by Mara Wells
“I can help.” She pushed to her feet, the distance between them so small he could’ve reached out to brush his fingers over the freckles dancing on her cheeks. Could’ve. But didn’t. Because she wasn’t his Dani anymore. She’d given lots of indications that those kisses would not be repeated, which was really too bad but completely her decision to make. He wished he knew why, whether it was something he’d done wrong or that big secret he suspected she had that made her keep her distance.
“I’d like that. Where do we start?” Knox had expected her to bring Sarge with her, but she’d shown up alone. If Sarge were here, then he’d have something to do with his hands. Pet the dog. Hold the leash. For now, he shoved them in his pockets. “A pet store?”
“Sure. There’s a Petco down on Fifth Street. Let me know when is good for you.”
“Now is good.”
Danielle’s laugh was nervous, the same giggle she’d get whenever Mr. Leal called on her in trig. “Okay, let’s go. I’ll drive.” Her gaze shot to his leg.
“I can drive.”
“That’s not what I—”
He waved off her apology and fished keys out of his pocket. “Just tell me what we need.”
* * *
Danielle ordered a lot of her pet products online. Easier, usually cheaper. But there was no denying the joys of a pet store. She stopped at the three-story cage column of kittens up for adoption and let a young tabby nibble on her finger for a moment.
“Aren’t they the sweetest? I’d get a cat except I have so many former racers coming through, and sometimes an adorable ball of fluff like these guys can set them off.”
“Set them off?” Knox pushed a shopping cart in front of him, its plastic basket twice the size of a grocery-store cart.
“You know, they’re trained to chase a mechanical rabbit? It’s frustrating because they can never catch it. Gets their hunting instincts in an uproar. It can take some time to convince them that not all small, fluffy objects are prey.”
“Does Sarge have that problem?” Knox clipped out in such a disgruntled tone that Danielle fought the urge to snap to attention. His moods didn’t need to impact her, but she got defensive anyway.
“It’s not a problem. It’s a product of their training. They simply have to be retrained is all.”
Knox’s lips quirked. “Does Sarge have to be retrained?”
“Um.” Danielle caught her bottom lip in her teeth. “You’ve spent time with him. You know he’s making good progress.”
“So no cats for me today.”
“Afraid not.”
Danielle grabbed a second cart and pushed it toward the food aisle. She expounded on the pros and cons of different brands until Knox let out an impatient breath and said, “Tell me what to get and I will.”
“It’s expensive but really is the best.” She pointed out a bag on the bottom shelf, and Knox tossed it into his cart like it weighed four pounds instead of forty.
Next they perused dog beds. Danielle showed him the large pallets Sarge was used to. Knox stacked three of them in his cart and three in hers.
At over two hundred bucks each, they were something of an investment. “How many dogs are you planning to adopt?”
“He’ll need one in every room, won’t he? Should I get one for outside, too?”
Well, it wasn’t her money. She wasn’t going to complain if he wanted to spoil Sarge. “How about something weatherproof for the patio?”
Knox eyed the already filled baskets. “We’re going to need another cart.”
“We haven’t even gotten to supplements or dog toys yet. And snacks. You’ll want to pick out some treats to use when training him.”
“Train him? I thought we already did that. What else were we doing at the dog park every night?” His eyes landed on her lips, and she had to bite them to keep them from tingling at the attention. It’d been like that, night after night, at Fur Haven. The longing looks, the complete focus he gave her. But he’d respected the unspoken boundaries she’d set. Business and dogs.
“He’s got to learn you’re the new boss.” Danielle tightened her grip on the cart’s handle to keep herself from reaching out to reassure him. It’s not you; it’s me. It was time to hand over Sarge and relinquish her excuse to see Knox every day, but she couldn’t bring herself to fully walk away. Not yet. “I’ll keep helping, of course.”
