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“Fine.” He sounded grumpy, but a flicker of a smile crossed his face, and I suspected he didn’t mind the suggestion. “This time I’m not letting you win.”
Cam went out then, and I was left alone in his house with the dogs. The little pups wriggled and nosed at their mother, their soft fur and rounded snouts making my heart melt every time I looked at them. The mother dog was exhausted, I could tell. “I’m sure anyone would be tired,” I told her. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through—away from everyone you know, having to start again.” I let my hand smooth her matted coat. “Maybe I know a little bit. But you’ve got little ones to look out for too. And did you get in a fight? Did you meet the mountain lion?”
After a few minutes I stood up and stretched, and then let my eyes roam the living room. Cam’s house was comfortable, but not very personal. There were no photos on the walls, no knick-knacks or mementos on the shelves or countertops. The kitchen was clean and functional, and though I didn’t work up the nerve to check, I suspected his bedroom would be much the same. Cam lived in this house—had for a couple years, as I understood it—but the house had all the warmth of a briefly occupied hotel room. It made me feel a little bit hollow, looking around at the stark impersonal space—a little bit lonely on his behalf.
Cam was a mystery in a lot of ways. I guessed he didn’t share his beliefs about being cursed with most people, and I wondered if even his sister knew about that.
I should probably have been telling myself to let him be. But my own loneliness and curiosity prevented it. I knew I shouldn’t, but damn if I didn’t find myself wanting to save him, wishing I could shine some light inside the darkness that let him believe he could never get close to anyone again.
The big dog whimpered, and I returned to her side, laying a hand against her flank so she’d know I was still there. “It’s okay, girl.”
After about twenty minutes, Cam returned with a woman at his side. They stepped through the door as I stood up, and I recognized Annie immediately—the wild curls, the perfect dark skin, and the aura of fun that seemed to glow around her, shining from her almost-gold eyes.
“Harper?” she said, a wide grin breaking across her face as she walked toward me.
“Hi Annie,” I said, mirroring her smile. “It’s been forever.”
“Oh my God. I haven’t seen you since we were…”
“Like seven,” I told her.
She pulled me into a hug then, and I hugged my old friend back. It had been years—decades—that was true. But Annie and I had been co-conspirators as little girls, sharing secrets and having wild adventures together when we escaped our parents’ watchful eyes. I’d admit I hadn’t thought of her in a long time, but seeing her again felt like truly coming home in a way that just being in Kings Grove didn’t, in a way that seeing my father again definitely had not. Here was a piece of me, in this beautiful woman who I’d known as a little girl—here was a piece of my past that only she held. I had no siblings, and my childhood secrets were shared mostly with Annie, whispered promises and giggled ideas about everything from the salamanders we’d fish out of the stream to the someday weddings we dreamed about. Something loosened inside me when she hugged me, and I found myself feeling more centered than I’d ever managed to through any amount of yoga.
“It’s great to see you,” she said, and when Annie said something, you could tell she really meant it. Her authenticity radiated from her, making me feel included, understood.
“You too.”
“We’re going to have to catch up for real,” she said. “But first, I’d better take a look at mom dog over here.” Annie crossed the room and lowered herself next to the dogs. “Cam,” she said, as she picked up each pup and looked it over before replacing it at the big dog’s stomach, “I never pegged you for the soft-hearted rescue dog type.”
“I didn’t have much of a choice,” he said, settling in an armchair nearby.
“That’s not exactly true,” I said, earning myself a narrowed gaze from him. I plopped down in the chair next to him, watching Annie examine the bigger dog. “We heard the dog crying and howling, and he took her food and water. He pretends to be all tough and distant, but I suspect Cameron here has a pretty mushy interior under this hard shell.” I glanced at Cam and poked him in the arm. He looked surprised at my words, caught off guard.
“Guess you can think whatever you want,” he said, the hard edge of his voice missing.
“Thanks,” I teased, grinning at him.
I could tell he was trying not to let me in, didn’t want to smile, to banter, but I kept my smile aimed at him and after a few seconds, one side of his mouth lifted as he shook his head. Cameron was a tough nut to crack, but breaking through the protective barrier he erected around himself was a reward in itself—and I was a gold star kind of girl. Driven to achieve and to beat whatever challenges lay before me. Plus, when Cam smiled, my insides flipped over in a way I was coming to enjoy a lot.
“Mom’s dehydrated and probably exhausted,” Annie said. “And this wound definitely needs cleaning.” Annie went back to the door and picked up the medical bag she’d dropped there. She gave the dog a shot of something, “just to keep her calm,” she explained. And then she went to work, using a pan of warm water and some gauze to clean out the nasty gash on the dog’s tail end, and then stitching it up carefully after she’d shaved around the wound and injected some anesthetic. Finally, she smeared on some antibiotic ointment and covered the gash with a bandage. “You’ll need to change this each day,” she told Cam.
“If the dog will let me touch her,” he said, sounding doubtful.
“I can help,” I volunteered, kneeling by the dog’s head.
Annie attached the IV, and once the dog was resting, her babies nuzzling at her tummy, Cam offered us some coffee.
Seated around his small table, Annie said. “She doesn’t have a collar. You going to name her?”
“Don’t know that I’m keeping her,” Cam said.
“Well, you’re keeping her for six weeks or so,” Annie said with a mock-stern tone. “Until the pups are big enough to give away or sell. Might want to give her a name until then, at least.”
“Cinderella,” I suggested, shooting out the first thing that came to mind.
Cam wrinkled his nose at me. “No,” he said.
“Princess?” Annie suggested.
