Later that day, I found myself standing next to a dumpster, with three things: 1) an extremely pregnant feral cat to rescue from behind an upscale grocery store, 2) a complete lack of interest in discussing Robert Delaney, and 3) a seriously unhelpful sister/best friend/cat rescue partner.

“Why’s he back? Vacation?” Alice asked me.

I zipped open the duffel bag of cat-rescue supplies, shuffling through for a can of sardines. “He has a broken wrist.”

“How’d that happen?”

“I didn’t ask.” Of course, I wanted to know, but I was keeping A Professional Distance. I couldn’t ask him personal questions.

“Something heroic, I’m sure.” Alice’s tone was warm and teasing. “What with him being a SEAL and all. And a hometown hero.”

I crinkled my nose in disgust as I peeled back the metal top on the sardine tin. The crinkling was for the hometown hero bit, not the fishy smell.

In the car, I’d told Alice about our trip to get clam cakes. I had thought that I would make a funny story of the way Rob had stared blankly at Amy while she tossed Post-It notes at him. But then I’d heard this awful, sharp barb of jealousy in my own voice, and I’d stopped.

Alice, though, had teased out my day with Rob, with one unrelenting question after another. She’d pointed out when I was blushing and caught me if I tried to leave out a detail. Alice was going to be one hell of a lawyer one day.

Alice smiled, her dark curls swaying into her face and away as she knelt above the cat trap. "Does he still look like a younger, dark-haired Matthew McConoaughay?"

"I don't know about that."

"Ohh. I think you know." Alice gave the trap a pat and stood, tucking her leather work gloves under her arm.

We sat on the cracking curb between the dumpsters and the building to wait. I stretched my denim-clad legs and gray sneakers out, feeling comfortably sore from the day's work. We didn't want to stress a feral mama cat, but she'd obviously been injured. We wanted to make sure she and the kittens were okay.

Another vet bill.

“I have so much work to do to pull this fundraiser off,” I said. “How many more sick kitties do you think we’ll have this season?”

Alice shook her head. She always liked to look on the bright side of animal rescue.

“Well, we don’t have enough budget. At all.” I said. As if on cue, if began to rain, a light mist beading on my arms. The droplets raised goosebumps, despite the warmth of the night, and I hugged myself. The sky above was cloud-crowded and gray. Night was falling fast.

Alice pulled a hot pink umbrella out of her purse. Of course. Alice was always prepared. She scooted over next to me until our hips touched. I smelled the plastic-y scent of her umbrella covering us both, the low, musky notes of her perfume that were all that was left after a long day in the office.

“I don’t know how I’m going to do it all,” I said. “The business, cleaning the Delaney house, chauffeuring him, taking care of the kittens, the fundraiser. I’m a mess right now.”

Alice tweaked my nose. “An adorable mess. Do you think Rob thinks so?”

I blinked at her hand in my face – she needed to redo her purple gel manicure – and let it pass. I’d shared a room with Alice for eighteen years. I’d learned to let a lot pass. “No. I wouldn’t want him to. I’m not looking for a relationship. Definitely not with some spoiled rich boy—”

"Oh god, no," Alice said. "Rich? Gorgeous? Navy SEAL? He's the worst. Who could date that?"

"Alice!” I didn’t need to hear a list of Rob’s positives. I already had to deal with my heart pitter-pattering out of control every time he flashed that sexy grin. Or, just as deadly, when he looked serious, with those deep blue eyes and set jaw.

Basically, I lost my mind whenever Robert Delaney made eye contact with me.

Alice gave me a teasing look in response. Alice was two years younger than me. Our birthdays were the same week. Dad sometimes made a joke about that time of the year that I tried to block out. Despite looking alike, with our thick dark hair, olive skin and hazel-brown eyes, we couldn’t have been more different. Alice had a lightness, a bubbly sensibility that drew people to her. I assumed it was the gift of being the youngest child.

Though Alice claimed that the only gift of being the youngest child was the gift of eating the dog’s Kibble as a toddler because your parents are too tired to care, and anyway, it’s vitamin enriched.

I no longer shared my thoughts on birth order with my sister.

"What really happened between you two in high school, anyway?"

"Absolutely nothing really happened," I said, careful to keep my tone neutral. "We were on the swim team together. We hung out at meets and practices when he wasn't busy charming someone else."

"That's always been your official story..."

"It's the true story."

"All that one-on-one time with Rob..." Alice trailed off suggestively.

"And forty-odd teammates, yes."

"And he never once even tried to kiss you? I heard he kissed a lot of girls."

"Yep." I said. "That's why I wasn't interested. Still aren't."

"You can't be serious." Alice rummaged through her purse and pulled out a Snickers bar. Then a second. “Dinner?”

“Thanks. You’re always prepared. You’d probably even be able to handle a guy like Rob who just throws me off-balance.”

Clearly, I needed a rush of sugar because I hadn’t meant to let that slip to my sister. That was brutally honest. I took a deep, cleansing breath, except that the air back here smelled like a mix of the ocean, decaying greens, and wet cardboard.

“Oh, sweetie.” Alice shook her head. “You should stop trying so hard. Just let Rob happen.”

“Excuse me?”

“You two have always liked each other. Relax, have some fun, he’s only here for a month.”

“I can’t have fun with Robert Delaney.”

Her lips quirked up. “I think you could have a lot of fun with Robert Delaney.”

I would have protested, but Alice changed the subject abruptly. "Is Rob going to donate to the fundraiser?"

"I doubt it. He doesn't know anything about it."

"You told him all about how you're a crazy cat lady–I wouldn't have led with that, by the way–-and didn't bother to tell the millionaire that a lousy thousand dollars would make a huge difference to you right now?"

"A lousy thousand dollars," I repeated. "Anyway, it would make a difference to the kittens." Not me.

"Right. Which is why should ask him. Everyone likes kittens."

"I don't want to be that kind of person. The kind of person who uses an in with someone who's well-off. It might be the-scrubbing-their-floors kind of in, but still."

"You mean you don't want to ask rich people for donations?" Alice asked. "I think you might have a short run as a charity organizer. That's kind of the job."

"I'm making extra chauffeuring Rob," I said. "It should be a huge help with the fundraiser costs. He wants me to do this overnight trip with him to Boston."

"Uh huh," Alice said knowingly.

"He can't drive, Alice. He's going to visit his dad."

"Sure, he can't drive. Whatever. I think that Navy SEAL wants you to himself."

"Sure, me and his dad. That sounds like a romantic trip. Anyway, as long as I make what I expect the next two weeks, I won't need Rob's charity." I began to tick fundraiser costs off on my fingers, sinking back into the mental math I’d been working out all day.

Alice shook her head. "I think that no matter what, you need to face your fears."

"Of asking for money?"

"No," Alice said. "Of Robert Delaney."