Rachel Alexander 02 - The Dog who knew too much

tea bag in each, and began to make the sandwiches.
    “Sometimes I think I should get a job.”
    “No kidding.”
    “The kids are always off with their friends, they don’t even eat supper at home half the time. And Ted’s been working late a lot, like last week the accountant was supposed to come at two thirty and he didn’t show up until ten to five. Can you believe that?”
    I didn’t offer an opinion.
    “It’s always something. Maybe it would help if I earned some money, too. There’ll be college to pay for soon.”
    “What would you do?”
    “Well, that’s precisely the trouble. It’s a great idea, but what am I trained for? Who’s going to hire someone my age with no real work history?”
    “You could always become a detective,” I told her, and then ducked out of the way as the dish towel snapped through the air.
    “This is stupid. I have such a lucky life,” she said, signaling that she’d had about enough. We took the sandwiches over to the table. “Are you seeing anyone?”
    She was obsessed with me getting married. Well, I had, hadn’t I? And where had that gotten me? Where, I thought, did anything get anybody—love, marriage, having a child? Where had it gotten the Jacobses ? And where had it gotten Lillian?—all her ambitions to be a lawyer instantly put aside when Ted had gotten a terminal case of ring fever and insisted, even before she finished law school, that they get married and she stay at home and play house.
    “There must be some job you could get,” I said, deciding against telling her that my social life consisted of recently having kissed a total stranger in order to avoid being seen by her husband, who was at the time Velcroed to someone young enough to date her son. “Lots of women go back to work when their kids are older.”
    “You get so detached from everything,” she said, “staying at home. Why am I complaining so much? I live in the most beautiful house in the world, on top of a mountain, with this wonderful”— Lili stopped and sipped her tea—“view.”
    “Still, a job might be interesting. Look, even if things are fine with Ted’s business, working is not only about money.”
    “I know, but there is so much to do around here.”
    She pushed her half-eaten sandwich away. I picked it up and gave it to Dashiell. “Let’s go for a walk,” I said.
    Lili changed to mud-stained sneakers and put on Ted’s old leather jacket. I put on Lisa’s quilted one. Dashiell rushed on ahead. We proceeded more slowly, following the circle from Lili’s flashlight so that we wouldn’t trip over roots or fallen branches. We went up the path that led into the state park that surrounded Lili’s house, walking arm in arm where the trail was wide enough.
    “Have you talked to Ted about it, about going to work?”
    “I don’t think he’d like it, Rach . You know how Teddy is. He wants his dinner on the table the minute he gets home. He wouldn’t like the inconvenience of it.”
    “So you haven’t discussed it with him?”
    “He has his own problems, Rachel. I don’t know if I told you, but a few months ago he seemed so tired all the time that I got really worried. Maybe you should join a gym, I told him. They say it really helps, you know, exercise. It’s even supposed to reduce stress, and you know Ted’s work, well, the garment district, it’s ulcer country.”
    “So what did he say?”
    “He thought it was a great idea. He found this gym right near work. He’s already lost that big gut. He looks good for fifty.”
    Fifty. Maybe that explained it.
    “With Teddy working so hard and making all these changes, how can I—”
    “You need to talk. You guys are best friends,” I said, as if I still believed it. “That’s how you stay close, by communicating. That’s what you told me, when Jack and I—”
    “You’re right. It’s all my fault. I haven’t been talking to him.” My sister turned and headed back toward the house. I whistled to Dash and followed along behind her.
    “I didn’t say it was your fault, Lili . I was just repeating what you always told me, that good relationships are based on good communication,” I said to her back.
    Once inside, Lili picked up her lukewarm tea and began to drink it. Then she began talking about something she’d seen on television.
    I waited for her to use the downstairs bathroom so that I’d have an excuse to use the one off her bedroom. I quickly checked the hamper, finding it empty. That’s when