Heart's Refuge

His passenger had absolutely nothing to say.

He should be getting used to that. Chloe’s bored expression made him think of his stepsister. Which was crazy, as they didn’t share a single drop of blood.

“It’s an animal shelter,” Chloe drawled. “No doubt it’ll be educational.”

Sarcasm. She and Jen spoke the same language, too. When he slanted a watch-your-tone look at his daughter, she held both hands up. “It’s Saturday. We could be doing something fun.”

Will couldn’t argue with that.

He studied the building through the windshield. The place was tired, needed to be landscaped and given a new paint job at the least. Even to his amateur eye, the roof was sorely in need of replacement.

Instead of exaggerating the shelter’s needs, Sarah might have been downplaying them. Could he walk away and get the petty revenge he wanted when it was clear this place and the animals it saved needed real help?

Could he play with the puppies and not pull out a checkbook?

“All right. Fifteen minutes, twenty tops. Then we’ll do something fun. You can pick.” Will opened his door and slid out. Chloe hopped out, as if this might have been the promise she’d been waiting for.

“Good. The lake. We’re going. We’ll swim.” She pointed a finger. “No phone calls.”

“We could rent a boat. Pick up lunch.” He saluted her to acknowledge the excellent plan. “You should be in charge every day.”

She held up her hand for a high five, something she’d picked up on the soccer field. He smacked her hand, grabbed it and pulled her close for a squirmy hug.

“Twenty minutes...and go.” Squaring his shoulders, Will walked over to the door, held it open and stepped inside right behind Chloe. “Hello? Anybody here?” The place was unexpected on the inside, too. Clean, if ragged, with a nice pine scent.

Bub ambled around the corner first, followed by Sarah. “Sorry, we were out back cleaning up the yard now that the animals are inside.”

The surprises kept coming. Instead of ridiculously expensive clothes and seriously hot shoes, she was wearing denim and cotton and the kind of black boots he imagined farmers wore to milk the cows. Even in weekend casual jeans and a polo, he was overdressed for this tour.

Sarah fidgeted with her ponytail, waiting for him to say something, but he was stumped. Then he realized she was wearing no makeup, no lipstick, no nothing. The only hint of the seductress was in the red nails that tapped on the scratched linoleum counter.

“Introduce me to the rest of the committee?” Sarah pointed to Chloe, who’d stopped as close to the door as she could.

“This is my daughter, Chloe. We’re on our way to the lake.” When he felt a weight on his foot, Will glanced down to see Bub perched on his sneaker. The dog sighed as he leaned against Will’s leg and glanced up at him, tongue dangling out of his mouth.

Should he object? Unseat the dog? He glanced up to see both Sarah and Chloe watching him.

Moving Bub could wait.

Chloe stepped forward to shake Sarah’s hand.

Like an adult. A serious, fully grown woman.

Except she was wearing pink shorts and black sneakers that squeaked with each step.

For a brief second, Sarah’s lips flattened, but she pasted on a smile. “It’s a beautiful day out there. I won’t take much of your time.”

“Twenty minutes.” Chloe motioned over her shoulder. “He promised. The guy works all the time. It’s Saturday.” The exasperated expression on her face was a carbon copy of his ex-wife’s.

He’d heard similar complaints from Olivia regularly.

Sarah clasped her hands in front of her and nodded seriously. “Sure, but does his work always include cute cats?”

“No, that’s new.” Chloe pursed her lips. “Where are they?”

“Ah, someone who likes to cut to the chase. I wonder where you get that?” When Sarah’s eyes met his, he could see she was teasing him.

They weren’t friends. Maybe they weren’t enemies, either.

Sarah pointed at the hallway. “Follow me?”

“Show me your cats.” Chloe marched around the corner, pulling Sarah and Will along in her wake.

Giant miscalculation, Barnes. A kid, surrounded by cats and dogs ready for adoption. What are you going to say when she finds the one that has to come home with you?

He’d say no. When Chloe was in Austin, he would be working. All the time. No animal would be happy or healthy with a setup like that.

He was a person and didn’t really enjoy it.

But it was too late for sound judgment now.

“Realizing you didn’t think everything through?” Sarah wrinkled her nose, the teasing glint in her eyes returning. “Kids love pets.”

