Little Thief.
Trying to steal my heart.
* * *
Frankie squealed, clapping her hands as she dropped to her knees on our front porch. The tiny puppy scuttled toward her, jumping up on her chest, licking her face. “Daddy! Daddy! It’s a puppy. Look. It’s a puppy. It’s the cutest puppy in the whole wide world.”
She hugged the wiggling body against her probably a little too tightly, but the little ball of fur just went wilder, clawing up her chest to get closer to her face so he could lick her like he’d found his long lost best friend.
Unfortunately, Frankie was under the impression she’d found hers.
Shrieks of laughter rang in the air. “Daddy! He’s kissin’ me. He’s kissin’ me. I fink he loves me.”
The sight of it sent a rock sinking straight to the pit of my stomach.
My gaze cut to Rynna, who was standing there watching the two of them with an affected smile on her face. Her eyes were full of an emotion I wasn’t sure I was ready to recognize.
A lump formed in my throat. Heavy. As heavy as that rock that sat in the pit of my stomach. It only grew when Rynna edged forward and knelt in front of Frankie. Then she reached out and gently ran her hand over the puppy’s head, her gaze growing even softer as she looked at my daughter.
“He’s a golden retriever. What do you think we should name him?” she asked.
“How’s about Milo? Milo’s my friend at school who’s a boy and he’s so nice and this puppy is a boy so I finks we should name him Milo because he’s nice, too.”
Rynna didn’t even skip a beat at the ramble that fell from Frankie’s mouth. She just let her smile grow, glancing down at the puppy. He was currently on his hind legs thinking he could jump his way onto Rynna’s lap. “He is a nice boy, isn’t he?” she cooed, letting the puppy lick her face. “Milo it is, then.”
“Milo! I love Milo! I love Milo. Can I take him for a walk? Do you gots a leash?”
And the two of them? They disappeared, trotted alongside the road, Frankie screeching her joy, Rynna right there in case the puppy tugged hard enough to get loose.
Thirty minutes later, I watched as Frankie ran with the puppy nipping along at her heels through Rynna’s front door. Rynna stood on the same deck that had changed everything, hugging her arms across her chest and biting at her lip as she watched the two of them bound inside.
I’d held back, standing against the railing, unable to process what was going on inside me.
I edged up behind her. I could feel it. The chill that skated her spine, the way she shook as I released a breath against her ear. A few strands of chestnut rustled with the air and tickled my lips. “A dog, huh?” I whispered.
There was a swift intake of breath before she cautiously turned around to face me. “I...” She glanced back at the house. “I’m living here alone, and I thought I could use a friend. It gets lonely at night.”
She turned around to face me fully. Bewilderment twitched along her brow. “Do you not like dogs?”
A vice of grief wrenched up my insides. I was right. Ever since Rynna Dayne had come into my life, every old wound had been unbound, released from its confines, spinning and taunting me where they danced right under my nose.
“Of course I like dogs.” Could barely force it out through the hardness that ridged my lips.
Longing twisted through her features when she glanced back at the door, looking back at me like she was begging for me to understand. “I know you and I are new. But Frankie...I saw that puppy and the only thing I could think about was her. About how excited she would be. I...I wanted to give her something she didn’t have.” Rapidly she blinked, and tears threatened at her eyes. “I wanted her to love something that’s a part of me. Are you mad?”
I couldn’t hold back anymore. I jerked her against me. “Fuck, Rynna. Of course I’m not mad.”
I hugged her tight. Kissed the crown of her head. Wishing I could explain how it brought back memories I didn’t know how to deal with.
I was numb as I stood by the side of the road, staring blankly as the taillights disappeared in the distance. I tried to blink through the squiggle of red, neon lines that lit up against my bleary vision. It was like looking at the sun and then closing your eyes. Or maybe I just wished they were closed. But they were open wide, my gaze sucked down.
Down.
Down.
Missy dead at my feet.
I gulped around the vision, bile in my throat, agony in my chest.
