Angel's Rest(13)

Gabe Callahan stood on her front porch, the boxer he’d rescued up on Murphy Mountain at his side. “You knew I’d bring him back?”

“No. Not you. I thought you were someone else.” She frowned down at the dog and said, “Why is the boxer with you? Is Celeste okay?”

“Who is Celeste?”

Without warning, the dog yanked the leash from Gabe’s hand and darted past Nic and into her home just as her telephone started ringing. Flustered, she said, “I’m sorry. Let me get that. Please come in.”

Her home was a standard Victorian design with two rooms on either side off a large entry hall with the staircase to the second-floor bedrooms at its center, a narrow kitchen stretching the width of the house at the back. The closest phone sat on a table at the back of the center hall, toward the kitchen. The boxer disappeared into the cozy library, where Nic spent most of her time and where she’d set a small table for two. Her unexpected guest followed the dog.

She grabbed the phone on the fourth ring without bothering to check the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Nic, hi. It’s Bob. Look, I’m not going to be able to make it tonight. I’m on my way home now. Had an emergency.”

She waited for her stomach to sink in disappointment. To her surprise, all she felt was relief. “I’m sorry to hear that. I hope it’s nothing too serious.”

“My son had an accident on his four-wheeler. Broke his arm and a leg. My wife is frantic, and frankly, so am I. Do you know how long it’s gonna take me to get home? This town of yours is way too isolated.”

“Excuse me?” Nic’s heart began to pound. “Did you just say ‘my wife’?”

“Oh. Well …”

Her blood began to boil. “You weren’t wearing a wedding ring.”

“Yeah. Well …”

“You sorry, lowlife jerk. You flirted with me from hello. I can’t believe you … Listen. You can take your ‘consulting’ and shove it. We don’t want your kind in our town.” She started to slam the phone down, froze, and brought it back to her ear. “I hope your son is okay.”

After that, she did slam the receiver into its cradle. She stood staring at it, her hands on her hips, breathing hard. Anger coursed through her blood. “What is it with men? Are they totally incapable of faithfulness?”

“Depends. It’s a character issue more than a sexual one.”

Nic closed her eyes in embarrassment and swallowed a groan. She’d forgotten about her visitor. Lovely. Just lovely.

“I seem to find only the characters without character. Oh well.” She shrugged and shook off her discomfort. “Talk to me about the dog.”

Gabe glanced at the boxer, who lay curled on a rug in front of the fireplace. “He came scratching at my door a little while ago, and I’m bringing him back to you.”

“He scratched at the door of your Jeep?”

“No. He scratched at the kitchen door at Eagle’s Way.”

“How did he get up there?”

“I thought you brought him.”

“No.” Nic shook her head. “I can’t keep strays that come to me. It’s one of my few hard-and-fast rules, otherwise I’d be overrun with pets. The boxer is on a week-long get-to-know-you visit with Celeste Blessing, who I hope will agree to adopt him. She lives in the big yellow Victorian on the east bank of Angel Creek.”

“That’s a long way from Murphy Mountain.”

She nodded, then tilted her head and studied him, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Did he really show up at Eagle’s Way?”

One side of Gabe’s mouth lifted in a self-mocking smile, and he raised his hands palms out. “Hey, I have no reason to lie. I’m not married, and I’m not trying to date you.”

“Ouch,” she muttered, embarrassed at the reminder of what he’d overheard. “I need to call and check on Celeste. Would you keep an eye on Tiger for me, please? The way my luck is running, he’ll decide to sample the meat I have resting on the kitchen counter.”

“Tiger?”

She gestured vaguely toward the dog. “My name for him. It’s his brindle coat, the black stripes on brown. Makes me think of tiger stripes.”

Nic lifted the phone and dialed Celeste’s number, conscious of the quickening in her pulse as she imagined all sorts of disasters that could have happened to her elderly friend. When Celeste said “Hello” following the third ring, Nic exhaled a relieved breath. “Hi, Celeste, it’s Nic. I’m calling about the boxer.”