My Deadly Valentine - By Valerie Hansen & Lynette Eason Page 0,58
why hadn’t the dogs barked when the Transcross guys drove up?
“Duster? Sassy?” She’d let them in the house when she’d gotten home last night, wanting the company. Without her mother there, the house felt empty, lonely.
And somehow threatening.
“Duster? Here boy! Sassy?”
No dogs.
Now her stomach clenched. Oh, Lord, please don’t let anything have happened to them.
She went back inside and checked the kitchen. They had a doggie door and could come and go as they pleased from the sunporch side of the house.
Holly checked the area but there wasn’t any way to tell if the dogs had used the door or not. Since they weren’t in the house, she’d have to assume they had.
But where would they go? They never wandered very far. And they’d both greeted her when she’d arrived home last night.
“Duster?” She whistled. “Sassy?”
The faint sound of barking reached her ears.
“Duster?” She closed her eyes, listening.
The shed?
She raced across the back lawn to the utility shed. Pushing the sliding door open, Holly gasped as the two furry animals bolted from the interior. Both immediately went to take care of business, which told her they’d been locked in there for several hours.
But why? Who would do this? Mr. Ryan? But he hadn’t even been around for the last few days. And he wouldn’t have put the dogs in there anyway.
Between the time she’d gotten home last night to the time she awakened, someone had locked her dogs in the shed.
They bounded up to her, tails pumping ninety miles an hour. She scratched ears while she thought. Then Duster darted into the house via the doggie door while Sassy chased a bird.
Pacing, wondering what this meant and what she should do about it, she eyed the shed. The phone vibrated in her hand and she jumped. She’d forgotten she even had it.
Who would be calling this early? Did she want to answer it? Not recognizing the number, she paused. Finally, on the last ring, she snapped it to her ear. “Hello?”
“Good morning, Holly.”
“Eli? How did you get my number?”
“I’m sorry, is this a bad time? I figured you’d be getting ready for work and wanted to catch you before you left.”
Deep breath. “No, no, sorry. Actually, it’s been a rather strange morning.” She glanced at the clock. An hour had passed since she’d been awakened by the Transcross Vehicle.
“Want to tell me about it at the church? Dad couldn’t sleep in spite of his pain meds and kept calling me from the hospital. He decided he had some stuff to get rid of and had me up all night going through it.”
“All night?”
“Well, maybe not all night, but I’ve got quite a load here I need to dump. Want me to pick you up? I’ve got Miz Hannah’s homemade doughnuts.”
Ooh, now that was tempting. Her heart hesitated, still not ready to take the risk of spending more time with him, and yet…“Sure, Mom’s on a mini vacation so I just need to get ready. Let me meet you there, though, because I’ll need my car when we’re finished. I’ve got to run go to the store to open up. Jessica can take care of the store while we’re at the church. I also need to finish…um…taking care of some things around here.”
His voice sharpened. “What kinds of things?” He must have picked up on the lingering fear in her voice.
She paused then said, “I’ll tell you when I see you. Give me a few minutes or so to get everything together and I’ll meet you.”
He let her get away with the delay. “All right. My buyer called this morning to say he’d be running late so I’ve got some time to take this stuff to the church before I have to get back here and meet him.”
“And you thought I’d help, huh?”
“I knew I could count on you.”
She couldn’t help the warmth that danced through her, but listened to the word of caution her brain sent to her heart. His next words made her grimace. “Besides, you’re the closest person with a key to the church.”
She snorted. “Thanks, Brodie.”
Laughter greeted her, then his husky voice lowered. “You know I want to see you, Holly.”
She shivered and said, “I’ll see you in about an hour.”
Hanging up the phone, she groaned. What was she doing? Why was she spending time with the man who’d dumped her, not once, but twice? Was she out of her mind?
But he’d changed.
Right, she argued with herself. Did she really want to take a chance on that?