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Brooke stared at the papers until her eyes burned. Until the chaos inside her settled into something less smothering. She never moved, only inhaled. Exhaled. Then repeated. The world became less forbidding, more approachable.
A heavy knock on the front door startled Brooke. She straightened, rubbed her cheek and blinked. The first rays of the sun streamed across the kitchen counter like nature’s own alarm clock, announcing the arrival of a new day.
Another knock rattled through her. Brooke signaled Luna into a stay position with the shift of her hand. Then cracked open the front door.
A younger version of Rick in a paramedic’s uniform grinned at her. Except for the blond that softened his red hair, making it lighter than Rick’s deep auburn. His eyes would’ve been green if not for the intense copper swirls. His height and build would’ve been well suited for a football field but filled out his uniform perfectly.
“I saw the lights on.” He lifted several cloth shopping bags and his smile, then added, “Grocery delivery.”
Brooke wanted to close the door. His appealing half grin could disarm her if she was someone else. Someone who believed in fairy tales, storybook romance and that once-in-a-lifetime love could happen again. But she couldn’t shut the door. This was Dan, Rick’s son. And her stomach growled. “How much do I owe you?”
“I’m not interested in money.” He handed the bags to her.
But he wanted something. His head tipped to the side and he studied her. She set the bags near her feet and waited.
His arms remained loose at his sides, his smile easy and unforced. “My dad mentioned you have pets.”
“I have two cats.” Her family. The only support she needed. She signaled Luna to come to her. “And my dog, Luna.”
He held out his hand, let Luna sniff his fingers before he scratched her head. “I’m hoping you can take your dog to one of the greenways several blocks over rather than letting her use the backyard for her business.”
Brooke was confused and she was sure it showed on her face. There was a perfectly good patch of grass right on the property, why should she walk to a park? Especially when it would mean taking her farther into the city and circumstances she’d rather avoid. Dan cleared his throat. “It’s nothing against your dog.” Luna sagged against Dan’s legs as if she forgave him. He added, “I might’ve told my son I was allergic to pets.”
Clearly, he didn’t have allergies. Or he’d have stopped rubbing Luna’s back by now. There was something about Dan that soothed, even from a distance. Brooke shifted backward in the doorway. “But you’re not?”
His eyebrows pulled together into a charming V. “Not exactly.”
Everyone deflected to cover a truth they didn’t want to face, including handsome Dan. Even Brooke.
“It’s complicated with my son,” Dan admitted.
Things were often complicated. “Sure. I can walk Luna to the greenway.” She forced more confidence into her voice, concealing the waver inside. “That won’t be a problem.”
That satisfied Dan, if not Brooke. “The grocery store is less than a mile past the greenway. A pet store not much farther away. Let me know if you need directions around the city.” Luna stretched out near Dan’s feet and rolled onto her back as if she couldn’t get enough of his attention. As if the dog was undisturbed by his presence.
Brooke couldn’t claim the same. “We’ll be fine right here.” For the moment.
“The city is great for exploring, even if you only have a few days,” Dan said.
In another lifetime, she would’ve agreed. Brooke inhaled, using the cool morning air to shrink the curtness from her tone. “Thanks, but sightseeing is far down on my to-do list.” Somewhere below never.
“The botanical garden and the beach can be good places to clear your mind.” Dan’s gaze searched her face. “Take a break. Breathe.”
Or those were places that stole her breath away as she realized she couldn’t hear her husband’s laugh anymore. Or how his hand had once fitted so perfectly around hers. Brooke shifted her gaze from Dan and smoothed the tremor from her voice. “Speaking with insurance agents will probably be easier here. It’s quieter.”
“You aren’t thinking about going back up north, are you?” Dan asked, his voice quiet.
“Still working on those details.”
“Do you have family in the state?” Dan kept petting Luna as if he was more than content to linger.
But if he lingered, Brooke would only notice his gentleness with Luna. She would notice him even more. How was she supposed to ask him to leave his own backyard?
“I don’t have any family. I’m an only child.” Brooke cleared her throat and avoided meeting Dan’s watchful gaze. “My parents came into the parenting world rather late. But my mother always told me that I was her greatest journey.”
