CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Sami had never tried to track anyone with Shelby, and as it turned out the Labrador was much more interested in a possum it startled from behind a tree than keeping nose to ground until they found Ruby. The darkness was soon so complete Sami could see little beyond the small beam of her flashlight. Almost in tears, she headed back to the garage apartment, hoping that she’d find the Corgi barking at the door, demanding to be let in.
With a surge of optimism, she broke into as fast of a walk-jog as she dared on the path. A second black eye she did not need. As she made her way around to the front of the garage, a car approached, followed by what looked like an ambulance. Sami hurried forward.
The car stopped. Both the driver’s door and the front passenger door opened. Chase and Flynn? In the same car? Then Flynn opened a back door and Ruby, barking at top volume, dashed towards Sami.
Sami dropped to the ground, hugging her dog. Both men were walking toward her. Sami rose, looking from one to the other.
Chase stepped up and put an arm around her. “I knew you would be sick with worry when you realized Ruby was missing.”
“Of course,” Sami said, hugging him back in her relief to have the dog returned. “Thank you!”
Flynn bent down and the Corgi ran to him. Sami thought she heard a groan as Flynn lowered his head.
“Where did you find her?”
“She got through the fence where a tree had smashed it,” Flynn said. “I found her near the road.”
“That’s one way of describing it,” Chase said.
Sami pulled free from his arm. “What does that mean?”
Flynn looked up, a scowl on his face. “It means the dogs need to be on leash until we get the fence repaired.”
“We?” Chase said, an edge in his voice.
“Is there an echo out here?” Flynn said, as he rose slowly to his feet.
A man stepped out of the ambulance. “You ‘bout ready?”
“Why is there an ambulance following you, Chase?”
He shook his head. “Not me. Him.”
“You’re hurt,” Sami said, moving next to Flynn. “I can sense it. I also have a distinct intuitive feeling that neither one of you is telling me the truth of what happened.”
Flynn shrugged. Winced. “I tripped. The doc here insists I have to ride in that overgrown limo with the lights and siren.”
“Oh, what the hell,” Chase said. “He saved your dog’s life.”
“Flynn! I can’t thank you enough.” Sami hugged him. He didn’t move a muscle, certainly didn’t return the gesture.
“It was nothing,” Flynn said, stepping out of her hug.
“Time’s up,” the paramedic said, walking toward Flynn with an air of purpose. “Kiss the lady good-bye and come along. Or kiss the dog. Or both. Just quit flapping your lips.”
“After you,” Flynn said to Chase. “I’m not leaving till you leave.”
“What is wrong with you two?” Sami looked from one to the other. “You’re acting like two dogs snarling over a bone. Flynn, you’re obviously hurt. And Chase, you need to go home.”
“Sami—“
“Out,” Sami said. “Both of you. I appreciate that you have rescued Ruby and returned her to me, and I will appreciate it even more if you will leave me in peace.” She took a deep breath.
Chase had set his jaw in a stubborn line. Flynn was watching Chase the way Shelby fixed her gaze on a squirrel she was determined to catch.
“I’ll call you tomorrow, Sami,” Chase said. He hesitated, but to Sami’s relief, he didn’t try to kiss her good-night. Maybe he’d understood she was serious about what she’d told him earlier. Or maybe he didn’t want to be rebuffed in front of Flynn.
“Tell Kyle about the fence,” Flynn said. He turned and walked with the paramedic toward the ambulance. He stumbled and almost fell.
Sami ran forward. “You’re hurt. Really hurt.”
He lifted his eyes and gave her a hint of a smile. “It’s nothing,” he said, then fainted.
The paramedic caught him, opened the back doors and the other EMT dashed around. “We’ll take care of him,” the man said. “He saved your dog’s life. It’s the least we can do to patch him up.”
Sami put a hand against her mouth. Flynn had downplayed his version. Sweet, considerate, thoughtful Flynn. She dashed at her eyes, blinking away tears as the EMTs lifted Flynn into the back of the ambulance, one stayed with him and the driver headed for the front. “We’re taking him to Vanderbilt, if you want to come.”
Sami shook her head. Flynn didn’t want her hovering over him. Flynn didn’t want her in his life. He’d saved her dog out of the goodness of his soul, not to impress her.
She walked slowly toward Chase’s car, where he was standing with the door open.
“I told him to get into the ambulance but he insisted on coming here first,” Chase said. “He has a contusion of at least 1.1 centimeters on the back of his head and blood running down his leg from an incision of unknown origin. Another few seconds and the car would have taken him out upon impact. The dog, too.”
“If the car didn’t hit him, how did he get hurt?”
“Said he tripped over the dog.”
“Oh, my,” Sami said. “I feel responsible.”
“Don’t,” Chase said. “Because you’re not. You should check on the hole in the fence, though.”
Sami nodded.
“I’d like to kiss you good-night,” Chase said, his voice both rough and gentle.
Sami realized he was afraid of being rejected. She stood on tiptoe and brushed a kiss across his cheek. “Good-night, Chase,” she said softly.
“Thank you, Sami.”
She nodded, called the dogs and headed up the stairs. She heard his engine start for the second time that evening, but didn’t look back. Chase wanted to please her. But she knew in her heart that wasn’t enough to make things work out the way he wanted them to.
Inside the apartment, she switched off the living room lights and stood there, rubbing her arms, wondering if she should have offered to go to the E.R. with Flynn. His injuries were due to his saving her dog’s life. Surely, that made her responsible to check on his well-being. Even as her thoughts veered in that direction, she knew he wouldn’t want her to show up and hover. And what right did she have? She had no standing to claim a place at his bedside—in the hospital or out. Sami sighed and crossed to the kitchen island. She flipped the switch on the electric kettle and searched in the cupboard for tea. Ruby lifted her head then settled down. Poor baby had to be exhausted.
She prepared her cup of tea and carried it to the sofa.
The sofa where she’d sat with Flynn, reading her mother’s journal.
Sami leaned her head against the back and relived Flynn’s comforting touch. She sighed, sipped her tea, and burned her tongue. “Ouch!”
Ruby barked and stood up, clearly ready to protect whatever was hurting her person.
Sami put the cup on the coffee table and shushed Ruby. She had to quit thinking about Flynn.
She possessed a disciplined mind. She knew how to control time-wasting thoughts, knew how to focus on her chosen topic. Among all her girlfriends, she was the one who could study anywhere, anytime. Vonnie had once told her she was the only woman she knew who could study at the beach, at the lake, or at a ski resort.
Sami frowned. The last few days she’d barely glanced at her AI research notes. Her mind insisted on drifting to Flynn. His smile. His touch. His cheeky advice on how to best attract a man.
Silly Sami, she chided herself, who’d fallen for runaway Flynn, who might or might not overcome his fear of letting himself love and be loved.
The truth was there square in front of her eyes.
Flynn was the only man she wanted.
No one else would do.