Riggs watched as Liam scooped up water and poured it over Luna’s back, hoping to escape similar torment. His stub of a tail wasn’t long enough to tuck between his legs, but it was bent down toward the floor anyway, and his ears were back and his eyes hooded. Archie was wild, so there was no wonder he’d been punished, and Luna’s attack on the couch pillows was probably what earned Liam’s ire, but Riggs, as far as he knew, had done nothing wrong.

  So why did he feel sure he was about to be subjected to the same humiliation?

  “There now, you’re going to smell so sweet,” Liam crooned as he massaged soap into Luna’s fur. It smelled terrible. Riggs felt sorry for Luna. When Liam turned to reach for more liquid soap, Luna stood up on her rear legs and pushed with her paw on the lever that controlled the flow of water, shutting it off. Liam burst out laughing. “You are such a smart dog,” he praised her. “Such a good dog.” Riggs heard the words good dog, but then Liam turned the water back on, so Luna couldn’t have been that good.

  Riggs decided to abandon Luna to her plight. Perhaps, he reasoned, if he slunk into the other room, Liam would forget about him, and only two of the three dogs would be wet. He found Archie racing around, rolling on his back on the rugs, which had been kicked up so they were little mounds at each end of the room. Archie’s nails made a sharp clicking noise as he launched himself at Riggs, and Riggs felt compelled to push out his chest and give Archie a stern warning look that did nothing to deter this wild animal from slamming into Riggs in a wet spray.

  “Riggs! Come,” Liam called from down the hall. Well, Riggs knew what that meant. His head low, he padded down the hallway. One did not ignore the word come when issued by Liam; that was an ironclad rule in this house. Yet Riggs did not want to go in there. Riggs did not want a bath.

  Liam scooped up Riggs and put him into the tub next to Luna. Then he lifted Luna out and wrapped her in a towel while the water poured into the tub. Riggs was miserable, especially when the water was aimed directly onto his fur and the soap was rubbed in. Now all three dogs would smell terrible, and they would all be wet.

  This was shaping up to be one of the worst days of his life.

  It felt good, though, when the ordeal was over and Liam wrapped Riggs in a towel and cuddled him. This was actually the best part of getting a bath. Riggs felt comforted and loved in Liam’s arms.

  “All right,” Liam announced. “Sabrina is going to be so, so mad at me. I need you to be on your best behavior tonight. Okay? I’m going to make her favorite dinner, chicken stroganoff. All right?”

  Riggs heard the question in Liam’s voice. He wasn’t sure what Liam was saying, but he had heard Sabrina mentioned and calculated that it had something to do with the entire pack. Riggs felt responsible for that pack and took it to heart that whatever it was, he needed to do something for Liam.

  “Sabrina,” Liam muttered, “is going to absolutely kill me.”

  4

  In the kitchen, Liam mentioned Sabrina several more times as he chopped and sliced things. Each time her name passed his lips, Luna’s ears perked up. Luna’s love for Sabrina was unrestrained, while Riggs felt more strongly that it was Liam who was at the center of the pack’s world.

  Both dogs, though, seemed in complete agreement that the arrival of this new, young, crazy dog, who was still running around, jumping on furniture, and behaving in an entirely insubordinate fashion, was an absolute violation of the usual order of things. Luna kept glaring at Riggs as if demanding he do something about the interloper and the chaos he’d brought to the house.

  Finally, Riggs could take no more of it and ran straight at Archie, cowing the dog, who shrank to his belly at the sudden lunge. Riggs let Archie get up, satisfied that the younger dog now understood who was in charge. Archie meekly followed Riggs back into the kitchen.

  Liam carefully cut the chicken into bite-size pieces, and the dogs adored him for this. His recipe was simple, but Sabrina loved it. A little sour cream, a little organic mushroom soup, mushrooms, onions. They would pour it all on cauliflower rice. Sabrina was on what she called a keto diet, though she still ate several small squares of chocolate fudge every night, and Liam had learned that to comment on this fact was considered treason.

