got a biscuit from the pantry.
Madeline dropped the stuffed burger and chomped for the treat.
“Be nice,” he admonished. “Don’t be such a pig.”
The tip of her tail wiggled faster.
“Nice.” He slowly brought the treat closer.
Madeline’s eyes blinked as though communicating her deep gratitude as she gently took the biscuit. Then she hungrily crunched away. It was devoured in seconds.
The gate next door was broken, and Madeline could open the latch on his. Over the past couple months, her visits had been sporadic. But this past week they had become an everyday occurrence. She wasn’t his dog. She belonged to the mean lady next door.
Well, he used to think she was mean. A few things had changed recently.
He crouched in front of the still-sitting dog. “You know, for having such a troublemaker for an owner, you sure are a good girl.”
Madeline gave him one of her white paws and stretched her head to lick him. He moved just in time to avoid a wet kiss on his mouth.
“Thanks, but you’re taken. I don’t cheat.”
He scratched her ears as his doorbell rang. Right on schedule. Remy Lang was here to get her dog. Sighing, he stood and went to the door, Madeline trotting beside him.
He opened the door. A siren of a redhead stood there with a humble face framed by long, wavy hair. Beautiful face. He wasn’t sure if it was just him or if everyone couldn’t stop staring at her whenever she came into view. She was in light blue jeans and a Stanford University sweatshirt. No makeup, but her striking green eyes didn’t need any.
“Uh...is Maddie here?”
She shifted from one foot to the other, stuffing her hands in her pockets. Awkward. She’d been a bitch when he’d first met her. He’d gone over to her house after he heard her fighting with a man. The man had hit her. Lincoln had beaten him for it, and she’d been angry...at Lincoln. Ever since then, she’d been uncomfortable in her own skin around him. She never could get away fast enough. But he always sensed her desire to blurt out an excuse for her behavior. And every time something stopped her. Fear.
What was she so afraid of? He found himself wondering more and more.
“Uh,” she stammered again, this time leaning to see around him.
Madeline had gone into the kitchen and sat by the pantry again.
He swung the door open wider. “Sorry. Why don’t you come in for a while?” Maybe this time he’d get some information out of her.
“Maddie,” Remy called, stepping inside.
The dog stayed there, tail thumping, panting happily.
“Her name tag says Madeline.” This was the first time he’d heard her call the dog by name. Until now, she’d only referred to Maddie as “my dog,” and all she ever said were things like “sorry to have bothered you” to him, or “come on” to her dog. Whenever he tried to talk to her, she always said she “had to get going. Bye.” Awkward and embarrassed. Why had she been angry with him for beating up the guy who’d hit her? She was afraid of that man, of course, but Lincoln wanted to know the reason.
“I call her Maddie most of the time.” She bent and patted her thigh, a long, lean thigh. “Come on, Maddie.”
“Do you want me to fix your gate?” he asked.
“No. Maddie!” she snapped, in a hurry to get away.
The dog’s ears slumped, and her eyes drooped. Getting Maddie out of his house worked better when Remy waited on the front porch and he brought the dog to her.
“Come here, girl,” Lincoln coaxed.
Maddie’s ears perked, and the smile returned to her face as she trotted over to him.
Remy gaped at him with the hint of a smile. “What have you done to my dog?”
Seeing her begin to relax, he patted Maddie. “She’s a great dog.”
Remy crouched, and Maddie went to her, sitting before her with that tiny wiggle of her tail and going in for a few licks. Remy sank her fingers into the fur of her chest.
“Yeah, she is.” The soft smile that shaped her lips captivated Lincoln.
When she looked up from Maddie’s love-drunk eyes, she caught him staring at her. As her gaze took in his chest and arms and then returned to his eyes, he burned.
“Ah...” She stood. “I should probably get going.”
Lincoln was a little disconcerted over his reaction, as well. A familiar, old pain overtook him for a few seconds before he could control it, hide it away where he always did, safely out of mind.
Remy didn’t move for the door. She seemed on the verge of saying something that was hard for her to say. “I’ve...I’ve been meaning to...apologize for the way we met.”
Finally. He waited for her to go on.
“Wade... That whole...thing...”
“Is he your boyfriend?” he asked.
“No!” she answered instantly and adamantly. “He’s...sort of a friend.”
“Sort of?”
She waved her hands and then let them hang at her sides. “I thought he was a friend when I first met him. He turned out to be something else.”
Lincoln nodded. “Why did he hit you?”
“It’s complicated,” she said. “I don’t expect you to understand.”
How could he when she wasn’t telling him anything? Did she have something to hide? Or was she just embarrassed? The man wasn’t her boyfriend. “Who is he?”
She waved her hands again, a poor disguise for her inner turmoil. “Nobody. I just wanted to apologize, and also to thank you for what you did. Even though it didn’t seem like I was appreciative, I was, okay?”
“Okay.” Had fear compelled her to retaliate against Lincoln that day? She may have been afraid of what the man would have done had she not taken his side. “If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know. I’m right next door.”
She smiled. “Yeah. I know.” She met his gaze awhile longer.
This was a lot different than the first time they’d met. And the most they’d ever spoken.
An uncomfortable silence passed. She glanced down his body, checking him out, and then grew serious.
Maddie nudged Lincoln’s hand, and he pet her head.
“Your leg is better,” Remy said.
The first time he’d met her he’d been on crutches.
