“You’re welcome.”
“You were telling me about the dogs,” I said.
“Give me two minutes,” she said.
She walked out of the kitchen with her hips swaying. Seeing her in my shirt and her perfect ass hanging out from under the shirt was better than looking at a Playboy magazine or watching porn. I hadn’t inspected her suitcase, but I was pretty sure she had more than a change of clothes in it. I hoped she was planning on staying more than a single night.
I didn’t even mind the dogs. They’d only been here an hour, but so far, they weren’t so bad. I could live with dogs. In the bright light of day, things might be a little different, but I hoped not. I hoped I could be tolerant and accepting. I hoped I could smile at them and welcome them. They were the key to her heart.
“All good,” she said as she came back into the kitchen.
She went back into the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. “Alright, tell me your secret to the dog thing.”
“Are you thinking about getting one?”
“No, I think I just got three,” I teased.
“There is no secret,” she said and sat back on the stool. “I’m patient. I never force them. When I first got Kona, she wanted nothing to do with me. I took her home and she stayed in the corner. I gave her plenty of space. I would sit on the floor while watching TV or doing paperwork. Eventually, she would creep closer. One day, she rested her head on my lap. The rest is history. She sat with me on the couch and started following me around.”
“And the others?” I asked.
“Very similar,” she said. “I let them warm up to me. I don’t pressure them to love me. I figure they are working through their own emotions. They have to trust me. That takes time. Some dogs take a day. Other dogs take weeks or months. And there are some that will just never truly be pets.”
“That’s sad,” I commented.
“It is. I try to save as many as I can. Every dog, human, and other animal should know love.”
I had to look at her. She was beautiful, inside and out. “That’s a very good motto.”
“How’s it going with the search for your father?” she asked.
I flinched as the problem that I had been able to push to the back of my thoughts sprang to life. It hadn’t occurred to me to talk to her about it. But she was asking, and she shared her own father’s drama with me.
“Not good,” I said.
I slid half the eggs onto a plate for her before dishing the rest onto my own plate. I dropped a few sausage links on the plate and quickly buttered the toast. When I handed it to her, she grabbed my hand. “Do you want to tell me, or should I leave it alone?”
“It’s a dark story,” I said.
“I’m here to listen if you’d like.”
I grabbed my plate and sat on the seat beside her. “My brother, Clark, is a private investigator. I think you already know that.”
“Yes, I did.”
“I told him what’s been going on,” I said. “He’s on the case. Unfortunately, there is just nothing to find out. We know he went to the airport in New York, but he never got on the plane. He never checked in for his flight. Clark used his contacts to see if he took a different flight. According to him, there is no record of him boarding a plane. He disappeared somewhere between the moment his driver dropped him off and now.”
“Don’t they have cameras?” she asked.
“I’m sure Clark is digging into it,” I said. “I will mention it though.”
“Do you think he’s still in New York?” she asked.
“Our aunt hasn’t seen or heard from him,” I answered. “I can’t imagine he would be gone this long without reaching out to one of us. Clark thinks he knows what happened.”
“What?”
I chewed the sausage link. To say it aloud made it real. To tell someone meant I had to actually consider it. “Clark believes he was kidnapped.”