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“Not that old, then.”

“Nope... Just not in fashion anymore,” Dana stated bitterly, before shifting to a reassuring tone. “Hey, boy! How are you doing? Are you hungry? Come here. Come on!”

The dog whimpered as she called to him, limping forward and back again with his tail between his legs.

“It’s okay, we’re going to take good care of you. Come here, boy.” More whimpering, almost like crying, as the animal clearly fought his impulse to come forward. In an agony of indecision. “Someone hurt this one too, you know?”

“You think so?”

“Yeah. He’s got that look about him.”

“He seems so lost andexhausted,” Olivia murmured.

“Yeah, and you can see he’s torn between his desire to trust us and the fear of it.”

“Hmm.”

Olivia bit her lip as she recalled seeing an eerily similar expression in the eyes of the woman she loved—and more than once. She had noticed the raging conflict. She recognized an almost painful desire to trust and let go, but also fear and reluctance at the same time. Grace was caught in the middle, lost in her contradictions.

“You okay?” Dana elbowed her in the ribs.

“Yeah, yeah. But this is sad.”

“We’ll make it better. You grab the blanket, Oli, and I’ve got treats. Let’s bring him in.”

It took ten minutes of back-and-forth to win the dog over without adding more trauma. Finally, Olivia bundled him into the blanket, and they carried him back to the truck with his tail tentatively wagging.

“The leg’s not broken, just sprained.” Dana wrapped a tight bandage around the limb, laughing when the dog licked her face in gratitude. “You’re welcome, my friend. Olivia?”

“Yes?”

“Stop crying, babe.”

“Oh…”

“We’ll go via the practice to give him a warm bath, but then I’m taking this one home. No shelter for him tonight.”

Olivia wiped her eyes, surprised to find tears on her cheeks, indeed. Was she crying for this dog, who looked at Dana with such innocent love in his big brown eyes despite what hurt may have been inflicted by another heartless human being? Or for a woman who was just as starved of warmth and affection, whose wounded past made her resist falling in love a second time?

“Can I hold him on the front seat?” she asked.

“Yes. And leave him in the blanket so he stays warm.”

Across the seats, the animal kept his good leg extended and his paw on Dana’s thigh as she drove, as if he could not bear not to be in contact with her for a second. And he never took his eyes off her face.

“Good boy.” She smiled and patted him on the head. “Look at you wagging your tail again! You are so cute.”

“What will Mel say to you bringing home another rescue, D.?”

“Oh, she’ll be fine. Did I tell you we are moving soon?”

“No!” Olivia stared in surprise. “Where are you going?”

“Only a couple streets over from where we are now.” Dana laughed at her puzzled expression. “Just to a bigger house. This way, Mel will have an entire room for her ever-growing library and a separate office for her writing.”

“Alright. Good idea.”

“Yeah. She buys the books and I bring home the doggies. It works for us. Hey, wanna come for dinner to celebrate another successful rescue?”