Page 57 of Shallow Remains

“You’re not a bother. Someone’s messing with you, and you’re scared. I want to make sure you’re safe until we figure out what’s going on, and no one’s gonna be looking for you at my place.”

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me for that.” He turned onto the main road, keeping careful watch in his mirrors.

She was on heightened alert too, paying extra attention to their surroundings, on the lookout for anyone or anything that seemed out of place. Thankfully, she didn’t see anything to cause alarm.

She was too caught up in her head to make conversation as he drove through the misty rain, but noticed he took an indirect route down to the float home moorage where he lived on the northwest edge of town. It was two stories tall, the wooden siding painted a classic grey-blue. The lower level had a wraparound deck bordered by glass panel railing.

Lachlan parked around the side of the houseboat and escorted her inside. The modern space was finished in warm wood, tidy, and smelled faintly of laundry detergent.

“I have to take the dogs out,” she said after she fed them and put their beds down by the long, plush couch in the living room. It was dark out, but through the westward-facing windows that overlooked the water, she could see the outline of the hot tub on the back deck.

“I’ll do it. You stay inside and get settled. You can have my room.”

“No, I’ll be fine on the couch.”

“You’re not sleeping on the couch.” There was no give in his voice.

She was tired and stressed and didn’t want to argue about this. But she was absolutely not taking his bed again. He was almost a foot taller than she was. “Do you have a guestroom?”

A faint smile curved his mouth. “Yeah, with a murphy bed. I guess you don’t remember that either.”

“No.” At least she was sober this time. Although at the moment she kinda wished she wasn’t. “But I’ll take it.”

She got the dogs leashed up and stayed in the kitchen while he took them out. A giant hunk of a man walking three tiny Chihuahua crosses in the rain. How was she supposed to keep her heart shut when he did things like that? If she let him in any deeper, he would own part of it.

He came back inside ten minutes later with raindrops glittering on his damp hair and shoulders, the tippy-tap of little paws trailing across the hardwood floor as the dogs followed him.

They looked absolutely traumatized, shivering and soaking wet as they stared up at her with huge, haunted eyes. “They look like drowned rats.”

“Yeah, they’re not fans of getting wet. I had to carry the one with the pink bow⁠—”

“Moe.”

“I put her on a patch of grass, but she just stood there staring at me. Refused to go potty for a solid five minutes.”

“What a diva.” Such little characters. No wonder Mae loved them.

“Here.” Lachlan handed her a towel. She dried them off one at a time, getting a million little licks all over her face and hands in the process until she giggled.

“I like that sound,” Lachlan said. “A lot.”

She did too. Felt like she hadn’t had much to laugh about this past year. “I really appreciate you bringing me here.”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

Larry was the last one to get dried off. The moment she set him on the floor, the trio scampered to their beds and started doing wriggle wormies all over the fabric. “Silly, cute little things.”

“You like dogs?”

“I’m more of a cat person. Never had one though, because my mom was allergic.” Or so she said. Maddy was convinced she just hadn’t wanted to bother looking after a pet. “You?”

“Cats and dogs growing up. Some chickens. Speaking of chickens, you hungry?”

Her stomach grumbled. She hadn’t had anything since breakfast. “I could eat.”

“What do you feel like? I’ve got cereal, eggs, or leftover lasagna.”