A simple no would’ve been more than enough. Why did she feel the sudden need to ramble on as if he was her kind of handsome and made her nervous? But she hadn’t considered anyone her kind of anything in a long while.
“That’s a gift, isn’t it?” Dan’s movements were easy, as if he’d always taken the time to stop by and visit with her. He added, “Having a mom that makes her children feel like the most special kids in the world. My mom was like that, too.”
Dan blinked as if he’d surprised himself. Brooke liked not feeling so alone. “How long has your mother been gone?”
“Four years this past summer,” Dan said. “We head to the lake every June to remember her.”
“That’s important.” Brooke pressed her lips together.
The memorial of her late husband’s death was in three and a half weeks. Her in-laws and their extended family would travel to the city to celebrate his memory. They’d invite Brooke to join them as they had every year since his death.
Brooke had never found the courage to face Ann and Don Ellis at her husband’s grave since they buried him. “Are you sure I can’t pay you for the food?”
“It’s on the house.” Dan stood up. “Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with.”
That one-sided smile returned, capturing Brooke’s focus, pulling it away from her worries. But she always relied on herself. She pushed determination into her voice. “I’ll be fine. Really.”
“I have errands to run.” Dan’s gaze searched her face as if he was searching for the right words. For something else to say. Maybe a promise that everything would be all right. Or an encouraging line his grandfather had always told him. An uplifting quote.
She’d seen that particular look too many times on her neighbors’ and coworkers’ faces after the accident. Dan was proof that people didn’t want to know you were hurting inside. So, she did what she always did. She reassured him. She reassured him that she could go it alone.
CHAPTER FOUR (#u317858f7-1d8d-5407-b1f1-3c4c43bd59f4)
THE NEXT MORNING, Dan backed his truck out of the driveway and gaped. A familiar red-haired man and a dog walked side by side two houses down. Dan pressed on the gas. His lips pressed into a grimace.
He pulled the truck over to the edge of the sidewalk and rolled down Ben’s window. “Dad? What are you doing?”
Dan knew exactly what the old man was doing. Dan always had the same routine on his day off. Always. Because knowing what to expect prevented unwelcome surprises and unnecessary hurt.
Today he’d drop off Ben at school, run errands and return phone calls, including Valerie’s. The last was only a onetime blip in what Dan determined would be a normal day. He narrowed his eyes at his dad.
Dog walking wasn’t normal for the Sawyer men. Dog walking wasn’t on the schedule. After all, Dan planned to avoid his new tenant and her four-legged family.
“Brooke doesn’t have a coat or hat. Refused to borrow mine so I took Luna instead.” Rick pointed at the German shepherd sitting next to him. Luna’s tongue rolled out the side of her mouth, giving her a lopsided, endearing grin. “Told Brooke to get some sleep. Poor girl looked wrung out.”
Dan had noticed Brooke’s red-rimmed eyes and pale skin yesterday. Not even that or her compact size could mask the strength Dan had sensed inside her. Something about Brooke compelled Dan to both take care of her and stand beside her. “I thought you were heading back up north again.”
“Figured a walk wouldn’t hurt.” Rick rolled his shoulders. “My old joints could use a stretch.”
“You don’t walk, Dad.” Now Ben would want to walk, too—perhaps even tonight. Soon Dan would be offering to pet sit or walk the dog himself. No doubt, Ava would be delighted to know he was getting more exercise. And he could use the exercise. Still, dog walking wasn’t exactly what Dan had in mind.
Besides, his tenant had promised Dan wouldn’t even know she or her pets were there. Now he was staring at her dog and thinking about her.
“Never too old to change things.” Rick reached into his pocket and pulled out a doughnut, his eyebrows lifting up and down. “Besides, I’ve got treats for Luna and me.”
“Dad.” Dan stretched the word into a warning. Doughnuts were not in his father’s restricted diet. Nor were pastries part of Dan’s diet, if he intended to prove Ava wrong and show her that he did, in fact, take care of himself. And prove he wasn’t going to be another statistic.
