Page 113 of The Best Thing He Never Wanted

“With you.” Sabine looked genuinely astonished. “I have never seen him like this.”

“How long has he been here?”

“Nearly four months. He was found alone near the road. We do not know exactly what happened to him before, but he does not trust easily, especially men.”

Bea’s heart squeezed at that, and when she looked at Blane, he had gone quiet as he rubbed one large hand over Sifis’s little back.

“Well,” she said softly, “apparently he’s decided you’re all right.”

“Poor judgment.”

Sifis chose that moment to lick his chin.

Bea laughed. “Obviously.”

Sabine finally managed to persuade Sifis down from Blane’s lap with the promise of a treat, although he promptly planted himself against Blane’s boot while Bea finished the last of the paperwork.

She and Sabine talked briefly about when she might start helping, and when Sabine suggested she come back the following week and spend a morning learning the routine, Bea agreed readily. She was relieved by how simple it all seemed; there was no grand commitment and no expectation that she should already know what she was doing. She could simply turn up, learn what needed to be done and make herself useful, and she liked the thought of that more than she’d expected. It felt like another small piece of the life she had come here to build was beginning to settle into place.

When she handed the clipboard back, Blane got to his feet, and Sifis immediately scrambled upright too.

“Oh dear,” Bea murmured.

“Don’t start.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You were about to.”

“I was only going to say that I think someone might miss you.”

Blane looked down at the little dog, who was staring up at him as though waiting for instructions. “Yeah, well. He’ll get over it.”

Sifis gave one sharp bark.

Bea laughed. “I’m not sure he agrees.”

They said their goodbyes and stepped outside, and Bea was halfway across the yard before she realized Blane was no longer beside her. When she turned, she found him looking back toward the doorway, where Sifis stood behind Sabine, watching them go. And what Bea had thought was a sullen little face now looked terribly sad.

Blane stared back at him for a moment, then lifted one hand. “See you around, little man.”

He came to join Bea and slid his hand into hers as they walked toward the car. She didn’t tease him about the dog again, although she was sorely tempted; there was something about the way he’d looked back at Sifis that made her want to leave it alone.

When they pulled away, she glanced in the mirror and saw the little dog still standing in the doorway, watching them go.

Chapter Twenty-One

When he opened his eyes on Wednesday morning, it took Blane a few moments to figure out what had woken him. It was a sound, a constant in the background, familiar somehow, but so out of place here that his brain took a while to put a name to it. It was only when he turned his head that he saw the rain beating against the French doors that led out to the balcony. How about that?

Bea lifted her head and planted one hand in the middle of his chest, propping herself up as she looked past him. “Oh my goodness. Rain.”

He curled his arm around her. “Didn’t think they saw much of that here in the summer.”

“No, I think it’s fairly unusual. We’re not exactly into full summer yet, but I would have thought we were past spring showers.”

He watched, puzzled, as she wriggled away from him and got out of bed. When she pushed the curtains open wider and then opened the French doors, he sat up.

“What are you doing, darlin’?”