“Just you and me, kid,” I told Rocco a few days later.

His tail thumped in response, bouncing against the couch cushion. I’d had a “no pets on the furniture” policy when we’d first gotten him.

I snorted. Yeah, which had lasted all of a couple of hours.

But on this night, cool air creeping into the house and the heater not making headway on the chill in my bones, I was happy to have the little fluffball of energy next to me.

Even if I’d had to lift him onto the couch.

His leg was healing, but his injuries had definitely taken their toll. He moved a little slower, a little more painfully.

Yay, another thing to feel guilty about.

Dr. Johnson said that he would be stiff and sore for a while, but by the time six weeks rolled around, it would be a challenge to keep him calm. I’d even seen glimpses of that deadly propeller tail and pair of mischievous eyes in the exam room.

But two weeks in, another X-ray to make sure the bones were setting properly, and a fresh, smaller cast, and there was still no sign of his former puppy exuberance. He was more careful, more guarded, and less of an innocent goof.

“So rom-com or action?” I asked, picking up the remote and scanning through the movies available for free.

Allie and Max were having a sleepover at Kelly and Justin’s. They were watching the latest kids’ flick, not even out in theaters yet, since Justin apparently knew someone in Hollywood who was a big-time producer.

Food TV and Hollywood. Kel had jumped a few degrees in social circles when she’d married Justin.

Not that anyone would know if they ever met him outside of the office. He wore T-shirts and cargo pants.

Cargo pants.

With like a hundred and seventy pockets.

As a former military medic, he said he needed to be prepared, but I rather thought that his affinity for cargo pants was like women with dresses that had pockets.

I love your dress.

Thanks! It has pockets!

Snorting, I made my selection. “Romance,” I announced to Rocco.

His tail thumped again.

“Glad you agree.”

He sighed.

“Always a critic,” I muttered. And now I was having a conversation with a dog. Great.

Still, I scratched his head, settled back with some sea salt and garlic butter popcorn, and lost myself in the movie.

The boy and girl met, fell in love before the girl messed up, causing the boy to leave, and they’d just about gotten back together before my eyes got too heavy and I drifted off.

I woke sometime later, the house dark and cold, Rocco snoring next to me.

I couldn’t tell what had woken me. A creak? A buzz? I glanced at my phone and the screen was blank of notifications. All I saw was the picture of the four of us—Rob, Allie, Max, and me—acting crazy and covered in white after a flour fight while making some pie. Kel had taken the picture, and I’d always loved how happy and carefree we’d been in that moment.

But the picture wasn’t why I was awake.

Creak.

That wasn’t the house settling, that was the loose board in the hallway.

Rocco was suddenly awake, his hackles coming up, a deep growl resonating out of his chest before he burst from the couch and took off down the hall.

His reaction finally made me move. I unlocked my phone, dialed 9-1-1, and found the nearest weapon.

Never more had I wished for a gun in the house, but aside from Rob’s service weapon, I didn’t normally like having any firearms at home.

Rocco’s nails scratched against the floor, his cast making a scraping noise as he turned the corner. I heard a male grunt and a crash before Rocco made a high-pitched squeal of pain.

My heart dropped, and I clutched the lamp tighter as dispatch picked up.

I rattled off my address. “Someone has broken into my house. They’re still here—” Rocco gave a ferocious bark before crying out again. Shit. Shit. “Hurry!”

Then I did what was probably—no, was certainly—a really stupid thing. I hung up the phone and took off into the hallway, lamp raised.

But all I saw was the front door slamming closed.

I flicked on the lights, swiveled around behind me, afraid someone was going to sneak behind me, like in the movies.

The house was still. Quiet.

Rocco whined.

“Oh, honey,” I said, tears stinging my eyes. “You did so good, buddy.” I crouched and set the lamp down, seeing his crumpled form and the pain shading his black eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

I needed to move him. I was scared to hurt him more than the man had already done, but he was right in the path of the door and shards of glass were all around. Wincing when one bit into the bottom of my bare foot, I carefully slid my arms under his body and lifted.

He whined.

“It’s okay, honey. It’s okay.” I moved as gently as I could, hardly noticing the pain in my feet as more glass sliced through my skin.

