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was true. Chuck dated and dumped my friends and they still liked him. I didn’t know how he did it. I went out with a guy one time. It wasn’t good and I declined a second date. The guy still hates me. He threw eggs at my windows. And that wasn’t an isolated incident for me.  
    We made the last turn, and I scanned the sidewalk. Pete and his parents were easy to spot. They were both on the tall side, although not as tall as Pete. They were pale and thin in an aristocratic way with tailored wool coats and knotted scarves. They were pretty much what I expected, but it wasn’t them that I was really looking for. I was looking for a short, dumpy guy in Star Wars paraphernalia, eating something. My so-called partner, Aaron, had shown up at the airport on my last vacation and had gone on my girl trip. I wouldn’t put it past him to trail me to Colorado. My dad assigned Aaron to help me on cases and the little guy took the arrangement to the extreme. Wherever I went, he went, so it was a relief not to find him chewing next to Pete’s parents. As Chuck pulled up, I scanned again. No Aaron. Finally something was going right.  
    Pete saw the Jag and went super pale. I don’t know why he was surprised. He’d seen it before. Then his parents saw the Jag and their eyebrows raised. I admit coming to the airport in the classic car was unusual, but what was with Pete’s reaction to me arriving in it. Why should anyone care?
    Chuck pulled in front of them. The parents’ expressions changed to shock as I looked out the window at them and nobody moved.  
    “Last chance,” said Chuck.  
    I groaned and opened my door. Pete sprung into action and helped me out. He bent down, his dark blond hair brushing my forehead. “I’ll explain later.”  
    I nodded and bit my lip. I was an accomplished liar. You had to be if you worked for my dad. But lying about Myrtle and Millicent felt wrong, like I was ashamed of them or something, which I certainly wasn’t.  
    “Mom, Dad, this is Mercy,” said Pete.  
    Pete’s dad recovered from his surprise and extended his hand. “Calvin. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mercy. Pete can’t stop talking about you.” He turned to his wife. “This is Pete’s mother, Nancy.”  
    Nancy blinked and then came alive and shook my hand. “Nice to meet you, Mercy. I hope you like skiing.”  
    “I love it. Thank you for inviting me.”
    “And this,” said Nancy, “is Wallace.”  
    She tugged on something in her right hand and from behind her carry-on waddled a dog, not just any dog, a tiny pug wearing a pink knitted hoodie.  
    “Oh,” I said because I couldn’t say crap. Little dogs don’t like me any more than mothers. They always bark at me and try to pee on my shoes. They’re often successful because their owners frown on kicking. This dog would be no exception. He sat on his curly tail and looked up. Once he got to the level of my face, the barking started. Short yaps that caused him to hop sideways like his feet were on springs.  
    Then I heard a deep laugh behind me. Chuck was out of the Jag and I did a tiny internal panic. I never knew what Chuck would say and I had the sneaking suspicion that he wouldn’t mind making this trip worse than it was already bound to be.  
    I spun around and said loudly, “This is my cousin. My cousin. My cousin, Chuck.”  
    Smooth.
    I had my back turned to Pete and his parents, so I gave Chuck what I hoped was a telling look. He saw something in my face because the corners of his mouth turned up. He walked around the car, oozing charm and promptly had Nancy glowing with a big smile on her face.  
    Calvin was equally taken in. “Chuck,” he said. “I have to ask about this car. It is magnificent.”  
    Chuck glanced at me, and Pete blurted out, “He borrowed it.”
    Not missing a beat, Chuck confirmed, “It’s a friend’s. 1945 Mark IV, mint condition, and a pleasure to drive.”
    Calvin looked in the back window. “That must be