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“Go back to sleep, I got her,” he said softly.
Then he kissed my temple and disappeared.
I did not go back to sleep.
I listened to him get dressed, the low whistle he let out to call Cleo, and not long after, the front door opening and closing.
I turned to my back with my arm over my eyes.
And lying there, I replayed last night.
Honestly?
I had no idea how we got to my bed. I’d lost it. I was consumed by emotion.
Though, I understood his choice, since my couch looked great, and for lounging, one person fit well.
Two, no way.
Not to mention, I’d had a death grip on him.
Eventually, I calmed down, but I did so on my own time with no hassle or encouragement from Cap. Lying pressed into him, front to front, he let me cry, and he held me and stroked me and said not a word, letting me get it out.
When it was out, he reached to my nightstand and came back with a bunch of tissue he shoved into my hand, and it was only then I realized Cleo was tucked tight to my back.
Lab or chow, a dog was a dog, and when shit got real, they stuck.
Then, I had no earthly clue why it happened, but it happened.
I wiped my face, blew my nose, pressed my cheek to Cap’s chest, and said, “She was taken from a playground.”
He lifted my arm and rested it on his waist then gathered me closer in both of his.
Yes.
That was better.
“She was with a friend,” I went on. “The playground was just down from our house, across the street from her best friend’s house. Her friend’s mom could see them from her living room window. Kids played there all the time.Iplayed there all the time. And our parents watched from their windows. The guy literally walked right up to her, and within seconds, picked her up, and she was gone.”
I swallowed.
Then I whispered, “That was the last time anyone saw her.”
“Yeah,” Cap whispered back, running his hand up my spine and curling his fingers reassuringly around the back of my neck.
Weirdest of the weird?
Having his hand there, even telling him this story, I felt reassured.
“Her name was Macy,” I told him. “I was two years older than her. We got along great. We were close. Normally, I’d be at that playground with them. But I was at a friend’s birthday party, and she wasn’t invited.” I shook my head, but it didn’t go very far, seeing as it was pressed into his shirt. “I will never, not ever, forget the look on my dad’s face when he came to pick me up. All the kids were gone by then. It was hours later than he was supposed to come get me. My friend’s parents were acting funny and giving each other looks I didn’t get then, but I do now. Seriously, you couldtastethe fear.”
I stopped talking.
“You don’t have to do this now,” Cap said quietly.
“Is it too much for you?” I asked.
“If you wanna give it, I can take it. I just want you to know you don’t have to give it.”
