“Sounds good. I would take Killer in a heartbeat, but there’s a few problems. I work longer hours than you do. And my folks are staying at my place. My mom’s allergic to pet dander. At least that’s her story.” His buzzer went off, and he checked the display. Then he handed Killer over to Rarity. “Sorry, I’ve got to go. Enjoy dinner. I’d like to stop by and check on him if you’d let me.”

  “You’re not eating? I could divide some out for you.” When he didn’t answer, Rarity followed him to the front door. “Please keep me in the loop about finding Martha. I have to say, I’m worried.”

  “I’ll grab something later. After the call. That’s the problem with being a small-town cop. You never know when you’re going to get to eat.” He opened the door and paused. “Look, I’m worried about her too. Anyway, thanks again for taking the dog in. Have a good night, Killer.”

  Rarity sat on the couch for a few minutes with the dog until the smell of chicken got her attention. She put Killer on the floor and went into the kitchen, where a bag of takeout sat on the counter along with the dog food. “I guess we both need to eat dinner tonight.”

  Chapter 5

  “You’re not really going to call this cute little thing ‘Killer,’ are you?” Sam sat at the bookstore with Killer on her lap. Rarity couldn’t bring herself to leave him at the house all alone, so when she’d come into the shop, she’d clicked on his leash, and he’d come trotting after her. Since they’d arrived at the bookstore, he’d been hanging out by the fireplace, where Rarity had set a bowl of water, his dry food, and an assortment of toys she’d brought from home.

  “He’s not my dog—he’s Martha’s. I can’t very well change his name while she’s gone. Maybe she’s in the hospital or something like that. I wonder if Drew checked.” Rarity finished stocking the last of the books that had come in that morning. She looked around the store. There wasn’t much to do. She could go back into the office and pay bills, but that could wait until tomorrow. So she sat on the couch across from Sam.

  “According to Edith, Drew has called all the local hospitals. No one matching Martha’s description has checked in.” She set Killer on the floor. “She said Drew spent a lot of time with you last night.”

  “Actually, no, he stayed around to see if Killer would settle with me, he even bought dinner, but then he got a call and had to leave.” Rarity studied her friend. “Wait, you’re not jealous, are you? He was just dropping off the dog.”

  “And he bought you dinner. Which is more than I could get out of him.” Sam waved it off. “Never mind. I’m being silly. I can’t even say we’ve had a first date. It’s just been way too long since I had a serious relationship. I thought he might work out. Especially since his parents are so nice.”

  “Maybe he doesn’t want to be set up by his parents.” Rarity tossed a ball to Killer, who went running after it. Then he took it back to his spot near the fireplace and lay down to chew on the rubber edges. “Killer doesn’t play ball right.”

  Sam smiled as she reached down and rubbed the dog’s ears. “He’s his own little man. Who says in his world that isn’t the right way to play ball?”

  Rarity laughed and curled her feet underneath her. “Is it bad that I don’t want them to find Martha right now? I really am enjoying spending time with him. He slept on the extra pillow on my bed last night.”

  “He’s the perfect boyfriend. Maybe I need a Killer in my life instead of a man.” Sam glanced at her watch. “I’ve got to go reopen the shop. I’ve got a client coming in to talk crystal healing. She’s been having some issues with her heart.”

  “Like in romance, or should you be giving her the name of a cardiologist?” Rarity called after her friend.

  “Oh, ye of little faith.” Sam paused by the door. “I’m glad you took in the dog. Killer needed you.”

  After Sam left, Rarity got out her phone and took several pictures of Killer with his ball. He was so cute the way he’d watch her and turn his head like he knew exactly what she was saying. “What on earth did you get yourself into, Rarity? Giving him back to Martha is going to kill you.”

  The door opened, and Holly and Malia hurried inside. They sat in the same chairs they had during the book club meeting. Holly spoke first. “I can’t believe it’s true? Shirley called us yesterday after we talked to you, but I still don’t believe it.”

  “Shirley called you? I guess you exchanged numbers?” So much for keeping the members’ personal information private.

  “Sorry, I know you wanted to avoid us exchanging digits, but we all met at the diner after the meeting and talked. We decided we wanted to be more than just a book group. It’s been so long since I’ve had friends who totally understood me. I lost a lot of them when I told them I had cancer. It was like they thought it was contagious,” Holly explained.

  “Or that I was going to die in front of them,” Malia added. She pointed to Killer, who was still chewing on the ball. “I didn’t know you had a dog.”

  “It’s Martha’s dog.” Rarity took a step back in her head. She hadn’t meant to be judgmental. It was just the group was becoming more than what she’d imagined. And it was her group. But that was where she was wrong. She didn’t own the group—she was a member, just like the rest of them.

  “Oh, then, you found her.” Holly pulled out her phone. “Shirley will be so happy. Let me call her.”

  “Hold on a second. I didn’t find her. Drew, he works for the police, he asked me to watch Killer for Martha. Until they find her, that is.” Rarity tried to explain exactly how she’d gotten roped into this mess, but she wasn’t quite sure why she’d even volunteered. Killer pawed at her jeans. Automatically she reached down and picked the little dog up and stroked his ears.