“The way I see it, the walk offsets the calories and sugar.” Rick zipped the pastry inside his pocket as if afraid Dan would demand he hand it over. “I’m sharing with Luna. Ben, don’t tell Brooke.”
“I can’t tell Brooke anything because Dad won’t even let me meet her.” Ben’s mulish tone deepened the scowl he aimed at Dan.
“I didn’t want to bother her last night. The lights weren’t even on in the apartment.” Although Dan had checked on Brooke. Saw the bedroom light on after he took out the trash. Saw it was still on after midnight when he’d walked out to his truck to get his phone charger.
Ben leaned out the window toward his grandfather. “Did you know Dad told Brooke that Luna can’t use the grass?”
The horror in Ben’s voice made it sound like Dan had ordered the dog to be chained inside its crate indefinitely.
“There’s nothing saying that your father can’t change his mind,” Rick said.
Not happening. Dan had come up with that rule after Brooke had failed to invite him into his own apartment. After he’d brought her groceries. Every single day strangers let Dan inside their houses. Granted, those strangers were usually in medical distress. But Brooke had been distressed, too. He’d seen that much in her tight grip on the door handle and heard it in her breathless voice. The woman needed help, even if she didn’t recognize it.
His response to being shut out of his own rental unit was childish, of course. But he stood by his new rule. And his plan to avoid her.
“Dad also claimed that Luna would scare me. But I’ve played with bigger dogs at Sophie’s doggy day care.” Ben rolled his eyes. “Grandpa, you have to make Dad change his mind.”
Dan wanted to change Brooke’s mind about him. He wanted Brooke to trust him.
“That’s the thing with Sawyer men.” Rick rubbed his chin. “Once we make up our minds, we get set in our ways.”
“But you started walking, Grandpa,” Ben argued.
“Okay. We’re going to be late.” Dan ended the conversation before his son and father teamed up and tried to outmaneuver him. He had to be sharp with this pair. His tenant had distracted him. That would need to stop. Brooke didn’t want his help. Fine. Dan wasn’t all that concerned if she trusted him or not. “Dad, keep it to one doughnut.”
Rick nodded. Yet his hand landed on his other pocket, giving him away.
Dan rolled up Ben’s window and glanced at his son. “If you reconsider your stance on not eating vegetables besides broccoli, then I’ll reconsider my grass rule.”
“Brussel sprouts aren’t worth a maybe, Dad.” Ben adjusted his seat belt. His voice lifted with curiosity. “But if you promise to let Luna in the backyard, I’ll try cauliflower.”
“A dog ruining the grass isn’t worth you only trying a new vegetable.” Dan slid a dose of encouragement into his tone. “If you promise to eat cauliflower every week for the rest of the school year, then we might have a deal.”
“Dad, you don’t even eat cauliflower every week.” Ben laughed.
Dan stopped in the drop-off lane at Ben’s school. “Does that mean we don’t have a deal?”
Ben opened the door, grabbed his backpack and shook his head. “Guess Grandpa was right. Us Sawyer men are just stuck in our ways.”
Ben hurried to catch up with his best friend, Wesley. The pair scooted to the side of the entrance and waited. A blond-haired girl with her walking stick extended joined them. Laughter ensued before the trio disappeared inside the school. Ben and Wesley met Ella every morning outside the school—the same place at the same time. One of the boys would be there to help Ella if she needed it throughout the day. That was their daily routine. Dan pulled away from the school, waving to the principal and several teachers in the car line. The same as every morning. Dan wasn’t stuck in his ways.
He just liked his routine. Every time he’d ever detoured, bad things happened. World-tilting, life-altering things. Things that curdled his stomach, crumpled his knees and damaged brotherly bonds.
One Saturday, he’d rearranged his work shift to join Valerie and three-year-old Ben for an impromptu visit to the redwood forest. Inside the national park, Dan had walked to the bathrooms. Valerie and Ben played hide-and-seek. He’d been gone five minutes and Valerie screamed Dan’s name. Ben had wandered into the forest. Valerie had lost their son. And Dan had lost years off his life. If he’d gone to work that day as scheduled, Ben and Valerie would’ve gone to their playdate as planned. And Dan wouldn’t know how to describe mind-numbing terror or full-body panic.
