Page 24 of A Wife’s Duty

T he house was beautiful , stunning even. It was the perfect place to raise a family. The bedrooms were all ready and waiting for children. The main bedroom was still bare, no pictures, nothing. There was no real history here, but the love and dedication built into the property was clear.

Then there were the safe/panic rooms. They showed a man prepared for all eventualities, but they also showed a man with a lot of enemies to consider. This was not unusual to her.

She imagined, back home, her father had panic rooms, only none of his children, or at least herself, was aware of them. In the event of a home invasion, she would surely be dead.

Before Frank came back, she and Boone removed all the furniture covers and started to open up the house, airing it out.

There was some dust, but it was easily managed, as they both coughed and spluttered.

They were in the process of cleaning as Betty got herself comfortable on one of the large sofas they uncovered.

She looked toward Boone to see if he minded the dog being on the furniture, but he didn’t even glance in Betty’s direction.

She had always wanted a dog. Even when she was little and she saw them on the street, she had wanted a dog.

They were so adorable. Her father couldn’t stand them.

Whenever he was near, they made him have uncontrollable sneezes, which is why they were never allowed a dog.

Totally unfair and uncalled for, but that was her father.

Frank finally returned, only he didn’t just have dog food, Frank had come with toys, a bed, a bath, and all the essentials of raising a dog.

“You thought of everything,” Lucia said.

“Yeah, well, pieces of shit were hurting her, so I think it is only fair we treat her like a princess,” Frank said.

It would seem between Boone and Frank, they both had a soft spot for Betty.

“Come on then, let’s get you a bath ready. What do you think?” Lucia moved toward Betty’s side, and she didn’t even have to ask Boone for help.

He reached down and cradled the dog in his arms, as if she was so precious. In that moment, as he held a dog, a stranger to him at the start of the day, Lucia couldn’t help but fall in love with him. This made her stop as she looked at him.

Falling in love. It was the impossible thing to do, yet as she looked at him, she knew that was exactly how she felt. She had fallen in love with her husband, although this hadn’t been any kind of love match. This had been arranged. Was it possible for Boone to have feelings for her?

“Are you coming?” Boone asked.

He was already heading out toward the kitchen.

“You okay?” Frank asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”

She was not ready to talk about her feelings with him, or with anyone. She had fallen in love with Boone. It didn’t even seem possible to her. There was no way she was in love with him. That would be crazy.

She watched as he lowered Betty to the floor and ran his hand down the dog’s back. The bathtub Frank had purchased was behind him, and Frank was already filling it with water.

There was more to Boone than met the eye. She understood that, but what did it mean exactly?

She felt so compelled to watch him. He was so gentle with the dog, and she didn’t imagine for a second he’d been nice to the men who had kicked Betty.

She had done as he asked and not turned to look.

Lucia heard the commotion, but she trusted Boone, no one else.

She had kept her gaze forward, although the temptation to look back had been so strong.

She had refrained from doing so. That had been hard.

Boone looked up at her. “Are you coming to help? I don’t think she has ever been cared for, and she has gotten really attached to you.”

Lucia didn’t hesitate and got her ass moving closer to Boone.

She sat down, running both of her hands either side of Betty’s face.

“I’ve got you, sweet girl. I’ve got you, and you don’t need to worry about a thing.

” She leaned down and pressed her face against the dog’s head.

“I love you. Yes, I do. I love you.” She didn’t quite know if she was telling the dog she loved her, or trying to let Boone know she had developed feelings for him.

What would he do? What would he say? She pushed it out of her mind because there was no room to be thinking about any of that.

Working as a team, they were able to get Betty into the warm water.

She started off shaking, but Lucia didn’t stop talking to her, soothing her.

All she did was give directions and talk to Betty, without panicking.

She focused on the dog as Boone took the soap and began lathering up the dog. The scent was so adorable.

Lucia kept kissing the dog’s nose, and for her efforts, she would randomly get licked. It wasn’t long before Betty relaxed.

“You don’t think they punished her in a bath or anything, do you?” As she spoke, she did so in a singsong voice, so as not to raise Betty’s alarm and have her panicking.