  Archie had calmed down, Liam noted. The puppy was attentive to the smells in the kitchen and kept glancing at Riggs as if for approval. “I just need her to meet you, Archie,” Liam advised optimistically. “She meets you, she’ll see how wonderful you are, and when she hears that you were all alone on that chain, day after day”—Liam shook his head—“she won’t object. Much.” He shrugged. “I hope she won’t object much. Oh, man. What was I thinking? Three dogs? Riggs, you think you can keep a handle on this?”

  Riggs heard the question and straightened, ready for whatever was going on. Luna also picked up on the name and regarded the Aussie curiously.

  Archie threw himself on the ground and rolled onto his back.

  Liam’s tension started to increase just as the smells from whatever he was doing at the stove achieved a level of wonderful the dogs could not have imagined. The canines prowled the kitchen, lifting their noses, keeping their eyes on one another to make sure no one was favored with a tossed piece of chicken when the other two weren’t watching. People were generally evenhanded when it came to doling out treats, but sometimes they made mistakes.

  At some point, Liam picked up his phone, made an exclamatory sound, and called his dogs. Archie was unsure but followed Riggs and Luna down the hall at Liam’s beckoning. The older members of Archie’s new pack seemed to know what was going on, and Riggs radiated something of a command presence to Archie. Liam steered all three dogs into one of the back rooms and pulled a wooden accordion gate across the doorway. It was an effective way of keeping the dogs locked in the back bedroom, though Riggs wasn’t sure why they were being banished from the wonderful-smelling kitchen. He and Luna exchanged distressed glances. What if some chicken fell on the floor and they weren’t there to clean it up?

  “Okay, let me talk to her and get her used to the idea, and then I’ll come get you,” Liam informed them.

  Riggs wagged his tail stub but kept his eye on Archie, who prowled this new room, examining the odors. Riggs didn’t know that the bench beneath the weight station in the corner was pretty close to being identical to the one that Archie had destroyed at Norton’s house. Archie seemed smugly self-satisfied when he sniffed it and then turned deliberately away from it. Riggs did not understand this behavior.

  Luna was pacing. Liam was home, which meant Sabrina should be home. For Luna, that was the simple fact of it all. The Jack Russell remembered smelling and seeing Sabrina in bed that very morning, and the memory brought a concern it might never happen again. As the light began to change character with the setting sun, Luna’s anxiousness grew. Then they heard it. The jangle of keys, the opening of the door.

  “Hey, honey,” Liam called. They heard him walk across the floor.

  Sabrina answered, “Hi, Liam.”

  They heard the rustle that they all associated with the two humans coming together in an embrace. Luna’s tension increased. The dogs were supposed to be out to greet Sabrina!

  With an almost inaudible whimper, Luna eased over and sniffed at the gate latch. Riggs watched her curiously.

  * * *

  Sabrina stepped into the kitchen, smiling appreciatively.

  “Whatever that is, it smells great. I thought it was my night to cook.”

  Liam shrugged. “When you said you were running late, I figured I should make my chicken stroganoff.”

  “Oh?” Sabrina arched an eyebrow.

  With that one gesture, that lift of her thin eyebrow, Liam was completely enthralled. More than two years together, and she could still make his stomach flip. “How was work?”

  Her face fell. “Not good. We were on lockdown—somebody called in another threat.”

  “I don’t understand why people would do that.”

  She sighed. “For the attention? I don’t know. I just know that once the kids have sheltered in place for an hour and a half, we’ve lost them. They’re probably going to be impossible for the rest of the week.”

  “I hate that you had to go through that.”

  “Honestly? It’s almost better to be sitting in silence than it is to try to get them to talk about To Kill a Mockingbird. Sometimes I think we’re shepherding high school students into a bookless world. They just don’t care.” Sabrina’s mouth twisted bitterly.

  Liam stared in concern. This wasn’t the Sabrina he knew. The light seemed to have gone out in her. “Beautiful day, though,” he pointed out by way of diversion. “Only the first week of April and spring is already here.”

  “It’s Colorado. Probably snow ten inches tomorrow.”

  Again. Not acting like Sabrina. Something was wrong. “What else?” Liam probed shrewdly.

