Page 38 of Love Me Dangerous

“I’m glad you found her,” Linnie says, her tone heavy with grief. “I wish I could have been there to help.”

I’m grateful the attention isn’t stuck on me, but I don’t like that she feels left out. “It was intense, Linn. Even though we were helping her, she was really stressed.”

“Still. I’m good in a crisis. Dad even says so.”

I resist the urge to yank her into a hug and squeeze her. She’s so damn precious I can hardly stand it sometimes. “He’s right. There’s nobody else I’d want in a crisis but you.”

Her eyes are wide. “Nobody?”

The implications are clear. She likely means our dad, or Jesse, but my mind goes to Zach, and how calm and focused he was. All confidence and totally in control. Under normal circumstances, this is not a turn-on.

The rescue took minutes, yet I’ll be replaying them until the end of time.

“You’re my first pick,” I say as we approach the house. Fergie is lying in the middle of the yard, panting with her tongue lolling in the grass. Her eyes follow us as we enter the gate.

“Awe, you wore her out.” Linnie hurries over and dives into the grass. Fergie rewards her with sloppy kisses.

I don’t correct Linnie because she’ll just get sad that Jesse didn’t stay.

Linnie giggles. “You stink, Ferg.”

Inside, I fix Linnie a snack and put away what’s left of her lunch. There’s not much, which is a promising sign. But what’ll happen when Jesse leaves for L.A.?

That night, I don’t see Dad until late. He’s beat from a long day in the field but insists on tucking Linnie into bed. After, he joins me in the barn where I’ve put Cocoa in her stall. He brings in her dinner while I brush her. Her coat is stiff from Dad’s full day in the saddle and dusty from the drive down.

“There’s leftover chicken in the fridge,” I tell him while making long strokes down Cocoa’s hindquarters.

“Saw that. Thanks.” He checks Cocoa’s water, then gives her neck a gentle stroke. “Linnie have a good day?”

“Yeah. She got invited to a birthday party on Friday. I can take her.”

Dad nods in acknowledgment. “Linn says you rescued an owl today, huh?”

I pat Cocoa’s rump as I move behind her to the other side. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”

“It worked out okay.”

“I’m glad.” I can’t see him because of my position but he sounds… tired.

I gather my courage to discuss Jesse’s plans to leave, but before I can start, Dad says, “I found another elk carcass.”

“Poacher?”

“Looks that way.”

“That’s awful.”

“Yeah.”

I pause my brushing to let Cocoa yank a clump of alfalfa from her feeder, then move to her back. “Can you get help from one of the other districts?”

“I notified Brinnon. I also collected some forensics. Maybe the lab will find something.”

I peer around the back of Cocoa while brushing down her left side. “I got this. Go eat.”

He hesitates for a second, but he’s too tired to argue with me. “Thanks, Sofie.”

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