Her Grave Secrets (Rogue River #3)(13)

Stevie stole another glance at the dog. She was a pretty one with long silky ears and inquisitive eyes. Patsy would find her a home within the week. Stevie swallowed. You don’t have time for a dog. This dog needed children to play with and adore.

She continued to stare at Stevie.

Stevie pulled up in front of her mother’s long driveway, let Sheila know where she was, and tucked the dog under her arm. A sense of déjà vu washed over her as she climbed the steps. How many times had she brought home lost or hurt animals for her mother to care for? One time she’d stolen a pig from a neighbor two farms over, convinced the animal was going to be slaughtered for a meal. Yes, she had recently read Charlotte’s Web.

Her father had returned the pig with deep apologies and received a solemn promise from the owner that the pig would never see a knife. Stevie had checked several times over a few years, and the owner had kept his promise.

She pushed open her mother’s door and headed for the kitchen, catching Carly with a beignet in her hand. Carly set the pastry down and held her hands out for the dog. “Ohhhh! She’s so cute.”

Stevie released the dog, who eagerly slobbered on Carly’s sugared fingers. A small wave of jealousy swept through Stevie. Carly had always been the one whom animals adored.

“Where’d she come from?”

“Found her out at the west end of the highway. She’d been hiding down there for a few days. Do you recognize her?”

Carly shook her head. “Doesn’t look like any dog I’ve seen around here. Should be easy to find her a home, but Lord, she needs a bath first. I’ll assign that to Brianna today.” She eyed Stevie. “Unless you’ve formed an attachment to her.”

“I don’t need a dog.”

“Everybody needs a dog. Your place has got to be really empty. A dog makes a house a home. Have you unpacked yet?”

“I’m getting there.”

“I saw how few boxes you brought. You should have been unpacked the first day. What’s wrong?” Sharp sisterly eyes studied her.

“Nothing.”

“I call bull on that one.” Carly moved closer, looking Stevie up and down. “Light makeup, hair in perfect ponytail as usual. A bit of dog hair on your uniform, but I consider that normal on most people.” She narrowed her eyes. “But you’ve got huge bags under your eyes that you tried to cover up. Either Zane kept you up all night or something’s eating at you.”

Stevie snorted. Carly didn’t have her mother’s gift of insight, but she was very skilled at reading between the lines. Probably from working with children who were scared to talk to adults.

“Zane and I had a bit of a disagreement last night.”

“So? Only expecting rainbows and ponies with him?”

“No, I just wonder what it means about his core values.”

Carly wrinkled her nose. “Core values? Zane? That man has the straightest core I’ve ever seen. Remember, I’ve known him for five years and you’ve only known him for a few months. Trust me when I say there’s nothing to worry about there. What happened?”

“I asked him to invite his father to Mom’s barbecue. She’d offered one of the empty bedrooms for him to stay since it’d be a long trip. I thought it’d be a nice way to get to know Zane’s father.”

“And?” Carly offered the dog a bite of fried dough. The dog delicately accepted it and licked her muzzle, her eyes begging for more.

“He said no. That his father wouldn’t come. But I think he doesn’t want his father to come.” Stevie ran a hand down the black fur on the dog’s back, feeling a few burrs, but needing the touch of the animal under her fingertips. “Is family not important to him? I’ve had an epiphany in the last few months and discovered I wanted to be close to all of my family. I guess it surprised me that he didn’t feel the same way.”

“But well before you had this epiphany, you moved away,” Carly pointed out. “You made it look so easy, and I wondered what was wrong with me that I couldn’t do the same. I honestly thought you’d never move back.”

“But I called. I texted and Skyped at least some of the time. Zane doesn’t do any of those things with his father at all and they’re the only two left in that family. Don’t you think they need to be closer?”

“I don’t think that’s your place to say.”

“But what if Zane wakes up one day and his father is gone?” Stevie’s voice cracked. “He’ll have so much regret.” She stroked the dog’s head, keeping eye contact with the lovely dark eyes that didn’t judge her.

Carly’s brown gaze softened. “It’s not your job to protect him. You said your piece, right? You need to let him do what’s right for the two of them. We don’t know the history there. One thing I’ve learned about working with kids and their parents is that sometimes there’s a lot of hidden baggage and you never can tell who’s carrying it. I think you’re letting your own experience influence what you see in Zane’s life.”

“I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“That’s kind of you, but Zane’s a grown-up and doesn’t need your protection.”

Stevie scowled. Have I been pushing Zane in a direction he isn’t comfortable in? She moved on. “Is Mom around? I need to talk to her. You too, I guess.”