Page 58 of Make Me Trust Again
I can still see a mix of trepidation and hurt on her face before I shoved her hand away and walked out on them, swearing I wouldn’t come back. And yet, here I am once again.
As if he can read my thoughts, Kyle lifts his chin up a notch.“Are you going to leave again?”
Although he’s trying to keep a straight face, there is no missing the hurt hiding beneath the strong façade. I have to admire his straightforwardness and resilience.
“No.”
Shadow comes to him, letting the ball drop and nudging his clenched hand. She can probably sense that he’s upset and wants to give him some comfort.
“I was looking for you, but you weren’t home. I thought we were friends.”
Cursing under my breath, I rub my hand over my face and move closer. “I’m sorry for disappearing like that. I— I had some things to take care of.”
“What things? You weren’t working in your backyard.”
Shit.This kid is too smart for his own good.
“I was working at the animal shelter.”
At least that one was true. The past few days, I was at the shelter way more than usual, trying to focus all my attention on training Duke, and if I wasn’t there, I was searching for that runaway Belgian Malinois—any excuse I could find to put some much-needed distance between us.
That gets his attention. “You work at an animal shelter?”
“Yes.”
Kyle crouches down and grabs a ball to toss to Shadow. I shift my gaze to the cottage, taking in the space. The back door is open, but Rose is nowhere in sight. Not that she really needs to be here to watch over him, still, something doesn’t seem quite right; I just can’t figure out what has the back of my neck prickling at attention.
“What kind of animals are there?”
I glance down at him. “Mostly dogs. Some cats.”
Kyle thinks about it and nods. “I want a dog, but my dad doesn’t let me get it.”
“Dogs are a lot of work,” I say diplomatically. The last thing I need is to get in the middle of this.
He puffs out his chest. “I can do it.”
Shadow stops in front of Kyle, the two of them fighting over the ball, when a soft sound draws my attention. I tilt my head to my good side, so I can try to pinpoint where it came from or what it was. For a while, there is nothing, and I think I imagined it, when I hear it again—the voices. The words are hushed, too soft for me to decipher, but then I hear something else. A wince. Shadow hears it, too, because her ears perk up, body stilling.
I turn to Kyle. “Why don’t you try working with Shadow? See if she will listen to any of your commands.”
Kyle’s brows pull together. “Are you leaving?”
I shake my head. “I think I heard something, so I’ll go and check it out. Maybe it’s my sister. I’ll be back soon.” I give Shadow a pointed look. “Stay with Kyle.”
Shadow whines, clearly unhappy with the turn of events, but when Kyle places his hand on her, she sits down next to him.
“Good girl. Listen to Kyle.” I lift my gaze to the boy. “You’ve got her?”
“I’ve got her.”
With one final look at Shadow, I turn around and walk around the cottage. There are some new flowers planted around the house that weren’t there before. As I turn the corner, I see two figures standing on the porch. Rose’s lips move as she talks quietly, her finger jabbing the man in his chest when his hand wraps around her wrist, and he pulls her to him.
The guy from the café.
Her ex.
My fingers curl into a fist by my side as I move closer; their words are still muffled murmurs, too low for me to hear.
