“Just a few streets over. Off of Main Street.”
“And you moved in there a month ago? I can’t believe I didn’t hear anything about it. Usually news spreads like wildfire around here.”
“Between my work and Dad’s physical therapy I’m gone more than I’m home, so there’s probably not much news to spread.”
“I can sympathize. I probably wouldn’t be home at all if I didn’t teach piano lessons here.”
“This used to be your uncle’s studio, didn’t it?”
“I’m surprised you remember.”
“How could I forget? Seth had carpool duty the year he got his license. We’d pick you up from school and drop you off here. Then interrupt whatever we were doing to come back and bring you home.”
“That’s right. I’d forgotten. But now that you mention it, I seem to recall a few very tense car rides.” She was smiling again, her face soft with memories, her fingers tapping against the kitchen counter.
She’d grown into her fey eyes and stubborn chin, grown into the gangly arms and legs that had been too skinny when she was a teen. Now, dressed in white slacks and matching jacket, a vivid blue tank top in some silky material beneath it, she looked like the accomplished professional she’d become. A very attractive professional, and Cade wasn’t sure he was comfortable with the change.
Nor was he comfortable leaving her alone in the house when his gut said there was more to the open door than there seemed to be.
So maybe now was the time to try a little persuasion.
He straightened, placing his empty can on the counter. “If you’re sure you’re not interested in going to the SPCA, then I’d better head out.”
“I’m sure.”
“Good. Too bad for the dog, though.”
“What dog?”
“The dog you would have been giving a home to.”
Her eyes narrowed, her fingers stilling. “You said you weren’t going to try to talk me into it.”
“Actually, I said I wasn’t going to argue with you, or try to persuade you. And I’m not.”
“Then what do you call what you’re doing?”
“Presenting the facts.”
“And they would be?”
“You’re alone in a house at the end of a very secluded street. Your house is about as secure as an open safe in the middle of a den of thieves. Last night, someone came very close to breaking into one of your windows. Today, you came home and found your front door open.”
“You said—”
“I said it was probably nothing, but that doesn’t mean it was. A dog will serve as a deterrent and an early warning system. If anyone gets within a few hundred feet of the house, you’ll know it. You’ll have added security and the dog will have the home it needs. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.”
For a moment she was silent. Then she shook her head, amusement flashing in her eyes. “You’re good. Really good. My brothers would have beaten me over the head with their opinions. Then demanded I do what they wanted. You’re just standing there as relaxed as can be, waiting for me to make the right choice for me and for some dog I haven’t even met yet.”
“Is it the right choice for you?”
“I don’t know, but now I feel obligated to check it out.” She looked disgruntled, but not altogether unhappy, amusement still dancing in her eyes, her fingers tapping a rhythm on the counter once again.
“Let’s head out then.”
“Give me ten minutes to change.” She started down the hall toward the bedroom, then turned back. “Promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You won’t let me walk out of there with more than one dog.”
He had the nerve to laugh, his eyes, green as the Irish hills his family had come from, sparkling with mirth. “I promise.”
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