one point they’d been pretty stylish. Now they were comfortable.
Once everything she was wearing was washable, she scooted back around the piles, rolled her shoulders to ease some of the tension and jumped into Shelly’s whirlwind. Two hours later they had all the dogs walked, every animal had been fed and Shelly was on her way home to fall apart in private. Bub was snoring loudly from the couch when she sat down and pulled out the cash Cece had handed her. “Electricity or groceries. Which should it be?”
The image of her father sitting on a sunny beach somewhere, a cold drink in his hand, floated through her brain. The haze of jealous bitterness followed before she could stop it.
As soon as possible, she’d head off for a restorative spa day and then book a flight to St. Barts.
But what sort of life would she have living on stolen money?
Her old, normal life was a dream.
Reality was being covered in dog hair and worse while trying to decide whether she wanted to eat or see.
People like Will Barnes sneered at her.
And her friends had disappeared like the money.
“Bub, you’ll never leave, will you?” She ran her hand over his side and ignored his annoyed kick.
“Two choices, Sarah. You can either sit here and have a pity party. Or see if you can come up with the stuff Will wants and prove him wrong.” Pity party was an attractive option, but she’d spent a lot of time at that particular one-woman show lately.
Sarah brushed the hair off her pants and maneuvered back to the desk.
She was fully capable of starting even if she couldn’t do it all on her own.
WILL PULLED UP in front of the dilapidated building and parked in the gravel lot. A worn sign said Paws for Love out front. “This is not quite as...fancy as I expected Sarah would demand.”
His passenger had absolutely nothing to say.
He should be getting used to that. Chloe’s bored expression made him think of his stepsister. Which was crazy, as they didn’t share a single drop of blood.
“It’s an animal shelter,” Chloe drawled. “No doubt it’ll be educational.”
Sarcasm. She and Jen spoke the same language, too. When he slanted a watch-your-tone look at his daughter, she held both hands up. “It’s Saturday. We could be doing something fun.”
Will couldn’t argue with that.
He studied the building through the windshield. The place was tired, needed to be landscaped and given a new paint job at the least. Even to his amateur eye, the roof was sorely in need of replacement.
Instead of exaggerating the shelter’s needs, Sarah might have been downplaying them. Could he walk away and get the petty revenge he wanted when it was clear this place and the animals it saved needed real help?
Could he play with the puppies and not pull out a checkbook?
“All right. Fifteen minutes, twenty tops. Then we’ll do something fun. You can pick.” Will opened his door and slid out. Chloe hopped out, as if this might have been the promise she’d been waiting for.
“Good. The lake. We’re going. We’ll swim.” She pointed a finger. “No phone calls.”
“We could rent a boat. Pick up lunch.” He saluted her to acknowledge the excellent plan. “You should be in charge every day.”
She held up her hand for a high five, something she’d picked up on the soccer field. He smacked her hand, grabbed it and pulled her close for a squirmy hug.
“Twenty minutes...and go.” Squaring his shoulders, Will walked over to the door, held it open and stepped inside right behind Chloe. “Hello? Anybody here?” The place was unexpected on the inside, too. Clean, if ragged, with a nice pine scent.
Bub ambled around the corner first, followed by Sarah. “Sorry, we were out back cleaning up the yard now that the animals are inside.”
The surprises kept coming. Instead of ridiculously expensive clothes and seriously hot shoes, she was wearing denim and cotton and the kind of black boots he imagined farmers wore to milk the cows. Even in weekend casual jeans and a polo, he was overdressed for this tour.
Sarah fidgeted with her ponytail, waiting for him to say something, but he was stumped. Then he realized she was wearing no makeup, no lipstick, no nothing. The only hint of the seductress was in the red nails that tapped on the scratched linoleum counter.
“Introduce me to the rest of the committee?” Sarah pointed to Chloe, who’d stopped as close to the door as she could.
“This is my daughter, Chloe. We’re on our way to the lake.” When he felt a weight on his foot, Will glanced down to see Bub perched on his sneaker. The dog sighed as he leaned against Will’s leg and glanced up at him, tongue dangling out of his mouth.
Should he object? Unseat the dog? He glanced up to see both Sarah and Chloe watching him.
Moving Bub could wait.
Chloe stepped forward to shake Sarah’s hand.
Like an adult. A serious, fully grown woman.
Except she was wearing pink shorts and black sneakers that squeaked with each step.
For a brief second, Sarah’s lips flattened, but she pasted on a smile. “It’s a beautiful day out there. I won’t take much of your time.”
“Twenty minutes.” Chloe motioned over her shoulder. “He promised. The guy works all the time. It’s Saturday.” The exasperated expression on her face was a carbon copy of his ex-wife’s.
He’d heard similar complaints from Olivia regularly.
Sarah clasped her hands in front of her and nodded seriously. “Sure, but does his work always include cute cats?”
“No, that’s new.” Chloe pursed her lips. “Where are they?”
“Ah, someone who likes to cut to the chase. I wonder where you get that?” When Sarah’s eyes met his, he could see she was teasing him.
They weren’t friends. Maybe they weren’t enemies, either.
Sarah pointed at the hallway. “Follow me?”
“Show me your cats.” Chloe marched around the corner, pulling Sarah and Will along in her wake.
Giant miscalculation, Barnes. A kid, surrounded by cats and dogs ready for adoption. What are you going to say when she finds the one that has to come home with you?
He’d say no. When Chloe was in Austin, he would be working. All the time. No animal would be happy or healthy with a setup
