Page 42 of Say Yes

His understanding, the gentle tone of his voice, brought on a fresh rush of tears. Sara felt her bottom lip begin to quiver and pulled it tightly between her teeth. Tripod sat back to watch the happenings from a distance, choosing to lean against Sara’s leg. But Satan observed the situation with a jaundiced eye, then walked over and regally placed himself over Gavin’s knee. The look he gave the dog was filled with possessive warning. Gavin chuckled, stroking the cat.

“Be nice now, Satan. You can see she’s scared. Make her welcome.”

Satan blinked, gave one of his rumbling, rusty purrs, and brushed against the dog. The dog’s head snapped back as if startled, but Satan was relentless. Within moments, Maggie was splotched with Satan’s yellow hair. But she didn’t seem to mind, especially since Gavin was still petting her. Tripod moved closer and sniffed the dog, then flopped down beside her. She looked ready to go to sleep.

Sara sniffled, so touched by the scene she could barely keep her tears in check. Gavin heard the small sound and turned to her. “Why don’t you go take your bath, honey? I’ll look after Maggie, get her settled down for the night. In the morning, she’ll feel better.”

That did it. Sara wailed, covering her face with her hands. Only a second later, she felt Gavin pull her close. “Shh. It’s all right now.”

“I…I…know.” She hiccuped, then made an effort to calm herself, but it was impossible. “I didn’t know what to do. When Jess called me at work to tell me about Maggie, I just had to go and see her for myself. She wouldn’t eat and she kept whimpering and she…well, she was so alone. So scared. You can’t imagine what that’s like, Gavin.”

“Shh. It’s all right now.”

“I just had to bring her home.”

“Of course you did. And now she’ll feel loved again and everything will be fine.”

After a loud, disgusting sniff, Sara wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. It was then she realized the kitchen smelled of cooked chicken. She looked around and saw a variety of pots and pans on the stove, and the table was set, complete with a lit candle. Or at least, it had been lit some time ago. The wick had long since burned down. Oh, no. Gavin had cooked dinner and she’d missed it. Again. He’d wasted another special meal on her.

“I’m so sorry.” She wiped her eyes again, trying to rid herself of the insistent tears. She put her hands on his chest and looked up at him. “You went to all this trouble, and I wasn’t even here in time to appreciate it.”

After a long, intense look, Gavin glanced over his shoulder to where Maggie was allowing Satan to curl into her side. The dog gave a single, loving lick to the cat, leaving Satan’s entire head damp and his fur ruffed in the wrong direction. Satan closed his eyes and rumbled a ragged purr. Tripod never stirred. Gavin turned back to Sara and kissed her. “I’d say you were doing something more important. And dinner isn’t wasted. We can eat the chicken cold. In fact, take your bath and I’ll set us up a picnic outside. The animals could use the night air.”

Suddenly she couldn’t breathe. Sara took a step back, appalled, frightened, amazed. It wasn’t a slow awareness, but a burst of realization that nearly brought her to her knees. She loved him. She didn’t want to, didn’t want to set herself up for another disappointment, another hurt. But he gave her no choice, damn him. How could she not love a man who’d put the needs of an animal above his own?

The words felt choked as she forced them through her throat. “Why are you doing this?”

Gavin knelt again by Maggie’s side and stroked along her back. This time the dog lifted her tail in a one-thump wag.

Gavin seemed to take an inordinate amount of time before answering. Finally he looked up, his expression blank of all emotion. “Did you really expect me to play the tyrant and demand you take the dog back? Only a real bastard would refuse to give that dog a little love. Ah, and you were late, too. Should I have thrown a tantrum because dinner was ruined? Would you have dealt better with that?”

Sara shook her head, even as she said, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know me. Yet you keep comparing me to Ted and your parents and every other person who ever let you down, and I don’t mind telling you, it makes me mad as hell.”

“I didn’t—”

“Yes, you did. Why would you think I’d feel any less compassion for that dog than you do?”

“Because…” Sara swallowed. She drew in a ragged breath and started again. “Because you don’t know what it means to be alone and scared and—” Her voice broke, but Gavin didn’t make a move toward her. He continued to stroke the dog, and occasionally Satan when the cat demanded it. But his gaze never left her face, and through her tears, Sara saw his understanding. It was humiliating, because she had a feeling he knew her better than she knew herself.

“I’m going to go take my bath now.”

Gavin nodded. “I’ll get our dinner together. And Sara? When we’re done eating, we’re going to talk.”

It sounded closer to a threat than a mere statement. Gavin watched her closely, as did Satan and Maggie. Even Tripod managed to stir herself enough to give a quick glance. Sara felt outnumbered, and after a huge sigh, she nodded agreement.

As if relieved by Sara’s decision, Maggie laid her head on Gavin’s thigh. The dog no longer looked so cautious or forlorn. And Satan seemed to be taking the addition of yet another pet in stride. That is, until he stood up and decided to mark Gavin as his own territory in the time-honored tradition of all male animals. Gavin jumped to his feet, but not in time.

Sara realized she no longer felt like crying. In fact, she had to hold her mouth to stifle her laughter. She had just turned to leave the kitchen when she heard Gavin mutter, “I’ll put ten bows on you, dammit! Do I look like a tree?”

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