Page 22 of Chasing Shelter (Sparrow Falls #5)

ELLIE

I woke to a phone ringing and a dog licking my cheek. “Gremlin,” I mumbled, trying to grab him and fumble for my phone at the same time. I failed at both. The dog dive-bombed my face, and my phone clattered to the floor.

“Oh, God. Gross, Gremlin. That was my mouth.” I tried not to gag as I swung to sitting and swiped my phone off the floor. “Hello?” I greeted without looking.

“Are you okay?” Linc demanded. “You didn’t answer, and you’re out of breath.”

“In overprotective mode much? I was sleeping .”

“Oh. Sorry for waking you.”

“Told you, Cowboy,” I heard Arden say from the background. “Not everyone likes to rise at dawn like you.”

“And not everyone keeps vampire hours like you ,” he shot back.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Gremlin must’ve liked the sound because he barked and jumped, spinning on the bed.

“What was that?” Linc demanded.

“Breathe, ConCon,” I said, swiping up Gremlin and sliding my feet into bright, fuzzy purple slippers covered in hearts. They’d been an impulse purchase in town, and I loved them. “I got a dog.”

“A dog?” he parroted.

“I want to meet him or her,” Arden called over the line.

“Would you put us on speaker?” I asked with a laugh as I headed downstairs, not bothering to put on anything but the oversized T-shirt I was wearing—a T-shirt that was the perfect amount of worn.

One that was just the right level of softness to sleep in.

A tee that still smelled like sandalwood and black pepper. Trace’s shirt.

“Fine. Putting you on speaker,” Linc grumbled.

“I want to see the baby,” Arden called.

“One sec. I’m taking him out.” I unlocked the back door and stepped out onto the porch, making a beeline for the grass. “There you go, buddy.”

“What kind is he? Where’d you get him?” Arden kept going with a rapid-fire list of questions.

I laughed as I watched to make sure Gremlin did his business. “I’m not sure, but he’s little. And he found me. He was under the dumpster outside The Mix Up.”

“And you just took him home?” Linc barked. “He could have diseases.”

“You sound like Trace,” I grumbled.

“Then Trace has some sense,” Linc shot back.

“Trace has met him?” Arden asked, but I heard a hint of something in her tone.

“I ran into him right after I found Gremlin. He took me to the pet supply store,” I explained as I snapped a picture of my pup.

“Suddenly, the photo you sent yesterday makes more sense,” Arden said, a smile evident in her voice.

“Gremlin?” Linc asked, sounding appalled.

I sent the photo to Linc’s phone so they could see.

“Oh my goodness. Those ears,” Arden cooed.

“Total little gremlin,” I said with a laugh.

“He doesn’t even look like a dog,” Linc muttered .

“Watch your mouth,” I snapped. “You’re going to hurt his feelings.”

“Brutus will love him,” Arden said. “We’ll have to have a playdate.”

“Yeah, why don’t you come over today?” Linc suggested. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“I’m actually going to the farmer’s market with Thea and Fallon this afternoon, but what about tomorrow?” I asked.

“Okay,” Linc agreed, but his tone was a little sullen.

“Let her live her life, Cowboy. You’re going to smother her.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of me. “She’s good for you, ConCon.”

“I don’t think I like you two ganging up on me,” he muttered.

I headed back inside, Gremlin tucked under my arm. “That’s good for you, too.”

“Damn straight,” Arden agreed.

“I’m ending this call before this gets any worse,” Linc said with a groan.

“Love you both,” I called.

“Love you, too, El Bell,” Linc said as he ended the call.

I set Gremlin down and grinned. My brother was happy. And with a woman who was incredibly good for him. He deserved that more than anyone I knew.

I headed for the kitchen and coffee. I might not be a cook, but I had coffee down—well, as much as you could have down putting one of those little pods in the machine and waiting for the caffeinated goodness.

After getting that going, I prepped Gremlin’s food. The second I went for the bag, he started dancing around in little twirls across the kitchen. “Good to know you like this ridiculously expensive food.”

