Page 62 of A Wife's Duty

She looked toward Boone who nodded his head, but she wasn’t sure if he was agreeing with her or with Frank. Either way, those men were monsters, and Betty was now in good hands, as she was living with her and Boone.

“I love you.” She kissed her head. “And we’re going to take good care of you and love you. Everyone here. I think Frank already loves you, because he didn’t just get you food. No, he got you lots of toys, and a bed, and this bath.”

“Hey, I can’t help it. I’m a sucker for a girl in need, and this little angel was in need.”

Lucia laughed as he reached out and ruffled his head.

“But I wonder if Daddy will love you?” Lucia asked, looking over at Boone. “If I’m the mommy and we’re married, that will make you the daddy.”

Boone looked at her, and he kept staring at her intently. She didn’t know what he was thinking about, but she couldn’t look away. It was like she had been sucked into his gaze and there was nowhere out. Nowhere at all.

What was he thinking? Did he want to be Betty’s daddy? Did he want to be a daddy at all? She had so many questions, but she spent years keeping them to herself, and she refused to break this, especially in front of Frank. This was for a private conversation between her and her husband, and she didn’t need anyone listening in. Although Frank was happily married with children.

She pushed all those thoughts out of her mind. For the next hour, they washed Betty. It did appear the dog had never been cleaned, which was gross. They had to change the bathwater, because it had gotten so dirty. Once she was clean, they got her dried as best they could, and with the sun shining, Lucia took her out into the yard and allowed her to bask in the sunshine.

Betty did exactly that, spreading out, going from side to side. She sunbathed while Lucia sat on the ground beside her. Every now and then, she would touch her and run her hands up and down the length of her back.

Lucia didn’t know how anyone could harm an animal. She sat beside this adorable dog and already felt an overwhelming sense of protection for her. She wanted to take care of her, love her, give her a good life.

And while she did, she wanted to try and make sense of her feelings toward Boone. She’d never hated him, but for a short while she had feared her husband, or at least his reputation. She didn’t fear him now.

There was more to Boone than met the eye.

****

“Do you want me to go back and kill them?” Frank asked.

Boone turned toward the man and shook his head. “If we’re destined to meet them again, they’ll be dead, but for now they can live.”

“You’re kinder than I am. I think they should all be killed.”

Boone glanced out the kitchen window and watched as Lucia tilted her head toward the sun. Every now and then, she would reach out, touch Betty, stroke the dog, then go back to her eyes closed, looking up at the sky. The tormented look in her eyes had angered him. The instant he saw it, he wanted to protect her, to let her know nothing bad was going to happen.

“Did you pick up any food when you went to the pet store?”

“Actually, I didn’t need to go to the pet store, I got everything in one trip. The rest of it is in the car. I’ll be right back.”

He wasn’t going to point out the obvious, that for the past couple of hours, if the guy had bought any meat or poultry, leaving it in a red-hot car had probably spoiled it.

Boone couldn’t help but be drawn to his wife. She looked at peace here. When she called him “Daddy,” it had set something off inside him. They had enjoyed each other a couple of times now, and he’d not reached for a condom. It was fucking crazy to him to not have reached for condoms, knowing how important they were. He never forgot about them. Yet, he hadn’t thought about the condoms with Lucia. Never in his life had he been so careless. It only took once. One time to have sex and produce a baby. He and Lucia could be parents now.

He had never even considered the possibility of becoming a father. Fatherhood was never on his list. What the fuck did he know about parenting? Yes, he had a great father. He had a great start in life, but that hadn’t lasted.

At the sound of Frank’s vomiting, Boone turned toward his friend. His face looked green.

“I boo-booed.”

Boone laughed. “The meat gone bad?”

“Fuck me, it has gone worse than bad. I think that stench has filled the car.” He wrinkled his nose. “Crap, Amy is going to kill me.”

This was not his problem.

“Do we have anything I can cook?” he asked, moving closer.

The stench of the rotting meat was overwhelming. He wrinkled his nose and tried to steer as clear from the man as humanly possible.

“You need to toss that shit out, and take it to the nearest dump,” Boone said.

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