Page 5 of Guarding Holly Grace
Chapter 3
“Y’all are not goingto believe what happened on my run this morning.” Holly Grace said as she entered the rescue group office. Mollie and Alice looked up from their desks, eyebrows raised.
She hung her coat on a hook by the front door, sat at her desk and popped her purse into the bottom drawer.
“Well, spill!” Alice exclaimed. “Don’t leave us hanging.”
She described the events of her early morning job to her friends. Whose eyes got bigger and bigger as her story progressed.
Mollie grunted. “Talk about irresponsible! And you say he works with this protection group with Ian? Not very good at it, is he? I’m glad you and Grover are both okay.”
“Was he good looking?” Alice asked.
Holly Grace frowned. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Ha!” Alice clapped her hands. “He is.”
“I didn’t say that.” Holly Grace protested.
“Right. You avoided answering which means youdothink he’s good looking.”
“Oh, for crying out loud.” Holly Grace said.
“Look. You need to get your toes back in the dating water.”
Holly Grace opened her mouth to protest, but Alice held up her hand.
“Hear me out.” She said. “Colt is gone. It’s awful that he got shot in Afghanistan. And I understand your grief. Y’all dated since you were fifteen. But, it’s time to get back out there. And who better than someone who’s only going to be in town for a short time? He’ll be gone back to wherever they live in the protection group and you’ll have gotten started back on the land of the living.”
Mollie nodded in agreement.
Before Holly Grace could reply to such an outrageous suggestion, her phone rang. Thank goodness. “No Street For You rescue. Holly Grace speaking.”
Avoiding the eyes of her friends, she took down the information from the caller about a stray dog wander the woods on the edge of town.
“I’ll head right out there and take a look.” She told the caller. “Thank you for letting us know.”
She hung up, cut her eyes to the side and saw both other women busy at their own desks.
“I’m heading out to take a look for a young shepherd mix out on the north side of town.”
“Do you need one or both of us to go with you?” Mollie asked.
Holly Grace shrugged back into her coat. “I don’t think so. But when I get out there if it looks like a more than one-person job, I’ll call y’all.”
Driving her Honda Civic around the town square to the road north, she went back over Alice’s words about dating. She knew her friends had her best interests at heart, but she wasn’t certain she was ready to let go of Colt. He’d been an integral part of her life. Her first boyfriend. All her firsts. Kiss, sex, husband. How could she even think of building a relationship with someone else?
She made a quick stop at the Grits and Gravy for two sausage biscuits to help lure the dog to her.
Back in her car, she slowed to a crawl as she took the north road out of town, eyes scanning the roadside for the shepherd mix. She went three miles along the road without seeing the dog. Making a three-point turn, she headed back toward town, scanning the opposite side of the road. Maybe she should have brought Alice or Mollie with her. It was impossible to scan both sides of the road while driving and she worried she was moving right past the poor dog without seeing it.
As the town square came back into view, she decided. She’d have to look on foot. This just was not working. She pulled her car to the side of the road, got out and took her hiking boots from the trunk. As she laced them onto her feet, a black Nissan Altima cruised in her direction. Not recognizing the car, she looked away, scanning the roadside immediately around her for signs of the dog.
The car pulled up next to her and the window lowered. She glanced over, prepared to nod in acknowledgement of whoever it might be. But that didn’t happen. Instead, she frowned.
“You.”
The man who’d nearly mowed her down this morning, gave her a sheepish look. What was his name again? Ugh. She couldn’t remember.
