Every Dog Has His Day

by Jenn McKinlay

  “You’re planning to sleep here?” she asked. She was pleased that her voice didn’t sound as panicked as she felt.

  Zach opened one eye and regarded her under a narrowed eyelid. “Yes.”

  “But—” she began but he interrupted.

  “No buts,” he said. “It’s too dangerous for you and the girls to be here alone, heck, it’s too dangerous for me and Rufus to be alone at my place. It’s better if we stick together and ride out the storm. This way if anything happens to either of us, the other one is there to help or to go get help.”

  Jessie glanced at the window. Lightning flashed and the wind howled as fistfuls of snow were pelted against the thin panes of glass. The storm raged on and it didn’t feel safe to be alone, and it certainly wasn’t safe for Zach to walk back home.

  She rose from her seat on the hearth and went down the hall to the linen cupboard. She pulled out the only blankets that remained, two well-worn comforters with matching pillows that her former mother-in-law, Audrey, had given the girls when they were younger. They were bright pink with butterflies on them. She carried them back to the living room and shyly handed one set to Zach who was watching her again with one eye open.

  “Thanks,” he said. “Ooh, and it’s just my color, too.”

  Jessie laughed. “No problem.”

  She sat on her side of the sectional, feeling uncomfortable about what she was going to say but knowing it needed to be said anyway. “Listen, I am okay with you staying but I need to be clear that there is to be absolutely no funny business.”

  Both of Zach’s eyes opened wide and he regarded her with a mischievous twinkle in his gaze. “So, whoopie cushions and hand buzzers are out, got it.”

  “Zach,” she said. Her voice was low in warning.

  He blinked, the picture of innocence.

  “Do I really have to spell it out?”

  “Spell what? It? I-T.”

  A tiny smile was tipping the corner of his mouth. Jessie had a sudden urge to press her lips right there just to see what the smart aleck would do. She didn’t. Instead, she quickly averted her gaze to the fire.

  “Just stay on your side of the couch,” she said. “Or I’ll brain you with the potato.”

  Zach barked out a laugh. “Well, with a threat like that, you don’t need to worry.”

  Jessie glanced over her shoulder at him. Could she trust him? Was he the safe guy he seemed? She didn’t have a great track record with men and she really didn’t want to get burned again.

  Zach leaned up on one elbow. His gaze met hers and it occurred to her it was the first time she’d ever seen him look serious. He reached out a hand and grabbed her fingers with his. His fingers were cold but they held hers gently, his grip firm and strong but measured. His thumb ran over the top of hers in light reassuring strokes that made her heart trip over itself in response.

  “Listen,” he said. “I know you have no reason to believe me but I promise you are perfectly safe with me. I’m just here to make sure that you and the girls get through the storm okay. When I woke up at my house, I got worried about the three of you here alone without power and when I saw a faint light coming from your windows, I figured I’d better check. Think of me as the big brother you never wanted.”

  Jessie looked from his warm brown gaze down to where he clasped her fingers in his. Big brother, her foot. Her pulse was beating triple time and she felt a little dizzy from the contact. Yeah, it had been that long since a man had touched her in even a friendly way.

  She forced her lips to curve up in a smile even though she was feeling anything but friendly. The truth was Zach was the first guy to get under her skin in a really long time and the urge to push him back on the couch and join him under his pink comforter was almost more than she could stand.

  She resisted, knowing that it would make being neighbors or friends with Zach way more complicated than she was ready to deal with. She shook her hand free from his and rolled under her own comforter.

  “Sure, okay,” she said. “Just so we’re clear.”

  “Oh, we’re clear,” he said.

  Jessie settled back onto her side of the couch, tucking the pink comforter around her. The flickering flames of yellow light and the crackle and hiss coming from the fireplace made the room cozy. She felt her eyelids get heavy even as she was aware of Zach’s head just inches away from hers.

