Page 72 of Fragile Sanctuary

“But—”

“Nope.” I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her toward the door. “You are going to work. I’m going to work. No one will worry because Trace has me basically implanted with a GPS tracker.”

Fallon grumbled something indiscernible under her breath but let me push her along. As we made our way outside, I came up short.

I’d thought Arden was long gone, but there she stood at the base of my porch steps, a tiny ball of fur in her hands. Silas stood next to her, holding a box and looking at her with a gentleness I didn’t think I’d ever seen on his face before.

Oh, shit.The last thing we needed was the town playboy setting his sights on Arden. She wouldn’t have the first idea what to do about that. Her life had been too guarded. Not by her choice, but out of necessity.

I cleared my throat, and Silas’s focus jerked from Arden to me.

“Hey. I was just coming to find you,” he said.

I arched a brow. “Were you, now?”

His face heated. “Yeah. Uh, someone dumped some kittens at the other jobsite. I thought maybe your rescue thingy could take ‘em. I don’t want to take them to the shelter.”

I crossed to him and Arden. The kitten she held was cuddled beneath her chin as she stroked its patchwork fur. Peering over the side of the box, I frowned. They were so tiny. My best guess put them at just over three weeks. They’d need to be bottle-fed every four to six hours, but they’d be able to go to the bathroom on their own.

“You’ll take them, won’t you?” Arden asked. I didn’t miss the worry in her voice. Any creature that received an especially difficult set of circumstances always tugged on her heartstrings. “I’d take them, but I don’t know how Brutus would do with them.”

As sweet as Arden’s massive dog could be, mixing him with three-week-old kittens probably wasn’t a good idea.

“Let me call Nancy. If Biscuit isn’t good with them, she’ll probably be able to keep them.”

The tension bled out of Arden. “Good. They should have a safe place to call home.”

Silas glanced at her, his brow furrowing before he forced his gaze back to me. “Thanks, Rho. All these critters are lucky to have you.”

I took the box from him, staring down at the sleeping pile of fur. “Well, I get paid in cuddles.”

Fallon grinned at me. “The best kind of payment.”

It really was.

I carriedthe new box with fresh blankets and a hot water bottle toward Duncan’s open office door, hoping my boss was in a magnanimous mood. He was leaning over his laptop, frowning at the screen. Lines of strain creased the area around his eyes as he frowned.

“Crunching numbers again?” I asked.

Duncan jerked upright. “Jesus, Rho. Make a little noise when you walk, would ya?”

I chuckled. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to be quiet. You were just in super focus mode. Mathing again?”

He shook his head, quickly shutting the laptop. “It never makes my head hurt any less.” His gaze roamed over me, taking stock of every detail. “You okay? You didn’t have to come in.”

“I’ll be better if I keep busy. And I’m all right.”

A frown pulled at Duncan’s mouth. “Trace called this morning. Wanted me to keep an eye out for anything suspicious while you’re working.”

I fought the urge to curse. It wasn’t that I’d planned onlyingto Duncan, but I certainly hadn’t intended to give him every detail of the truth. “He’s just being extra careful.”

“Exactly as he should be,” Duncan clipped. “This is serious, Rho. He said someone left a threat behind.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, worrying the tender spot. “I know, I know. But we’re being careful. Trace has a tracker thing on my phone, he has his deputies doing drive-bys, and, as we speak, Shep is installing some security system that would be better suited to NASA.”

I expected at least a lip twitch at that last part, but there were no signs of amusement on Duncan’s face.

“Worried about you,” he said finally. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay at my place? There’s plenty of room.”

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