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She looked around again. “Where’s your truck?”
“Out there.” I motioned to the building like it was an up and over gesture.
I took the trash bag handle from her and hefted it into the nearby dumpster.
She remained blocking the entrance as she propped the door open.Was she keeping me out? Was that why I wanted in so much?
“Hey, you don’t have on a jacket.” I shrugged mine off my shoulders.
She backed inside. “I’m letting all the heat out.”
The opening shrank, but she didn’t close the door in my face.
I stuck my foot out to keep it from clicking shut, and she held it open.
A shrill bark rang out.
And it wasn’t Sadie bossing everyone around.
Ash was on her feet, digging at the bottom of her kennel door to get to me. I strode over and crouched. She licked my fingers through the gate.
“May I?” I touched the latch.
Pepper nodded. “She needs to go for a walk. And she might like a snack.”
I pushed up the lever.
Ash sprinted out, tackling me to the floor. She licked at my face, my arm, my neck . . . anywhere she could reach.
All the other dogs checked to see what the commotion was about.
“Hey.” I rubbed down her wiggling body. “How’s my girl?”
She sat on my lap, even though she didn’t fit, and swiped her big tongue over my cheek.
I laughed and wiped away the slobber. “That good, huh?”
She burrowed against me, her tail slapping my side.
“Have you been eating?”
“Better, but she didn’t eat much dinner.” Pepper leaned against the counter with her arms crossed. Her stress was palpable. I sensed the wall she’d erected around herself in the past couple of days.
But I got it.
She needed to block out her feelings so she could survive.
“Are you hungry?”
Ash licked my face again.
“Guess that’s a yes.” I laughed again. It occurred to me that for a minute, she’d helped me forget the crappy things happening all around me.
Pepper prepared a bowl of food and sat on the floor beside us. Ash gobbled it up before she handed the dish to me.
She shook her head. There was relief and worry in her expression all at once. “What if I can’t get her to eat without you?”
“I won’t let her starve.” I didn’t know how I’d make that happen, but I would.
