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Blake.
She needed Blake.
Erika pulled out her phone. He hadn’t been home when she returned for her date, which meant, he’d probably gone out with the team following tonight’s game. Either to celebrate or drown his sorrows. Once again, she’d missed the game. She had no idea if they’d won or lost.
Fumbling with her cell, she opened her contacts and hit his number. Mercifully he answered after just two rings.
“Erik,” she heard him say, the noise in the background proving her guess about him going out with his friends.
“Blake! It’s time to celebrate!”
Erika would recognize Mindy’s voice anywhere. The idea that he was out with the other woman only added to her pain.
“Blake,” she said, her voice hoarse. She swallowed heavily. “Please.” The second she said the word, she started crying again.
“What’s wrong, Erik? Where are you?”
“Park…behind…the building.” Every word she spoke was broken by a loud gasp for breath. “Corky,” she said, her voice breaking.
The noise behind Blake faded, and she thought she heard a horn honk. He must have left the bar. “What happened?”
She was grateful for the strength in his voice, the steadiness of his tone. Considering she was completely falling apart, it was good one of them was able to function.
“She broke free from the leash. The thunder scared her. I can’t find her. I can’t find her!” she repeated, still tromping around the area, zigzagging from one end of the park to the next, perfectly aware the dog had kept running. She could be down any of the dark streets surrounding them.
Why hadn’t they gotten her chipped at the vet?
“I’m on my way now.” She heard his car start, and she prayed he’d been at Pat’s Pub because it was the closest bar to their building.
Another flash of lightning lit the sky, and she screamed.
“Jesus, Erik…calm down, baby. I’ll be there as quick as I can. It’s going to be okay. We’ll find her.”
She’d never told Blake about her fear of storms because the catalyst for that phobia was a story she wasn’t proud of. Blake only knew the super-straight, rule-follower Erika, and she’d never filled him in on her early wild-child reputation, ashamed of who she used to be.
“I was trying to take her out before the storm started,” she said. “But I got distracted.” By thoughts of him and Doug and how she was screwing up her life.
Blake stayed on the line with her while he drove home, his calm voice soothing her enough that she was able to stop crying.
They hung up when, ten minutes later, she saw him sprinting across the grassy field toward her. Erika ran to him, meeting him halfway, so grateful when he wrapped his arms around her, comforting her.
“It’s okay, Erik. It’s okay,” he soothed, even as he surveyed the area in search of Corky. “Which direction did she go?”
Erika pointed, and he grasped her hand, the two of them moving rapidly in that direction.
“There aren’t many places for her to hide in the park,” he pointed out, something Erika might have realized if she hadn’t let her terror take over.
They crossed the street, walking toward the row houses there. Most had shrubs adorning their front stoops.
Blake stopped when they reached the middle, glancing around them. Then he put two fingers in his mouth and blew, his whistle loud.
Corky was trained to respond to it, always racing to him. Erika had been impressed by the trick, even though it wasn’t one she could mimic. She couldn’t whistle to save her soul.
When Corky didn’t appear, Blake did it again as they both looked down the street.
Erika squinted, pointed to a large bush three houses away. “I think I see a flash of white!”
She and Blake rushed over to the bush, Blake reaching into his coat pocket to pull out a plastic container of Corky’s favorite treats. “Stopped for dog food and treats this afternoon on the way to the game. It was still in my car.”