I put a scoop into one of the bright bowls covered in an adorable pattern of flowers and bones and set it on the floor next to his water. Gremlin dove in like, well, a gremlin. The sounds he made while eating were slightly terrifying but also adorable.

As my coffee started to pour from the machine, I grabbed my cell to check my email and stilled. The little red notification bubbles on my texts read one hundred and thirteen, and the phone app had sixty-seven. My stomach hollowed out as I tapped on the Messages icon.

There were only a couple of threads with new stuff: one from Thea, confirming our outing today, one from Linc asking if I was awake yet, and one from Bradley.

I rocked from my heels to my tiptoes as I stared at the thread. I could only read the preview, but that was in all caps. ANSWER ME! WHERE ARE YOU?!

I worried the inside of my cheek. I could just delete it and never know what Bradley had to say. But that felt scarier somehow. I held my breath and tapped his name.

Bradley

I think it’s time we talk, don’t you?

Bradley

We’re both adults. And I think we need some closure.

Bradley

Stop playing games, Eleanor.

He always used my formal name when he was pissed. Like he was my parent and not my fiancé.

Bradley

Where the hell are you? It’s after midnight there. Why aren’t you answering?

Bradley

Are you fucking someone right now?

Bradley

Whoring yourself out now that you’re penniless

Bradley

I’m sorry..youilk just makegjj me so mad89o. Butkl it’s cause I lovehui

The messages went on in an increasingly hard-to-read fashion.

Cycling from berating to begging for forgiveness and back again.

Something about seeing that cycle in written form had something clicking into place.

It made me realize that it had always been this way.

A pattern of Bradley being an ass and then trying to soothe it away with presents, trips, and flowers.

It had never gotten this bad before. Not until the night I’d ended things. But the pattern was there all the same. Waiting for the right trigger to take it further .

I didn’t need to look at my phone app to know the calls and voicemails were from him, too.

The majority of them were probably him rambling in a drunken haze.

As I stared at the device, it started ringing.

It made no sound, still in my sleep setting where only Linc’s and Arden’s calls went through, but Bradley’s call still lit up the screen.

I hit decline. It instantly began ringing again. I rejected that call, too. But it only started the process over again. My heart hammered against my ribs as I once more hit decline. He called again.

A sick feeling swept through me as I switched my phone to Do Not Disturb , stopping any calls from coming through.

I quickly maneuvered to my chain with Bradley and hit the info button.

My finger hovered over the Block icon for a second.

Something I hadn’t managed to do up until this point.

As if it were safer to know where his head was at.

But I couldn’t live like this anymore. Taking a deep breath, I tapped it.

I hoped relief would sweep through me as I turned off Do Not Disturb, and no calls started again, but that relief didn’t come.

Something was seriously wrong, and I didn’t have the first clue how to deal with it.

I could call his mother to see if she could get him some help.

I knew from all the time I’d spent with their family over the years that Helen truly loved and cared about him.

But reaching out to her would only entrench me back in that world, and I wasn’t sure she would even listen to me.

My doorbell rang, startling a strangled yelp out of me, which only sent Gremlin into a barking fit.

“Ellie? Are you okay?” Trace’s voice boomed through the door.

I tried to call back and say that I was fine, but my voice felt rusty, and I couldn’t get the words out.

“I’m coming in,” he yelled.

A second later, the door flew open, and Trace strode in. Gremlin took it as a call to attack, yapping like crazy and running for Trace’s ankles.

“Ow! Jesus, that hurt,” Trace clipped as Gremlin nipped at his jeans-clad legs.

“Gremlin, stop,” I ordered. “He’s a friend.” That was the command that always worked with Arden’s dog, Brutus. But Gremlin gave no fucks about my command and kept biting away.

“Puppy!” a new voice yelled.

Gremlin’s head snapped up at the new intruder. The second he saw Keely, he took off running.

Trace and I yelled, “ No” at the same time, but it was too late. Gremlin launched himself at her.