him.
“Eli. Give me a memory, any memory, that made you angry.”
“What I just told you. Sitting in traffic, waiting to see my best friend. Hoping he wasn’t going to die while I was stuck there with a bunch of assholes going to work or lunch or having fun.”
“Excellent.” She turned. “Luther. Again, give me one quick memory of when you were angry.”
Luther didn’t hesitate. “When I found out my dad was having an affair with some other woman. I went to the college to visit him, and he was in his office kissing someone else. I wanted to kill him.”
“Very good. Stone? Same question. Give me your memory.”
He paused.
Her voice caught him like a silken whip. “Now. Don’t think. Just talk.”
He opened his mouth and damned if something didn’t come out. “When I walked into the bedroom and found my wife screwing my partner.”
Eli whistled. “Bru-tal, man. Sorry.”
Luther shook his head. “That may be worse than my dad.”
Arilyn stared. Shock carved out the features of her face. “You were married?” she whispered.
He narrowed his eyes. “Yeah. I was married. Now I’m divorced.”
Silence descended. Luther and Eli shared a glance and then looked uneasily at their teacher. Clearing her throat, she seemed to try to shake off some type of mental fog. “W-Well. That’s excellent, Officer. Thanks for sharing.”
Hmm. Back to “Officer” now, huh?
She rolled to her feet and forced a smile. “That’s it for today, gentlemen. Eli, may I speak with you for a few minutes?”
“Sure.”
Stone rolled up his mat, stacked it neatly in the corner, and checked his cell phone messages. He grabbed her elbow as she walked past him. “Arilyn?”
“Yes?”
Oh, yeah, she was mad about something. He felt like he’d stepped into Antarctica. “I’ll wait for you outside?”
She shook him off as if he were an annoying bug. “No need. I’ll be a while with Eli.”
“I can wait.”
“Not necessary. Have a good day.”
She turned her back, smiled at Eli, and began chatting.
Stone cursed under his breath and stormed outside. Well, screw that. Screw her. He had finally given her what she wanted with her damn sharing, and now she was pissed at him? He couldn’t help the divorce. Yes, he had baggage. Must be nice to have a perfect life. Must be nice to be Arilyn Meadows.
He ignored the strange bite of pain that hit his gut and swore not to think about her again. He was finally back at work and had a few hours to kill before his shift. He was done mooning over a woman who was all wrong for him. Fuming, he got in his car and drove.
He didn’t realize until he looked up that he was at the shelter. Getting out of the car, he checked to make sure there were no strays running around. His nerves jangled, but he ignored the slight panic, making himself trudge into the main center. He scrawled his name on the volunteer list and headed toward the back. Trying not to wince at the noise, he strode past the barking dogs, nodding to another volunteer, and went inside Pinky’s cage.
The dog sat almost in the same spot as the other day. A twinkle of interest lit her eyes, and her head cranked around a bit. Then she went back to gazing into space.
“You’re a hard case,” he commented, stretching out his legs and leaning against the gate. “I don’t mind. I need some peace and quiet right now. I’m about done vomiting my feelings for everyone to judge. I mean, do you really want to talk about what happened to you? No. You dealt with it, and now you need to move on.”
No response.
He sighed. “Listen, you gotta eat. If your body collapses, those assholes win. You survived for a reason, girl. Arilyn got you out, and if you die on her, she’ll be heartbroken. I may be pissed at your rescuer, but I can’t let you fall apart on my watch.”
A tiny head movement.
“How’s your food? You need to eat to get stronger. Looks like crap to me, but what do I know? Tomorrow I’ll sneak you a hamburger. They’ll never know. Bet that’s a bunch of organic beans and rice. No wonder you don’t eat it.”
No response.
Stone didn’t mind. His temper calmed, and he kept talking.
THE NEXT DAY, ARILYN kept things strictly business. She escorted her crew to the local soup kitchen so the men could serve food to the homeless and be reminded of gratitude. Arilyn learned that being happy with the simple things