  Rufus remained on the floor in front of the fire, his reddish brown hair aglow from the flames. His chest rose and fell and his feet twitched. Jessie wondered if he was chasing his yellow Frisbee in his sleep.

  “This is weird,” Zach said.

  “What’s weird?”

  “Sleeping with a woman without sleeping with a woman,” he said. His voice lowered on the second “sleeping,” giving it a whole different meaning.

  “I wouldn’t know,” Jessie said. “I’ve never slept with a woman or slept with a woman.” She mimicked the way his voice had dropped and she heard him grunt.

  “Fair enough,” he said. Then he laughed. “I like you, Jessie Connelly.”

  “I like you, too, Zachary Caine.”

  In minutes, he was softly snoring while Jessie stared at the ceiling. She had spoken the truth. She did like Zach, but it was useless to speculate about anything happening between them. She had no interest in a relationship and even if she did, she couldn’t get involved with Zach.

  For one thing, he was good friends with her boss, Gavin, and it would be a whole lot of awkward if she and Zach got involved and something went wrong. And, of course, something would go wrong because as she had discovered when she was with her ex-husband, Seth, she was completely defective in the sack. As in, her girl parts were broken and there was just no fixing them.

  Nope, there could never be anything between her and Zach, because if he ever looked at her the way her ex had, with utter contempt and disdain, she would never recover. No, it was better just to be neighbors, maybe friends, the sort that never ever saw each other naked.

  Chapter 9

  “Momma,” a little voice whispered right before Jessie felt tiny fingers on her face prying her eyes open.

  Jessie brushed the fingers away and tried to turn away from the little hands. Her head felt heavy and her body was sore as if the muscles in her back had cramped.

  “Momma,” the voice whispered again. Little hands shook her shoulder. “Zach is on our couch.”

  Jessie grunted. Knowing that Maddie would not go away, she blinked up at her daughter’s concerned little face.

  “It’s all right,” she said. “There was a blizzard and he came to check on us.”

  Mercifully, the little hands left her alone and Jessie felt herself drift back to sleep.

  “Boo!”

  “Ahhhhh!”

  Jessie jumped at her daughter’s shriek. She snapped her head up just in time to see Zach grab Maddie about the middle and start to tickle her. Maddie’s squawk of fright turned into shrieks of laughter and Jessie knew that any opportunity to go back to sleep was gone, baby, gone.

  Rufus rose from his warm spot by the fire, which Zach must have stoked in the night as it was still burning brightly and cranking out heat.

  “Momma,” Gracie appeared in the doorway in her bathrobe, clutching Chaos close. “It’s so cold in the house and the lights don’t work.”

  Jessie lifted her covers and Gracie climbed in while Jessie climbed out.

  “Do it again,” Maddie demanded.

  Zach lay down and closed his eyes. She crept up to him and pushed on his brow bone until the upper lids of his eyes lifted and he was looking right at her, then he yelled “Boo!” and she jumped and began to giggle.

  “Again!” Maddie demanded.

  “No, that’s enough,” Jessie said. “You know the rule.”

  “Not before coffee,” Gracie and Maddie said together.
r />   “What’s not before coffee?” Zach asked.

  “Life,” Jessie said.

  “Oh, gotcha.”

  Zach rose, hooking Maddie around the middle as he did so. He swung her around as if she weighed no more than a pillow and locked one arm around her legs and one around her shoulders, carrying her like she was a human backpack. She started giggling.

  “Hey, has anyone seen Maddie?” Zach asked. “She was right here a second ago.”

  Gracie lifted her arm from beneath the covers and pointed. “She’s right there.”

  “Where?” Zach asked. He spun around as he looked behind him, twirling Maddie with him. She belly laughed.

  “There,” Gracie cried.

  Zach went the other way. Maddie was laughing hard now as her honey-colored hair streamed out behind her.

  “Nope, I still don’t see her,” Zach said. His brown eyes were wide as he looked at Gracie.