I was just setting him on the couch when I heard the sirens and screeching tires as the—two, by the sound of it—cruisers pulled into my driveway.

“Police!” they shouted through the front door.

Rocco growled.

“It’s okay,” I told him. “I’m here!” I yelled. “In the family room.”

The front door banged open, and footsteps pounded down the hall.

One of the officers—McMann, I thought his name was—came into the room, while several of the others fanned out to presumably search the house.

“I think he’s gone,” I said.

McMann nodded. “We’ll check anyway.”

“Okay,” I said.

We waited in silence for a few minutes. Finally footsteps came down the stairs, and a gruff voice declared. “All clear.”

I glanced away from Rocco and saw McMann, two officers I didn’t know by name, and Hayden, one of Rob’s close friends and a regular visitor to our house.

Or used to be. Before he’d gotten married and found a wife who was able to keep the self-professed worst-chef-in-Darlington in edible food.

“Melissa, are you okay?” he asked, crouching down in front of me.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I know you have to question me, but can I please call Dr. Johnson first? I’m worried about Rocco and—”

My voice broke, but I took a breath and forced it to steady out.

“I want him to be seen as soon as possible.”

“Of course,” Hayden said. “Where are the kids?”

“Kel’s,” I said.

He released a sigh of relief. “Good night for it.”

I nodded and stood. Then nearly collapsed back down with the first step.

Now that I’d noticed it, my feet burned horribly. I glanced down and saw blood staining the carpet.

“You’re hurt,” Hayden said, reaching to steady me.

“Just a few cuts from the glass,” I said, limping toward the kitchen. “I’d forgotten.”

“Wait—”

I didn’t. I knew Dr. Johnson’s card was somewhere, and he’d written his cell on it. I’d taken it from the car and put it with a stack of papers that I needed to sort through but never seemed to find the time. The vet office would be closed, so I needed his cell number.

“Miss, stop,” Hayden began. “You’re getting blood all over—”

“Doesn’t matter,” I said, rifling through the stack and sighing with relief when I saw the card near the top.

“Find what you’re looking for?”

I nodded, held up the card.

“Good.” Hayden swept me off my feet, nodded at McMann. “Call an ambulance.” I started to protest the last, but he cut me off as he set me gently on the couch. “Your feet are sliced to ribbons,” he gritted out. “Now sit and don’t move. I’ll grab your cell.”

Rocco eyed Hayden a little warily but didn’t growl again. He seemed to realize that the officers were the good guys, there to help.

Or maybe he recognized their uniforms because Rob used to wear one so often.

Hayden handed me the phone then crossed back over to McMann and the others. They began to discuss perimeters, patrols, and paperwork as I dialed Dr. Johnson’s number.

It rang a few times before a groggy voice answered. “Hello?”

“Hi, uh, Dr. Johnson. This is Melissa, Rocco’s—” My voice caught.

I heard rustling on the other end. “What’s wrong?”

“Someone broke in, Rocco tried to protect me. He’s hurt really bad, can I bring him in?”

“Are you safe?” His voice was fierce.

“The police are here,” I said. “I’m good.”

“I’m coming over.”

“I can—”

“I’ll see you in five minutes.”

“Okay, the address is—”

“This is Darlington, Melissa. I know where you live.” And he hung up.

When I set the phone down, Hayden glanced up from his conversation with McMann and came over. “There’s a delay in the ambulance. They’re stuck on a couple of calls in Campbell. Apparently tonight’s a busy night. We’ll drive you to the hospital.”

“Dr. Johnson will be here in a few minutes. Rocco—”

He nodded. “We’ll wait, and in the meantime, Davis and Cranz are going to go grab some plywood to board up your front door. They broke the sidelight to get in.”

Ah. That’s why there had been so much glass. Our front door only had one small window, but next to it was one of those long, skinny panes of glass. It had always been convenient to see who was at the door—read, avoid solicitors. Although, I supposed the pane also made it easy to see inside . . . and created a boatload of glass shards when someone decided to break in.

“I need to sweep up—”

“McMann is on it.”

My bottom lip trembled, and so I bit it. Hard.

“None of that,” Hayden said, but his voice was gentle. “You’re one of us. We look after our own.”