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“Do you think he’ll make it?”
“It doesn’t look good.”
“Can you—” Rhett lifted his free hand and made a rolling motion “—do whatever you do? To his energy? You know, where you don’t touch him but you still touch him?” Rhett blinked down at her, his lashes dark and thick over his sparkling eyes. “I’ve seen you do it to him. I know you’ve done it to me.” He squeezed her hand again.
It won’t work, she wanted to say.No amount of love is going to bring him back. This little guy is beyond saving.But she kept her thoughts to herself. The sight of this large, rock-solid man, who’d done five combat tours and back-squatted more than twice his body weight, all choked up over an abused little dog was too much to bear.
“Stanzi,” Rhett said. “We have to help him.”
Constance’s lungs grew tight. “You have to do it.”
“Me?” Fear ran through Rhett’s eyes, the brown and green battling it out, swimming in his emotions. “I don’t know how to do that.”
Constance turned him toward the beagle. “You do.” She edged him closer. “Just stand near him. Think about him. Feel him, without actually touching him.” She squeezed his shoulder. “I know you’ve done it to me.”
They grew silent after that. Rhett’s eyes closed as he hovered his hands just above Humphrey’s battered body. “I feel his heat,” he whispered after some time had passed. “It’s weak. He’s weak.”
“True,” Constance whispered. “But this goes both ways. Humphrey’s feeling you, too. And you’re strong. Very strong.” She rubbed Rhett’s back, which had grown damp with sweat, even though the van was air-conditioned.
They stood awhile longer, the silent minutes stretching into an unmeasured passage of time. Just when Constance was about to suggest they go, and give Humphrey some last peace, the little dog’s right eye blinked.
Rhett gave off a quiet gasp. “Did you see that? He blinked.”
“I saw it.” Constance’s heart swelled. “He knows you’re here.”
“Hey, buddy,” Rhett whispered. He rolled his palms around the dog’s shoulders and back, petting the air above him, without touching. “Remember me? I’m the big dork who didn’t take you home, when he should’ve.” He sniffed. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I just thought you deserved better. Somebody like her.” Rhett pointed at Constance. “But I changed my mind.” Rhett’s fingertips grazed over the fur on Humphrey’s back, barely a whisper of a touch. “You definitely deserve me.” He chuckled under his breath. “You stubborn little cuss.”
“How’s it going?” Dr. Winters’s voice came tentatively from the front of the van.
Constance peered over her shoulder. Dr. Winters’s brunette hair, streaked with gray, was back in a ponytail. The hard lines around her mouth were set. “He blinked,” Constance said. “If that means anything.”
Dr. Winters’s eyes widened and she reared her head back. “Well, that’s new.”
“Really?” Rhett sounded like a little boy, the eagerness on his face like he anticipated bubble gum or video games.
“Hasn’t looked at me once.”
Constance and Rhett shared a smile.
After that, they left Humphrey in peace, securing Dr. Winters’s promise to text as soon as she knew anything, whether the little beagle took a turn for better or worse. They stopped next to Rhett’s Jeep.
“I’m going to head home to unpack,” he said. “But I’ll text you later.”
Constance smiled, but it had little strength. “I’m worried about my sister,” she confessed. “I’ve never seen her so—” she gazed up into the clear sky “—helpless. She’s got no fight left. And if Humphrey dies...”
“Hey.” Rhett squeezed her hands. “Don’t sell her short. She’s still in shock. Plus, she’s got Pete to help keep her head above water. He’s not going to let her go under.”
“You noticed that, too, huh?” Constance thought back to the thick trail of energy the two of them had left in their wake, an invisible force as strong as a spider’s web that stretched between Sunny and Pete.
“I thought they were together at the Christmas party. That’s how long ago I noticed it.”
“Sometimes you can’t see the forest for the trees,” Constance agreed. She drew a breath of spring air and noted it was tinged with ash. “Rhett.” His name was barely audible as it mixed into the thoughts brewing in the back of her mind. Thoughts she couldn’t believe she was even contemplating. “Part of Sunny’s reaction is my fault. I’ve always come down hard on her for being so impulsive. Not taking more care. Now she’s blaming herself for the fire, for Humphrey. Even though, without her, Humphrey wouldn’t even be here.”
Rhett watched her in silence.
Constance drew another deep breath. “There’s this dog,” she said. The more her thoughts steeped in the possibility, the stronger they got. “One we were keeping an eye on. One that Sunny never went after. As far as I know, she never got him out. And now—” Constance pursed her lips and shook her head “—she never will. And once she quits saving dogs, she’s going to quit. Saving. Dogs.” Constance made a chopping motion in her palm. “And once she quits saving dogs, she’s going to stop being who she is. And I can’t let that happen.”
Rhett nodded, waiting.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I was thinking that...well, the dog’s on this remote property, an old farm, chained to a barn, and I was thinking... Rhett...” Constance noticed she was wringing her hands together. She shook them out. “I was wondering if you’d be willing to—”
“Yes.”
Constance blinked rapidly. “What?”
“Yes,” Rhett repeated. “I’ll help you steal the dog.”
