She nodded and smiled. “Right. Back in a jiffy.”
“Megan?”
She stopped at the door and looked over her shoulder.
“I’m sorry. I was an ass this afternoon, screaming at you about your dog. Accusing him of…”
When he let his sentence trail off, she lifted a corner of her mouth. “Apology accepted. I admit the evidence was pretty damning. But I know Sam. I know his nature and his training. He’d never hurt Caitlyn. I swear.”
“So it seems.” Jack shoved his hands in his pockets and jangled the coins there. “I also apparently owe you a debt of gratitude. If he, in fact, chased some other dog away…”
He hesitated. Care for some salt on your crow?
Megan’s smile brightened a bit. “I’ll pass your thanks on to Sam. He definitely gets an extra Snausage tonight.”
Jack gave her a lopsided grin and stroked a hand along his chin. “Tell him he’s got a whole box of dog treats coming from Caitlyn’s dad.”
She nodded and ducked her chin, glancing shyly to her feet. “I’m just glad Caitlyn will be okay. I was so scared for her….”
Megan sighed and looked over at his daughter, who was resting peacefully in the bed. The tender expression Megan wore as she watched Caitlyn sleep twisted inside Jack. In the past week, this woman had shown more loving concern for his daughter than Lauren had in the past year. That alone was enough to get Jack’s attention, even before he factored in his neighbor’s kindness and sense of humor or her sexy lips and heavenly curves.
“So…” He paused and cleared his throat. “Are we…okay?”
Megan shifted her gaze to him. Her lips parted as if to speak, but she hesitated.
“Give me a second chance, Megan. I’m really not such a belligerent oaf…usually.”
She fidgeted with her earring again and gave him a forced smile. “Yeah. We’re fine. I, um…I’ll be right back with your computer and files.”
Quickly Megan slipped out the door, out of sight, and Jack kicked himself. Her hesitation and lukewarm reception of his apology said what Megan was too polite to say.
He’d screwed up. Big-time. He’d freaked when he’d seen Caitlyn bleeding, seen Megan’s dog hovering over his daughter. His daughter’s injury was more his fault, because of his inattention, than anyone else’s. And he’d taken his fear, his guilt and his frustration out on the one person who least deserved his wrath.
As soon as Caity was released to go home, he would find some way to make amends with Megan. She deserved no less.
Megan drove home, lost in thought. She was still mulling over Caitlyn’s claim that Sam had saved her from another dog, when she turned onto her street and spotted two vehicles parked in front of her house. The sedan had a light bar on top and an insignia on the door. The truck had something like a cage in the back and black letters printed on the side.
A-N-I-M-A-L C-O-N-T-R-O-L.
Chapter 5
A prickling sensation chased down Megan’s neck as Jack’s promise to have Sam taken away echoed in her brain. “No!”
She wheeled her car into her driveway and leaped out. “Wait!” she cried to the sheriff deputy who watched as another man took Sam with a stiff lead to the waiting truck. “That’s my dog! You can’t do this!”
The deputy turned to her as she raced across the yard.
Panic rose in her throat, choking her. She’d be lost without Sam. He was the only reason she could sleep at night. His presence and protective instincts gave her the peace-of-mind she needed to live alone while her rapist walked the streets.
And she loved Sam. They’d been best friends from the day he’d come home with her from his trainer’s house. At a time when so many other friends had drifted away from her, Sam had been her anchor, her unconditionally devoted companion.
“Are you Megan Hoffman?” The sheriff’s deputy pulled a folded sheet from his pocket.
She swallowed hard, fighting down her learned fear of the uniform before her. She stood several feet away from the man, and when he stepped toward her, she backed up warily.
“Yes, I’m Megan. I-I know what Mr. Calhoun must have told you earlier. But Sam didn’t attack his daughter! I just left the hospital, and Caitlyn told us there was another dog.”
The deputy took a deep, tired breath, and for an instant, Megan sympathized with his unpleasant duty of overseeing the removal of a woman’s pet.
“Ma’am, all I have to go on is the report filed from the hospital. According to the information taken in the emergency room tonight, your dog attacked a little girl.”
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