no thanks necessary.” He shifted his attention back to the road. “If you can cook, that’ll be payment enough. I get kinda tired of my own cooking.”
A wry grin touched her lips. “I guess we’ll have to see, won’t we?”
She didn’t feel completely comfortable intruding on Cale’s life, but as he’d so eloquently stated, it was either him or the funny farm. By accepting his very generous offer, she’d be free to come and go as she pleased, and she hoped to find out a thing or two or three about her past. So what if she’d have to leave the proverbial trail of bread crumbs to find her way home again? At least she had freedom, and that had to count for something.
Shortly after they entered the city limits of Hermosa Beach, Cale took a left off Ocean Boulevard into a residential district, which brought them even closer to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. After several more turns, Cale slowed and pulled into a sloped driveway, parking in front of a two-car garage with a roll-up door painted a hideous shade of turquoise.
Above the garage was the house, in a much more pleasing-to-the-eye shade of dove-gray siding, however, the trim and the concrete staircase leading up to the house were the same garish color as the garage door. Flanking the driveway were two planters made of railroad ties. They were filled with shrubs in dire need of TLC before they completely lost the battle being pitifully waged against a determined army of dandelions.
“It’s a work in progress,” Cale said with a nod toward the house.
She glanced around the area. The well-kept homes only yards from the beach, whether modest in size or more elaborate and ornate, spoke of prime real estate. “Nice neighborhood.”
Cale chuckled. “Don’t be too impressed. I pull in a decent salary, but not enough to afford something like this on my own. Thanks to my aunt, the lawyers handling my folks’ probate set up a trust fund for me and my brothers.”
So he had family. She wondered what these brothers of his would say about her living with Cale, albeit temporarily. If she’d brought home a total stranger…
If she’d brought home a total stranger—what? The answer faded away into the misty remnants of her mind before she had a chance to catch it, filling her with renewed frustration.
Cale snagged the plastic bag containing her few personal items before opening the door to the truck. The soothing scent of the sea instantly slipped inside. She pulled in a deep breath and waited, hoping for another spark of some distant memory, only to be further disappointed. Somehow she knew the sea comforted her. She only wished she knew why.
With yet another gusty sigh, she opened her door and slid from the truck to follow Cale up the turquoise steps. “What did your parents do?” she asked, as he slipped the key into the lock.
He looked back at her before pushing open the door. There was no mistaking the hint of sadness in his eyes. “They were both firefighters.” Had he been a child when his parents had passed away? Could that be why he’d taken her in so easily, because he had firsthand experience of suddenly finding himself alone in the world?
Before she could ask him, he abruptly changed the subject. “I hope you like animals,” he said as he opened the door.
No fear climbed up her spine at the thought of facing an animal, so she simply shrugged and followed Cale inside. The sound of clicking toenails on a newly finished hardwood floor greeted them and they were met by a very large, furry black dog of an indeterminate breed. The dog jumped around Cale, filled with excitement.
“Maggie, meet Pearl.” To the dog he said, “You be a good girl.”
Pearl immediately sat, tongue lolling out of her mouth with an expectant look in her enormous brown eyes as she stared at Maggie.
She took a hesitant step forward, her left hand extended for Pearl to sniff. Instead of a cold nose, a warm tongue lapped at her hand. Pearl’s oddly short bushy tail polished the floor with record speed.
“Oh, she’s sweet,” Maggie said, smiling up at Cale. That look was in his eyes again, the one that held a combination of awe and desire. Her pulse revved again. Needing a moment to remind herself that feeling all warm and fuzzy inside was not the wisest course, she flipped her attention back to Pearl. The canine’s lips were pulled back as she showed off a set of lethal-looking teeth.
“I don’t think she likes me,” she said, unsure whether or not to take a giant step backward.
Cale chuckled. “Of course she does.”
Maggie pasted a smile on her face and hoped the dog took it as a sign of friendship. “Then why is she snarling at me?”
“She’s not snarling, she’s smiling.”
Maggie frowned. “Excuse me?” Dogs did not smile, that much she did know.
“Smiling.” Cale closed the door and set the bag next to a lamp on a rustic pine sofa table nestled against the wall nearest the door. “She does it all the time when she’s happy.”
Maggie eyed the dog cautiously and slowly bent down to rub her chest. Pearl’s “grin” widened and her eyes took on a glazed look of deep pleasure. “And here I thought dogs only wagged their tails to show their emotions.”
“She’s kind of unique that way.” Cale cleared his throat and headed into the kitchen. “Want something to drink?”
She stood and followed Cale. Pearl followed her. “How long have you had her?” When Maggie came to a stop, Pearl sat beside her as if waiting for a command of some sort. She wagged her tail so hard, her big body shook.
Maggie reached down to give the dog a scratch behind her long floppy ears. Pearl moaned in ecstasy seconds before she slid to the floor, her back leg scratching at nothing but air.
Cale opened the refrigerator and pulled out a pitcher of iced tea. “Since she was a pup. I was jogging on the beach one morning and suddenly there she was, running alongside me, dragging a string of barbed wire wrapped midway around her tail. After I took it off, she followed me home. No one bothered to claim her, not that I’d seriously consider allowing her to go back, given the shape the poor girl was in when she found me.”
Not only did Maggie now understand the reason for the odd length of Pearl’s bushy tail, but she’d discovered vitally important information regarding Cale. The man suffered from a hero complex. She didn’t need to be Sigmund Freud to understand why Cale had become a paramedic. The injured pup revealed a lot about him and explained his rescuing her from an unknown fate.
There had to be more to the puzzle, of that she felt certain. For reasons she didn’t understand, she couldn’t help wondering about the why behind his good-hearted soul.
“Shake it, baby!”
Maggie stared at Cale, not quite certain she’d heard him right. “Pardon me?”
He pulled a pair of tall glasses from the cabinet nearest the sink. “Cool it, Gilda,” he scolded on his way to the freezer for ice. “There’s a lady in the house.”
A wolf whistle came next. “Pretty mama. Yowza,” was followed by a high-decibel screech.
This time Maggie had no trouble discerning the species or the location of the voice. She walked past Cale, through
