Page 94 of Wag More Bark Less

She held my gaze long enough to offer me a weak smile of gratitude, and then I set to work raking out the pit. I found dry kindling in a nearby barrel—pine needles, cedar shavings, and small twigs. It was a game we played as kids. A competition really for who could collect the most kindling for the burn barrel before dinner was announced. Kira always gave me a run for my money. Connor never won.

I considered sharing the story with Maggie, but she was hugging the dress and staring into the empty pit as though in another place entirely.

Respecting her need for silence, I took my time stacking the split firewood into a loose teepee formation, careful to leave gaps between the logs—Dad always said a fire needed room to breathe—and an opening in the front for the dress. Maggie wasn’t ready to let go of it yet, and I wasn’t going to push her.

I added another layer of pine needles in the bottom, mostly to buy Maggie time. Then I turned toward her. “Ready?”

She looked down at the pile of fabric in her lap and simply nodded. She folded the dress as best she could and offered it to me.

“You don’t want to put it in there?” I asked.

“If you saw how much trouble I had just stuffing this in your closet, you’d know it’s better if you do it.”

I tried to wrestle the dress flatter, but there was only so much give. Thankfully, it was compacted enough to wedge through the opening without having to restack the whole thing. I placed a couple of pieces of dry wood over the opening and assessed my design. If everything caught the way Dad taught me, the wood would burn hot enough to keep the dress from smoldering. The less smoldering, the less smoke.

Or so I hoped.

Because if I was wrong about that, there would be consequences.

I slipped the candle lighter from the pocket I stashed it in earlier and offered it to Maggie.

“You won’t get in trouble for this?” she asked, her fingers grazing mine.

“Nah,” I said, hoping it was true.

Maggie stepped closer to the fire, pressed the button to ignite the flame, and held it against the satin until it took. She stepped back, allowing me to put my arm around her shoulders, and we watched as the edges of the white fabric turned black. The ends shriveled as the fire traveled slowly and unevenly along the hems.

“I thought it would be more dramatic,” Maggie said.

“Give it time.”

“You’re probably wondering why I have this,” Maggie said, staring ahead at the fire.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”

The pine needles beneath the fire caught next, and beads popped from the gown.

“You’re burning an illegal fire on my behalf. I think you’re owed a certain amount of explanation.”

She folded her arms over her chest, pressing against my side a little more. I held her there and waited as the flames licked the teepee of dry wood. The discolored dress, however, remained mostly intact.

“I called off my wedding two weeks ago. I was supposed to get married today—which I think my pregnant sister who currently has no working filter already told you.”

“She might have mentioned it.”

“I didn’t destroy the dress. I loved that dress. And I almost married a man who didn’t want to marry me in it. If I’m being honest with myself, I think he regretted the proposal the minute he got down on one knee. We had a unique relationship that survived in a fantasy bubble, and that level of commitment tore right through that illusion. I just didn’t see it at first.”

At last, flames engulfed the interior, bright orange tongues reaching through the tulle as the wooden teepee I built burned through.

“Jason and I met while attending a destination wedding. Not even the same one, just same location with two weddings happening at the same time. We hooked up, thinking that’d be it.”

“Obviously it wasn’t.”

“For more than two years, we stayed in touch and made plans every three or four months to meet up. But it was always some vacation spot, never his place or mine. He never even met Ellie until three months ago when I packed up my entire life and drove from North Carolina to Washington. It was the first taste of reality our relationship ever had, and it didn’t pass the test. The bubble burst the minute I showed up and his mother was already there to help plan the wedding. I just didn’t realize it then.”

“She stayed the whole time?”

“Yep. I called off the wedding when I caught her trying on my wedding dress after I strictly forbade her from even peeking at.” She looked up at me then, a half smirk lifting one corner of her mouth. “I have the video evidence to prove it.”