  Throwing off her covers, Gracie thrust Chaos at Jessie, who hugged him close and watched as Gracie, her shy girl, gestured for Zach to lean down, so she could cup his face and turn his face toward Maddie’s.

  “Oh! Hello,” Zach said. “What are you doing down there?”

  “You picked me up,” Maddie said through her laughter.

  “I did?” he asked. “Huh, I must have confused you with Rufus.”

  This made both girls laugh and Rufus barked as if he were pleased to be a part of the conversation.

  “Beep. Beep. Beep.” Zach made the high-pitched sound of a truck in reverse and when his knees hit the back of the couch, he dropped Maddie onto the cushions, much to her delight.

  It occurred to Jessie that having Zach here was a lot like having three children underfoot, but he was keeping the girls entertained and that counted for a lot.

  Gracie took Chaos back and climbed under the blanket. Maddie commandeered Zach’s blanket and did the same. Rufus jumped up to join her but Zach shook his head at the dog and said, “No.”

  Rufus glanced away as if he thought that not making eye contact with Zach meant he could disobey him. Jessie didn’t really care if the dog got on the couch. With two kids under the age of seven, there wasn’t much that hadn’t been spilled onto the sectional she’d owned for ten years. A little dog dirt certainly wasn’t going to be noticed on top of spit-up, juice, cracker crumbs, and several other way more offensive stinks and stains.

  “He can stay,” she said. “I don’t mind dogs on the furniture.”

  “Nope, he’s coming with me,” Zach said.

  “Where are you going?” Jessie asked.

  “Home.”

  She glanced at the big picture window. It was an icy shade of gray outside. The sky was so pale with clouds and snow that it was hard to see where the land ended and the sky began. The snow was still pelting down and the wind rattled against the house, as if looking for an entrance.

  “You’re leaving?” she asked. She hated that she sounded nervous but there was no denying that Zach’s solid presence as another adult—okay, adult-like person—had made the blizzard less worrisome.

  “We’re just going to get my generator,” he said. “Don’t you worry. We’ll be brewing coffee before you know it.”

  Jessie stared at him for a beat and then asked, “Why are you still here?”

  Zach laughed. He paused to poke at the fire and then pulled on his boots. Once he reached for his coat, Rufus bounded off the couch to join him.

  Jessie walked them to the foyer, closing the door to the small anteroom to keep the blast of cold that would happen when they opened the front door from entering the house. She was curious to see what awaited them outside. Her front door had two long narrow windows on each side of it; she glanced out but all she could see was white. This did not bode well.

  She didn’t want Zach to go out there. What if something happened to him? How would she know? She wouldn’t be able to leave the girls and help him. And she knew it was selfish but she didn’t like the idea of riding out this blizzard by herself. Zach was right—they were safer if they stayed together. When she’d checked her phone for a weather update, the forecasters were predicting this blizzard would sit over their part of Maine for a few days.

  Zach pulled his hood up and fastened it over his face; then he pulled on his gloves. He gave Jessie a nod to indicate he was ready for her to open the door. Instead, she moved to stand in front of it, blocking his path.

  “Don’t go,” she said.

  “What?” he asked. “But coffee.”

  “I know, and the caffeine addict in me is losing her mind about this, but it’s a blizzard, Zach.” Jessie grabbed the lapels of his coat and stared into his velvet-soft brown eyes. “You could freeze to death before you even make it to your house. It’s not worth it. Coffee is not worth your life.”

  Zach stared at her for a moment and Jessie realized she had pulled him close during her protest and now his face was just inches from hers. Her attention wandered to his mouth and she noticed he had full lips that were very provocative. She wondered what it would feel like to be kissed by him.

  “If you keep staring at me like that,” Zach said, his voice a gruff growl. “I’ll have to go out in the snow just to cool off.”

  “Huh? What?” Jessie forced her gaze back up to his.

  He grinned at her and said, “Aw, what the hell? It’s not like I haven’t been wondering the same thing. And if we freeze to death because of this blizzard, it’ll be better to know before I die.”