Danielle pushed the cart forward, aisle by aisle, through all the products and choices Knox would need to make. Business and dogs. Don’t get distracted by the way his jeans pulled across his muscled thighs or how his eyes watched her like her every move was interesting. Which shampoo did he like the smell of? What kind of flea preventive did he want to try? Whenever she gave him options, he picked the first one. Finally, Danielle stopped the cart, right in front of the Easter display. Stuffed carrots and rabbits of all sizes hung from a peg wall, inviting dog owners to pick up seasonal toys for their pets at sixty percent off. Easter baskets wrapped in pink cellophane held giant bones and boxes of treats. The last row was filled with colorful outfits for dogs ranging from tiny to giant.
“Do you think Sarge wants a raincoat for the summer storms or perhaps this dapper sweater for chilly nights?” Danielle held up the two costumes, fully expecting him to choose the first one with the matching plastic booties and keep them moving.
“An outfit? For a dog? You’ve got to be kidding me.” Knox rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. “I mean, a lot of this stuff seems unnecessary to me, but you’re the expert here, right? Costumes are where I draw the line, though. My dog is not a costume dog.”
“What about the Fur Haven Howling Halloween Party? It’s still six months away, but he’ll need a costume for that. And what will he wear to next year’s Easter Bonnet Parade?” Danielle dangled an oversize straw bonnet with a chin strap in front of him just to see the vein on the side of his neck pulse.
“His dignity.” He swiped the costumes from her and slammed them back onto their respective racks, grumbling about the ridiculousness of civilian life.
Danielle couldn’t help it; she laughed. “You’re so grumpy.”
He stopped muttering and gazed at her over the top of Dog Bed Mountain. “And you’re elusive.”
“What?” Her mouth snapped shut, the urge to laugh completely gone. “What’re you talking about?”
“Remember when we kissed?” He didn’t move toward her, but she still felt crowded by the intensity of his gaze. The way his eyes held hers hostage. “Because I do. Every day. And every night.”
“I—” Danielle cleared her throat and swallowed hard. “Which one?” His heavy-lidded gaze shamed her. It didn’t matter if they were talking three weeks ago, a month, or fourteen years. “I remember.”
“Good.” Knox didn’t look away, and Danielle imagined what it would be like to see past the blue irises and into the very workings of his mind. Could she make him happy? Remembering his ease with the kids at the Easter egg hunt, she doubted it. Dogs, not kids, were her future. Not a lot of guys would be on board with that, and he’d said himself he looked forward to fathering his own children. She wouldn’t take that from him.
“It’s funny, isn’t it?” She broke eye contact with him, rubbing a dog-bed tag between her fingers, studying it like it was imperative she know the washing instructions this moment. “How the past sneaks up on us sometimes? But we’re not those people anymore, Knox, and we don’t want the same things anymore.”
“I still want you. Dani, I don’t think I’ve ever stopped.” He whispered the words, but she heard them like gongs in her brain. Her skin prickled in the same way as when he used to sneak up behind her in the lunch line and nibble her earlobe.
“But I don’t want you.” She spoke directly to the dog bed, sure that she couldn’t say the lie to his face. His rough intake of breath let her know her shot hit its mark. She regretted hurt
ing him, but better a little hurt now than a big hurt later. “Not like that anyway. I won’t say it hasn’t been great spending time with you, and I wouldn’t let you adopt Sarge if I didn’t think you were a good man.” She twisted the dog-bed tag into a unicorn horn. “I hope we can be friends, Knox. Do you think that’s possible?”
Knox jerked the cart so suddenly that the top dog bed tumbled to the floor. They both reached for it, and their hands brushed. Danielle froze, pulse beating a wild rhythm in her neck.
Knox turned his hand so that their fingers laced together. “Sure, Dani. We can be friends.” He let go and reloaded the bed into the cart.
Danielle followed him to check out, disappointed that he’d accepted the friendship boundary so easily. For a moment, she’d thought he’d use her hand to pull her against him and kiss her. For a moment, she’d wanted him to.
