Page 9 of A Love Like Candle Light

“And I was wondering if you knew who to call here. Obviously, I’m new and I don’t know anyone and… do I call 911? Or do they have some kind of law enforcement here? Because judging by the looks of my…” I clear my throat. “…friend in the backyard, it’s not an emergency anymore at this point.”

“You found a body.” He blinks and scratches the back of his neck. “In your backyard?”

“Well, Abby did,” I clarify and point at my dog, who’s eyeing the shrubbery next to his front door. “You know, she suddenly decided she’s gopher and decided to give my backyard a good dig and found what I’m eighty percent sure is a human bone. Honestly, I don’t think there’s much of a body left.” I scratch my head. “On that note, does this town have a vet? Because I’m not sure how great it is for dogs to gnaw on human remains.”

Oh my God. The more I think about it, the more I realize what’s actually going on here and suddenly the collar of my shirt seems too tight and I pull at it.

There’s a dead person.

On my property.

And Abby fucking gnawed on their shin. Or maybe thigh? It was quite a big bone and I didn’t exactly get a good look at it.

“Hey, hey.” Kieran puts his hand on my shoulder and gently guides me inside his home. If this were different circumstances, I’d be weary, but thankfully, he seems trustworthy. And all my years of watching true crime documentaries have made me sensitive to eerie-people vibes, I like to think. “Take a seat, Kylie. Breathe. That’s it. Everything is going to be fine.”

Fuck. Where’s Abby? I glance around and realize I’m in his kitchen. It’s huge, with black cabinets and a huge marble countertop kitchen island, separating it from the dining area and living room. And it’s pristine.

Shit, should I have taken off my shoes?

Abby is in the doorway, glancing around curiously. The golden retriever walks up to her slowly. Before I can even start to worry about the two of them getting along, they start playing with each other.

“Is my dog turning into a zombie?” I ask, voice breaking toward the end of the sentence as I watch the two of them dart around his spacious home. I’m not ready to lose her.

Kieran chuckles and it makes me want to throw something at him. I’m panicking here! How dare he be amused by it?

“Relax. I’m going to call the police station, and they’re going to send Erik out here. He’ll take a check out your backyard and handle it from there. Then I’ll call Henry and he’ll check your dog. No need to panic.”

“Who’s Henry?”

“The town’s vet,” he clarifies and grabs his phone. Oh thank the universe, this town has a vet. The prospect of having to drive an hour for someone to check if Abby is dying from some kind of flesh-eating bacteria was already planting more panic seeds in my mind. “Give me two minutes and I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.”

“Breathe, Kylie,” he reminds me, gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze and then strolls out of the room in what must be slow motion, though I suspect it’s my panic-induced brain overreacting. As soon as he turns around the corner to his hallway, two curious dogs stare at me.

“Hi.” I lean down and extend my hand for the golden retriever to sniff. He bypasses it and immediately nudges his nose against my knee to demand pets. “Oh my, you’re so cute.” Abby leans her head on my thigh as I run my fingers through the golden fur of our new friend. It’s so soft.

Before I know it, Kieran returns, sliding his phone back into his jeans pocket.

“Ah right. Sorry, apparently, I’m bad at introductions, but I see you two met. Kylie, that’s Dick.” He points at his dog. “Dick, that’s Kylie, our new neighbor and friend,” he mumbles nonchalantly and walks past me to his kitchen counter.

“Dick?” I stare after him, eyes wide. Did I hear him right?

“Yeah.” He shrugs and opens one of his cabinets to take out a glass, then glances at me over his shoulder as he faces turns to his fridge. “I named him after the one and only, the legendary, coolest actor of all time: Dick Van Dyke.”

“Right.” I run my palm over my face and force myself to take a deep breath. “Of course that makes sense. I named Abby after the forensic scientist on Navy CIS.”

“Oh, a crime series lover.” Kieran places a glass of water in front of me, then takes a seat at the other side of his kitchen island and leans his chin on his hands. “And now you’ve got your own crime at hand. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Thank you.” I turn the glass absentmindedly. “The wrong kind of exciting,” I mumble and roll my eyes. “I keep overthinking it. What if it wasn’t a human bone after all? What if it was just a deer or something and I’m panicking for nothing?”

“Then you’ve brought some excitement to Wayward Hollow.” He shrugs. Dick trots over to his owner and I redirect my petting efforts to Abby. “This town is as boring as they come.”

“Which is the reason I moved here,” I point out, but he waves me off and continues.

“If you give the town something to talk about? Trust me, everyone will love you, even if it turns out to be undramatic in the end. Speaking of…” He pulls his phone out of his pocket again and shoots me a sheepish smile. “Sorry, but Nic and Lauren, would have my head if they find out I knew about a potential murder-victim appearing on your property and didn’t let them know. Hell, they’d have my head just knowing I met you and didn’t tell them immediately.”

His fingers fly over the phone screen. Then he suddenly jumps up. “All right. Let’s go.”