Page 45 of I Am Salvation

One look into his big brown eyes, though, and I know I’m going to take care of him.

“We’ll get you some food, and a collar and leash. And of course you’ll have to go to the vet and get your shots. I live downtown in a penthouse. It’s not the best place for you. Dragon will have to walk you several times a day.” Then I laugh out loud. “Or I can, since I no longer have a job.”

Teddy’s ears perk up when Dragon opens the car door and gets back into the driver’s seat.

“How did it go?” I ask.

“She’s a mess.”

I lay a hand on his arm. “We can help her, Dragon.”

“I don’t want to help her.” He stares at the steering wheel. “She wasn’t there when I needed her. So fuck her.”

“What about your dad?”

“Heart attack a couple of months ago. He’s dead.” His voice is monotonal and noncommittal.

Should I tell him I’m sorry for his loss? Except it’s not a loss, really.

“How’d she end up here?”

“Didn’t ask. Don’t care.”

“Didn’t she work when you were a kid?”

“No. I mean, she sold cosmetics.” He squeezes his eyes shut and rubs at his forehead. “This is all like over twenty years ago, Diana.”

“What did your dad do?”

“He was a plumber.”

“Plumbers make good money. You lived in a house, right?”

“Yeah. A small one, but it was a house with a yard.”

“Then how?—”

“Like I said. Didn’t ask. Don’t care.”

I draw in a breath. “All right. The good news is that our hotel takes dogs, so Teddy here won’t be a problem. But he needs a bath really badly. And he needs some food. And water.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what I was thinking, taking him.”

“You did the right thing. I can’t watch any animal suffer.” I do a quick search on my phone. “There’s a Target on the outskirts of town,” I say. “We can get him some food and a leash and collar. Once we get home to Denver, he’ll have to go to the vet.”

He raises his eyebrows. “You mean you’re going to let him stay? In the penthouse?”

I let out a short laugh. “What did you think I was going to do? Make you both leave?”

He shrugs.

I frown. “You really don’t know me at all, do you?”

“No, I don’t,” he grumbles. “And you don’t know me either.”

“I think we know each other pretty well in one way,” I can’t help saying.

Dragon screeches the car to a stop on a side street before we’re even out of the trailer park. He turns to me, his eyes filled with fire. “Did you see that woman? That’s what I come from, Diana. I don’t come from ranches and riches. I come from that tired old lady living in that dilapidated mess. That’s who I am. That’s who I will always be.”

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