Will nodded. “Yeah. Let’s get on with the tour.”

Sarah saluted. “Bathroom. Cramped conference room.” They paused in front of a door with a large glass window. Inside he could see concrete floors, cinder-block pens with chain-link gates. Everything was fresh and clean. “Prepare yourself. There will be barking.”

She was right. Inside the room, conversation was impossible. He walked down the line and read the cards. “Good with kids. Needs special care. House-trained.”

Sarah motioned them to follow and then stopped in front of a large window. The room on the other side held a few smaller cages, an interesting jungle gym and cats of different colors and sizes. “Cats don’t cause much fuss,” she said. Where the dogs rushed their gates to speak to him, the cats sat back and eyed him coolly.

Chloe immediately stepped close to the glass, her breath fogging the window.

Sarah shot him a sympathetic glance. “You can go inside if you like.”

“No” burned on the tip of his tongue, but Chloe’s pleading eyes made it impossible to say. He waved a hand at the door. Chloe slipped inside so fast that she missed him say, “Don’t get too attached. We aren’t taking one home.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets as he watched Chloe carefully approach a fat orange cat. They stared at each other for a long minute before Chloe reached out slowly to run a finger over the cat’s head. A dog would have probably knocked her to the ground and licked her from head to toe at this point.

“I think I must be a cat person.” He appreciated the quiet and reserve. “Although Bub is nice, too.”

Sarah blinked at him for a minute. “I did not expect you to say that. Better take a look at your pants before you commit.”

He glanced down to see the white hairs dotting his pants. “How does a brown dog leave white hairs?”

“Unsolved mystery,” Sarah said.

“Time to clean the litter boxes,” a small, older woman sang as she came down the hall.

No one should be that happy about cat litter.

Sarah’s lips were twitching as she said, “Shelly, can you keep an eye on Chloe?”

“You got it, Sarah.” Shelly slipped inside.

“Shelly’s one of the volunteers keeping the doors open.” Sarah led him into another room. “Food, treats, toys, everything we might need for the cats or dogs stays in this room and we keep a careful inventory.” Sarah pointed at a long line of bowls. “Shelly’s getting ready to feed the cats next.”

“All by herself?” The cat-to-person ratio seemed high.

“Usually I help.” Sarah led him back to the hallway. “The vets who volunteer sometimes use these exam rooms. We take the animals to the clinics for anything out of the ordinary, but the van isn’t running. Needs a new battery.” She shoved open a heavy door. “And this is our exercise yard.”

Will stepped out behind her to see that this part of the shelter was also immaculate. Beyond the fences was another grassy area but it was overgrown. “What do you use that for?”

Sarah studied the fence. “Well, if we could repair the fences, we’d use it as another exercise yard. The shelter has room to grow, so we could increase our capacity, but not without more volunteers and some improvements.”

And that was the critical point. They both knew it.

“Come back to the director’s office. It’s cramped, but if you have a minute, I’d appreciate your opinion on the information I worked on last night. If I’m on the right track, I’ll keep going.” Sarah rubbed her forehead. “You will let me meet with Rebecca, won’t you? If I have to, I’ll wait for her at the grocery store and spring out from the frozen foods. I need this.”

His steely reserve was faltering. This was not a big surprise.

“Show me what you’ve got.” Maybe he was going to cave, but he wouldn’t make it easy for her.

Sarah’s fist pump of victory was premature, at least as far as she knew, but he enjoyed the way she lit up. Today she was young and honest and completely trustworthy. It was too bad they hadn’t met today for the first time.

She moved back through the building at twice the speed of the tour. Will stopped in front of the cat room to check on his daughter. Chloe had worked her way across half the room. She and Shelly were discussing a black cat perched high in the corner.

When he got Chloe’s attention, he pointed in the direction of the office, and she nodded quickly to dismiss him.

Is the lake enough to get her out of here without a cat?

He might have to throw in the new tablet, too.

“Come on. My twenty minutes are up.” When Sarah hit the door to the office and it refused to budge, she muttered under her breath. “Stupid warped door. Cooperate with me this once.”

A loud squeak brought Bub running, and all three of them walked into the office.