They were silent on their drive back to Knox’s new house. He waved off her offer to help him carry in all the bags, and Danielle hid her disappointment. Silent or not, there was no denying she liked being around him. Her friend. But friends weren’t clingy, so she forced a smile and placed a hand on his arm, preventing him from leaving his truck.
“I’ll bring Sarge over tomorrow. When’s a good time?”
“You tell me.” His arm was rock hard under her palm.
“Ten?”
“I’ll be here.” He slammed out of the truck in a way that Danielle would not describe as friendly.
“Hey.” She leapt out of the passenger side and met up with him at the back doors. “I meant it. I don’t have a lot of friends, Knox, and I’d like you to be one of them.”
Knox’s jaw twitched, and he flung open the doors with unexpected force. “I heard you. I just need a minute.”
“To decide whether or not you want to be friends?” Danielle couldn’t keep the disbelief out of her voice. He shouldn’t have to think about it. He’d left her during the worst time of her life. She’d forgiven him without even making him apologize. He was lucky she wanted to be friends. “You know what? Forget it.”
She stomped toward her car. Each step that he didn’t catch up with her and beg her forgiveness made her angrier. She slammed her door and tore off, ignoring her phone’s text alert.
At a red light, she finally checked.
I still get Sarge, right?
Ugh, that man. She waited until she got home to answer: See you at ten.
* * *
“Are you ready, Sarge? It’s your big day!” Danielle forced cheerfulness into her voice, but the dogs weren’t fooled. Luna and Flurry nudged her hands while Sarge dropped his head, looking guilty. “It’s not your fault, you big lug.”
Danielle distributed petting evenly among the three dogs. “Every dog deserves a forever home, and, Sarge, you’re getting the absolute best home. Preapproved by Lady herself.”
His ears pricked at Lady’s name. All the dogs who frequented Fur Haven seemed fond of the old black Lab.
“Yes, Lady will be living right across the street from you. And you’ll go to Fur Haven every day.”
Sarge whacked his tail against her floor.
She clipped on his leash and made him sit at her side while she kissed Luna and Flurry on the tops of their heads. “You two take care of each other, okay? I’ll be back in a while.”
The girls licked her hands, and Danielle swallowed hard. It wasn’t like the dogs would never see each other again. She’d take her dogs to Fur Haven often, and they’d run into Sarge, she was sure, at least from time to time.
Danielle firmed her resolve. If she kept every foster dog she fell in love with, she wouldn’t be able to save as many dogs. It was an important day. Sarge was moving into his new home.
Danielle preferred to bring her foster dogs into their new homes rather than having them taken from hers. That way, she could do one last check of the home and owners, could watch the way the dog was received, and could look for small cues that this was the right—or in some rare cases, wrong—fit. Not that she had any doubts about Sarge and Knox. Sarge had made his choice clear from day one. She knew how he felt, and she tried to take comfort that at least one of them could have what they wanted in life.
Danielle opened up the back of her SUV and lowered the ramp so Sarge could make his way inside independently. Sarge still favored the bad leg and probably always would. Had she told Knox to get a ramp for his vehicle? She couldn’t remember, so she added it to the list of instructions she planned to go over with him today.
At every slowdown, every stop sign, every red light—and they seemed to hit them all—Sarge whined in protest from his place in the back. It was like he knew what was going on and was eager to get to his new home. Danielle was happy. She was. It was just that she needed to circle the block one more time to make sure that the tears threatening to fall didn’t actually make an appearance.
Chapter 16
Knox approved of what Carrie’d done with his bedroom, and he approved even more of how quickly she’d done it. The rest of his house might look like a storage unit of boxes and mismatched furniture, but his master suite was a true retreat. After nearly two weeks of living in spartan conditions, he and Sarge deserved this bit of luxury.
