Dog Eat Dog Read Free Page B

Ten, with Peg driving, but I didn’t bother to mention that. “We have plenty of time.”
    â€œSo we’ll be a bit early.” She was already leading the way to the front hall. “That means we’ll get the best seats. On the way, you can tell me all about what’s new with you.”
    She meant with me and Sam. I knew that perfectly well. Aunt Peg had met Sam Driver before I had, decided he and I were meant for each other, then spent the next six months pushing us together at every opportunity. I’d retaliated by telling her next to nothing about how our relationship was progressing.
    It’s childish, I know. But sometimes you have to make use of whatever tools are at hand. Aunt Peg was ever resourceful, however. The week before I’d caught her pumping Davey for information.
    Wait until she heard what I had to say now.
    I got my good wool coat out of the closet. Gloves were stuffed inside the pockets. I figured I’d skip the scarf and hat. “Do you remember anything about Bob?”
    â€œBob who?”
    It was as good a start as any.

Three
    A silver moon hung low and full in the clear dark sky. Its light cast a shadowy glow over the great stone mansions and post-and-rail bound fields of back country Greenwich. I’d enjoyed the view many times. With Aunt Peg driving, I kept my eyes on the road.
    She had headed west from Stamford and was now going south, navigating the twists and turns of the dark roads with speed and easy familiarity. As always when riding as Peg’s passenger, I put on my seat belt, checked the clasp twice, then sat braced, ever so slightly, for impact. That was a psychological problem—mine—and I was trying to overcome it. As far as I knew, she had yet to have an accident; but that didn’t stop my life from flashing before my eyes every time she flew around a blind curve or rolled through a stop sign.
    â€œBob who?” Aunt Peg repeated, once we were under way.
    â€œTravis. My ex-husband.”
    â€œOh.” She bore down hard on her horn. A driver planning to pull out of a side street thought better of the idea and waited. “Max and I must have gone to your wedding, didn’t we?”
    â€œI think so. I doubt that you stayed very long.”
    â€œProbably not,” Aunt Peg agreed.
    Max had been her husband, and my father’s brother. When Bob and I married, there had been a rift in the family caused by the division of my grandmother’s estate. For years, the two sides had barely spoken and done little or no socializing.
    Peg closed her eyes briefly, as if trying to summon a memory. I kept mine open and got ready to grab the wheel if necessary. “No,” she said finally. “I’m afraid I don’t remember your husband at all. Is there a reason that matters?”
    â€œEx-husband,” I corrected firmly. “And unfortunately, there is. He called last night from Texas. It seems he’s coming for a visit.”
    â€œI see.”
    She didn’t really; she couldn’t possibly. Aunt Peg and I hadn’t been close until we’d worked together to find her missing dog the summer before. By then, Bob had been gone for years. Nobody within the family, not even my brother, Frank, knew how devastated I’d been by the circumstances of my divorce.
    Aunt Peg flipped on her signal and careened around a turn. “What does Davey think about that?”
    â€œHe doesn’t know.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œBecause I haven’t told him.” I could hear how defensive I sounded. With effort, I moderated my tone. “Unfortunately, I imagine Davey will probably be thrilled to know that his father is coming to see him.”
    â€œAnd that upsets you.”
    I struggled to explain how I felt. “The whole situation upsets me. Bob’s been gone nearly five years. I’ve built a life without him. I’ve gone on. Davey and I are happy. We don’t need him