I turned on them. “I swear to Christ…”
They laughed, well, all of them but Tango, and I focused back on Rowan. “Please go back upstairs so I can finish this, okay?”
She wrinkled her nose and let out a deep sigh. “Did you let Lord off the leash so he can pee?”
“Not yet.”
She took the lead from me, unhooked it, and gave Lord the order to go. The dog ran into the woods, and she bit her lip and glanced up at me.
I slid my hand to her neck. “Once he’s back, you take him up and stay there, got it?”
She nodded but narrowed her eyes and I could tell she wasn’t happy.
“You can yell at me later.”
“Oh, I don’t yell,” she said. “I never yell.”
Rocky let out a strangled laugh, turning away quickly, and I raised an eyebrow at Rowan. “You don’t say?”
“Nope.” She patted my chest, just over my name patch. “But you’ll know my displeasure all the same.”
“Jesus,” I hissed.
Lord came trotting out from behind the trees, and Rowan guided him back inside… she was still wearing my jacket.
Rowan
Itook Lordback up to my loft and he headed straight to his food bowl. I hugged myself, feeling safe and warm in Scooby’s jacket, even though it was ten sizes too big.
What the heck was I getting myself into with this man?
I was not this person. I never let my heart lead my head but with this man… lordy, this man… I just couldn’t seem to stop myself.
I was a rule follower by nature, and I’d always done everything I was supposed to do. I was a natural born scaredy cat, never engaging in risky behavior. I’d been raised by my grandmother after my parents had died within five years of each other. Dad died in a car crash when I was six, and my mom from cancer when I was eleven. My grandmother had just died a few years ago, which is probably what had spurred my move from registered nurse to diner owner.
Clarence Morter had been my last patient, and to put it bluntly, I’d kind of fallen in love with the old man. Not the romantic kind of love, but the kind of love my heart has always felt for the elderly. You get me anywhere near an old person, and I was unable to resist spending time with them. I wanted to know everything about them, and hear all their stories, even the ones they’d told a million times before. I adored them.
To be honest, Scooby was the first person my own age I’d felt any kind of connection with. My therapist had tried to give me ‘stretch’ assignments to put myself out there and make friends, but it always seemed to bite me in the butt. Girls were mean, and women even meaner. But the oldies? They had a wisdom that only came with time and tended to see the whole picture of life, and said it like it was, like it or lump it. I never had to read between anyone’s lines.
Lord let out a warning growl and stalked to my front door, so I made my way to it, peering through the peephole to see Scooby walking up the stairs. I pulled open the door and he frowned. “Did I say it was safe to open the door?” he growled.
“Did you forget the conversation we just had in the parking lot?”
He stopped climbing the stairs, dropping his head for a few seconds, and taking a deep breath. “I said I was sorry before, and I meant it, but you need to know, I’m not growling at you to be a dick, I’m being short because I want you to be safe. Ineedyou to be safe.”
I bit my lip, my heart warring with my head.
“You gonna let me in?” he asked.
I stepped back and he walked inside, closing, and locking the door behind him.
“Where are your friends?” I asked.
“A couple of them are outside on watch, the other two are back at the cabin.”
“And where are the two men they beat up?”
“Okay, I think we need to set some ground rules,” he said, crossing his arms. “Because if you have a problem with what happened out there tonight, this isn’t gonna work.”