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“Big fire. Sounds like it’s close by.”
That sinking feeling intensified. He was headed straight for danger. I admired his bravery but hated the threat.
Miss Adeline rinsed out the bowl and set it in the sink. “Want some tea to warm you up?”
“No. I actually think I might dry my hair and go to bed.”
Sadie perked up at yet another of her favorite B words.
“Pepper.”
I stopped fiddling with the towel. “Yeah.”
She stared at me a minute. “Sometimes we have to figure out how we feel before we’re ready to.”
“I don’t know what that means.” I wandered over to stand next to her.
“You will one day.” She took my cheeks in her frail hands. “I love you and I’m with you all the way.”
“I love you too.”
The old woman I adored wandered away with several dogs behind her and more of her mysterious wisdom. It had been a while since she’d bestowed any of those nuggets. Miss Adeline had always been amazingly good at walking the line between telling me about life and letting me figure it out for myself.
Huh.
For as much as she liked to talk, she never tried to dictate how I lived. That was another reason I admired her. Even if she did meddle at times.
While I didn’t quite get what she was telling me now, I had a pretty good idea it had to do with Teague.
How did I feel about him?
I propped my hip on the counter. Sadie put her head back down and sighed.
Did I really need to know now? We were . . . doing whatever it was we were doing. It seemed almost minute to minute.
Which wasn’t that much different than how everything in my life had been up to this point. Except Miss Adeline. And the dogs.
They were the constants who kept me grounded.
Before that, what I believed was steady and sure washed out from under me before I realized what was happening. I never planned to end up living in the dog kennels at a racetrack in Virginia.
At the time, it seemed hopeless.
Turned out that was the best thing to ever happen to me.
But the last person I’d truly let in was Miss Adeline. I’d allowed Teague into the first walls, but there were many more surrounding my heart.
He seemed capable of battling his way through every locked gate inside me. Did I want him there?
By the rapid pace we were moving, it seemed I did.
I liked his heart.
I liked his determination.
I liked his spirit.
I really liked his kisses.
