Page 62 of The Dangers of Daydreaming

Avery: It’s not great to mix business with pleasure.

Dani: He was dubbed the shark attack for a reason—getting involved in that sounds messy.

Poppy: Saturn is placed in a bad aspect this week; it doesn’t bode well for a blossoming love life.

Chloe: Aren’t you supposed to be the happily ever after one of us? I don’t know… maybe take the chance.

I stared at the screen. No one else chimed in, but Chloe’s words seemed to float above the rest. Dang it, Chloe. I blamed it on her sudden change of fortune in her love life—but right now, I wanted more pessimism and less optimism.

Because my heart was already leaning toward optimism.

Chapter 18

Dog-trapped

Finn

ItwasSaturday,anda free day for the tour group, which meant a free day for me. Gram was back at the hospital for the afternoon, and I was just out of the shower after a run with Wes. He’d given me the harvester’s number, and I should call the guy, but something stopped me. We didn’t use a harvester—the U-pick had always been a summer tradition, and I wasn’t mentally ready to give it up.

Putting it off a day wasn’t going to ruin anything.

The room was heavy with hot steam from the water, and the mirror had fogged despite my using the fan. My phone lit up, but its light was dimmed by all the moisture-tinged air around it. Wrapping a towel around my waist, I grabbed it.

Lucy: Help.

Finn: What happened?

Lucy: I’m dog-trapped on the beach.

Lucy: Ah! Quick! He looks hungry!

I didn’t even know what that meant, but I grabbed a pair of shorts and some sneakers and shot out the door, rounding the house into the orchard andtoward the little path to the beach.

The laugh that came when I saw her was not my fault. Any innocent bystander would definitely side with me on that front.

“Lucy, that’s barely a dog.” I struggled to keep my expression neutral as her eyes turned to slits. She didn’t look at me, though; her eyes were glued to the little schnauzer on the path between us. It had taken a defensive stance and was definitely staring Lucy down, but it was also no higher than her calf.

“Stop laughing!” she demanded, glancing up. But the second her eyes moved, the dog jumped forward, yipping at her.

Yes, yipping. Its voice box couldn’t have been large enough to manage an actual bark.

“See!” she pointed, flinching when the dog jumped into the air again at her movement. “It won’t let me pass!”

“I feel like I should be making aLord of the Ringsjoke right now, but I don’t know that you’d fully appreciate it.”

“I wouldn’t. Help me.”

I whistled, and the dog immediately turned on me, tail wagging. I could see Lucy wince, as if expecting my immediate demise. So glad to know she cared that deeply about me… and held me in such low esteem as to think this oversized rat could take me.

Really, this thing appeared to have taken several dips in the ocean, followed by a roll around the beach. It was looking a bit rodent-esque.

I slapped my thigh, and the dog trotted up to me as I bent to grab a stick. Once it reached my side, I waved the stick a couple of times, then tossed it far to the left, in the direction of our nearest neighbors, since that was the most likely place he’d come from. The dog crashed through the light undergrowth after it, and I tried to tamp down my proud smile, but was unsuccessful.

Lucy ambled up next to me, sighing deeply.

“I know what you’re thinking,” I said before she could speak. “Not all heroes wear capes.”

“Or shirts, apparently?”

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