Sure, they’d found Ben pretty quickly. But the outcome could have been so much more tragic. Dan had a mental list of such events. Following a schedule kept life predictable like he preferred. Like he relied on to keep Ben safe. Why would he want to change things and risk disrupting the life he’d built? The life he liked.
One stop at the drugstore to replenish the Band-Aid stock for the school nurse, Dan ran through his schedule and pulled into his driveway. He had time to return those phone calls, take a nap, then finish his errands.
The dark-haired woman rushing toward him had him slamming the truck into Park. The blood staining her light blue sweatshirt had him jumping out of the truck. Brooke.
A quick assessment of Brooke from head to toe confirmed the source of the blood was the bundle she cradled. Dan moved toward her. “What happened?”
“It’s Archie.” She adjusted the towel around the cat and revealed a bandage saturated with blood on the animal’s stomach. “Can you help us?”
Blood matted Archie’s entire belly. Dan suddenly noticed the cat’s eye had been stitched closed and his left ear was missing completely. How was this cat going to survive the drive to the vet’s office? Dan clamped his teeth together to keep his negativity to himself.
Brooke covered the cat, the resolve in her voice strong. “Archie has survived worse than this.”
Perhaps. Still, Dan wondered how many lives Archie had left. He glanced at Brooke. Fear paled her skin, but a determination crackled in her deep brown eyes. What, beyond the wildfire, had Brooke survived? He pulled his keys from his pocket and hurried to open the passenger door. “I know where to go.”
“Is it close?” Concern rattled through her words, shifting her voice into a breathless wheeze. “Is the vet’s office near Bayview and State?”
“Less than six blocks away from that area.” Dan set his hand on her lower back to guide her into the truck. He added, “I know how to get around the city quickly and avoid people-congested areas like that one.”
Brooke dropped into the passenger seat, her gaze fixed on Archie. A tremor curled through her hands before she buried her fingers in the towel around the cat.
Dan reached for the extra towel he kept on the back seat. “It’s clean. My son, however, isn’t always clean and has a habit of spilling whatever he’s drinking.”
Brooke lifted Archie. The tremor returned. Somehow, she looked even more fragile and even more lost inside his truck.
Dan worked faster, spreading the towel across her lap. He opened his well-stocked first-aid kit and pressed a stack of extra large gauze pads onto Archie’s stomach. “Don’t let up on the pressure. Sophie’s place isn’t too far.”
Dan rushed around to the driver’s side and started the truck.
“Archie wouldn’t get into the crate with his cone on when the evacuation order came. I took it off.” Brooke adjusted Archie on her lap, drawing out a pathetic meow that matched the anguish in her voice. “We had to leave.”
She wouldn’t have left her pets behind—that much he knew. Only the rhythmic click of the turn signal disrupted the somber silence.
“I should’ve put the cone back on yesterday. I made him a recovery area. Figured he’d leave his stiches alone,” she added.
The misery in her voice settled on Dan’s shoulders. He accepted the weight, accelerated around a car and reminded himself Brooke needed him for transport, nothing else.
“Your dad brought Luna back after their walk.” Brooke’s words continued to spill out as if there was solace in the confession. “I jumped into the shower and came out to find Luna in the recovery area and blood all over. I’ll clean up the apartment.”
“Let’s get Archie help, then worry about that,” Dan said.
“I don’t know what we would’ve done without your dad bringing us here,” she said. “Or now you.”
The wisp of gratitude in her voice tangled in his gut, making his own breath catch. He wanted her out of his place as soon as possible, didn’t he? He reached over, touched Archie’s small head rather than holding Brooke’s hand to offer her reassurance.
And recalculated the fastest route to Sophie’s store and his misplaced feelings for his tenant.
He never considered he’d ever transport a seriously injured animal. But he was trained to help those in need. He’d rescued animals from the wildfires with his father over the years, but he’d only ever reunited those animals with their owners and walked away to continue fighting the fire. He looked over at Brooke.