  “He looks like he’s fitting right in.” Holly reached out and petted the dog. “I’m glad he’s not alone. I’ve got to go. I’m working tonight.”

  “What do you do for work?” Rarity liked the way Killer felt in her arms. She was definitely getting a dog when Martha came back and reclaimed this one.

  “I’m in computer management for the city. Right now, I’m working a scanning project to transfer all the old police files into digital format. You wouldn’t believe how much stuff there is in old paper folders. And while things are uploading, I have time to read. It’s awesome.” She waved and headed to the door. Malia followed her. “See you on Tuesday.”

  After they left, a steady stream of people came in and out of the shop. She watched Killer when the doors opened, but he seemed perfectly content to hang around the fireplace, as long as he could see her. When she went to the back to grab a box, she found him at the office door waiting for her to return.

  At the end of the day, she went over to the couch and let him jump on her lap. “You’re not letting me out of your sight, are you?”

  Killer licked her hand and watched her face as she talked—like he was trying to understand the words she was saying.

  “They say dogs can understand about three hundred words. I know you know ‘food’ and ‘bed.’ Are you up to learning some different words while Martha is away?” She scratched under his chin.

  Killer barked, and his entire body flew a few inches off her lap with the effort.

  She laughed and snapped his leash on his collar. “Okay, I take that as a yes. Let’s go home and get some food.”

  Rarity picked up her tote and keys and tucked the copy of the dog training book she’d found on the shelves into the tote. She needed to know how to be a good pet owner, even if this first one was a foster kid.

  Killer sat at her feet, watching as she finished the last few closing tasks. When she went outside, she found Sam sitting on the bench outside her store. “Hey, what are you doing out here?”

  “Waiting for you. There’s a café down the street that has outdoor seating, and I called to check. Killer’s welcome as long as he’s not a barker.” She took Rarity’s arm. “I felt bad about questioning your night with Drew, so I thought I’d buy you dinner to say I’m sorry. Girls rule, boys drool. Well, except for Killer.”

  “He drools when he sleeps. And he snores a bit. I can’t promise he’s not a barker, though. I don’t know him that well,” Rarity admitted as they walked down to the café. “Of course, the snoring is so cute, I don’t mind it.”

  “That’s what people always say at the beginning of a relationship. Just wait until you two have been together for years. His snoring is going to drive you batty.” Sam held the gate open, and they moved to the hostess stand at the restaurant, Sedona Hills.

  “You’re forgetting that this is a short-term relationship.” Rarity picked Killer up so they could walk through the maze of outdoor tables without him bothering anyone.

  “For your sake, I’m hoping not.” Sam sat at the table and picked up her menu. “Maybe they’ll find Martha and she’ll decide she doesn’t want a dog anymore.”

  “Best-case scenario,” Rarity agreed as a waitress set silverware on their table.

  The waitress clucked as she set down water glasses. “I’m assuming you want water? I’m supposed to ask since we’re always being reminded we’re in a desert. Which is why people want water, but you can’t tell my boss that. Anyway, are you talking about that poor woman who went missing this week? Isn’t it awful? My boyfriend is a cop, and he says they’re worried she went out into the desert to die.”

  “I’m sure people don’t really do that. Isn’t that an animal thing?” Rarity stared up at the young woman whose name tag said Jen.

  “People are animals. I’m taking classes at the community college. You wouldn’t believe how many of our behaviors are due to instinct. Anyway, do you want something besides water?” Jen poised her pen over her notepad.

  “Iced tea, no sugar,” Rarity responded, and Sam nodded.

  Jen wrote the order down, then tucked the notepad away into her apron. “Coming right up. Our special is chef’s play on meat loaf. It’s really good, but kind of small. And the soup of the day is chicken tortilla. I’ll give you some time to look at the menu.”

  After Jen had left, Sam leaned closer to Rarity. “You don’t think that maybe Martha’s cancer came back and she did go into the desert, do you?”

  “Why, so she didn’t have to go through treatment again?” Rarity shook her head. “I guess it could be true, but if I was planning my last days and I even tolerated my dog, I wouldn’t leave until I had everything in order, including a new home for Killer. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “But according to our waitress, the prevailing thought in the police department is this suicide-by-extreme-heat idea.” Sam looked at her menu, then set it down a second time. “Did Drew tell you any of this? Maybe Drew’s seeing this Jen girl but hasn’t told his parents because she’s a little young for him?”

  “I’m sure there are several officers who work at the police department.” Rarity decided to try to change the subject before Sam went off on the gruesome guessing game called What Happened to Martha? “Anyway, did you know that Holly works for the police department? Well, really the city, but she’s working a project at the station right now, digitizing their records.”

  “Holly, she’s the young, talkative one in your group?” Sam picked up her menu again. “If I was a survivor, I’d join your book club. I haven’t had an in-person discussion about books besides what you and I do when I finish one of your recommendations.”

  Rarity scanned the menu. “Maybe you could be our token healthy person. You know, like a gauge on what’s a normal thought process and what’s affected by the year or more of treatment?”

  “Is that even a thing? I mean, yes, a control group is a thing, but you’re not really any different than you were before the cancer, right?”

