She spotted Ethan on his phone, pretty much ignoring the conversation until Lydia ran up to him excitedly. "Come have fun with me," she told him.
"Go...stop looking at your phone for five minutes," Abby said.
"But...Da-bbby," Ethan said.
Lydia looked at him. "I just...have a lot of energy...maybe we could play catch," she suggested.
"Or fetch," Rebecca said, with some seriousness.
"Fine..." Ethan said, petulantly. He took the offered ball and threw it...Lydia dashed off to retrieve it. And asked him to do it again, and again.
"She really does run fast," Rebecca commented. "But...I really do have to run now...I wanted to stop in on the McMillans."
"You mean Sarah and her family?" Abby asked.
"Oh, are you two friends?"
"Not exactly...but we know each other..."
"Well, maybe you'd like to show me the way there...That would be very helpful."
"It isn't that far of a walk," Abby said.
Rebecca smiled. People from different family units interacting would be most instructive. It was all she could do to keep her professional composure. After all, this was beyond fascinating.
"Home," Buster said.
Rebecca turned to him. "I beg your pardon? Do you want to take Lydia home or something else? You are a bit hard to interpret."
"Home," he agreed, wanting to take Lydia home if they were going off somewhere.
"Well, if you or Lydia need someone to talk to about this," she slipped her card into Buster's pants pocket.
Ethan returned with Lydia, and Buster again attached the leash to Lydia's collar. "We're going to Sarah McMillan's house," Abby told him.
"Why?"
"Because I said so," Abby said.
