inside to draw a hot bath laced with her favorite lavender-and-lily bath oil.
As she sank into the fragrant water, she leaned back and closed her eyes, feeling her cold muscles relax in the delicious heat until she felt as boneless as a rag doll.
What a lovely day. What a perfectly lovely day…
Drifting and dreaming, she floated on powdery snow in a sunlit field…then a discordant note jarred her thoughts. Something was whining. Clawing at a door. Charlie?
Startled, she jerked awake and shivered in the now cool bathwater. She grabbed the watch she’d laid at the edge of the tub. Seven? It couldn’t be seven.
Launching herself out of the tub, she quickly dried off and hunted through her closet, then settled on a pair of black slacks and a bulky-knit crimson sweaterbefore going to the back door. Sure enough, Charlie was sorrowfully staring through the glass, his paws planted halfway up the door.
“I am so, so sorry,” she said as she let him inside and relocked the dead bolt.
Instead of giving her his usual, exuberant welcome, or going to his dog bowls to demand food and water, he hung his head and went back inside his kennel, where he plopped down with his head facing out and resting it on his paws.
“Are you sulking?”
He didn’t stir.
“I suppose you would’ve liked sledding today.”
His tail thumped once against the side of the kennel.
“And…I suppose you think I forgot you outside. Which I did.”
Again, a single, halfhearted thump.
“Maybe you could come with me tonight. Max would like that, and you’ve been alone a lot today. I just need to get my camera and laptop, and we can pick up a few groceries in the store. Okay?”
She went into the bedroom and crouched to reach under the bed, then rocked back on her heels. Where was it? Swiveling, she glanced around the room. It was always under the bed, out of sight, unless she was using it here or at the shop. Always.
After a thorough search of every possible place, she picked up her camera, whistled to Charlie andwent to the store. There she hunted through the store with him close at her heels, while grabbing the ingredients for supper along the way.
The laptop wasn’t in the store, either.
She stared at her reflection in the front windows of the store, suddenly uneasy. She couldn’t see out, but anyone could see in, as clearly as if she was on TV. What if someone was out there watching her every move?
She’d had that odd feeling when pulling her jacket from the closet. A sense that things weren’t exactly right. The same sensation in the bedroom. Yet nothing had appeared to be missing until now. If someone had broken in to rob the place, why hadn’t he snagged her jewelry box?
Her grandmother’s pearls were inside. A considerable collection of Black Hills Gold she’d bought one piece at a time. The box, less than a foot long, would have been easy to carry, or its contents dumped into a pillowcase. And yet nothing inside was missing.
Which left the laptop as a specific target. But it was several years old and hardly a gem in today’s rapidly changing technology market.
So who would want it…and why?
“I hope you don’t mind Charlie coming along,” Erin said as Jack ushered her into his kitchen. “He’s been alone all day, and he seems depressed.”
Jack reached down to ruffle the fur behind the dog’s ears. “No problem. Max loves him.”
“Lie down, Charlie.” She watched the pup obediently go to the corner by the kitchen table and plop down, then look around. “It’s so quiet here. Where’s Max?”
“Still sleeping, but last time I looked he was starting to stir.” He unpacked the grocery sack while she slipped out of her jacket.
“Sorry I’m late.” She blew at her bangs. “I fell asleep in the bathtub, had to take Charlie outside, needed to pick these groceries and—unfortunately—spent a lot of time searching for my laptop.”
“Where’d you find it?”
“I didn’t. I usually stow it in
As she sank into the fragrant water, she leaned back and closed her eyes, feeling her cold muscles relax in the delicious heat until she felt as boneless as a rag doll.
What a lovely day. What a perfectly lovely day…
Drifting and dreaming, she floated on powdery snow in a sunlit field…then a discordant note jarred her thoughts. Something was whining. Clawing at a door. Charlie?
Startled, she jerked awake and shivered in the now cool bathwater. She grabbed the watch she’d laid at the edge of the tub. Seven? It couldn’t be seven.
Launching herself out of the tub, she quickly dried off and hunted through her closet, then settled on a pair of black slacks and a bulky-knit crimson sweaterbefore going to the back door. Sure enough, Charlie was sorrowfully staring through the glass, his paws planted halfway up the door.
“I am so, so sorry,” she said as she let him inside and relocked the dead bolt.
Instead of giving her his usual, exuberant welcome, or going to his dog bowls to demand food and water, he hung his head and went back inside his kennel, where he plopped down with his head facing out and resting it on his paws.
“Are you sulking?”
He didn’t stir.
“I suppose you would’ve liked sledding today.”
His tail thumped once against the side of the kennel.
“And…I suppose you think I forgot you outside. Which I did.”
Again, a single, halfhearted thump.
“Maybe you could come with me tonight. Max would like that, and you’ve been alone a lot today. I just need to get my camera and laptop, and we can pick up a few groceries in the store. Okay?”
She went into the bedroom and crouched to reach under the bed, then rocked back on her heels. Where was it? Swiveling, she glanced around the room. It was always under the bed, out of sight, unless she was using it here or at the shop. Always.
After a thorough search of every possible place, she picked up her camera, whistled to Charlie andwent to the store. There she hunted through the store with him close at her heels, while grabbing the ingredients for supper along the way.
The laptop wasn’t in the store, either.
She stared at her reflection in the front windows of the store, suddenly uneasy. She couldn’t see out, but anyone could see in, as clearly as if she was on TV. What if someone was out there watching her every move?
She’d had that odd feeling when pulling her jacket from the closet. A sense that things weren’t exactly right. The same sensation in the bedroom. Yet nothing had appeared to be missing until now. If someone had broken in to rob the place, why hadn’t he snagged her jewelry box?
Her grandmother’s pearls were inside. A considerable collection of Black Hills Gold she’d bought one piece at a time. The box, less than a foot long, would have been easy to carry, or its contents dumped into a pillowcase. And yet nothing inside was missing.
Which left the laptop as a specific target. But it was several years old and hardly a gem in today’s rapidly changing technology market.
So who would want it…and why?
“I hope you don’t mind Charlie coming along,” Erin said as Jack ushered her into his kitchen. “He’s been alone all day, and he seems depressed.”
Jack reached down to ruffle the fur behind the dog’s ears. “No problem. Max loves him.”
“Lie down, Charlie.” She watched the pup obediently go to the corner by the kitchen table and plop down, then look around. “It’s so quiet here. Where’s Max?”
“Still sleeping, but last time I looked he was starting to stir.” He unpacked the grocery sack while she slipped out of her jacket.
“Sorry I’m late.” She blew at her bangs. “I fell asleep in the bathtub, had to take Charlie outside, needed to pick these groceries and—unfortunately—spent a lot of time searching for my laptop.”
“Where’d you find it?”
“I didn’t. I usually stow it in
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