CHAPTER ONE
RAIN BATTERED THE sidewalk as Emma paused under the canopy by the entrance to the post office. She pulled the hood of her windbreaker low over her forehead and made a quick dash to the parking lot. Even so, she was drenched by the time she climbed into her SUV.
Poetic justice, she thought, that the sky had burst open while she’d been inside, arranging to send the signed agreement of purchase and sale back to Richard. That last tenuous link to her former fiancé was now irrevocably severed. As of the end of the month, the house she and Richard had planned to live in after they got married would belong to someone else.
Emma had picked up the envelope containing the documents just a couple of hours earlier, while weak rays of sunshine were still fighting their way through the thickening clouds. Richard had sent only the agreement—no note, no transmittal letter. What had she expected? “So sorry it didn’t work out? It was fun while it lasted?”
There was no personal connection whatsoever.
Perhaps it was better, more honest that way.
Emma shoved back her hood, splattering water everywhere, including on her copy of the agreement, which she’d left on the middle console.
“Great. Just great.”
She wiped off the moisture before tossing the document on the passenger seat. In a gesture she knew Richard would’ve said was indicative of her inability to control her temper, she tugged the elastic band from her ponytail and pushed her sopping hair back from her face. When she started the engine, the sudden blast of cold air against her damp skin had her fumbling to shut off the air-conditioning.
What a difference a few hours and some miserable rain made.
Her wipers swished wildly as she pulled out of the parking lot. By the time she turned off the highway onto Otter Creek Road, her headlights were useless through the dense sheets of rain and swirling fog. The plump drops of water caught and tossed the light back at her.
Out of deference to the dismal weather, she kept her speed to a crawl as she wound her way along the gravel road toward her cottage.
With the next swipe of the wipers, a flash of color caught her attention.
She’d just convinced herself that her eyes had been playing tricks on her when she saw it again.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered, as she eased her SUV to the shoulder behind the gray-and-red form sprawled at the side of the road.
Yanking the hood of her windbreaker back over her head, Emma hopped out of the vehicle and rushed toward the animal. A low growl had her slowing her approach.
She couldn’t be sure if the animal was a dog or a wolf, but she knew he needed medical attention for the deep gash in his hind leg and by the odd angle at which that leg protruded from his body.
“Shhh. It’s okay. I’m here to help. I won’t hurt you,” she murmured.
The animal pawed the ground with a front leg and twisted his head toward her. Keeping her distance, Emma stepped forward in an arc and eased into his field of vision.
She knew she couldn’t move him, not only because
