Death of a Dog Whisperer (9780758284570) by Laurien Berenson Page A

he’s going to stumble upon another ring that he can stuff in his pocket and sell.”
    â€œThat’s ridiculous,” I said. “Tell James he’d be better off buying lottery tickets.”
    â€œOr put a hammer in his hands and make him useful,” Sam advised.
    â€œTell him to go home to his own house,” Aunt Peg said firmly. “And then shut the door behind him.”
    As usual, she had the last word.

Chapter 9
    â€œT hat was interesting,” Sam said, a few minutes later as he closed the front door.
    Bob and Aunt Peg had just left. Sam and I were alone—unless you count the Poodles, who’d followed us out to the front hall. They could sense the tension in the air, but hadn’t figured out its source. Eve pressed up against my legs. Faith pushed her muzzle into my hand; her tongue rasped across my fingers. They didn’t know what was wrong, but they were trying to offer comfort in any way they could.
    I appreciated the thought, but I wasn’t ready to give up my anger just yet.
    â€œIt was very interesting,” I said to Sam.
    â€œOh?” He walked over to the sideboard and began to thumb through the day’s mail. Unlike the Poodles, my husband was oblivious to my mood.
    â€œWhat were you thinking? ” I asked.
    Sam looked up. “About what?”
    Okay, I get that women are from Venus and men are from Mars. But surely after all this time, Sam couldn’t be that dense about how his wife’s mind worked, could he?
    â€œBob . . . and Claire?”
    â€œOh, right. I’m glad you know about that now. Keeping it under wraps was a real pain.”
    â€œ That’s the part that concerned you?” I asked incredulously. “Did you really think it was a good idea to keep Bob’s relationship a secret from me?”
    â€œBob thought it was a good idea,” Sam said slowly. “And it was his life. And his secret. So I honored his request.”
    â€œIt’s Davey’s life too,” I pointed out. “And now you and Bob have both taught him that it’s all right not to tell me things he’d rather that I didn’t know.”
    â€œDon’t you think you’re taking this a little too seriously?”
    I stared at him across the width of the hallway. “No. I don’t.”
    â€œWell, I do. Claire seems like a nice woman. Bob could do a lot worse. And has, actually.”
    Was he missing the point on purpose? I wondered.
    â€œBob could date a monkey for all I care,” I snapped. “As long as I know about it so that I can keep an eye on what’s going on with Davey.”
    â€œDavey likes Claire,” Sam said.
    Seriously, I wanted to smack him.
    â€œI have no idea what you’re so upset about,” he continued. “For all I knew, Claire could have been a passing fling. So there was no point in your getting all wound up about a relationship that wasn’t even going to last.”
    â€œThat wasn’t your choice to make,” I told him.
    â€œSorry.” Sam shrugged. “At the time it seemed like it was.”
    A lump rose in my throat. I fought it back down. I couldn’t believe that Sam could be this flippant about an issue that was obviously so important to me. The problem went way beyond his depriving me of the ability to manage Davey’s life as I saw fit. This was a matter of trust. And how we would deal with each other going forward.
    â€œYou are not forgiven,” I blurted out.
    The words sounded chilling, even to me. They also had the effect of finally alerting Sam to the seriousness of what we were discussing. He stopped and thought about that.
    â€œI don’t think I need your forgiveness,” he said after a minute. “You may not have liked what I did, but I thought I was acting in your best interests. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
    In the space of one heartbeat to the next, time seemed to stop. I felt as though a chasm was