Page 37 of Until Then

“What happened?”

“He got scared and jumped out of my arms!” I spin out of his hold, cupping my hands around my mouth. “Wonton!” I call, searching for him. His white fur shouldn’t be too hard to spot in the gloom.

As water streams off Derrick’s nose, he shoves his long fingers through his wet hair and stares me down, no doubt seeing every bit of the fear that overwhelms me. As much as the storm terrifies me, losing Wonton is so much worse.

“Go into the house?—”

“What?” I round on him, my heart pinching. “No!”

“Go into the house,” he repeats, pointing a forceful finger. “Stay there in case Wonton comes back. I’ll look outside.”

“Are you sure?” I ask, my bottom lip trembling, despite the way I try to stop it. “I can?—”

“Inside, Izzy.”

With a deep exhale, I obey, calling for Wonton as I go. My chest is collapsing in on itself, and my heart has cracked in two. He took off so quickly, and he’s not familiar with the area. There’s no telling what direction he went. He’s wet and scared and?—

My thoughts fall away, my brain shutting down into protection mode.

Once I’m inside, I sink to the floor in front of the glass storm door and shiver while I wait.

10

DERRICK

I can’t fucking believeI’m crawling on the muddy ground under a bush to rescue a fluffy white dog. Not so fluffy now, I suppose, since he’s wet. And not quite as pristine white, if he’s covered in mud like this. Izzy’s mournful cries were like a kick to my gut. Despite her fear of storms, she’d be out here all night looking for him if she had to.

“Come here, bud.” I inch closer to him. I’m soaked through, and it’ll take a lot of work to get all the mud out of my jeans, but it’s worth it if it means I can take this little guy home to his momma.

With a whimper, he cowers, his little body trembling.

I hold my hand out so he can smell my fingers, hoping it reminds him that I’m safe.

Wonton crawls forward an inch, giving me a tiny sniff.

“It’s me, bud.” I curl my fingers, urging him forward, but instead of coming closer, he backs off.

Another crack of thunder echoes in the sky, quickly followed by a strike of lightning so close it illuminates everything around us.

Wonton takes off again, letting out a yelp.

Cursing, I crawl out from under the bush and scan the yard in search of a flash of white. But visibility is becoming non-existent in the deluge, making it impossible to see more than a couple of feet in front of me.

“Fuck,” I curse, running in the direction I think Wonton went.

I scour the area for another twenty minutes before my boots are so wet, my feet squelch inside them each time I take a step and I’m so chilled I can’t stop shivering. Hating to give up but having no other option, I head home. The last thing I want is to see the devastation on Izzy’s face when I return empty-handed, but searching on foot like this will do me no good, and I’ll be lucky if I don’t end up sick.

I call and whistle as I make the trek back to the house, determined to shower and change and head back out in my truck if he hasn’t shown up by the time I’m done.

When I pull the storm door open and step inside, I find Izzy curled on the floor in front of me.

Shit. I felt bad before, but this is so much worse.

“Izzy,” I whisper.

Her head snaps up, eyes red and puffy from crying. “Did you find him?” She scrambles to her knees, her face falling when she takes in my empty hands.

Despite being soaking wet, I kneel on the floor and take her into my arms.

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