“You don’t have to do that.” Luna turned her head to look at him, keenly aware of his hand touching her. To her surprise, she didn’t pull away. “I’m the one who wanted to save her.”
His eyes met hers. “Please let me do this.”
She saw something in his eyes that told her he needed to do this. Maybe one day she’d find out why, but that didn’t matter now. “For Hope’s sake, okay.”
Dr. Scott squinted. “Hope?”
The promise of recovery bloomed in Luna’s heart. “We can’t keep calling her ‘the dog’ so I decided she needs a name. Hope fits.”
Chapter Two
Carl had off on most Sundays, including today, but he went to Hope House anyway after church. If he had any sense he’d stay far away, but he always had taken the hard road.
He’d been drawn to Luna from the first time he’d met her. It was more than her outward beauty, though he wouldn’t deny he found her very attractive. She was thin but tall, a plus so he didn’t feel like an oaf beside her. Her deep auburn hair had natural copper highlights that brought out the golden flecks in her cocoa-shaded eyes.
More than her looks, she possessed a strength he doubted she knew she had. He’d watched her these last months, saw her arrive as a cocooned caterpillar and transformed to emerge as a butterfly. It wouldn’t be long before she flapped her wings and flew.
Still, he wasn’t free to act on his attraction. Though estranged from her husband, Luna had still been married until last month. Even as a widow, she wasn’t available. Thick walls followed her wherever she went, erected out of necessity from years of abuse. Only recently had she begun to let others in.
Friendship is all they could share, but Carl would take that over nothing.
Lunch hour was in full swing. He waited until all the residents had gone through the line, and then he grabbed a tray for himself. “What’s on the menu today, Aloni?”
The plump nutrition director grinned. “Baked chicken and garlic potatoes.”
“My favorite.” He reached for the plate with extra servings. Free meals were a perk of working at the shelter, especially for a bachelor with limited cooking skills.
Aloni winked. “You say that about every meal.”
He shrugged and returned the wink. “What can I say? I like food.”
“Is that why you’re here on your day off or does it have to do with the pretty lady sitting over there.”
Glad no one else was in line to hear, Carl felt his cheeks warm. Only Aloni could get away with teasing him like that. He’d survived multiple deployments, faced life-threatening situations, only to be embarrassed by this matronly woman. “A man has to eat.”
“Come back in ten minutes, and I’ll have a slice of warm apple pie topped with ice cream waiting for you.”
“You’re an angel, Aloni.” He added a small bowl of salad to his plate and poured a teaspoon of ranch dressing over it.
She wagged her brows. “Mind telling my husband that. He seems to have a differing opinion.”
Carl chuckled, knowing full well Aloni’s husband adored her. “I’ll make sure to do that.”
Standing at the end of the serving line, he scanned the room until he spotted Luna. He started to walk toward her, planned to sit with her under the guise of discussing Hope, but the girls were with her. He didn’t know if she’d told them about Hope, and if she hadn’t, it wasn’t his place.
He carried his tray, sat in the far corner with Tyson, the part-time security guard. After the incident with Luna and Manny, Rachel, the shelter’s director, had petitioned the board for additional funding to hire security. Once they’d approved the funds, Carl had been promoted to Head of Security in addition to maintenance, and two other men had been hired.
Tyson finished chewing a bite and set the chicken leg down. “What are you doing here?”
“Checking up on you.” Carl grinned. “Making sure you’re not slacking on downtime.”
“In that case, don’t go to the office until I have time to hide my video games.” Tyson pretended to look nervous.
“You’re a terrible liar.”
Tyson broke out in a chuckle. “I forgot we had that conversation yesterday about not playing video games.”
“How’s it been today? Anything of note?”
