“Hey, wait!You’re the cooking lady, aren’t you?A Sprinkle of Happiness?My sister loves your videos.She was having a real hard time after my niece was born,seriouspostpartum depression, and you had that series on five-minute desserts, and no kidding, she lived on the PB and banana ice cream for a month.”
A sprinkle of happiness?More like a sprinkle of lies.Once, I’d thought that if I faked enough smiles, I could convince myself that my marriage wasn’t a disaster.And I’d only started the blog to help Saylor, who was bored on the other side of the world and couldn’t cook to save her life.She’d send me a list of ingredients, and I’d turn them into a simple recipe that even the most culinarily challenged klutz could master.Think I was exaggerating about Saylor’s lack of kitchen skills?Well, both her parents and the Sanford Fire Department had banned her from owning a microwave after three of the darn things went up in flames.
“I’m glad she found comfort in one of my recipes, really.”
“Can I get a picture with you?She’d go crazy.”
“I’m so sorry, but I need to be at Saving Paws when they open.”
“You know what?I’m gonna call Carol.She works there, and if they have your dog, I’ll tell her you’re on the way to pick him up.”
Sometimes, kindness hit me harder than Ridge’s fist.A sob welled up in my throat and burst free before I could stop it.
“Th-thank you.I’d appreciate that.”
She regarded me curiously.“You okay?”
“I’m f-f-fine.”
But when I lifted a hand to wipe my eyes, I knocked my sunglasses, and the girl gasped.
“Ohmigosh!What happened to your face?”
“I… Uh…”
“It wasn’t the dog, was it?”
“What?No, Shiro would never hurt me.”
He did growl at Ridge, though, which was why he’d spent so much time in his kennel.I owed that dog so many apologies.
“You got mugged?”
“Please, could you just call Carol?”
She looked as if she had a hundred more questions, but she pulled a phone out of her pocket and dialled.
“Hey, it’s Shana.Did you get a white GSD yesterday?I have his owner here.… Oh, really?… Man, that’s messed up.”Shana’s gaze flicked toward me.“No, don’t.I think there’s DV involved there.”
DV?Oh, hell.She knew, didn’t she?She’d guessed what Ridge was doing to me, and although I should have been horrified that my secret was out in the wild, there was also a tinge of relief.
“Okay, hold on a second…” Shana lowered the phone.“So, they have the dog.But the guy who surrendered him yesterday just accosted one of the volunteers in the parking lot and claimed it was all a big mistake, and now he wants the dog back.”
The fear that had plagued me on the drive to the shelter ratcheted up tenfold, and my pulse kicked hard and fast.
“It wasn’t a mistake.He drove Shiro there deliberately, and now…and now… Please, don’t let them hand Shiro back.”
“They won’t.Carol says he filled in the paperwork, and legally, the dog belongs to Saving Paws now.But she also says they won’t risk putting him into a home where there’s domestic violence, so if you’re planning to go back there…”
“I’ve left my husband.”Saying the words out loud made it all the more real, and I began sweating.“I should have done it before, but I was scared of starting over, and I had to save money, and I didn’t have anywhere to go.”
“So you have somewhere to go now?”
My silence gave her the answer, and she touched my arm in a soothing gesture.“Shiro will need a place to live.”
“I know that, I do.We’ll stay in a hotel room for a few days until I can rent an apartment, somewhere far away from here.He stays by my side, always, and I only got the courage to escape because he’s my soul dog, and I don’t even know how I’ll go on without him.”
Shana made a “yikes” face.“Uh, if you’re suicidal, you should probably speak with a therapist?”
