AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Isabel didn’t usually worry about Blaze being unleashed, but this unfamiliar property and surrounding woods had probably been too tempting for him. His inquisitive nature most likely led him farther than he should be in order to explore. She’d have to drive around to look for him.
She jogged back into the house and grabbed her keys. “I’m going to ride around to see if I can find him. Call me if he turns up.” She was doing her best not to panic, but the look on Grandpa’s face wasn’t encouraging. “What?”
“Nothing.” He quickly averted her gaze.
“Grandpa.” She put her hands on her hips. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“Well... bears were hanging around the pond out back two days ago. I hope—”
Isabel held up a hand. “Don’t finish that thought.”
“You told me to tell you what I was thinking.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t know that’s what you were thinking. I will find him.” She ripped open the front door and ducked out into the rain again. “Blaze, come!”
The dog still didn’t appear so she ran to her SUV parked between her grandfather’s cottage and the cottage next door for rent. Before she got into her vehicle, however, she caught sight of a dark shape taking long strides from a jeep to that neighboring cottage.
A dark shape carrying another dark shape in its arms. When the spotlight on the next cottage flicked on and Isabel got a glimpse of something reddish-brown, she bolted for the dark shapes.
“Hey!” she called.
The shadow with the long legs paused in the spotlight’s bright circle and Isabel’s gaze focused on a dog.
Her dog.
In a man’s arms.
“That’s my dog!” Not fearing the man standing in the rainy night could be a psycho, Isabel marched through the mud to the cottage. “What are you doing with my dog?”
“He’s hurt.” The man’s voice was hard to hear over the rain drumming on the metal roofs of all the cottages around them, but the word hurt definitely registered.
Isabel sucked in a breath. “Hurt? What did you do to him?” She glanced at the jeep. “Did you run him down?”
“No... I just—”
“He better be okay,” she interrupted. This fool probably didn’t know the first thing about driving on muddy dirt roads. He was probably some city dude, used to pavement and no wildlife for miles.
“He had some—”
“Give him to me,” she cut in again. If Blaze was hurt, she didn’t have time to chat with this asshole. Her furry best friend needed a vet visit right away. Who knew what this potential sicko had done to her dog?
Isabel stepped closer with her arms out, ready to take Blaze from this guy. When she got a clearer view of the man’s face, however, she gasped and stumbled back a few steps.
It couldn’t be.
No way.
Her eyes were playing tricks on her. They had to be.
“Jackson? Jackson Henley?”
“Yeah.” He shifted his weight, jostling Blaze slightly so the dog let out a grumble. “You’re still in the dark and I’ve gotten more rain in my eyes tonight than I’d planned to. I can barely see at the moment. Do I know you?”
Isabel debated about running back to her grandfather’s cottage, but she obviously couldn’t abandon Blaze, especially if he was hurt. “Just give me the dog.”
She closed the last few feet between them, intent on grabbing Blaze and getting the hell away from Jackson. Jackson Freakin’ Henley. She’d expected to run into former acquaintances while back in Maplehaven, but why did the first one have to be him?
“Isabel?” Jackson took a step back so she couldn’t get her hands on her dog. “Isabel Perri? You left Maplehaven.”
