Page 49 of The Leaving Road

Before I could protest, I saw Sloan crouch next to him and murmured softly to the dog, “Hey, sweet baby, it’s okay. We just want to help.”

She stopped baring her teeth to listen to the sound of his deep voice, though her ears were still plastered down, showing her unease.

“Can we just get a look at you, sweet girl? I promise we won’t hurt you.” Much to my surprise, the snarling didn’t continue and she tilted her head at the hand Sloan had extended toward her. Ben shot a sideways glance to him in warning, but if Sloan saw it, he ignored it.

He slid forward on his knees to get a little bit closer. “It’s okay. Can I pet you, lovely?” His soft voice had my tense body turning to mush.

I was pretty wrapped up in watching Sloan on his knees—on his knees—trying to get close to a suffering animal to help it, and I found myselfcaving, ever so slightly.

A bump to my hip alerted me to Louise’s presence next to me with her eyebrows almost in her hairline, giving me one of those “you’ve been caught with your hand in the cookie jar,” looks. I found myself blushing from head to toe, and stillunableto fully look away from the scene in front of me.

The momma dog had lowered her head and was allowing Sloan closer access. The grin that took over his face caused my heart to stop, and when the dog licked his hand and offered him a small tail wag in return, it started again.

“She’s coming home with me.” He didn’t bother looking at any of us when he made his declaration.

“She’s still nursing the pups….” Ben said in a soothing voice, trying to help convey what an undertaking it would be.

“Okay, let me clarify, sheandthe puppies are coming home with me.”

He turned to look at us with fire in his eyes, as if daring any of us to interject—and it had me grinning from ear to ear.

“If she lets us look at her, and she and the puppies are healthy enough to go to your home temporarily until we can adopt them out, then that’s fine with me,” Doc said, trying to diffuse any possible tension, but I couldn’t miss the way Sloan’s face had soured at the wordstemporarilyandadopt.

He nodded in agreement, but I could see something behind his eyes.

“Since she’s letting you pet her, Sloan, why don’t you stay here and help Ben while Magnolia and I get started on the others.”

He nodded, not taking his eyes off his task, so I followed Doc to get started on the evaluation and treatment of the other dogs. Every few minutes or so, I found myself seeking out Sloan. Once he and Ben had successfully examined the momma dog and her puppies, they moved on to others.

I shouldn’t have been shocked that Sloan was here helping, but I was. I had heard his phone ring a few times in his back pocket, and after a quick text to whoever, he’d lay it down on the other side. His attention was fully back on doing whatever he could to help, andme.Our eyes kept meeting throughout the day, and each time I found myself blushing, dropping some sort of product, only to be scolded by Louise, or so caught up in the looks he was giving me I was surprised I wasn’t drooling.

“Boo.” His voice sounded from behind me and tickled my ear. I had to actively stop myself from melting into him, and instead turned to face him.

“Thanks for all your help today…” I looked around the clinic. “I don’t think we could have done it without you.”

Well, we could have, it just would have taken us significantly longer.

“Hey, guys, can I get you all over here for a second for a quick update before you all leave for the night?”

Sloan gave me a half shrug as if he was unsure if he should be present for that. I grabbed his hand and led him to where Dr. Lewis was standing, tugging him along behind me, making the decision for us.

“First off, I want to thank you all for coming in today to help out.” He looked over at Sloan and me, clearly signaling to us out. “I was informed by the DNR and sheriff that they think there is some kind of smuggling/animal fighting arena still being held, and they are just moving locations. They told me they have a few suspects in mind, and they should hopefully be making an arrest in the next week or two. However…”

“However, what?” Sloan asked with an edge to his tone.

“However,they told me we need to proceed withextracaution. A decent number of guns they found, all stolen, were found at this latest house. I don’t want anyone going on a farm call or emergency call alone, and you willalwaysbring your registered weapon with you. There will be timely check-ins required, and if need be, we won’t be makinganycalls outside the clinic unless law enforcement is present. Do I make myself clear?”

I found it hard to find Doc an intimidating figure, but his words sent a chill through me. This was shaping up to be significantly more dangerous than I had anticipated. But I also knew I would never stop trying to help the animals, so I was more than okay with the rules he was setting up to execute.

I felt Sloan’s body tense behind mine, and since I had yet to let go of his hand, I gave it a squeeze before letting it go and turning to him, clocking the fear and possessiveness he tried to hide from me.

I arched my brow at him. “This is going to make the stalking worse, isn’t it?”

“You have no idea, baby… No idea.”

And I don’t think I mind one bit.

Chapter 32

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