Not like this when I wouldn’t be able to see her until at least tomorrow. Like we hadn’t shared anything we normally kept to ourselves. Like we hadn’t spent last night in each other’s arms. The air turned awkward, like we were strangers. Not in the two minutes it took for my phone to alert me again that I had an unread text message. She refused to look at me, and I stood there like an idiot who couldn’t think of anything to say.īut she didn’t finish. If she hadn’t met Miss Adeline, where would she be? Other than it hurt and made me angry she’d ever had to experience that. I’m here.” She stroked Sadie more spastically. It ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me. Underneath the acceptance of her situation was a hint of defensiveness. She spread her arm, motioning to the dogs surrounding us. Was that why she was so comfortable with them? Then the image of her sleeping so soundly with the dogs crashed into my brain. I simply could not imagine the scenario she described. This woman worked harder than anyone I’d ever met. I tried to control my reaction, but my brows shot up. Pepper kept full eye contact as she spoke. If the dogs were under her care, she wouldn’t have needed to contact Miss Adeline. “Like a caretaker?” But that didn’t make sense. She dropped the towel and bent to pet Sadie like a default mechanism. I rose to my full height and knitted my brow. She knotted the towel used to dry the dog bowls in her fingers. “I gathered that.” Why wouldn’t she look at me? “How’d you know about them? Did you work there?” “I called her about some abused dogs at a track,” she said as if choosing her words carefully. She fidgeted with straightening the counter, even though everything was already in order. “You never did tell me exactly how you met.” “Miss Adeline will be devastated.” There was a hollowness to Pepper’s sarcasm. “My shift’s twenty-four on, so I won’t be by tonight. She burrowed against me as I rubbed her ears. Her shoulders hunched as we worked together to feed the dogs.Īsh pawed at my leg. I couldn’t get Pepper’s horrified face out of my head when she took in the park.
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