Whenever he got off work, he always came straight to the rescue . . . like it was an automatic reaction. He seemed to need us. Not in some clingy, weird way. I couldn’t really explain it.
I wanted him to have a safe place. And I was happy that we seemed to fill that need.
“I know we haven’t gone about this the normal way.” He rubbed the side of his neck. “Hell, I still haven’t taken you out on a date.”
“This is a date.”
He dropped his hand to his side, and all his uncertainty disappeared. “Yeah. It is.”
“So that means we’ve been out on quite a few.”
He seemed to catch on to my logic. “I like the way you think.”
“Later, we could go wash all the tires on the block,” I suggested, barely keeping a straight face.
“That’s the perfect date.” His grin was blinding in the early morning light.
“I can’t do conventional.” I waved back toward the rescue. It wasn’t just the dogs. Whether she liked it or not, I was responsible for Miss Adeline. And sure, I could leave her to go for dinner. She’d love it if I spent the night out.
But we were a package deal.
It would take a special person to understand and accept that.
“I’m more of a rule breaker myself.” Teague slid an arm around my waist and pulled me closer.
Sadie looked back at us, and I swore she rolled her eyes.
“You really want to be part of this chaos?” I stared up at him, my heart pounding.
He hovered his lips above mine. “I already am.”
His mouth was warm when it landed on mine. Everything melted away, including the pent-up stress of the past few weeks.
Miss Adeline was right. Things were always fine.
I shouldn’t have doubted that.
A big paw landed on my side.
Teague and I broke apart. Muffy panted as he looked back and forth between us. He had a paw on each of us.
“Yo. I’m trying to be smooth here,” Teague said, scratching Muffy’s head.
I bit my lip. “Not you too.”
“What?”
“Yo.”
He groaned. “I haven’t seen Burke in a day and he’s got me saying that blasted word.”
“It’s contagious.”
Sadie tugged us toward the rescue. Apparently, she’d had enough.
Teague laced his fingers in mine. It was natural and felt right. For once, I didn’t mind the cold.
We strolled to the back door. I was already exhausted, and he had to be too. Yet the burden didn’t feel so heavy. In this moment, there was peace—except Sadie pawing on the metal door. But even that was a slice of normal in a time where everything was upside down.
I hadn’t realized that in a lot of ways I was like the dogs, especially when it came to routine. Our days might not always be exactly the same, but there were some things that I could count on. One of them being our mealtime schedule.
Teague hadn’t disrupted it. He’d slid right in seamlessly.
In a way, that was terrifying.
“You coming?” He held open the door.
The dogs were already inside, watching me stand frozen outside.
“You finally asked her to go steady?” Miss Adeline leaned against the counter, arms over her chest. “Took you long enough,” she grumbled.
“I’ve been told I’m slow,” he volleyed back good-naturedly.
“At least you got around to it.” She looked at our joined hands as the door closed behind me.
It was a little weird to be affectionate with an audience, even though I could share anything and be myself with Miss Adeline. She understood what a big deal this was for me . . . maybe more than I did.
Teague yawned.
In the light, the tired lines around his eyes were more prominent. He looked like he’d been up for days.
“You should get some sleep,” I said quietly.
“Do I look that bad?”
“You look like you’ve been hit by a truck six times,” Miss Adeline volunteered.
“Not five? Or seven?” Teague asked as he loosened the leash from Ash’s neck. She trotted to her kennel, took a drink of water, and lay down at Teague’s feet.
“I said six, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, but I’m just curious why,” he said patiently.
“When you’re my age, you don’t have to have a reason. Six was just the first number I thought of,” she huffed. “At least I didn’t say six hundred.”
“That’s true.” Teague laughed, then yawned again. “Mind if I borrow your bed?”
“Of course she doesn’t.”
Leave it to Miss Adeline to answer for me. I wondered why he didn’t want to go home or to Lincoln’s but didn’t ask. Something about him wanting to be here with me made me—us—happy.
He waited for me to answer, and I liked that too.
“Not at all.”
“Tuck me in?”
How was I supposed to say no to that? I nodded as Miss Adeline opened her mouth to answer for me again, the meddlesome old woman.
“You should do more than tuck him in,” she offered.
I closed my eyes as my face burned.
“We’re doing this at our pace.” Teague’s deep voice was confident as it got closer to my ear. “Our way.”
I released a long breath as I opened my eyes to face him. “You know that includes direction from that one.”
I pointed at Miss Adeline, who looked proud of herself, although I had no idea why. With her, I never could tell.
“I could use some advice.”
I groaned. “You have no idea what you’ve just opened yourself up to.”
“I’m willing to find out.”
Chapter Eighteen
Teague
“Stay with me. For a minute.”
I sounded like a child but couldn’t find it in me to care. I needed Pepper close. When she was around, I forgot about all the other problems in our lives.
She blinked at me as I shrugged off my suit jacket. I needed this monkey suit off now. It was another reminder of the puppet I’d become for my father. He said wear a suit to work, so I had.
“Okay,” she said so softly I barely heard her.
More of my tension melted away. I sent her a silent thank you when she slipped off her shoes.
I emptied my pockets on her dresser. Pepper’s space wasn’t immaculate, but it was tidy. Lived in. A loved space. A home.
“Are you going to South Carolina to pick up new dogs?” I motioned to the overnight envelope on the dresser.
She stiffened. “No.”
She had a life I knew nothing about. One I was curious to connect the pieces to see what made her the person she was. While I wanted all of them now, demanding answers wasn’t going to get me anywhere.
Tentatively, she walked toward me. As if whatever was in that envelope was dangerous and needed to be opened by a bomb squad.
She refused to look or touch it. Her swallow was audible when she stopped in front of me.
“It’s from my hometown.” She cleared her throat. “From a lawyer in my hometown,” she corrected.
I bristled at the word lawyer despite that contact by one could mean anything . . . though it was probably nothing good.