Twisted Up (Taking Chances #1) - Erin Nicholas Page 0,79
Jake, and Kayley and her family would be coming home soon.
They got out of the Jeep, and Avery grabbed two hard hats out of the backseat, handing one to Jake. She also grabbed work gloves, noticing Jake had picked his up when he’d retrieved his shirt and cell phone from Max’s truck. They were both otherwise dressed for work, with boots and long pants on. Jake had, unfortunately, even put his shirt back on. They approached the rubble together, still without speaking.
Avery saw the dishes of food and water, and her heart melted a little.
“Fuck.”
She turned to Jake.
“Do you think he’s here?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s not very old. It’s possible he ran off and couldn’t get home.”
Jake took a deep breath and shook his head. “I know I’m overreacting.”
“You want to find a little girl’s dog. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I just . . . She lost her house, probably a bunch of books and toys. Losing her dog, too, wouldn’t be fair.”
Avery felt her heart turn over in her chest. Damn. His caring about this little girl was hot. How could that make Avery want to take her clothes off?
She blew out a breath. “Tornadoes are anything but fair,” Avery said softly.
He nodded. “That’s why I work so damned hard to make as much of it okay as I can.”
God. How was she supposed to resist this guy?
He looked so dejected that Avery would have done anything to ensure Cooper was alive. But without supernatural powers, all she could do was hold her hand out to Jake.
He took it and they climbed onto the first pile of debris.
At the back of the house, they split up. They both knew how to search, what to watch out for, how to deal with the hanging wires and unstable footing. They searched and dug without any sound other than that of throwing stuff out of their way. Avery prayed the entire time she would be the one to find the dog if he was, indeed, still in his house.
Her prayer was answered fifteen minutes later. She was in the area that had been the kitchen. The heavy appliances still stood, but the ceiling and walls had crumbled around them. She lifted a cabinet door and saw a tail.
She stopped, her eyes filling.
Dammit. It was the dog. She loved animals, but better the dog than the little girl who lived there. That was her general feeling. But this was going to hurt Jake.
She thought fast. Could she pretend she hadn’t found Cooper and then come back later and take him out and bury him? The idea had merit.
She pulled on the cabinet door, and it shifted but wouldn’t come fully loose. She jerked and yanked for a few minutes, but it was clear the door was still attached to something.
Crap.
She straightened, and stretched the kinks out of her back and neck. This sucked.
“Hey, Jake?”
She heard his footsteps coming closer. “You found something?”
“In the . . . kitchen.” She supposed it was still technically the kitchen.
He came around the corner from the living room. “Is it him?”
She nodded slowly.
He took in a deep, shaky breath. “Dammit.”
“I’m sorry.”
He nodded. “I know. Me, too.”
Avery realized that Jake had known, somewhere deep down, that the dog was here all along. He just hadn’t wanted to believe it. And he’d kept working to keep Kayley’s hopes up while she dealt with what else the storm had taken from her.
He made his way to Avery, having to duck under the crooked door frame and climb over what had been the wall separating the kitchen from the dining room.
“I was going to get him out myself, but he’s under something that’s not moving.”
“Do we need tools?”
“I think we can do it together.”
They did. Lifting together, they moved the entire cabinet up and over. Avery went to her Jeep for a blanket, and they wrapped Cooper up and carried him out to the front lawn.
Jake pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
“Hey, Dad, okay with you if I take that old wooden box that’s in the garage?” He listened to his dad’s reply and said, “Thanks. See you tonight,” then disconnected and focused on Avery. “Can you take me home?”
She swallowed hard. He looked so sad. She wanted to hug him. When he referred to his parents’ house—or anywhere in Chance—as home, her chest got tight.
Part of her loved that he thought of it that way. But it was also a sharp reminder that it was his home