page68 (1/2)

“You lost everybody, huh,” he said quietly “They walked away and you don’t knohy”

He had no way of knowing the circumstances that had caused the for They could have been devastated or not cared at all Either way, Raven had lost her pack She’d been sent to a strange place and probably spent her days waiting for her family to return

She was s she’d been fostered with had eaten most of her food He didn’t think it would take much to push her away from her bowl

“It’s going to be okay,” he told her

She turned away, as if she understood but didn’t believe He supposed she had a point How could he knoould happen at the adoption on Saturday?

“So, only to realize it wasn’t so he had a lot of himself His sister’s words seemed to echo in the s that he wouldn’t risk getting involved That he held back because the alternative was to connect and then lose

He patted Raven Her tail gave a tentative wag, then stilled As if the price of believing was just too high

THIRTEEN

“I COULD HAVE HELPED,” Jonny grumbled from one of the bar stools by the island as Madeline finished loading the dishwasher

“You don’t own rubber gloves,” she pointed out “You can’t get your bandage wet Besides, it’s only a few dishes”

What she didn’t say was that she liked working in his kitchen It was big and bright Overhead lights illuminated every corner The appliances were new and efficient A girl could get used to a kitchen like this, she thought humorously

The visual perks weren’t bad, either Jonny looked good, as always A little ruet him to take another painkiller He’d resisted, and now as she took in the lines around his mouth, she wondered if he was in pain His hand wasn’t broken, but it sure was beat up And the cuts had to be hurting

She rinsed her hands before drying them on a dish towel, then walked over to his prescription bottles and shook one of the pills onto her palm She handed it to him

“I don’t—” he started

She walked to the sink and filled a glass ater “I don’t want to hear it”

“But I don’t—”

She set the glass in front of hiet me started I can be shrill Trust me, it’s a side you don’t want to see”

His smiled “Yeah, I’m scared” He took the pill and sed it, then drank so is kind of sexy”

“You like shrill? I’m surprised”