  Sabrina regarded him warily, then nodded in acknowledgment. “Yeah. He who shall never be named called me.”

  Liam stared. “He called you? How’d he get your number?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I’m sure he tracked down somebody who gave it to him.”

  Liam shook his head. “I don’t believe that. None of your friends would even speak to Merrick, much less tell him how to get hold of you.”

  “Well, not a friend-friend. But a lot of people have my number. It’s one of the problems with being an educator.”

  “Did you talk to him?”

  “Of course not,” Sabrina snapped. She caught herself. “Sorry. I’m just tired of this.”

  “What do you want to do, babe?”

  “What can I do? I didn’t answer, because I didn’t recognize the number, but the second I heard his voice, I stopped listening to the message and blocked him. Now I’ll get a new phone. Again. That’s really all he’s got, I think, is the number. I’ll get another Illinois area code so he doesn’t know I’m in Denver.”

  Liam gazed at her sympathetically. For him, there was no sacrifice in giving up social media—he had a business website and a part-time helper to maintain it, and that was all he needed. But he understood how Sabrina’s ex-boyfriend had distorted her life, cut her out of normal society because of the unwanted messages, calls, pictures.

  Sabrina had advised Liam that Merrick was harmless in the physical sense: his harassment came in more subtle forms. Liam sometimes wished the guy would show up and try something physical—that would put an end to it.

  She correctly read the grim set to his jaw. “He wouldn’t ever show up in person, Liam. He’s a lurker, an electronic stalker only. I showed you the police report. I just have to be unresponsive to his provocations. Eventually, he’ll give up, move on to somebody else.”

  Liam nodded. Sabrina was all but invisible in the online world, but her ex-boyfriend had found her number once before, right when she and Liam were first dating; Sabrina told Liam she had a new phone number and explained why. Somehow, every few years, Merrick would find her and leave his messages.

  Liam had never heard the messages.

  “I shouldn’t have said anything about it,” Sabrina apologized.

  “No, of course you should tell me.”

  “I just hate the hassle of it all, you know? We just get things settled, normal, and then he who shall not be named stirs everything up. It’s like I don’t have control of my own life.”

  “I’m really sorry.”

  “Thanks, honey. I know you’re frustrated that there’s nothing you can do, but it helps to just talk about it. And he’s nothing. A nuisance, that’s all. I shouldn’t let him get to me. I don’t let him get to me, not usually. It was just a tough day.”

  “I get it.”

  Sabrina cocked her head and smiled at him. “You do get it, don’t you? I didn’t feel under threat during the lockdown—it’s just a part of being a schoolteacher in the modern world. And I don’t feel under threat, not at all, by my ex-boyfriend. It’s just the disruption to my life I can’t stand. And you get that.”

  “I get that.”

  She stepped closer, and their kiss warmed Liam, so much so that he completely forgot about Archie—until he spotted the extra bowl he’d set out for the new dog’s water. As their kiss ended, he subtly moved her so the three bowls weren’t in her direct line of vision. “Want a glass of wine? I’ve got some pinot grigio.”

  “Yes, please.”

  Liam went to work with a corkscrew, and Sabrina frowned.

  “Where did you get that?” she queried, gesturing to the bottle.

  “Picked it up today,” he replied lightly.

  “You don’t like pinot grigio,” she observed suspiciously.

  Liam shrugged. “You like it, though.”

  Now, Sabrina stood back and crossed her arms, watching him work with a suspicious expression on her face.

  “Okay. What did you do?” she asked.

  “What do you mean?” he replied defensively, barking out a quick, inauthentic laugh.

  “You’re cooking chicken stroganoff, the house is clean, you did the morning dishes—something’s going on.”

  “I gave the dogs a bath,” he replied irrelevantly.

  As if on cue, the dogs in the back bedroom finally voiced their frustration. The racket was immediate, and it sure sounded to Liam’s informed ears that there were three dogs.

  Sabrina cocked her head. “What’s going on back there?” she asked.

  “Oh, I locked the dogs in the back room,” Liam responded casually.