  “What are you talking about?” she asked.

  “This.” He kissed her.

  Zach fit his lips to hers, softly at first, and then with increasing pressure. It was the sort of kiss that flirted, teased, and invited more even while keeping its distance. He sipped at her lips, learning their shape and feel but never pressing for more. For the first time since the power went out, Jessie felt hot all over.

  It was Zach who broke away first. He pressed his forehead to hers. “Wow. That was better than I imagined and I have a pretty good imagination.”

  Jessie laughed but it was shaky. Zach made her feel things she wasn’t used to feeling.

  “Listen, my girl,” he said. “I have to go. We need that generator. I promise I’ll be back as fast as I can.”

  Jessie hugged him close. Then she let him go, because if she didn’t do it now, she feared she never would.

  “Okay,” she said. “Be careful.”

  Zach nodded. He pulled the door open and then pushed open the storm door. The wind shoved hard against it, sending him staggering forward. Snow that had been piled up against the door fell into the house in an explosion of cold and wet.

  “Don’t worry,” Zach said. “We’ve got this.”

  Rufus darted out into the snow with him and Zach grabbed the door handle and pushed it shut behind him. She watched the man and the dog as they disappeared in a flurry of white. She tried to tell herself it would be okay but she knew she wouldn’t feel better until they returned.

  She glanced down at her feet and realized she was standing in a pile of snow in her socks. In seconds her toes were frozen.

  She charged into the kitchen and grabbed several gallon-sized plastic bags from the box in the pantry. She scooped the snow up into the bags and then put them in the freezer and the refrigerator, hoping to keep her perishables cold.

  She came back into the living room to find both girls on the couch under the blankets watching the fire. She peeled off her soggy frigid socks and put her feet up on the toasty warm hearth.

  “Is Zach coming back, Momma?” Maddie asked.

  “He said he was.”

  “Men lie,” Gracie said.

  Jessie closed her eyes for a moment. Of the two girls, Gracie, being the oldest, had suffered more from her father’s reprehensible behavior than Maddie had. The number of times Seth had lied to h
is daughter about whether he would show up for a soccer game or a robotics competition were too numerous to count. For a long time, Jessie had defended him, but no more. It did no good to raise her daughter’s hopes just to watch them be dashed the next time.

  “Not all men lie,” she said. “It’s an individual flaw, not one that belongs to boys or girls.”

  “I bet he doesn’t come back,” Gracie persisted.

  “I bet he does,” Maddie argued.

  Jessie glanced between them. “We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, let’s feed Chaos. He could probably use some fuel in his belly to help him keep warm.”

  The girls silently rolled off the couch and moved toward the kitchen. Unable to help herself, Jessie glanced out the window toward Zach’s house. She knew it was ridiculous but she sent up a silent plea. Please come back, Zach. Not just for the girls but because I could really use a frigging cup of coffee.

  Fifteen minutes passed, then a half hour, then forty-five minutes. Jessie had taken to standing at the window to see what was happening next door. Had he forgotten about them? Maybe one of his little field marketers had gotten stranded and he’d rushed to her rescue.

  Jessie didn’t like how the thought of that made her feel so she gave it a solid push out of her headspace. Zach was a businessman. Probably he’d gotten home to a million details he’d missed at work and was even now ensconced in his office trying to catch up on things.

  She thought about calling him under the guise of seeing if he was all right—not a total lie—but they hadn’t exchanged phone numbers so she couldn’t. She debated calling a mutual friend to get his number but that felt too stalkerish, plus she’d have to explain that he had spent the night and that was definitely crossing a line.

  Instead, she ran upstairs and put on a warm, dry pair of socks and then tried to figure out how to cook something on the glowing embers of the fire. Using her cast iron skillet, she whipped up a batch of fried eggs. She let the girls try to toast some bread on marshmallow sticks over the fire but Maddie’s bread fell into the embers and Gracie’s caught on fire and came out charred.