he stared at her with his mouth hanging open.
She continued. “I don’t want you to waste your money. Plus, I’m not sure I have the skills to make something this complicated. And that’s really the heart of it, that it’s complicated. You’re taking something simple and overengineering it. People want you when they order, not some app.”
“Huh.”
“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, I know you really wanted to do this. I can guarantee that someone will build this for you if you search for developers online, but I think you’d be wasting your money. No, I know you’d be wasting it.”
“Well, that’s shite. I’ve been dreaming about this app for ages. Now what?” He slumped onto the table.
“How’s your website? And what about your social media presence?”
“Uhhhh . . .”
Elizabeth quickly found HiveMind’s Instagram account. “You haven’t posted anything in three months.” She navigated to the shop’s website. “This site hasn’t been updated in years! That’s where you need to invest, Reid. And I can help you with it. I can fix your website and coach you on social stuff. If you want to, that is.”
He shrugged. “I guess.”
“Trust me, this is going to be great. I already have a ton of ideas. You’ll love it.”
“Done.” He slapped the table in front of him. “Now let’s talk bees and honey.”
She cocked her head at him.
“Money. Let’s talk money. Is this more expensive than designing an app, or less?”
She didn’t want to depress him any more by being honest about what he could expect to pay for either option. “Less. I’ll give you a friends-and-family deal.”
Elizabeth savored the pie and coffee as they quickly hashed out a rough plan and timeline. Reid finally perked up as he realized how much Elizabeth could do for him.
“Huh.” Reid leaned back in his chair and studied her. “You’re fancy on the outside but a techie on the inside. Quite the juxtaposition.”
Elizabeth gestured to the polka-dotted wellies she’d been forced to wear because of the blisters on the backs of her heels. “I’ve hardly been fancy since arriving.”
“You’d be fancy in that bean sack,” he said, pointing to the bag under Georgina. “There’s an air about you. Regal. Almost like you smell something unpleasant in the peasants surrounding you.”
“Ouch.”
“Sorry, didn’t mean to offend.”
Reid gave her a good-natured punch to the shoulder and left to take care of a customer. Elizabeth wondered if it was a clumsy attempt to flirt with her.
Before she dove into Reid’s project, Elizabeth stole ten minutes to finally stalk James Holworthy. Perhaps he’d show up at HiveMind while she was there and she could use the intel she uncovered to connect with him? She found his brewery quickly, Lost Dog Brewing Company, which, according to a quick map check, was in nearby Thatchmarkle. She held her breath as she clicked the Team page. There he was, barely visible in the background of a group shot with his arm draped around one of his colleagues. She couldn’t make out any details in the blurry image. She scrolled down, past his co-founder’s profile, until James Holworthy’s photo filled the screen.
Elizabeth caught her breath. He photographed well, standing in rugged terrain with a giant brown dog next to him. The photo looked impeccably styled, with perfect lighting, a rumpled but attractive outdoorsy outfit, and the on-brand dog. She speed-read through the gold mine of details to the right of the picture.
Co-founder of Lost Dog Brewing Company. VP of sales. Favorite beer, the Chocolate Lab Stout. Dog’s name, Porter. Hobbies, drinking beer and hiking with Porter. That was it. No mention of hiking with anyone other than his dog. Elizabeth scrolled through the rest of the profiles and found mentions of girlfriends, wives, husbands, and partners, so unless he’d purposely left out his significant other, James Holworthy was single.
“Want another?” Reid startled her out of her fantasy. He pointed at her mug.
“Sure,” she said too quickly. “Look, Georgina is still working on that bone.” She hoped to divert his attention away from what was on her screen, but he took a step closer and peered at it.
“That’s James. Why are you on the Lost Dog Brewing website?” He narrowed his eyes at her.
“It’s, uh, market research. I met him last night and I just wanted to check out some other local websites. See what’s popular around here, you know?” It sounded convincing enough.
“Ohhhh, okay. Research. Got it.” He smiled at her like they were sharing a private joke. “Let me get you that refill.”
Elizabeth quickly clicked out of the brewery website and descended into her typical state of altered consciousness as she dove into the HiveMind website. When she was finally able to disengage from the work two hours later she realized that she’d barely moved. She leaned over the back of her chair and stretched her arms out wide, the stiffness in her joints a sensory reminder of her old life. Once Elizabeth committed to working on something she never paused, to the detriment of her neck and shoulders.
Reid was in the kitchen behind the counter singing along to the radio, and Elizabeth could see Georgina exploring the low shelves next to him. She wanted to ask him for another slice of pie, but her pants felt tighter after just a few days of Fargrove food.
The bell hanging above the door rang and Elizabeth’s stomach turned inside out when she realized that her stalking had summoned him.
It was James Holworthy, in the flesh. Looking no less romance-novel-perfect in a fitted navy blazer with a charcoal hoodie underneath, jeans, and gray trainers.
“Hey, mate,” James called to Reid as he headed straight for the counter without glancing around.
Elizabeth pretended she hadn’t seen him and quickly checked how she looked in her phone’s camera. Concealer splotchy, forehead shiny, but she didn’t have time to primp.
“Hey yourself. Look, our new friend is here,” Reid said to James before he even reached the counter and pointed to where Elizabeth was sitting.
“It’s the American hat girl. Did you recapture your chapeau? And how’s that nasty scrape?” He glanced at her calf as if she might still be wearing the scarf-bandage, then back into her eyes with genuine concern.
She swallowed the tremor in her throat and tried to act normal. “Scrape is fine, thanks, and the hat was recovered. And look what else I found.” She pointed to Georgina, who bounded from be
hind the counter to greet her new victim. The little dog jumped and twirled in front of James.
“Aw, what a charmer,” James said as he reached down to pet Georgina. “Looks like you found a winner.”
Elizabeth joined them at the counter and watched Georgina flirt with James. The big eyes, the kisses on his hand, the lack of flesh-tearing chomps—Georgina was giving a masterclass in wooing.
“Yeah, I just love dogs,” Elizabeth said. She thought of the photo of Porter she’d just discovered. “Especially labs, they’re my absolute favorite. Do you have a dog?”
“That’s funny, I have a chocolate lab named Porter.” James turned to Reid behind the counter. “Anyway, I need some caffeine, and I wanted to make sure you know about the Fizz at the Tups tonight. Harriet and Des are in.”
Elizabeth crossed her arms and shuffled her feet as James chatted with Reid. Suddenly she was invisible. She reached for her phone in her back pocket so that she wouldn’t look desperate and eavesdroppy, but it was still sitting on the table.
“Right, it’s tonight!” Reid said, slapping his forehead. “I’ll be there, but late. Bess here can probably go too.” Reid nodded at her.
“So it’s Bess, not Elizabeth?” James asked her.
“Her friends call her Bess, so you pick,” Reid replied, answering for her.
She shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t want to correct Reid and say that no one actually called her Bess in real life, she just wanted any version of her name on James’s lips.
“Aren’t you leaving?” James asked. “I thought this was just a quick stopover in Fargrove, then you’re off to greener pastures.”
“I’m staying on a bit to help with Trudy, at least through tomorrow afternoon.” She shrugged again. It felt like she was waiting to be picked for the kickball team. “I’m around tonight.” She wanted to sound casual but it came out desperate.
“By all means, stop by the Tups if you like. It’s our friends’ band. They’re amazing.”
It was a forced invitation, and normally she’d take the hint and opt out. But there was something about James Holworthy that made her forget the too-cool act that she faked so perfectly at home.
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