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“Ugh, I hope not. Zak and Anna have been through enough.” She stepped back from him but didn’t release his hand right away. “I need to go back to work after I drop Bella off. I threw all of my afternoon patients at poor Dr. Richards, and he’s getting too old for that heavy of a caseload. But can we have dinner later?”
He raised her hand to his lips. “I want nothing more.”
She almost said she loved him. Almost blurted it out right there in the dog park, but bit down on her tongue at the last second. They had to talk first.
She released his hand. “I’ll see you later.”
Up in the parking lot, she found Bella leaning against her car with tears trailing silently down her cheeks.
“Oh, sweetie. What’s wrong?” She knew better than to touch the girl—Bella didn’t like hugs—so she stepped up to the driver’s side and unlocked the car door.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I just feel so... lost,” Bella said, her voice small.
Sasha leaned against the car and bumped her shoulder to Bella’s. “You know, it’s okay to feel lost sometimes. But you’re not alone, okay? You have your parents and grandparents. Your sister. Me and Donovan and the rest of Redwood Coast Rescue. We all love you very much.”
Bella rested her head on Sasha’s shoulder. “It’s just…everything is so fucked up. Mom and Dad not being able to adopt me. The fire. School. I don’t know where I fit in. I feel like a burden.”
“You’re not a burden,” Sasha said firmly. “You’re family.”
Bella gave her a tentative smile, but Sasha could tell she was still struggling with something. “What’s really going on, Bella? You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”
Bella hesitated for a moment before blurting out, “I think I might be gay.”
Oh, wow. Sasha’s heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t been expecting that. “Okay,” she said calmly. “It’s fine if you are. And if you’re worried Zak and Anna will reject you because of it, they’d never. Not in a million years. They love you and they want you to be happy. And you know Zak’s sister—your Aunt Zara—is gay and everyone accepts her and loves her just as she is.”
“I know. I’ve talked to her about it some, but I didn’t tell her I am. Or think I am. Or whatever. Just pretended I was curious.”
“Well, you should tell her. She can help you deal with all the things us straight people can’t understand. And you should talk to your parents about it.”
“I’m scared,” Bella admitted, her voice trembling. “What if they don’t accept me because I’m not blood-related like Zara is? What if they think there’s something wrong with me? Or I’m, like, sick or something? What if they decide I’m not worth the trouble of keeping?”
Sasha rubbed her back soothingly. “Hey, listen to me. You are not wrong or sick or anything like that. You are perfect just the way you are. And if anyone ever tells you otherwise—like the mean girls at school?” Sasha ventured a guess.
Bella nodded miserably.
“They’re the ones who are wrong. And as for your parents, there is no way in hell they’d ever give you up. They are fighting tooth and nail to adopt you.”
Bella wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “Thanks, Sasha. You always know what to say.”
Sasha smiled at her. “That’s what honorary aunts are for. You ready to go see your parents?”
Bella took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”
Sasha slid behind the wheel and Bella climbed into the passenger’s seat. Just as she was about to turn on the engine, Spirit came streaking toward the car, barking like crazy.
Bella froze with her seatbelt half buckled. “What’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never heard her make that sound before.”
She saw Donovan racing up the path behind the dog. He was waving his arms and shouting something.
She rolled down the window and at first couldn’t hear him over Spirit’s frantic barks. Then his shouts registered.
“Get out of the car! Out of the car! Bomb!”
Sasha’s heart dropped like a rock into the pit of her stomach, and she very slowly unfastened her seatbelt. “Bella. Don’t touch anything and get out slowly and carefully.”
Bella pushed open her door and slid from the seat—
