Page 18 of Sanctuary

“No, not really.” She didn’t want to cause friction between the two of them, and all Toni had told her was that Lori was a lesbian. Some people were protective of that kind of information and didn’t want to be outed without their express permission. Looking the way Gabe did, it had never really been a consideration for her.

“I’m not usually one for sharing my private life with a virtual stranger. But I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, so I’ll give you some idea of what’s going on with me right now.” Lori tucked her hands under her armpits and led them around the field toward a small valley.

Gabe stayed silent and simply nodded. Her mouth had already gotten her into trouble, and she wasn’t about to make the situation worse by adding anything else. If Lori had simply walked away, that might’ve been a better resolution. She looked down at Max and noticed his ears had gone down. So he was feeling the tension too, Gabe thought. She gave him a cuddle to reassure him everything was okay.

“I got divorced last year.” Lori made the sentence sound like she’d committed murder.

“I don’t need to hear any more. You’re not ready to get back in the field, and that makes perfect sense,” Gabe said.

Lori glanced at her and smiled, relief clear in her expression. “I appreciate that, thank you. But I still need to apologize for giving you signals that I shouldn’t have.” She tugged at her ponytail again then shoved her hands in her pockets.

Gabe relaxed a little, glad that her interpretation of Lori’s behavior hadn’t been completely wrong.

“I don’t get away from the Sanctuary much, so I don’t see many people other than my team and the vet if something’s wrong. When you showed up last week, looking…” Lori pulled her hand from her pocket and waved it in Gabe’s direction, “like that, I was knocked off my feet.”

Gabe clenched her jaw tight to stop herself from grinning widely. Good to know that she could still attract a beautiful woman outside the service.

“My reaction caught me by surprise,” Lori said, “and I couldn’t seem to stop myself from flirting with you.” She sighed deeply. “So you see, you’re not to blame at all.”

Gabe tilted her head slightly and smirked. “Well, I am to blame a little bit.”

Lori frowned. “How so?”

Gabe ran her fingers through her hair. “Because I’m irresistible.”

The invisible tension dissipated as they both laughed.

“Irresistible but not at all humble,” Lori said.

“I guess not.” Gabe noticed Max was panting hard, so she stopped for a moment under the shade of a silver maple tree. She unclipped the water bottle from her backpack and poured some into a collapsible bowl. Max sniffed at it but didn’t drink.

Lori got to her knees and looked into Max’s eyes. “He might be stressed rather than thirsty. We should probably head back.”

“Why would he be stressed?” Gabe dropped down beside him and rubbed the back of his neck the way he used to like it.

“He hasn’t been this far from his kennel base since he got here. We’ve been walking him a lot but always keep him relatively close to his new home. It’s all about showing him he’s in a stable environment, so he can relax.” She looked at Gabe and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I thought he might be ready to go a little farther away with you by his side.”

“Okay.” Weight settled in Gabe’s stomach as she looked at Max, with his ears fully down now and the whites of his eyes showing. In the back of her mind, the horror movie of the insider attack played without her permission, and she tried to blink away the images. She’d been injured in the same blast as Max and while she’d suffered no lasting effects, the fact that Max had tore Gabe apart. When she’d signed up for the Army, she’d known the risks, but her canine buddy didn’t. He’d been bred especially for the job, and he’d had no choice.

“Are you okay?”

Gabe refocused, slowly becoming aware of Lori’s soft touch on her forearm. “Yeah. I’m fine.” She emptied Max’s bowl and tucked it back in her pack before she stood.

“Bad memories?” Lori got to her feet and patted Max’s head.

“We all have them,” Gabe said. The way Lori took a step back made her regret her tone immediately.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed.”

Gabe smiled, appreciating Lori’s emotional awareness. “We’re apologizing to each other an awful lot today.”

Lori’s returning smile was stunning, and Gabe wondered what kind of an idiot let a woman like her get away. She didn’t know the full story, but it was clear that Lori was on the receiving end of the hurting.

“I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing,” Lori said.

Max jumped up and tugged on his leash in the direction of his kennel building.

“I think it’s a good thing.” Gabe followed Max’s lead and didn’t pull him back. “You wouldn’t want to get to know someone better if they didn’t give a damn about your feelings, would you?”

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