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Onion crawled across her lap and squashed Jake’s hand to her thigh The dog laid his front paws on Jake He rubbed his wet snout across Jake’s free hand, deed, Onion whapped Claire in the face with his wagging tail

“Guess you can’t be all bad Onion likes you” She pushed down Onion’s dancing tail Her gaze caught Jake’s

The silence sizzled There ht Maybe her body knew sorasp

She lost her train of thought when Onion’s back paws dug painfully into her stomach He leaped down and barked at the dust cloud kicked up by two vehicles traveling the dirt road to her house As they rolled closer, her gut tightened

Onion barked incessantly as if his mortal enemy, the UPS truck, had pulled into her driveway But instead of the big brown truck, Hank’s cruiser led the way for a Volvo sedan

“Just great” She walked down the steps “Follow my lead”

Hands on her hips, Claire scrutinized the trio of Layton men in her driveway If Hank was the bossy brother and Chris the big-hearted goof, then her ht A history professor at Cather College, he shed less It did not bode well that all three brothers had joined forces on her front lawn

She fired the first volley “I already told you on the phone that I’uy scare me out of my own house”

That stopped the men’s approach Jake remained silent on the porch Onion, oblivious to the tension, sniffed every last scent out of her brothers’ pants She stood her ground

“You uard the house with the broken front door?” Sa to the splintered door

“That can be fixed I have plywood in the garage Anyway, Jake’s staying with me”

Sae of his nose between his thuer “Oh, that is soto stay here, with an oh-so-secure plywood front door while soet you?” He took a step forward “That’s a great plan A perfect plan Why don’t you just let us knohere your will is, so we can take care of things after this guy kills you”

That stung She’d always sought his approval above all others The hurt bubbled up, her throat tightened and her stubborn streak widened at least a mile

“Sa in her quiet voice must have called out to Onion He lopped over and sat with his body pressed against her leg “I’veto it I won’t concede victory to the Voice of Doom”

“The Voice of Doom? What is he, a cartoon supervillain?” Saood for you For once in your life, think, don’t react”