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“Miss Adeline will be devastated.” There was a hollowness to Pepper’s sarcasm.
“You never did tell me exactly how you met.”
She fidgeted with straightening the counter, even though everything was already in order.
“I called her about some abused dogs at a track,” she said as if choosing her words carefully.
“I gathered that.” Why wouldn’t she look at me? “How’d you know about them? Did you work there?”
She knotted the towel used to dry the dog bowls in her fingers. I rose to my full height and knitted my brow.
“I lived there.”
She dropped the towel and bent to pet Sadie like a default mechanism.
“Like a caretaker?” But that didn’t make sense. If the dogs were under her care, she wouldn’t have needed to contact Miss Adeline. She’d never abuse an animal . . . or anyone.
“Like a homeless person.”
Pepper kept full eye contact as she spoke. I tried to control my reaction, but my brows shot up.Homeless?
This woman worked harder than anyone I’d ever met . . . including my brother. And that was saying a lot. I simply could not imagine the scenario she described.
Then the image of her sleeping so soundly with the dogs crashed into my brain.
Was that why she was so comfortable with them?
She spread her arm, motioning to the dogs surrounding us. “We’re all rescues.”
Underneath the acceptance of her situation was a hint of defensiveness.
“Pepper—”
“Please don’t tell me you’re sorry. It ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me. I’m here.” She stroked Sadie more spastically.
“I—” I didn’t know what to say. Other than it hurt and made me angry she’d ever had to experience that.
If she hadn’t met Miss Adeline, where would she be?
She refused to look at me, and I stood there like an idiot who couldn’t think of anything to say.
“I get it if you don’t want—”
My phone chimed.
Don’t want what?
But she didn’t finish. Not in the two minutes it took for my phone to alert me again that I had an unread text message.
The air turned awkward, like we were strangers. Like we hadn’t spent last night in each other’s arms. Like those kisses hadn’t happened. Like we hadn’t shared anything we normally kept to ourselves.
I pulled out my phone.
My office. Half an hour.
“It’s the captain. I have to go.”
I didn’t want to leave. Not like this when I wouldn’t be able to see her until at least tomorrow.