“I fucking hope not, otherwise I’ll go back and kill them,” Frank said.

She looked toward Boone who nodded his head, but she wasn’t sure if he was agreeing with her or with Frank. Either way, those men were monsters, and Betty was now in good hands, as she was living with her and Boone.

“I love you.” She kissed her head. “And we’re going to take good care of you and love you. Everyone here. I think Frank already loves you, because he didn’t just get you food. No, he got you lots of toys, and a bed, and this bath.”

“Hey, I can’t help it. I’m a sucker for a girl in need, and this little angel was in need.”

Lucia laughed as he reached out and ruffled his head.

“But I wonder if Daddy will love you?” Lucia asked, looking over at Boone. “If I’m the mommy and we’re married, that will make you the daddy.”

Boone looked at her, and he kept staring at her intently. She didn’t know what he was thinking about, but she couldn’t look away. It was like she had been sucked into his gaze and there was nowhere out. Nowhere at all.

What was he thinking? Did he want to be Betty’s daddy?

Did he want to be a daddy at all? She had so many questions, but she spent years keeping them to herself, and she refused to break this, especially in front of Frank.

This was for a private conversation between her and her husband, and she didn’t need anyone listening in.

Although Frank was happily married with children.

She pushed all those thoughts out of her mind.

For the next hour, they washed Betty. It did appear the dog had never been cleaned, which was gross.

They had to change the bathwater, because it had gotten so dirty.

Once she was clean, they got her dried as best they could, and with the sun shining, Lucia took her out into the yard and allowed her to bask in the sunshine.

Betty did exactly that, spreading out, going from side to side. She sunbathed while Lucia sat on the ground beside her. Every now and then, she would touch her and run her hands up and down the length of her back.

Lucia didn’t know how anyone could harm an animal. She sat beside this adorable dog and already felt an overwhelming sense of protection for her. She wanted to take care of her, love her, give her a good life.

And while she did, she wanted to try and make sense of her feelings toward Boone. She’d never hated him, but for a short while she had feared her husband, or at least his reputation. She didn’t fear him now.

There was more to Boone than met the eye.

****

“D o you want me to go back and kill them?” Frank asked.

Boone turned toward the man and shook his head. “If we’re destined to meet them again, they’ll be dead, but for now they can live.”

“You’re kinder than I am. I think they should all be killed.”

Boone glanced out the kitchen window and watched as Lucia tilted her head toward the sun.

Every now and then, she would reach out, touch Betty, stroke the dog, then go back to her eyes closed, looking up at the sky.

The tormented look in her eyes had angered him.

The instant he saw it, he wanted to protect her, to let her know nothing bad was going to happen.

“Did you pick up any food when you went to the pet store?”

“Actually, I didn’t need to go to the pet store, I got everything in one trip. The rest of it is in the car. I’ll be right back.”

He wasn’t going to point out the obvious, that for the past couple of hours, if the guy had bought any meat or poultry, leaving it in a red-hot car had probably spoiled it.

Boone couldn’t help but be drawn to his wife.

She looked at peace here. When she called him “Daddy,” it had set something off inside him.

They had enjoyed each other a couple of times now, and he’d not reached for a condom.

It was fucking crazy to him to not have reached for condoms, knowing how important they were.

He never forgot about them. Yet, he hadn’t thought about the condoms with Lucia.

Never in his life had he been so careless.

It only took once. One time to have sex and produce a baby. He and Lucia could be parents now.

He had never even considered the possibility of becoming a father. Fatherhood was never on his list. What the fuck did he know about parenting? Yes, he had a great father. He had a great start in life, but that hadn’t lasted.

At the sound of Frank’s vomiting, Boone turned toward his friend. His face looked green.

“I boo-booed.”

Boone laughed. “The meat gone bad?”

“Fuck me, it has gone worse than bad. I think that stench has filled the car.” He wrinkled his nose. “Crap, Amy is going to kill me.”

This was not his problem.

“Do we have anything I can cook?” he asked, moving closer.

The stench of the rotting meat was overwhelming. He wrinkled his nose and tried to steer as clear from the man as humanly possible.

“You need to toss that shit out, and take it to the nearest dump,” Boone said.