Page 58 of When We Dare

“Did you come out here to get Biscuit?” I asked.

The sound of Stella’s teeth chattering when she nodded twisted my heart painfully.

It felt like forever later, but it was maybe two minutes before we walked through the front door. When we stopped inside the entryway, Stella looked up at me.

My brain felt filled with static. Emotion rose like a wave cresting inside and my throat felt thick. I forced myself to focus. “We need to get you warm. Shower,” I stated.

We needed to get her out of her sopping-wet clothes. I stripped her down swiftly, leaving everything in a pile in the entryway. Biscuit had followed us inside and scampered into the kitchen with Butter. I hustled Stella upstairs into her apartment and to the bathroom. She didn’t hesitate and let out a deep sigh when she stepped into the warm shower.

“I’m warm,” she said through the water a few moments later.

“You’re staying in for a few minutes,” I insisted.

There was nothing sexual about it in this moment, but I needed to be close to her. I stripped out of my own clothes and stepped into the shower behind her, curling my arms around her and simply holding her.

A little while later, Stella was dressed in a fluffy pair of fleece pants, fuzzy socks, and an oversized fleece top. I’d ordered pizza to be delivered. Stella’s hands were curled around a mug ofsteaming hot tea. She was sitting on the couch, watching as I carried plates over to the coffee table in front of her. The cats were flanking her. I didn’t know how to read a cat’s mind, but I was pretty sure Biscuit realized that she might’ve been responsible for the chain of events that led to Stella falling through the ice. She wouldn’t leave Stella’s side.

When the doorbell rang, I snagged my wallet off the counter and walked quickly out to the entryway. When I swung the door open, Casey from the café was there.

“Hey, Casey,” I said. “Aside from Firehouse Café and Wildlands, you also work for Alpenglow Pizza now?”

She grinned. “I switched from Wildlands to this. I don’t like those late hours. Just so you know, there is so much pepperoni on this pizza I almost stole it from you,” she teased.

I chuckled, handing her a generous tip. “I don’t believe there’s such a thing as too much pepperoni.”

“There isn’t. Tell Stella I said hi,” she said in a singsong voice as she jogged off the porch to her car.

When I walked back up to the living room, Stella asked, “Who was that?”

“Casey from Firehouse Café. I guess she started doing pizza delivery instead of working at Wildlands. She said hi.”

Stella smiled as she set her mug on the coffee table. “I like Casey. I hope she stays in Willow Brook.”

I put the pizza on the coffee table, walking back down to the kitchen to grab some napkins. “Silverware?” I yelled up.

“Nope. People who use silverware for pizza are savages.”

I chuckled as I sat down beside her and handed her a napkin. She was already sliding a piece of pizza onto a plate. She closed her eyes and let out a moan as she took a bite.

It was mid-afternoon and only an hour or so had passed since I’d gotten home to find Stella in the lake. I’d lost sense of time. For the first time since, my body could focus on somethingother than sheer fear and making sure Stella was safe. When she moaned, I heard that sound in every cell.

After we ate, Stella leaned back against the cushions with a satisfied sigh. “I don’t think I’m going to let Biscuit out on the porch ever again.”

I eyed Biscuit. “I’m questioning if we should keep her,” I offered dryly.

Stella’s eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open in mock outrage. “You’d better be joking.”

“Obviously. Butter would be devastated without her. So, what happened?”

Stella idly stroked Biscuit. “I let them out on the porch. They’ve always been fine out there. Butter started meowing, and when I got up to let him in, Biscuit wasn’t there. I looked over the railing and she was already walking out on the lake.”

I glanced at Biscuit who was purring away at Stella’s side. My mind kept replaying the picture of Stella in the icy water. I had to forcefully kick the memory away. She was safe now.

On the heels of a breath, I cleared my throat. “Okay, no more porch.”

“Or, we put up some kind of barrier that keeps them from jumping or climbing down,” she said.

“I’ll think on it and see if we can come up with something.”

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