I looked away and noticed that someone was on the sidewalk across the street, just a bit up from us. I locked eyes with a furious-looking Jake Spencer.
Shit.
As I started to take a step toward him, the world imploded.
Addie saw Jake with Chief at the same time. She hopped up, yelling, “Chief!” as she darted off the sidewalk.
Noah and I both saw her go as a car turned the corner.
“Addie!” I screamed.
Noah began running.
Jake looked to Addie.
Addie ran into the street.
Chief tore off the curb, running straight at Addie, and hit her square in the chest, causing her to ricochet back to the right-of-way, right as he got clipped by the car, which slammed to a stop.
And Chief lay on the road.
Time stood still.
32
Man’s Best Friend
Jake
Time stood still for a moment as the horror unfolded in front of me. All I could see was Chief and Addie, the two of them prone, but also what could have been running through my mind.
I raced across the street to them, the breath only coming easier when Addie sat up and cried out when she saw Chief lying on the road. The driver came tearing out of the car, a young mom who was in tears, but she’d done nothing wrong. It was just bad luck, and I knew that, but knowing Addie was okay, my gaze fell to my dog.
Chief was awake and his eyes met mine, then looked for Addie. That fucking dog, he loved her so. I had no idea how the brain of an animal worked, but I knew what we’d just witnessed. Somehow he’d known what was happening and saved Addie. I didn’t know what the cost was, but I was grateful.
Ivy sobbed as she scooped up Addie, kissing her all over as she checked her out.
Noah looked from Addie, to me, to Chief. “Hey, Jake.” He quickly knelt down on the road next to me, hesitating to touch Chief but his gaze searching his body.
I’d looked back to Ivy whose eyes were swimming with tears as she held Addie like she would never let her go.
Noah looked from Ivy to me. “Do you have a vet in town, or do we need to take him somewhere else?”
I wanted to hate this fucker, but damn if he wasn’t considerate at every damn turn. I worked to compartmentalize my feelings and focused on Chief. “We have a vet. I’ll get him there. You guys take Addie home and check her out.”
Ivy was talking to the driver now, who seemed to be on the phone with the police, seeing what kind of report they needed filed, if any.
I nodded at my truck in my driveway to Noah. “That’s my truck. Could you get the tailgate so I can slide Chief in?”
Noah looked over to the truck, then back to Chief, whose tail beat out a slow rhythm, but he still hadn’t budged. “You have a blanket? Might make it easier to carry him if something’s broken.”
I looked at Chief. He was right. “Under the bench seat,” I said, running a hand over Chief’s hip as he whimpered. Fuck. But he was with us, that had to be something. Cling to that.
Noah ran over to my truck and lowered the back tailgate. Moving to the passenger door on the front part of the cab, he leaned in to grab the blanket, then came back over to our little group.
He went to Ivy first, running a hand over Addie’s head as he spoke to Ivy. Ivy held Addie on her hip as Addie’s big eyes watched Chief. Noah nodded at Ivy, then came back to me, handing me the blanket.
“I think we can slide this under him, then you hold one side and I’ll hold the other and we can carry him over,” Noah said with a jerk to my truck. “I can ride in the back with him to get to the vet.”