  Jen came back with their iced teas and took their dinner orders, giving Rarity time to think before she answered Sam’s question. Which she needed. How did she explain how differently she saw things now? She decided to be truthful, hopefully without a lot of emotion.

  After Jen left, Sam leaned forward. “Did I say the wrong thing? You look concerned.”

  “‘Thoughtful’ would be a better descriptor, I think.” She smiled as she took a sip of the iced tea. “I’m a lot different since before the cancer came into my life. I see most things as a blessing now. And I don’t put off things, because you never know what’s going to happen in the future. Like getting a dog. I decided and was willing to go and get something as soon as I knew I wanted it in my life. On the other hand, things I used to think were important, like next season’s fashions, I don’t even look at anymore. After I graduated college, I used to fly to New York for fashion week. Now I really don’t care about any of that.”

  “You are dressing more casual than I’ve seen you in the past, but I thought that was due to moving to Arizona. You know, ‘desert casual’?” Sam nodded. “I thought some of the changes were because we’re older now than we were in college. We’ve both matured, but you have changed from that sorority sister I knew.”

  “We had fun back then. But do you realize, you’re the only sister whom I’m still close to? People kept dropping off year after year, mostly because I stopped going to their fund-raisers. That’s when I realized who my real friends were. You miss two fund-raiser invites in a row, and you’re off the invite list. But you—you kept calling, and you even came up for a week to hang with me after my surgery.” She took a dish and poured some water into it. Then she leaned down and set it on the deck for Killer. “I appreciated that, especially since Kevin had an emergency work trip to the Bahamas that week.”

  “He did not.” Sam’s eyes flared. “I mean, I knew he was out of town, but he went to the Caribbean?”

  “I didn’t find out until he had moved out, a month later. The resort called my number and said I’d left a swimsuit in the villa. I told them to give it to lost and found.” Rarity smiled as a server dropped off their dinner entrees. “I felt so much better about our split after that.”

  “The creep.” Sam snapped a picture of her scallop dish. “I wish I’d known. I could have burned all his expensive suits.”

  “Giving them away to charity was more fun. He hadn’t moved everything when I got the call from the resort. By the end of the day, the rest of his stuff was in a Goodwill dumpster waiting to be sorted through. And I stopped answering his calls.” Rarity took a bite of her salsa chicken. “This is really good.”

  “I wish you had told me.” Sam touched the top of Rarity’s hand to get her attention. “I’m a good listener.”

  “I just told you. Besides, Kevin moving out was the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I didn’t have to worry about his feelings about what I was going through. All I needed to do was get better. It made a load of difference in my attitude. He was always either needing to be cheered up about the cancer, or mad at me because I didn’t want to go out. It was exhausting.” She met Sam’s gaze. “I didn’t need to add to your worry list. I was fine.”

  Sam shook her head. “Sometimes you’re just a little too independent for your own good. You need to let more people in.”

  “Which is why I started this book club. And I think you should join. We’ll ask the others, but I think they’d like your take on things as well. You’re in luck because it looks like we’ve got an opening.”

  “Bad joke.” Sam laughed anyway.

  “Come on Tuesday, and we’ll talk to the others.” Rarity frowned as her phone rang. “Sorry, it’s a transfer from the bookstore number. Let me take this.”

  Sam moved her hand and picked up her fork. “No problem.”

  Rarity pushed a button and answered the phone, “The Next Chapter, this is Rarity. Can I help you?”

  “Hi, this is Malia. I found Martha’s car at a trailhead. I’ve talked to the others. Do you want to meet us tomorrow at seven at the coffee shop? We’re going out there to see if we can find her.”

  She met Sam’s gaze. “Where is the car?”

  “I’d go tonight, but Holly’s working. The car is unlocked, and it looks like a purse was left in the front seat.” Malia paused. “We’ll leave right at seven, so if you want coffee, come early.”

  “Malia, you should call the police,” Rarity said, then realized she was talking to dead air. Malia had hung up.

  Chapter 6

  After talking it out with Sam, Rarity realized she didn’t have much, if anything, to call the police about. Malia hadn’t told her where the car was, just at a trailhead. There were several around the area. When she’d tried to call Malia back, the person who’d answered the phone told her that it was a public phone at the coffeehouse, but there was no Malia who answered the callout. Sam and Rarity finished their dinner quietly and said good-bye at the corner.

  “I’ll be at the coffeehouse tomorrow morning to go with you. That way, you have me on your side if you want to try to talk Malia into calling the cops.” Sam gave her a quick hug. “But you should leave Killer at home. If we do go hiking, he’s not going to like it.”

  “Yeah, I was already thinking that.” Rarity looked down at the little dog who was sitting at her feet. “He probably won’t like being left alone, either, but it might get to be too much for him. He doesn’t look like much of a hiker.”

  “You’re going to hurt his feelings.” Sam laughed and headed down the cross street toward her house.

  When Killer and Rarity arrived home, she was beat. She picked up Drew’s card and looked at it. On the one hand, she felt like she needed to call and report the new information. On the other, what exactly would she say besides “Be at the coffee shop at seven”? Which would break Malia’s trust in her.