Page 12 of Abbe's Angel

He considered that. “I took over my dad’s business when I was twenty-two, like you took over your grandmother’s house, I suppose,” he said.

“Took it over? After…?” she asked, already expecting from the way he dropped his eyes and the way his tone darkened that there was a sad story behind this.

He nodded, understanding her leading question. “My dad died ten years ago. I had just graduated from college, and my uncle Gabe asked me to come on board. So, I did,” he said simply. His expression closed off entirely, and although his voice was level, there was a clipped aspect to it, like he didn’t want to go there.

But Abbe was intrigued and risked asking more. “What do you do?”

He grinned, rolling his eyes. “Bean counting mostly. Putting out fires. Closing deals. Whatever the company and my uncle need, basically.”

Abbe frowned, concerned. Watching him talk about his job was like seeing the tip of an iceberg sticking up out of the water. She knew there was so much more lurking beneath. “Do you like it?”

“I do,” he said, his expression perking up. “It’s just a lot sometimes.” He waved a dismissive hand and picked up his hot chocolate, taking a sip. “But anyway. It’s not so much that I can’t take care of a dog.”

And here it was. Abbe sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. “Daisy is not just any dog.”

“She requires a lot of time and care. I’m aware of that,” he said, getting defensive.

“It’s just that the longer you keep her, the harder it will be for her to recover should you decide she’s too much,” Abbe said, trying to sound reasonable instead of angry. “Dogs have feelings.”

His eyes flashed and his lips tightened. “Why do you keep insisting that I’m going to abandon her?”

Abbe’s heart sank. The conversation had soured, and she couldn’t believe how much that stung. She had been enjoying talking to him far too much. A voice in her head saidit’s better this wayand, listening to it, she stood.

“Okay. This is going the wrong way,” she said, starting to walk away.

Rafe reached back and captured her wrist so she couldn’t leave. “What do I have to do to convince you?”

She removed her wrist from his grip. “You don’t have to convince me,” she said, fighting to keep her voice down. “You think you can handle taking care of Daisy? Fine. But please bring her backbeforeit gets too bad. I won’t even say I told you so.”

She crossed the coffee shop and Rafe stood and followed her. Trying to smile and wave at people as she passed like nothing was wrong, Abbe could tell she wasn’t fooling anyone. Avrika gave her this sinking, pitying look, and Abbe practically ran the last few steps out, her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

“Abbe,” Rafe said, not shouting after her, but trying to get her attention.

She picked up her pace, rushing to get back to the shelter, where she’d left her car.

“I don’t have Daisy, you know. I can actually chase you this time,” he said, his tone an odd combination of frustrated and amused.

“We have nothing left to say to each other,” she tossed over her shoulder. “You can go.”

“It’s dark. I’m not letting you walk by yourself,” he replied.

She kept going, looking straight ahead. “Fine,” she said. She slowed her pace and he came alongside her.

They walked up the driveway of the shelter together. Abbe had left her car in the carport along the darkened side of the building. As they approached her car, Rafe took out his phone and sent a quick text.

Abbe stopped at the driver’s side door, realizing that Rafe was on foot. She may have been angry with him, but she wasn’t about to leave him stranded. “Do you need a ride somewhere?” she asked.

He lifted his phone and waved it. “My ride’s coming in five.”

Something about the way he said it harkened back to the beginning of this encounter, and she couldn’t resist commenting.

“One ofyourfive minutes, or more like a normal person’s five minutes, which are actually ten or fifteen?” she asked.

A laugh escaped him and ended with a heavy sigh. “Why are you so difficult?” he asked, shaking his head.

“I’m not difficult, I’m—”

She didn’t get a chance to argue with him. She saw a look of longing sweep over his face before he stepped forward and kissed her.

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