She Can Hide (She Can #4)(44)

Bryce laughed. “Come on up to the house.” He waved toward the exit.

Abby glanced over her shoulder. Ethan approached the stall door. He plucked a rope from a wall hook and walked inside without hesitating. A few seconds later, he emerged with a horse on the other end of the lead. The nylon was slack with no tension. The horse stopped and gave the vet a nervous eye roll. Without looking back, Ethan left the rope loose and took a step. The horse shifted forward and followed. Ethan turned. The horse stopped, stretching its nose toward his face. For a minute, they seemed to be sharing breaths—or thoughts. Ethan raised a hand and rested it on the thin neck. The horse sighed. Its head lowered as its spine relaxed.

Goose bumps rose on Abby’s arm. She knew how the horse felt. Ethan had the same effect on her.

“Amazing.” The vet straightened and moved toward the animal. “You still have the touch, my friend.”

Ethan moved his hand, rubbing a spot at the base of the horse’s neck. “He just needs someone to trust.”

“Don’t we all,” said the vet.

As Abby left the barn, she could hear Ethan and the vet discussing possible infections and feeding issues.

She closed the big wooden door quietly and hurried to catch up with Bryce and Derek. Twilight was settling over the snowy yard in shades of gray and white. Bryce opened the back door. Abby, Derek, and Zeus followed him inside. They hung their coats on hooks in the mudroom. A short hallway opened into a spacious living room. Two overstuffed sofas and a recliner clustered around a stone fireplace. A flat-screen TV hung on the wall, and a Christmas tree glittered in the corner. The room was furnished for comfort, not aesthetics. Abby wanted to start a fire, take off her shoes, and curl up with a good book and a glass of wine. A big glass.

An old tomcat stood at the entrance to the kitchen.

“Oh look, a cat,” Abby said.

“Oh shit! Where?” Bryce whirled.

“It’s OK. Zeus likes cats,” Abby said.

“It’s not the cat I’m worried about.” Bryce lunged, but before he could snag the big dog’s collar, Zeus shuffled up to the cat, sniffed, and wagged his tail. The scraggly feline arched its back and hissed in its best impression of the dead cat from Pet Sematary.

Zeus cocked his head and backed up a step. With an ear-splitting yowl, the cat attacked, jumping forward at lightning speed and swiping at the dog’s gigantic nose with one taloned paw. Zeus yelped. He shook his massive, loose-lipped head, sending gobs of spit and drops of blood flying through the air.

“Sweetums, stop that!” Bryce changed direction, heading for the cat, but Sweetums was on the offensive. Zeus backed up at warp speed through the living room, upending an end table in his path. The cat chased the retreating canine across the debris.

“Oh dear. Come here, Sweetums. Bad cat.” A slim blonde woman hustled through the doorway just as Zeus backed into and over the cheerfully decorated Christmas tree. The six-foot artificial evergreen went over with a creak and crash. The sound of glass bulbs breaking and lights popping filled the room, accompanied by more high-pitched howling from the dog and hissing and spitting from Sweetums. The woman swooped up the cat and tucked it under one arm.

Abby was unable to move. Shock and embarrassment rendered her motionless. Her larynx froze in horror. Then she heard an unbelievable sound. Ethan’s mother was laughing, and it wasn’t just a giggle, it was a full belly roar.

Bryce grabbed Zeus’s collar. He sighed. “Abby, Derek, this is my mom, Lorraine Hale.”

“Mrs. Hale, I’m so sorry,” Abby stuttered.

“Please call me Lorraine, and you have no reason to apologize.” Lorraine laughed so hard that she dropped the cat. Sweetums climbed a nearby bookshelf.

“Where’s the video camera when you need it?” Lorraine slapped her knee and lowered her body to the living room chair. Tears streamed down her face, and she snorted indelicately. “That would’ve taken the grand prize.” She sniffed and tried to catch her breath.

Derek and Bryce stared at the carnage of broken ornaments, overturned furniture, and the felled tree with identical expressions of disbelief.

Cam came in from the mudroom. “What the hell happened in here?”

“Zeus met Sweetums,” Bryce said.

“I take it Sweetums was his charming self?” Cam asked dryly.

“The gracious host, as always.” Bryce let go of the dog. Zeus tucked his tail between his muscular legs. Strands of tinsel hung from his ears, and blood dripped from his nose onto the hardwood floor.

“You know, I think you were right, boys. It’s past time to take down the tree.” Lorraine took a ragged breath and stood up, extending her hand to Abby. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. Your poor dog! He’s terrified. Sweetums can be territorial.”

From his elevated perch, Sweetums stared down at the dog and humans below with pure feline disdain.

Zeus whimpered.

“He won’t bite, will he?” Lorraine contemplated the giant canine.

“Oh no. Zeus is very gentle. He wouldn’t have hurt the cat.”

“I wish I could say the same for Sweetums.” Lorraine held her hand out for Zeus to sniff. His tail rose a few inches, and just the tip wagged. “You just ignore that mean old cat. Let’s get you in the kitchen and wash that scratch.”

Lorraine herded Zeus toward a doorway. She gave out orders with a glance over her shoulder. “Cam, get the vacuum. Bryce, haul that tree back to the basement. Derek, would you mind helping?”