Page 37 of Finding Zara


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“Okay, that seals the deal.”

“Excellent. You’ll stay too, won’t you, Matthew?”

“You know it. I can never say no to grits.”

CHAPTER17

Matt

Ileaned back on the couch, propping my feet up on the coffee table. Bess shifted, crawling across the couch on her tummy to rest her head in my lap. I pulled gently at her ears, distracted, not really into the movie I was trying to watch. Heaving a sigh, I said, “I don’t know, girl. Maybe I like hertoomuch, you know?” Bess made a low, rumbling sound. If she was a cat, she’d be purring. I gave a small smile and nodded as I raised my eyebrows at her. “Exactly. You and I both know that there’s no way I can offer her anything more than what I have already…but still…” I gazed at the television, not paying any attention to the images flickering across the screen, pondering the mystery that was Zara and the confusing emotions she stirred up in me.

My phone rang, loud and shocking in the quiet of the living room. Reaching for it, I straightened hurriedly when I saw it was Zara. What had happened that had her calling me at ten o’clock at night? I frowned, concerned, pressing my thumb to the answer button. “Zara, hi. What’s up?”

“Matthew. I’m so sorry to call so late.”

I heard the strain in her voice. “No problem. Is anything wrong?”

“Um, no…yes, maybe, I don’t know. It’s just…”

“What is it?” I was already on my feet, looking around for my car keys.

“Well, you know that trap that you set in the crawl space under the roof? I think it just went off.”

My shoulders sagged with relief and I looked at Bess, who was watching me with grave interest.

“Matthew?”

“I’m here. Sorry, I was freaking out. I thought you were being robbed or something.”

“Are you kidding me? There’s a good chance there’s a giant rat in my roof. In myroof!” Her voice all but squeaked on the last syllable. “I would rather it be a robber!”

I laughed as silently as I could, which was apparently not silently enough.

“Are you laughing at me?”

I swallowed convulsively, taking a deep breath. “Never. No. Not at all. I’ll be right there.”

“Are you sure? It’s not too much trouble?”

“I’m already out the door.”

“Thank you so much.” Her relief was palpable. “See you soon.”

I glanced at Bess. “You’re right, girl. This is a very interesting development. You stay here and I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”

Zara was waiting outside near the front door when I pulled up, her arms folded across her middle. She was wearing a terrycloth robe, pulled close around her waist, her hair up in a messy bun on top of her head. It was the most unsexy outfit imaginable, but somehow, she still looked incredibly sexy to me.Get a grip, I said softly to myself as I got out of the truck. “Hey.”

“Hi. Thanks so much for coming. I’m sorry to call so late. I just didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t handle the idea of getting in the shower in case it fell through the ceiling or something.”

Biting back a chuckle, I said, “Zara, I’d be pretty bad at my job if I left your ceiling in such a state that a rodent could fall through it.”

“Well, I mean, sure. But you never know.”

“Let’s go inside, you must be freezing. Have you been out here since you first heard the noise?”

She nodded, moving through the front door and stepping to the side to allow me through. “What are you going to do?”

“I’ll do what we usually do with any big rodents we see around here. I’ll subdue it first, then I’ll bring it down here, wring its neck with my bare hands. Then I’ll skin it…” I stopped, pretending to think it through. “Probably best if I do that part outside so it’s easy to clean up, and then we can throw it on the barbecue. Voila. Midnight feast.” I laughed at the range of expressions that flickered over her face. First, a questioning look, then she nodded at the idea of subduing it. That made sense to her. Then her eyes widened at the mention of neck wringing, and she gave a horrified look at the idea skinning, before she finally squinted at me through narrowed eyes at the mention of the barbecue.

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