Page 97 of Then Came You

But nobody was there to answer.

She considered calling someone, but who? Her friends were out having fun, and she didn’t want to bother them. Then she thought of Kristina, but she didn’t have her phone number. She’d been meaning to ask for it, and now she wished she had.

Then she thought about calling the station, but she couldn’t bother the officers on duty simply because she was worried. They had more important tasks than alleviating her fear.

Suddenly she heard a car door slam, and she rushed to the front window to look outside. “Please be him.”

Since her outside lights were on, she saw the police car, but it wasn’t Sam who’d stepped out. This man was shorter than Sam, and her panic rose to new heights. The last time a cop had come to her house (other than Sam), had been when Owen…

The officer came onto her porch and rang the doorbell. She froze for a second but realized, whatever the news, she needed to know. The dogs beat her to the door and were barking. Waving them back, she quickly opened the door. When the policeman took off his hat, her eyes went wide.

“Dax?”

“Sorry to bother you.”

“Do you want to come in?”

He shook his head. “I only have a minute.”

“It’s Sam, isn’t it?” She could barely force the words out.

“He’s okay. He’s not hurt. He knew you’d be worried, so he asked me to let you know.”

“Oh, thank God.” She slapped her hand over her heart, which was pounding so hard she wondered if Dax could hear it.

“I have to go. I’m sure he’ll call you when he can.”

Dax started to turn away, but she stopped him.

“Thank you for coming here. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you.”

He gave her a brief smile. “I still miss him.”

She nodded.

“Goodnight, Gillian. Take care.”

“You too.”

She stayed in the doorway and watched him drive away. After she shut and locked the door, she leaned against it and attempted to catch her breath. The dogs stared up at her with concern, or so she’d like to believe.

She squatted down and pulled them into a group hug. “Sam’s okay. This calls for a celebration! Come with me.”

The dogs followed her into the kitchen, and when she opened the jar of Milk-Bones, their tails started wagging rapidly.

“Sit.”

They immediately obeyed.

“Stay.”

She held out her hands, with one treat in each palm.

“Okay.”

The dogs snatched up the treats and trotted off to separate corners to enjoy them.

She was thinking of treating herself to something too when her phone rang. She ran to the living room, thinking it might be Sam, but it was an unknown number. Deciding it was too much of a coincidence, she answered.