Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Lexi
We all squeezed into Gray’s SUV with Gray driving, Basia in the front passenger seat, and Barbie, Gwen, Ginger, Tootsie, and me crammed in the back.
Ginger sprawled across us like a golden weighted blanket, while Tootsie insisted on standing with her front paws on Barbie’s shoulders, joyfully licking her face.
“I’m so happy,” Barbie said, laughing, as she scratched behind Tootsie’s ears. “A month. I went a month thinking my baby was dead. This may be the best night I’ve ever had in my life, professionally and personally.”
“It was pretty cool,” Gray said from the driver’s seat. “The plan went off nearly perfectly. You did a great job, Barbie. You took the biggest risk and had nerves of steel. You’d make a great operative.”
“The risk was worth everything to get her back,” Barbie said, touching her nose to Tootsie’s.
“But I couldn’t have done it without your help.
You guys were brilliant. I still can’t believe what we did.
My friends and I spent years trying to bring that place down.
Then you guys waltz in and do it in one weekend. ”
“We just helped,” I said. “You and your friends did the hardest part. Years of careful documentation, pressure, photographs, and constant monitoring. That’s what’s going to shut them down for good. We just accelerated the timeline.”
“Either way, I’m grateful I trusted you.”
“Likewise,” I said. “It’s been a really busy evening.” I looked down at Ginger, snoring softly, still stretched out across our laps.
“You know, I’ve got to say, this weekend wasn’t just cool,” Gray said with a smile. “It was fun.”
“Yes, an absolutely stellar bachelorette party,” Basia added. “Far superior in terms of fun than any bachelor party the guys might be having, especially since we saved numerous animals, protected national security, and brought down a crooked lab. The boys won’t even come close.”
Gwen sighed in contentment. “I’ll never forget it.”
“Me neither,” Basia said. “But what are we going to do with Ginger? What if they coming looking for her again?”
“We need to get those chips out of her,” Gwen said. “But we’d have to find a vet willing to remove a couple of microchips without asking a lot of questions.”
“We have a vet,” I said. “Dr. Partridge. I vote we head there before we go back to the penthouse. And since this certain vet’s practice is open all night, it doesn’t matter that it’s five in the morning.”
“That, Lexi, is an excellent idea,” Gray said, reaching over to reprogram her GPS.
“But what about afterward?” Basia persisted. “Are we just dropping Ginger off at a random shelter? Or is one of us taking her home?”
The car fell silent and I felt all eyes lock on me. Even Gray stared intently at me via the rearview mirror.
“It should be you, Lexi,” Barbie said quietly. “At least be her temporary foster. She’s clearly attached to you the most. It would provide significantly less stress if you were the one. That’s coming from not only a dog owner, but a friend.”
I heard her words, but they swam in in my brain. Temporary foster? Me?
I didn’t foster. I didn’t even like animals.
Animals were loud, smelly, had loads of germs, and did not understand personal space.
Not to mention, if I brought home a dog, I’d have to explain to Slash how that happened, and I wasn’t sure I knew how to do that.
I couldn’t refer to the marriage rules because nothing had ever been added about bringing home stray animals.
Frankly, it’d never crossed my mind that this could happen.
And yet Ginger sighed sleepily and tucked her head against my stomach like she belonged there. I tightened my hold without thinking.
“I guess I can foster her…temporarily,” I murmured.
Everyone started cheering, which woke Ginger. She blinked and immediately tried to sit up, somehow managing to squash us all in the process.
“I have dog hair everywhere,” I complained, brushing at my lap and shirt with zero results. The fur clung stubbornly, like it belonged there.
“Welcome to life with dogs,” Barbie said, laughing. She tried to help me get some of the hair off my shirt when she noticed the cross hanging around my neck.
“Wow, that’s beautiful,” she said. “And surprising. I guess I just didn’t peg you as the religious type.”
I reached up and caught the cross gently in my fist. “This was a special gift from a…friend.”
Basia snorted while Gwen choked on a laugh.
Barbie looked between them, frowning. “What? What am I missing here?”
“Okay, maybe not exactly a friend,” I corrected myself. “But possibly. More like extended family, I suppose.”
More snickering in the car until Basia said, “Just tell her, Lexi. She’s our friend now.”
I sighed. “Can I trust you, Barbie?”
She didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely. You helped me get Tootsie back. That makes you more than a friend. It makes you family as far as I’m concerned. Connections forged in chaos are binding for a lifetime. I won’t break that. Ever.”
I met Gray’s eyes in the rearview mirror. She gave a small shrug.
“Okay, then what I’m going to tell you remains off the record and secret,” I said. “I mean it.”
“Consider it done. I swear.”
“The pope gave it to me,” I said.
Barbie froze. “You mean…the real pope? Like the one who lives in the Vatican in Italy and is the leader of the Catholic Church?”
“Yep. That’s the one.”
“He gave you a present? A necklace.”
“He officiated her wedding,” Basia said. “He’s sort of connected to Lexi’s husband.”
Barbie thought for a moment and then snapped her fingers. “Wait. Just wait. Are you…part of that famous mystery couple from DC I read about last summer? The pope was in Washington for you?”
I winced. “Sort of?”
“I knew it,” she breathed. “I knew there was something unusual about you guys. But wow. I did not expect all this.” She looked at me for a long moment, then smiled, warm, conspiratorial, and protective. “Regardless, your secret is safe with me. You’re safe with me—all of you.”
Something in my chest softened at that. The Barbie talking to me now was a woman who loved her dog, fought like hell for animals, and had decided we were her people now. I guess we were.
“Thanks,” I said. “I appreciate it.”
She fell silent, but after a moment she spoke up. “Okay, I promise it will stay off the record, but someday, I do want to hear about the Cook Islands coup thing.”
“It’ll have to be over drinks,” I said. “It’s a pretty wild story.”
She fell silent and then sighed. “Don’t hate me, but I can’t help myself from asking, and yes, I promise everything you tell me is off the record unless you give me permission otherwise. But I guess this means you know the president, too, right?”
Basia didn’t miss a beat. “Only socially.”
At that, we all broke out in laughter. It was five in the morning, and with two dogs in the back seat and the sun still an hour or so from rising, laughter felt like the most genuine response of the entire weekend.
I sat in Gray’s SUV covered in fur, holding a rescue dog I hadn’t planned on, and riding home with a woman who’d somehow become a trusted friend in the span of twenty-four ridiculous hours. I didn’t know why things like this kept happening to me.
But…I was starting to like it.