Page 51 of Hiss and Make Up
Denise smiled. “Thanks. We’ll talk about it later, okay? When I get back.”
That was as much of a commitment as he could expect from her at the moment, but he knew he was right about this. She needed to be in that house. He could rent an apartment for a while. That house had always been too big for him to live in all by himself.
“Deal,” he said. “For now.”
“Thanks.” She tousled his hair and wiped a smudge from his cheek.
“Call me when you and the kids get settled. I want to know where you are.”
“Promise, buddy. You’ll be my first call.”
“After Josh?”
Denise shrugged and looked around the neighborhood, turning her back on the house. When she looked across the field, she tilted her head in confusion. “Where’s your car?”
Oh, yeah. That.
“Long story. Not important right now.”
Given what had happened in the last twenty-four hours, he began to wonder if what happened to his car wasn’t some unlucky coincidence. It seemed highly relevant that he got stranded at the football game right before someone set his sister’s house on fire.
Then again, he'd also thought it was a good idea to jump Sierra in his dad’s workshop.
“Please, please, please tell me you didn’t loan Sierra your car. God knows what shape you’ll get it back in. That is if you get it back at all.”
“Probably not the best time for this conversation, but no, I didn’t loan my car to her. It’s in the shop.” At least that wasn’t a lie. The tow truck should have picked it up and brought it to the repair shop by now. “And lay off Sierra. Please. I’m cutting you some slack right now because of the fire, but you’re gonna have to back off on that.”
She frowned, then looked back at his house and squinted. “Wait, is that a dog? Did you get adog?”
He looked where Denise pointed and shielded his eyes from the bright morning sun. Dang. He’d forgotten all about that thing.
“There’s a dog back there.”
“Yeah, there is.” The question was why Sierra hadn’t taken it with her when she left. She must have been shaken up by the fire and forgotten it was back there. She wouldn’t have left it on purpose. Would she?
“Be careful. That thing might have rabies or who knows what other diseases.” Denise climbed into her van. From the open window, she said, “Thanks for being here.”
“No problem. You be careful too. Check in with me every day.”
She saluted. “Sure thing, captain. I’ll let you know where we land for the week.”
He waved goodbye as her van slowly crunched across the limestone gravel. With one more glance at the burned-up shell of a house, Marc turned to cross the field. A wagging tongue greeted him at the fence a few moments later.
Great. Just what he needed. Something else to take care of.
“Sorry. I don’t have anything for you, dog.”
He really didn’t have any food for it. A bowl of water sat next to the house, so at least Sierra had taken care of that. He tried not to wonder whether she did that while she was waiting for the firemen or before she left later that night. The latter would mean she remembered the dog and left him on purpose. He did not have the energy to be pissed at her this morning.
Plus, he really didn’t want to be pissed at her. Part of him wished she was still there with him. It had taken every ounce of willpower he had to urge her to go home last night. Every cell in his body wanted her to stay with him, to stand next to him and keep him company all night. But he wanted her safe even more than he wanted her close.
And safe right now meant as far away from him as possible.
He considered calling, but it was still pretty early. He had no idea if she was an early riser or if she liked to sleep in. Among all the many other things he still didn’t know about her.
Later. He’d call later. She had texted him when she got home, and Liz was there, so he knew she was safe. Now he had other things to focus on. Like finding food for this dog she left behind.
Part of him wanted to wake Sierra up and tell her to at least bring some dog food, but he quickly dismissed the idea. As much as he wanted to see her, he didn’t want her anywhere near him or this place again. He’d gotten her too involved already.
