Page 61 of Married With Lies

Sadie looks inside the box. I look with her. Two wriggling puppies are tearing up bits of newspaper while a very exhausted looking small brown dog raises her head. She might be some kind of a chihuahua mix. Her fur is dirty and her nose appears dry. She gazes at us with hopeless brown eyes.

“She’s too young,” Sadie says in a soft voice. “And look how malnourished she is. All of them clearly have fleas and need medical care. Please let me take her. I’ll pay double.”

“The answer is no. And I don’t care how many bleeding heart tears you cry. Now do you want the two runts or not?”

I’ve had enough of this asshole. I step up and meet his glare. “It’s James, right? Let me explain something to you, James. This is really simple. We’re taking all three dogs home with us right now.”

His beady eyes blink. “Never even seen you before. Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m the guy who will be back in an hour with three grand in cash if you shut your fucking mouth and give up the dogs. If not, I’ll be paying you a visit. And if it comes to that, I promise I’ll be a whole lot less polite than I’m being right now.”

James blinks again and shifts his weight. I sure wish I had some hardware at my side right now but if my instincts are correct then it won’t be necessary to flash any metal.

“But how do I know you’ll come back?” he whines.

Just as I thought. All bully and bluster with balls of sand.

“I’ll be back.” I bend down and carefully lift the box, making sure to support the bottom.

Sadie is already dashing back to the truck. “I can hold them on my lap if you do the driving.”

“Deal.” I wait for her to sit in the passenger seat and gently hand her the box. The mama dog lets out a small growl but I don’t take it personally. I’m sure she’s not used to being treated very well.

Once I’m behind the wheel, I take a look in the rearview mirror. James is sitting on the truck tailgate, staring stupidly in this direction as he waits for his three grand to show up.

“Did you mean it?” Sadie asks as I pull away. Her eyes are wide. “You’re really going to give him three thousand dollars?”

“I do keep my word, Sadie. Haven’t you learned that yet?”

Rather than answer, Sadie sticks her face into the box and croons some soothing words. Nobody else growls so I guess she’s considered to be more trustworthy than I am.

In a few minutes we’re within sight of the ranch. I’m totally unprepared when Sadie abruptly leans over and plants a kiss on my cheek.

“You’re my hero, Cale Connelly. Whether you want to be or not.”

This girl. She sure knows how to leave me speechless.

17

SADIE

Strange how the mind operates in sleep.

I’m dreaming of walking on a beach. The clouds over the ocean are turning dark colors and groans of thunder echo over the beach, which has suddenly emptied. But despite the looming storm I can’t leave because the cries of an animal in pain are coming from somewhere up ahead. The waves bang against the beach and flashes of lightning promise danger. The cries grow louder and when I try to run the sand tries to swallow my bare feet. Up ahead there’s an outline of a man and he looks like someone I know. But before I can call out for his help, all the light disappears and I’m alone in the dark.

Even before my eyes flip open I’m aware that pieces of the dream are true. There is thunder and lightning and the bedroom is even darker than it ought to be. A thunderstorm has knocked the power out.

In an instant I’m out of bed and shoving my boots on. A rainproof jacket is grabbed from the closet to throw on over my flannel pajamas and I nearly trip over a sleeping Zeus (or maybe it’s Apollo) as I hurtle out the door.

“Stay here, boys,” I tell them and run down the stairs, colliding with a muscled barricade at the bottom.

Big hands seize my arms and pull me upright before I fall flat on my face.

“Are you okay?” Cale says.

A spear of lightning shows the evidence that he sleeps in only a pair of boxer shorts.

This shouldn’t fascinate me right now.

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