Sarah motioned at the couch. “Move Bub out of your way. He’s staying in here with me until we reopen to surrenders. Have a seat.” He watched her shimmy between two tall stacks of files and pick up a notebook from a pile of papers on the desk.

Sarah wedged herself in next to him to keep from disturbing Bub. He’d rolled up into a tiny ball and was watching the action through drowsy eyes.

At this close range, Will could see that Sarah was tired, worried and still so pretty it was hard to think of her as Sarah Hillman, high school terror.

Like a drowning man grasping for a rope, Will studied the papers in her hands. “What have you got to show me?”

“Well, now that you’ve had the tour, you know the list of things the shelter needs is extensive. The most critical items are written down in order.” She pointed at a handwritten list. “Sorry. No computer. I think the last manager took the laptop with her.”

Deciphering the words took some work. “Utilities. Staff. Repairs.” He couldn’t argue with her rankings. “Do you have numbers? I’m sure you know plenty of guys who can help you do the math.”

“Help me do the math? Nice zinger, Will.” Sarah snatched the notepad away.

It had been an easy shot. Since he’d been her designated math nerd in high school, on call for homework answers and class notes as needed, he knew how she operated. So why did taking the easy shot feel so mean?

Sarah pointed at the messy desk. “I will definitely get the numbers. I’ve started sorting everything to come up with a yearly estimate for all the utilities. I’ll add in a manager’s salary and coordinate the volunteers myself. The rest of the staffing can come at some later point. As far as the rest, we need to clean up the lobby and make repairs on the van we use to transport animals to adoption events and the vet.”

Will worked the paper out of her fist and flipped through her outline. What she’d come up with was pretty impressive. She had a long way to go but her plan was solid. Just as surprising was that she’d done every bit of the work by herself. She was anxiously watching his face, and he wondered why she hadn’t enlisted reinforcements.

“I could have something ready to go next week, if you’ll promise me a chance to meet with Rebecca. Otherwise, I’ll be wasting a lot of time outside your office, me and my howling dog.”

“Fill in the blanks and I’ll make sure you sit down with Rebecca, Stephanie and Jen. That’s all I can do.” Even though the logical voice in his head was telling him he should have stood his ground, Will couldn’t. Whatever her faults were, she had a good cause. This fit the criteria he’d been given: the shelter made Holly Heights a better place. Rebecca would make her own decisions.

Sarah’s head dropped back and she closed her eyes, some of the tension melting away as he watched.

“This isn’t a done deal, though. My sister, in particular, has a long memory and—”

Sarah threw her arms around Will’s neck quickly enough to cause a thoroughly relaxed Bub to grumble his discomfort. “Thank you, Will Barnes. Without this shot, I don’t know what I’d do.”

She rested her head on his shoulder without letting go of him. And the sad truth was she didn’t feel like a villain pressed against him. She felt so right. Cotton and denim and messy hair might be her alter ego but it worked. His hands landed gently on her back and he slid them up and down, enjoying her weight against him until she sniffed in his ear.

“Are you crying?” Will urged her back, worried at how reluctant he was to unwrap her arms from his neck.

“Little bit.” Sarah laughed and wiped the tears from her eyes before she met his stare. He had no idea what to say to that anyway, so he waited.

“I’m so relieved.” She wrapped her arm around a concerned Bub and kissed his head. “No worries, Bub.”

“You don’t have any money yet.” Tears. If only she’d known how well they’d work against him, she could have started there.

“I know, but this was the part I was really afraid of.” Sarah shook her head. “Asking for help.”

“Try being...” He wasn’t sure what the right word was.

“Nice? I wasn’t sure you thought I had it in me.” She blinked and sniffed again over a shaky smile.

“Honest. Let’s go with that. Don’t play games and I’ll see what I can do to help.”

Whatever she had to say in response was lost as the lights went out. A faint yowl sounded from the cat room. Will could hear footsteps pounding toward the office.

“Boss! We’ve got an injury.” Shelly and Chloe rounded the corner into the small room, Chloe’s arm held out in front of them. “Jelly took exception to the sudden darkness.”

Sarah hurried over to the desk and pulled out a first-aid kit. “Oh, no. I hope you and Jelly are both okay, Chloe.”

Be cool. It’s a scratch. She’s had worse.

