Page 10 of Rescued By the Rebel

“I know. It looks a lot worse in the daylight, but it’s not that bad. Everyone survived. It’s just things, and we can rebuild.”

She nods, sniffling as she dries her eyes and composes herself.

“I talked to the insurance company, but they need to wait for the investigation to be finished. I can’t wait that long to be reimbursed and start rebuilding though. I’ll have to call and get some quotes on rebuilding today. If we start soon, then maybe the cats and I can be out of your place by the end of the month.”

“There’s no rush,” I hurry to tell her, and she smiles faintly.

“I should get to work,” she says, and I nod.

“Why don’t you let me handle the rebuilding? I’ll make a few calls today and let you know what they say. I’m sure you have enough on your plate here.”

“Um, are you sure?” She asks, and I nod.

“Yeah, let me help you, Red.”

She blushes at my words, and I would pay anything to know what she’s thinking right now.

“Okay. Thanks,” she says almost shyly.

“I’ll see you at home. I’ll make dinner and we can discuss all of this.”

She nods, and I watch her turn and head towards the barn to get to work. I wait until she’s out of sight before I turn and head back to my bike.

I drive to the clubhouse and head into my office in the back. I know all the contractors in town, and I call the two I trust most to get quotes and ideas on when they can start.

I spend the rest of the day asking around about any suspicious-looking guys that people have seen in town more than once. So far, I have a list of ten sightings of a dark-haired guy with shifty eyes and a medium build who was seen lurking around a few places in town. Unfortunately, that’s all I have. No one has a name or any idea where he could be staying.

My stomach growls, and I glance at the clock, surprised to see it’s already after five. Winnie will be heading home soon, and I hurry to clean up my office and head over to the sanctuary. Winnie’s car is already gone, and I curse and race home.

I let out a sigh of relief when I see her car in the driveway, and I park next to it and head inside.

“Hey,” Winnie greets me.

I blink, taking in all of the grocery bags.

“There wasn’t much here so I bought a few things,” she explains.

“You didn’t have to do that. I meant to go to the store today but got sidetracked.”

She shrugs and goes back to taking all the groceries out of the bags.

“I’ll get started on dinner. What are you hungry for?”

“I got some fresh garlic bread. I thought maybe some spaghetti?”

“Sure.”

We work in tandem, with me getting dinner started and her putting all of the groceries away. It feels nice, intimate, and domestic in a way I’ve never experienced before.

I love it.

I want this to be my life every day. Now I just need to convince Winnie that she should want it too.

“I’m going to go check on the cats,” she says, and I nod.

I feel a little guilty that I haven’t really been helping with the cats. I went and got litter boxes and some supplies, but she’s been doing all the heavy lifting.

“Dinner is done,” I say a few minutes later when she comes back into the kitchen, and we take our seats at the counter just like last night.

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