The Girl of Sand & Fog (38 page)

I switch on my turn signal, exit the 101, and
merge onto the surface street that will eventually fade from city blocks into
rural ones and Bobby.

It’s nearly evening. I planned to be back
earlier. First the stop at my dad’s, then the stop at the grocery store because
Bobby
is
living like a bear with furniture in a cave.

There still hasn’t been a text from Bobby. I
wonder what’s up with that. I hope he’s home when I get there. There is a lot I
need to say to him today.

It’s in me, with sweet urgency, wanting to be
given over to him. I want to tell him everything I feel. I want to tell him
about my day, work, and the time with my father. I am burning to share every
piece of me with Bobby.

He is the one person I know who will understand
everything without my explaining a single thing.

I turn into his drive and park the truck. The
chain is back up across the road. I can’t remember if I latched it back into
place when I left this morning or if seeing it in place means that Bobby is
back.

I quickly unlatch the barrier and hop back into
the truck. I’m driving with greater speed and purpose to the house. I park in
the driveway and my heart stills. Bobby is back, but why are the sheriffs here?

I quickly take in the details of him. He’s
chatting with the sheriff while hovering over some kind of wounded dog.

The pieces fly together in my mind. He went on a
rescue last night, probably to an illegal dog fight, but something must have
gone wrong if the sheriffs are here. He looks tired and a touch angry, but he
doesn’t look hurt.

“What happened?” I exclaim, stopping myself from
flinging into his arms and holding him close to me.

He rises to his full height and in a half-second
he is pressing me full length against him and surrounding me with his arms.

“Everything is fine. I’m OK,” he whispers into my
hair, but I feel some kind of restless adrenaline move through his flesh.

“If nothing is wrong why are the sheriffs here?”

He eases back and fixes his green eyes on me.
“Just getting my statement, Kaley.” He touches my cheek with a gentle
fingertip. “We called the sheriffs before the rescue. They raided the dog
fight. Sometimes these things are tricky in Chatsworth. Gangs and other
organized crime often run the fight market.”

“Tricky? Or do you mean dangerous? What have you
gotten yourself into, Bobby?”

He cradles my face with his hands, kisses me on
the forehead, and then stares directly into my eyes. “It’s perfectly safe so
long as law enforcement takes the lead. Nothing is going to happen to me. Not
now. Not after I’ve finally gotten you back.”

Suddenly I’m crying. “It better not, Bobby!”

Laughing, he folds me against his chest again.
“I’m going to have to toughen you up, Kaley. I wasn’t sure how much you knew
about rescuing dogs from illegal fights. That’s why I didn’t tell you where I
was going. There wasn’t enough time to explain everything and I didn’t want you
to worry.”

“I worried anyway. You should have told me.”

He places a light kiss on my lips and eases back
to smile at me. “I missed you last night.”

I rub my nose against his shirt, breathing in his
scent. “I missed you this morning.”

“I missed you five minutes ago.”

“I miss you always.”

Dang, I’m crying all over again just because of
this silly banter we started back when we were in high school. Crying because I
love him, crying because it feels so good to be in his arms, and crying because
I don’t know if I’ll ever be worthy of a guy as great as Bobby.

He dabs at my tears, gives me another kiss and
then drapes an arm around my shoulder.

“Are we done here?” Bobby calls out.

A sheriff looks up from his notepad. “I just need
your signature on your statement.”

The young officer walks over to us, tosses me a
smile, and then hands Bobby a pen.

“If we need additional information we can handle
that by phone. Someone in the district attorney’s office will be contacting you
to testify.”

“I’ll be there,” Bobby assures him, handing back
the pen.

We watch the officers pile into their cars and
leave the driveway.

Bobby steps away from me and crouches down in
front of the dog. “Just let me finish taking care of this poor girl and then we
can go inside and talk.”

I move closer to him and watch as he checks her
bandages. “What happened to her?”

“Nothing serious. Grazed by a bullet.”

“Bullet!”

Bobby looks up. “When the cops raided, the dog
handlers started shooting the dogs. I guess they thought they were evidence.”
He shakes his head and starts to examine a leg. “I don’t know what’s wrong with
the world.”

My heart swells with pride and tears pool in my
eyes. Most people aren’t as gentle, as good and kindhearted as Bobby. That’s
what’s wrong with the world.

I stare down at the dog, smiling. “What will you
do with her?”

“Keep her. Train her. Bring her into the pack
inside the house with Tiki.”

“Another dog?”

“I have a soft spot in my heart for girls with
troubled pasts.”

My cheeks warm and my smile grows larger. “Yep,
that is why you pursued me in high school, isn’t it? The charm of the chip on
my shoulder.”

His eyes lock with mine, potent with the memories
we share. “As I recall, you pursued me.”

I crinkle my nose. “You would remember it that
way.”

He laughs and stands up. “I’ll be right back and
then we can go inside and finish where we left off last night.”

The look he gives me makes every muscle below my
waist clench in slow, delicious anticipation.

I watch him disappear into an indoor kennel and a
few moments later he returns with a girl. They are laughing and talking in a
way that tells me they’re good friends. My eyes widen. 

Feeling territorial, I size her up in a single,
fast glance. Where did she come from and who is she? Petite. Blond. Pretty.
Your basic worst nightmare. I rally a smile, realizing he is bringing her close
to introduce me.

Bobby takes my hand. “Caroline, this is Kaley. My
girlfriend.”

OK, girlfriend. A definite improvement over how
Bobby introduced me to the dog last night. I take her outstretched hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I say.