“Let me see.” Will took Chloe’s arm and pulled her closer to the window before opening the blinds. Long red scratches ran down her forearm. Bumps, bruises, even a sprained ankle—she’d gotten them all on the soccer field, at one time or another. But Chloe loved soccer. She hadn’t even wanted to come with him today. “Looks like Jelly hates the dark almost as much as you do.”

He never should have dragged her here.

Chloe didn’t laugh, so Will studied her face. She wasn’t crying, but her cheeks were pale.

“You don’t leave kids unattended with the animals, do you?” He yanked the disinfectant out of Sarah’s hand and applied it carefully.

“No, I don’t.” Sarah offered him a tube of antibiotic.

“I was with her.” Shelly stood in the doorway, her hands tangled together. “I’m sorry.”

Will gritted his teeth. Snapping wouldn’t accomplish anything. And it was a scratch, nothing major. Even if Chloe hadn’t said a word yet.

No need to worry about saying no to adopting a cat this time. Jelly had handled that all by herself.

“Animals can be unpredictable,” Sarah murmured.

Chloe nodded when Sarah patted her shoulder. Then she took the large adhesive bandage from Will and covered the deepest area of the scratches herself. “I’ll wait for you outside, Dad. Time’s up, I think.”

Will stood and watched her go.

Shelly covered her face with both hands. “Sarah, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t even using the outlet that flips the breaker this time.”

Sarah crossed the crowded office and squeezed Shelly’s shoulder. “No, I know. The electric company finally caught up with us. And the thing with Jelly was an accident. Go ahead and feed all the animals. I’ll get everything straightened out.”

“I can drop the payment off on the way home.” Shelly peeked at Will and said, “I’m really sorry. Please let Chloe know she was such a big help.”

Proud of himself for not overreacting to the injury, Will tipped his chin. He would pass the words along. Someday. Probably not today. Not until he was sure they were safely out of cat-adoption territory.

Sarah waved Shelly on. “I’ll take the cash I have on hand and put some sugar with it, see if I can buy more time. But thank you for offering.” Her smile was bright, and even though it didn’t match the worry and defeat in her eyes, Shelly bought it. She gave Sarah a thumbs-up and left.

“We better get you out of here. Ten minutes on the lake on a day like today will fix Chloe’s world. Whenever my daddy took me out on the lake, I had a hard time holding on to my teenage angst.” Sarah moved to the doorway and motioned regally as if escorting him out of the cramped office.

“Hoping a quick exit will keep me from getting mad about the cat and taking back my offer to help?” Sarah blinked slowly. What made him think that was more for effect than actual surprise?

“It was an accident. Chloe and Jelly were probably both startled when the lights went out. And both of them are fine.” Sarah smoothed her ponytail over her shoulder. “You see that.”

She didn’t follow up by saying, Any reasonable person would. But he could hear the words all the same.

“How much cash do you have? Enough to catch up?” Even as he asked, he wasn’t sure why he wanted to know.

“No, but if I go and make my case...” Sarah led him to the door. “I’ll give it my best shot.”

Will sighed. “Let me see what I can do. I know some people over at the electric company.” He’d already called on every single executive and member of the board of directors. The instinct to start there had been solid. One of his two new clients could help. “I’ll find out the minimum they need and see if I can get the lights turned on fast. Animals need electricity, right?” He’d have to do it while Chloe was distracted. No phones. That was the rule.

“I’ll take care of it. You’ve already been such a big help.” She opened the door and stepped back to let him pass.

“Try it your way, but if that doesn’t work, let’s see if I can’t come up with a solution.” To please her, he stepped back into the lobby. From here, he could see Chloe leaning against his truck, her cell phone in one hand. If she was taking a photo for social media, he was going to be in so much trouble. Olivia would have plenty to say about that scratch.

Will pulled out his phone and started checking his online accounts before scrolling through his contacts. Get the shelter situation settled. Distract Chloe. That was the plan for the rest of the day.

“Why would you help? Two days ago you were ready to call the cops. Two minutes ago you wanted to let me have it because your daughter got hurt. But you’ll call in favors for me? I don’t get it.” Her eyes were bright with tears, red and swollen to match her nose. Her T-shirt was covered in hair of every color imaginable.

“You need my help. That’s why.” It was as simple and complicated as that.

