Page 28 of How to Trust a Hellhound
“I’ll call and reschedule. They were saying today was a busy day for them anyway—I’m sure they won’t mind. And I’ll send you theircontact info and nail down a time, so you can call them,” she answered.
I looked at her. There was pity in her eyes, and I couldn’t deal with that. I looked down and started to gather my stuff. “Ok, I’m gonna head out. Send me the info.”
“Do you need more time off?” she asked gently.
“No,” I answered sharply. I looked up then. Barb was kind and sweet, and I loved her as a boss. She didn’t deserve my ire. “No,” I said more softly. “I want to work.”
“Ok, hon. Maybe the rest of this week you can work from home. We can do daily calls to catch up.”
I just nodded, focusing on packing up whatever I would need for the rest of the week. She closed the door of my office as she left, and I breathed out a sigh. I pulled up the rideshare app. I’d need to figure out a car, but not now. I ordered a ride, heading outside to wait for it.
I felt restless and jittery, and I paced up and down the sidewalk, my arms full of folders and my computer bag slung over my shoulder. I needed to do something. I couldn’t live in fear of Rick calling me again, or, god forbid, coming to my office at some point.
I’d talk to Q. He’d handled things with blocking Rick, and I was sure he could help get my phone number changed. I breathed out a sigh. Yes, I was sure Q could help.
When the car pulled up, I checked it was my driver and got in. Once we were headed to the cabin, I stuck my hand in my pocket, feeling the paper from Aiden. Maybe I’d call his therapist, too. I couldn’t be stuck in my head like this.
Before I could second guess myself, I sent a text off to Q, letting him know what had happened and asking him about changing my phone number. Then I looked at the number Aiden had given me, thinking about making an appointment.
I was done feeling like this. I was going to change things, even if it was scary.
Chapter 12
Wilder
Isat on the front porch drinking some sweet tea and waiting for Josh to get home. I could sense that he was on the way, and I was feeling impatient to see him.
It had been an interesting morning.
I hoped I’d managed to convince Thea to come to Paradise Falls, although I wasn’t quite sure. She was a spunky, fiery young woman who grew up thinking she was human, and I wasn’t sure how she hadn’t changed forms for the first thirty something years of her life. She had been taking care of rotten souls, but she’d just assumed she was a sociopath.
Needless to say, when I’d found her and told her that she was a hellhound, she had been… Well, disbelieving might have been an understatement. Convincing her to let me guide her hadn’t been very successful, thus my break from that project. I already thought of her as one of mine, though, so I was worried about her, and I was glad she’d reached out.
I hadn’t told the boys about her yet, and I figured I’d wait until they were all here. Corbin had left after our chat to do some hunting, and Atlas and Liam had headed out a few minutes ago without aword. They had that sneaky, suspicious look I knew from when they were young, but they were grown hellhounds. Hopefully they wouldn’t get into too much trouble.
I snorted at that thought. My boys could always find trouble, but usually they did a decent job of covering up their mayhem.
I heard a car pulling up the road to the houses, and I casually stood up on the porch. It was a rideshare, and Josh got out carrying a computer bag, a messenger bag, and some folders balanced on top of a computer he was carrying. I made a mental note to have a drivable road cleared to the cabin and to look into lending Josh a car.
I casually walked down the steps, calling out, “You need some help carrying stuff to the cabin?”
Josh blushed, which was adorable, and mumbled, “Uh, no thanks.”
Just as he said it, he sort of tripped a little, and I rushed forward to grab some of the files before they hit the ground. He looked at me, slightly shocked. Oops. Had I been too fast? Probably too fast.
“It’s fine. I could use a little walk,” I said, taking the rest of the stuff from his hands. I noticed he looked a little troubled, although I didn’t smell pain or fear. “You’re home early,” I said, hoping he would open up.
He sighed. “Yeah. I took a call at work, and it was my asshole ex.”
I stopped walking, holding in the growl that wanted to erupt. Josh stopped, too, turning to look at me.
“I’m fine,” he reassured me. “I actually yelled at him.” He smiled a bit at that, and we both started walking again.
“Can I do something to help? What do you need?” I asked.
“No, I’m really okay. I’m glad I got to have a final conversation with him and let him know how I felt. It was upsetting, but it also had to be done. It also reminded me that he’s a dick, and I really am better off without him. It made me realize I canstand up for myself, too.”
Josh told me all about the conversation, and although I wanted to growl about Rick, I was glad Josh had gotten some closure.
