Page 99 of Out of the Cold

“There are no plants around here that are toxic to dogs, but there are household products and plants that can be dangerous for pets.” She listed a few websites with more information and suggested she do an inventory of the house. “You might want to keep her on a leash for a little while to make sure she doesn’t eat anything.”

“Yes, okay.”

“We’ll call again in the morning to let you know when she’s ready to go.”

She hung up and sagged against the cushions. Thank God. It was going to be lonely without Hilde tonight, but at least she was better. That was all that mattered.

Now she had to tell Gabriel. She ached to hear his voice, but it only led to more pain and confusion. Maybe she could text him. Would that be so bad?

In the end, she called. The truth was, she wanted to hear him, even if it took her hours to recover.

He answered on the first ring, his voice a gravelly rumble. “Lucy.”

Her body responded to his voice in her ear the way it always had. As he’d trained it to. Heat washed over her, followed by a longing so acute, for a moment she couldn’t speak.

“Lucy? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, sorry. Hilde’s fine. I can pick her up in the morning.”

“That’s a relief.”

“You can say that again. She gave me a real scare.” She played with the fringe on the throw blanket. “I’m going to have to keep her on leash for a few days, even going to the bathroom, which will really cramp her style.”

“Just remind her of the mess she made.”

She smiled into the phone before she caught herself. What was she doing? Intimate conversations with him were a thing of the past.

“I’d better go,” she said.

“Thanks for letting me know.”

She hung up without another word, because the tears were coming now, and she couldn’t hide it another second.

She’d needed his help, and his presence had calmed her, but being so close to him had wiped out the distance she’d managed to create in her mind these last few weeks. Instead of being numb and unapproachable like the last time she saw him, he’d been kind and attentive. She sensed the same yearning in him she felt herself.

Part of her wondered if she should stay longer, give it more time.

But nothing had changed, and she needed to take care of herself. It felt good to know that she could.

She lay in bed a short time later, thinking about her book. She couldn’t change her and Gabriel’s story, but at least she could create the ending she wanted for her characters. She’d let Maggie and Mick have their happily ever after. Why shouldn’t they get everything they wanted? As sad as she was, she felt less defeated than when she’d arrived, and she believed in happy endings.

A few days later, with Hilde snoring in her bed by the fire, she finished the final chapter.

Mick paced in front of Maggie, agitated, his cap in his hands.

“I fall asleep every night thinking of you. I wake from dreams of holding you in my arms. You’re all that fills my head, Maggie. All I want.”

“You don’t mean those things. It’s only that I say no when all the other girls chase you and flirt.”

“Maybe you don’t flirt, but you tell me you like me just the same.”

“And what do you mean by that?”

He took her by the shoulders and leaned in, his voice dropping until he was whispering in her ear. “Oh, you want me, Maggie. I see how you look at me when you think I’m not watching. You blush every time I glance at you, and your body goes soft when I put a hand on your arm.”

“I...you...”

Then he kissed her, his mouth warm and sure on hers, his hands cupping her face. She gasped, her senses rushing to keep up with what was happening. Her mind, ever on her side, went blank under the flood of new feelings.

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