AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She wrinkled her nose at her reflection, then went to fetch Toby’s leash.
Now that the Skype conference was done, her plans for the evening were simple—take Toby for a walk, eat leftovers from the fridge, read more of her book, go to bed early…
And try not to think about Jordan Masters.
* * *
BARTON WALKED ACROSS the driveway and waved at Nicole as she came down her front walk. Toby yipped and tugged the leash in Barton’s direction.
“Hello, pal.” He crouched to greet the friendly animal. “You’d never guess that someone abandoned the little guy,” he said, standing upright again.
“Toby was young when it happened, so I keep hoping he doesn’t remember what it meant to be set adrift. But he gets anxious sometimes about being left behind.”
“Hard to believe anyone could be that uncaring.”
“Yeah, but all you have to do is spend a few minutes online and you see one story after another about abandoned animals. I know the system tracks what you’ve looked at and feeds you similar stories, but it’s depressing to see how many animals are neglected or abandoned.”
“You sound like an activist.”
“No, though it’s something to think about. One of my partners at Moonlight Ventures is involved in environmental causes and wildlife conservation. And I’ve been looking for a hobby.”
Nicole had an odd twist to her lips, but Barton decided it might be intrusive to ask why.
“Have a good time on your walk,” he urged instead.
“Thanks. See you,” she said with another odd smile. He wondered if she was upset about something. If so, it was a shame. Nicole George had turned out to be a nice person.
Turning, he trotted up the stairs to Chelsea’s apartment. She was fixing him dinner as a thank-you for taking her to the Mariners game. It wasn’t necessary, but he would enjoy spending more time with her. Since he’d initiated contact the last two times, he hoped the invitation was more than mere courtesy.
“Hi, Barton!” She greeted him in a friendly way, though she was pale and looked nervous.
“Is everything all right?”
“Yes, of course.” Her answer came too quickly to be reassuring. “Would you like something to drink? Since I’m just living here temporarily, there isn’t much on hand, but I’ve got soda water and regular soda. Also there’s a bottle of wine and some juice.”
“A soda sounds good.”
“Help yourself. It’s in the fridge.”
She was setting a small table, so he went into the kitchen and got a cola from the refrigerator. After doing so much work on his house, he couldn’t help evaluating the apartment. It had plenty of light from the windows and seemed very pleasant.
He was interested to see a utility cupboard; the door stood open and contained a garbage can, broom and similar items, which was a nice way to keep things out of sight in the limited space.
Then he saw an express mailing box on a shelf, with bold letters saying: RETURN TO SENDER! The name on the return address was Ron Swanson. The former boyfriend? He wanted to ask about it, since sending the box back unopened was a definite sign that something was wrong, but he wasn’t much more than an acquaintance at this point. And the fact that Chelsea might want to keep it private was highlighted by her hurriedly closing the utility door when she came into the kitchen.
“This is a well-designed space,” he said as she checked a pan on the stove.
“I like it.”
“I’ve thought of expanding over my garage to create a guesthouse. Either that or a genuine master bedroom suite.”
“Both would be nice.”
“If you were buying a house, which would you think was most important?”
“A master suite, maybe. Especially if I had a family. It would be nice to have private space.”
He chuckled. “Good point. Hey, is there something I can do to help? I’m handy around the kitchen.”
“Everything is ready. If you don’t mind, let’s serve from the stove. The table is too small for family-style meals.”
“No problem.” He got a serving of pilaf and vegetables and looked into another pot. “What’s that?”
“You said you liked chicken, so I made it with lemon and garlic. I… I hope it’s all right.”
