Renegade Father by RaeAnne Thayne

buzz. I’ll stop by first thing in the morning to see how she is.”
    â€œDo you think I should call the police?”
    Graham snapped his bag shut. “Might not hurt to give Sheriff Douglas a heads-up. But I’ll warn you now, nonfatal dog poisonings probably won’t be a real big priority with him. Especially when we don’t have any proof a crime actually occurred.”
    Joe showed Graham out of the family room. “So what’s the prognosis?” he asked quietly once they were out of Annie’s hearing. “Do you really think she’ll make it, or were you just saying that for her benefit?”
    â€œI think she’ll be okay. It’s lucky you found her when you did before she went into full-fledged seizures. I’ll keep her snookered for a couple days until the toxin works its way out of her system but I don’t anticipate any lasting effects.”
    â€œAnd you’re sure it’s slug bait?”
    Graham nodded regretfully. “I wish I could say it was something else, something that just imitates all the symptoms. Maybe I’ll find something else when I run the tests, but I doubt it. I hate the idea that somebody might have done this to her on purpose.”
    He shrugged into his coat. “Of course, there’s alwaysa possibility she found a stash somewhere on one of the neighbors’ places, but I really doubt it. Like I said, it’s pretty rare around here.”
    After Joe said goodbye to the vet, he returned to the family room to find Annie in the same position, hovering protectively over the sedated animal. She looked up when he came into the room and he frowned when he saw how pale and frightened she looked.
    Still, she forced a smile. “I really appreciate all the help you’ve given me.” Her voice had clear dismissal in it. “I think I have everything under control now so you can go on back to the cottage and get some sleep.”
    He crossed his arms across his chest. “Save it, Annie. I’m not going anywhere.”
    â€œYou need some rest.”
    â€œAnd you don’t?”
    That soft cupid’s bow of a mouth tightened. “Go home, Joe.”
    â€œI’m staying. We can take turns. One of us can watch over her while the other one sleeps.”
    â€œYou don’t have to do that. I can take care of her.”
    He started to argue, then he saw the defeated exhaustion in the droop of her shoulders and the fine lines bracketing her mouth, and he decided to take another route.
    â€œI want to help,” he answered. “If you won’t accept it for yourself, at least take it for Dolly. You’re not going to do her any good if you’re completely worn out.”
    â€œYou’ve done enough. You already gave up your whole evening to help me and I want you to know I sincerely appreciate it. But I can’t keep turning to you every time something goes wrong in my life.”
    He would give anything he had to fix things so nothing else ever went wrong in her life. Since he didn’t have that kind of power—and she wouldn’t have let him use it, even if he had—he focused on what he could do.
    â€œNot every time,” he agreed quietly. “Just tonight.”
    She opened her mouth, probably gearing up for more arguments, but whatever she planned to say was lost amid a giant yawn she tried unsuccessfully to hide.
    Joe pressed his point. “You’re exhausted and even though you might want to, you just can’t stay up all night with her. It wouldn’t be good for either one of you. Besides, Dolly’s completely out of it. She won’t be waking up any time soon and she won’t even know either one of us is here.”
    He pointed toward the couch. “I’ll take the first watch. Why don’t you stretch out and try to get some rest?”
    â€œI couldn’t possibly sleep.”
    â€œTry. For me.”
    She sent him a sidelong look and he