“Okay, I get it. Nearly six. Time to knock off and change.”
She found the red dress laid out on her bed.
“Still no. Eventually, it’ll be the right choice, but tonight…” She studied her closet, pulled out a navy blue dress with a belted waist and pencil skirt.
“This is better for dinner in the village.”
Because she continued to drag her feet on a hairstylist, she opted to sort of bundle it back, clip it up.
As Yoda raced downstairs and the bell rang, she took one last turn in front of the mirror.
The dogs greeted each other as if it had been years. And the generally easy-moving Trey surprised her by pulling her straight in for a long, blood-stirring kiss.
“I missed that. I missed you.”
“That’s really nice to hear.” More than a little off-balance, Sonya stepped back to let him in. “I need to get my coat.”
“I’m going to let them run around outside for a couple minutes. In case.”
She went to the closet, took a moment to breathe out. When she came back, he turned, smiled at her.
“Nice coat.”
She glanced down at the black leather that swung to mid-thigh. “I bought it for myself as a You’ve Got This present when I quit my job to go freelance.”
“Looks like it worked. How about I call the dogs in from the mudroom, get them wiped down?”
“Good idea.” She breathed out again. “Trey?”
He glanced back at her.
“I missed you, too.”
“I was hoping.”
As she stood, waiting, Clover wound up with the Beatles’ “If I Fell.”
“Just ease back. Not ready yet.”
“Clock’s back at three,” he commented as the dogs raced back ahead of him.
“Every morning. I’ve got a story for you. Tell you on the way. You boys behave. Stay out of the liquor and don’t make any prank calls.”
“Now you’ve given them ideas.”
When they went out, she looked at the gunmetal-gray sedan next to her car. “That’s not your truck.”
“No, but it’s my car.”
She slid in. “It’s nice. So, recovered from the wedding?”
“Mostly. Then today, my mother ambushed me for pictures. No headshots, no posing. That’s from you, I take it.”
“It is. Your job’s top of the list now.”
“What about Ryder? We can wait, Sonya, if you want to work on that.”
“It gets an hour a day.” Because she had a plan, and a schedule. “Which is enough until I pull it more together.”
“Just so you know, if you want to take more time for it, we’re not in a hurry. Now, what’s the story?”
“I went through the mirror again. Wait.” She held up a hand as he started to speak. “I didn’t call you because I wasn’t afraid. I wasn’t. By the end, I was just furious, but not scared.”
“All right.”
“I sense you’re not convinced, so let me start at the top.”
When she finished, he glanced over. “She ended with poetry?”
“Yes, but like a spell or a charm? I think. I need to ask Cleo about that. But the fact is, someone I bumped felt it. Like I felt Dobbs that night.
“That’s interesting, to use your word. And it felt like I was wading through mud when I tried to run, to stop Agatha from eating that damn petit four.”
“Her death’s listed as choking, but sounds like poison.”
“It was anaphylactic shock. I’m nearly sure. I knew a girl in college with a peanut allergy. We were all out one night, and something she ate. It was really scary, even though she had an EpiPen. This reminded me of that, only it happened so fast, so maybe some poison with it. Hester Dobbs put something in that cake that caused the reaction.”
As it played back so clearly in her head, Sonya shifted in her seat to face him.
“She couldn’t breathe, Trey.
“She knew I couldn’t stop it—Hester knew. And that just infuriated me. Then I started thinking.”
He parked at the Lobster Cage.
“Is this okay for dinner?”
“Oh yes. I’d like to thank Bree in person for the recipe.”
“Hold on to what you started thinking.”
The same lovestruck hostess seated them in the same corner booth. He ordered wine, then nodded at her. “You were thinking.”
“It’s not her. I mean I don’t think it’s Hester Dobbs jump-starting these dreams or experiences.”