  “Why?”

  “How do you feel? Want a foot rub?”

  “What do you mean, how do I feel?”

  “I just mean,” Liam fumbled, “are you feeling, um, open-minded?”

  Sabrina just stared at him.

  5

  Once Archie began barking, he continued with mindless exuberance, even as Riggs fell silent to watch Luna work on the gate. Luna had observed how Liam reached his hand down to the latch to open it. Now she used her paws to dig at that latch. She wasn’t able to grasp how the mechanism worked, but she knew that was the focal point, the key to opening the gate.

  Her pawing had exactly the effect she intended. With a clicking sound, the gate eased away from the doorframe. She thrust her nose into the gap, and the gate slid sideways, admitting her and then Riggs and then Archie into the hallway. They were so excited to be released from temporary prison that their nails scrabbled for purchase on the floor, and Archie tripped over his own feet and literally crashed into the wall. Riggs followed Luna, who wasn’t faster, per se, but had gotten a few steps ahead and was determined to make her way to Sabrina.

  Riggs was frustrated at Archie, who didn’t seem to understand what they were doing and was not pursuing Luna but rather darted curiously into a different doorway. Riggs doubled back and forced Archie to fall in line, steering the younger dog back into the hallway.

  Luna dashed into the kitchen and leaped up, trying to lick Sabrina’s face. Sabrina bent down, her long hair flowing onto the dog. “Oh, Luna. I love you,” Sabrina crooned.

  Riggs went straight to Liam, but Archie, spotting a new person, threw himself at Sabrina and nearly knocked her over when he collided with her legs. She staggered and crashed against the counter. Archie jumped up, trying to get to her face with his tongue, then fell to the floor and rolled on his back, cycling his paws in the air. Riggs and Luna both sensed the increase in tension between the two humans and paused their greetings, eyeing Sabrina warily. She watched Archie’s antics with an open mouth, then turned, her expression somewhere between shock and dismay. “Who is this?” she demanded.

  Liam cleared his throat. “That’s Archie,” he advised as if this were all the explanation required.

  At his name, Archie flipped back over and ran to Liam and sprang up as if trying to land on the man’s head. Riggs followed strongly behind him, pushing against Archie’s rear quarters, trying to slow him down. Luna went to stand loyally by Sabrina, who put her hands on her hips.

  “It’s a long story,” Liam explained inadequately. Sabrina raised her eyebrows. “Well, what happened was I went to this jobsite, and here’s this poor dog lying in the sun on a short chain. I guess what happened was the owner left the country, and so his brother, who’s running the construction project, was supposed to take care of the dog, but he wasn’t doing a very good job. I could see that Archie was really unhappy, so…” Liam trailed off with a shrug.

  “So wait. This is one of your jobs? Which one?” Sabrina probed.

  Liam shook his head. “No, it’s a … Okay. So there are these people, they’re building this house, and all of a sudden, it turns out she wants a divorce, and so the project’s being abandoned. I know somebody who knows somebody, and I was able to make an offer before anybody else. I went out to look at it. It’s a pretty good deal.” He began to feel some enthusiasm creeping into his voice, and he resisted the urge to start speaking more rapidly.

  “So you go to look at a house, but you already own a house?” She gestured. “Then you’ve got the other house you’re working on already? I thought you said you’re overextended and wouldn’t be able to take on another project until you sold one of them.”

  “Right. Yes. But that’s what I do, Sabrina. I buy houses, fix them up, and sell them. This is a wonderful opportunity, and you know what?” His eyes grew brighter. “It actually would make a great house for us.”

  “For us,” Sabrina repeated somewhat woodenly.

  Liam nodded happily. “It’s four bedrooms, four baths. The kitchen is going to be glorious. Like I said, it’s not even on the market, but if we pay off the note and give a little equity to the owners, we can have it.”

  Sabrina was quiet, just watching Liam.

  He seemed a little deflated by her silence. “Also,” he continued finally, “I mean, it’s got a great yard. All dirt right now, of course. Nobody has planted anything, but the plans call for a fence. You know, for the dogs.”