If offered a hundred bucks, Knox couldn’t have named the color on the walls, because gray wasn’t quite right, but it was gray enough to give off a misty feeling. The bedding was the girliest he’d ever personally owned—mostly white with silver wisps and navy blobs that may or may not be flowers. He hadn’t looked closely enough to tell for sure. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
He stood near the window on a plush navy rug looking out onto his backyard. Sarge stretched out on the deck, sound asleep, back legs twitching like he was in a race. The giant doggy door Lance installed two weeks ago in the sliding back door ran floor to ceiling and could be taken out during hurricanes, or at least during insurance inspections he had coming up to determine how much he’d be paying in homeowners’ insurance. Because he’d paid cash, he wasn’t legally obligated to buy an insurance policy, but with hurricane season approaching, he didn’t want to take any chances with his investment. The door also guaranteed that Sarge was in charge of his own schedule, and so far, he seemed to appreciate the independence.
As Danielle’d predicted, Sarge’s favorite place was the couch. Luckily, he appeared to enjoy the same shows Knox did, so Knox foresaw many happy evenings watching stand-up comics on Netflix. Some of his buddies enjoyed watching any of the many TV series featuring the military, mostly so they could go online and talk about how unrealistic they were. Knox couldn’t handle the inaccuracies, though, and stuck strictly to shows that made him laugh. He supposed Lance and Caleb would be surprised by his viewing habits; they often ribbed him about how little he smiled.
Since coming home, he hadn’t had a lot to smile about, but he was smiling now. Because Danielle was coming over. Theoretically, it was a home visit to check Sarge’s welfare. In practice, he was hoping that she missed him. They’d only run across each other a few times at the dog park, Sarge always out of his mind with delight at the reunion, and he’d texted her a few pictures of Sarge settling in to ease her mind. She’d seemed really freaked out the day she’d brought Sarge to him, and he’d wanted her to know that weird vibe between them or not, Sarge was in good hands. She’d sent the thumbs-up response to every picture, and eventually he’d given up on trying to engage her. Too bad he couldn’t give up thinking about her as easily.
Out on the deck, Sarge stretched, ambled to his feet, hopped down the trio of stairs to the grass, and leisurely peed on the steps he’d just walked down. Well, that was unexpected but nothing to worry about. As far as Knox was concerned, the backyard was Sarge’s domain, and he could decorate it however he wanted.
Knox’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out, expecting Danielle to be texting from the street. Instead it was Christine, Caleb�
�s mom, asking him to go with her to visit his father at the prison this weekend. He was running out of polite ways to say no, but he still typed a careful, noncommittal Not this time and hit Send. She sent back her usual Another time then with three sets of praying-hand emojis.
In the past year, he’d probably had more contact with Christine than his own mother. That was some of the appeal of the job offer in Atlanta. His mother had remarried a few years back—some guy who’d been an extra on The Walking Dead for years—and they lived in a suburb outside the city. If Knox moved up there, he’d know if she needed anything. Their awkward weekly phone calls could turn into awkward dinners. Still, he felt he owed her something. For most of his life, she was the only family he’d had. He really should call Morales and ask a few questions. Get some specifics. After letting Morales know he was interested in the job, he’d deferred any discussion, claiming his obligation at the Dorothy prevented him from making commitments until the work was done. But that window was closing. Then what?
“What do you think, Sarge? You willing to pull up stakes and hit the mean streets of Atlanta with me?”
Sarge thumped his tail agreeably, and Knox smiled. Sarge was the perfect buddy—optimistic and supportive. He’d be fine wherever they ended up. Would it be fair, though, to move the dog so soon after settling in here? Rescues needed stability—that was what Danielle had said when she’d handed him over. Knox didn’t want to do anything that would set Sarge back in his recovery.
Where was Danielle anyway? His phone vibrated again, but he ignored it to open the door, figuring she must be parked on the street by now.
No Danielle. On the street or anywhere else he could see. He checked his phone. The message was from Danielle alright, but she wasn’t here.
He fought the disappointment that sank his stomach and reread the message. She wanted to reschedule. He wanted to demand why, so he waited a moment before responding.