Caroline’s smile is beaming. “It’s a pleasure to
finally meet you. Bobby has told me so much about you.”

“Caroline lives in the guest cottage,” Bobby
explains. “She’s a second-year veterinary student. She helps with the medical
rehabilitation and care of the dogs. I could never run this place without her.”

Caroline laughs. “Bobby is the true hero here. He
saves the dogs, brings them back to their potential, and finds them homes.”

Bobby steps back to the dog and eases down to
lift one end of the stretcher. Caroline follows at the other end.

They disappear into the kennel with the dog. I
wander over to a cage and crouch down to be at eye level with the dog. I
wouldn’t call myself a dog lover, but there is definitely something in the eyes
of these powerful animals that gets to me.

I ease over to another cage and watch the dog
stare at me. It’s fear and longing I see in its eyes, almost the same look I
saw in Fiona’s eyes while filming on Stockton Boulevard.

I go back to my car and grab my digital camera. I
start snapping pictures of the dogs. Bobby is right. There is a documentary
here. And working on a film about his dog rescuing activities will definitely
give us more time together.

I smile. That is a wonderful way to pull all the
pieces of my life together. And right now, I can’t think of anything that would
be better than spending as much time as I can with Bobby.

A few minutes later Bobby returns, thankfully
alone.

I stare up at him, round eyed. “Caroline, huh?”

Bobby places an arm around my shoulder. “Since
when are you jealous?”

“Since I just found out you have a pretty blonde
living in your guest cottage.”

He laughs and kisses my nose. “Would it make you
feel better about the whole thing if I told you that Caroline has agreed to
take care of the dogs the next few days so we can have some exclusive us time
together?”

I bite my lower lip. I can tell by how they feel
that my eyes are sparkling. “She’s starting to grow on me.”

And without warning, I pull out of Bobby’s arms
and run into the house.

I
curl into Bobby, holding him close to my heart as I stare out the windows at
the faint wash of morning blue. We pretty much haven’t left the bed since
yesterday evening. Hours of lovemaking, talking, laughing. We even ate a light
supper between the sheets. He is again my best friend and lover in a way so
much richer than I have ever known.

“Caroline can cover for me for three days,” he
says softly into my hair. “How long can you take off?”

“As long as you want me to.”

“Good. I’ve got plans for you.”

“You do? Better than what we just did?”

His smile is a hint excited and definitely
secretive.

I sit up in bed. “OK, Bobby Rowan, what are you
up to?”

He shrugs. “Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. What
do you want?”

I laugh. “I want to call work and tell them I’ll
be out three days and then I want to have my way with you.”

I grab my cell phone and climb from the sheets.
“I’m going to get a bottle of water. Do you want anything?”

He turns to lie on his hip and the sight of him
whispers through my flesh like a heady caress: gorgeous green eyes; kind
features; golden tanned skin; and messy, long chestnut hair.

“Just you,” h
e says.

“You’ve got me, for as long as you want.”

I hit the number for the office, then the speaker
button, and go down the hallway toward the kitchen. As I pass Tiki, I toss her
a smile. I think she’s getting used to me. Those soulful dog eyes definitely
look less worried and standoffish.

I go to the fridge and take out a chilled bottle
of water.

“KKK Productions,” Veronica announces.

“Hey, Veronica, I’m going to be taking a few days
off. How did everything go with the pitch yesterday?”

“Justin e-mailed you. Didn’t you get it?”

I laugh. “Sorry. Wasn’t checking work e-mail
yesterday.”

“Everything went well. Very well.”

“Good. Tell Justin I really appreciate all he’s
doing and I’ll be back on Monday. Bye.”

I click off the phone and go back to the
refrigerator for a yogurt. Ding. I stare at my phone to find it lit up. I swipe
it to unlock and find that my web-hosting icon has a notification. I tap it
open.

Love-struck Trainer:
Come back to bed.

All at once, everything inside me is running hot,
cold, furious and delirious.
It can’t be. It can’t be…

I race down the hall into the bedroom. Bobby is
sitting against the pillows, phone in hand, looking wickedly amused by me.

“You…you…” is all I can sputter.

He starts to laugh, and I grab a pillow and hit
him with it. He only laughs harder.

Frustrated, overjoyed, exhausted and suspicious,
I sink down on the bed beside him.

“How did you know that was my blog?”

He rakes a hand through his shoulder-length hair.
“The web-hosting company is linked to my credit card. You billed it to me.”

Oh dear. I don’t know whether to be angry or to
laugh.

“Why did you start chatting with me as some sort
of anonymous cyber fan?”

He touches my cheek with a fingertip. “I missed
you. I wanted to know if I still had a chance with you.”

OK, forgiven
. Still, I hold back my
smile.

“I love you, Kaley.”

The smile fills my face. “I love you, too.”

He reaches into a drawer and removes a velvet
box. He opens it. Nestled inside is an engagement ring.

“Kaley Stanton, will you marry me?”

Laughing and crying, I fling myself into his arms
and kiss him fiercely. “Yes, Bobby. I will marry you. I would marry you this
second if you wanted me to.”

He slips the ring onto my finger. He places a
light kiss there that runs all the way to my heart. “How do you feel about
today? In Vegas?”

My eyes widen. “You mean just us? No family? No
friends?”

“Just us, Kaley. The way it has always been.”

The accidental encounter that led to our lunch
together. Caroline covering his chores with the dogs. The ring. He planned
this, each part, and I followed trustingly and it worked out brilliantly.