“I do,” she said, and then sniffed. “I really do.”

Her breakdown didn’t last long enough for him to figure out what to do about it. She straightened her shoulders and said, “Thank you, Will. That’s all I can say right now. Someday I hope I’ll be in a position to help you or someone else the way you’ve helped me already.”

“Okay. Fine. Come into the office on Monday and we’ll take a look at what you’ve got.”

Sarah trailed him to the parking lot. Bub peered out at them through the shelter’s glass door.

“You okay?” he asked as he turned the key in the ignition.

Chloe grunted. “Yeah, but you better not be going back on your word. That was more than twenty minutes.” She waved her bandaged arm. “And I have the wound to prove it.”

“One call. That’s it. Then we hit the lake. Hard.” He pulled out his cell phone and flipped through his contacts until he landed on the vice president of operations at the local electric cooperative. When John Garcia answered, they made small talk about the weather and golf games. Then Will said, “I’ve got a big favor to ask. I have a friend who’s behind on the bills for the animal shelter she’s running. Is there any way I could come by and make a payment and you could get the lights back on this afternoon?” When John agreed, Will said, “Great, I’m on my way.”

He ended the call and counted down to Chloe’s angry outburst.

Instead, she said, “One stop. Then we hit the lake. Hard.” When she held up her hand, he high-fived it and then rolled down the windows. One stop and he’d put Paws for Love and Sarah Hillman out of his mind.

CHAPTER FOUR

AFTER WEARING HERSELF out making lists of things to fix and people to call, Sarah closed the washing machine door and jammed it shut with the table knife stored on top. A towel was already on the floor to catch any drips, but she nudged it closer before she twisted the knob to start the wash. Doing laundry every day was a drag.

Doing laundry at all was a drag. And getting the beat-up machine in the shelter’s cramped supply closet to work took real engineering. Every day, about this time, she remembered fondly the space-age shiny washer and dryer in her sweet condo.

Oh, well. In her new place, she’d have fancy machines with all the bells and whistles, but this time she’d know how awesome her washer and dryer were.

Someday. This whole experiment in taking care of herself had started as a way to make sure everything seemed normal. One day her dad was there. The next he was gone and the police wanted to know where, when and why.

Playing dumb had been easy enough. All her father had said before he slid into his Cadillac was “Take care of business.”

At the dealership, that had been his way of telling her he was out to lunch and she was in charge.

Mainly, she’d been in charge of telling people when Bobby Hillman would be back.

Now she wished she had a clue.

Every day, her situation got a little more serious. Selling everything she loved, except for the convertible, was about as low as she could go.

Or so she’d thought. Now she was daydreaming about fancy laundry equipment—a sign her life had taken a drastic turn.

She hit Start and stared at the knob when nothing happened. Then she realized the electricity was still out. She’d been squinting at the notepad in her office for so long a wrinkle was forming over the bridge of her nose, and now she’d tried to start the washing machine. In the dark. Like an idiot.

“So many talents I never knew I had. None of them are worthwhile without electricity,” she said with a sigh, and glanced over at Bub. He was patiently carrying around his plastic bowl. He would continue to do so until she’d crossed every single item off the to-do list. “Good idea. Let’s eat.”

Bub, the smartest person in the room, knew exactly what she meant. His wagging tail shook his whole body when she took his bowl and filled it with dry dog food. “Such a good boy you are.” She wasn’t sure he could hear her over his own crunching but surely he got the gist.

Bub’s fortunes had been a roller-coaster ride. First, he’d been abandoned at the town’s landfill, then rescued by some well-meaning types who didn’t know what to do with a puppy. Since he’d been surrendered, he’d bounced from one foster to the latest one who’d brought him back to the shelter, intent on ending her association with Paws for Love due to the unsavory Hillman connection.

Sarah had made Bub her roommate. Temporarily. When the shelter was staffed and reopened to surrenders, Bub would go back into the general population. For now, she was his foster.

Living out of a suitcase and sleeping on the office’s couch.

Poor Bub.

Finally, instead of a rampaging beast intent on carnage, Bub was a normal dog again. He’d reached the point in his meal where he could sit and savor. Sarah pulled down the loaf of white bread and the peanut butter jar to make her thousandth sandwich.