Shelter Me by Catherine Mann Read Free Book Online Page A

pristine condition along with his collection of John Wayne movies for the old VCR. He cranked the volume until the dogs howled in time with the bagpipes.
    Her legs folded and she stumbled back into a rocking chair.
    She was living in a freakin’ sitcom. Or a docudrama. Reality show? She wasn’t sure. Right now she just wanted her dad to materialize in the rocking chair beside her. He would say something like, “Sierra girl, I’ve loved your mom since we were seniors in high school and I saw her climbing a tree trying to put a baby bird back in a nest with the mama. You just need to roll with it. Lacey has a way of making all the craziness come together into something magnificent—like our family.”
    Her dad had a gift for putting the mayhem into perspective, bringing a Longfellow type of calm, flavored with a splash of Ogden Nash–esque humor.
    She missed her father so much. She pressed the heels of her hand to her eyes to hold back the tears that accomplished absolutely zip. Crying didn’t change anything. Did Gramps even remember bagpipes had played at her dad’s funeral?
    The sound of an approaching car and their chocolate Lab barking her head off cut through the third verse. She tugged the neck of her T-shirt up to her eyes and wiped away tears, then smoothed the hem back in place.
    Blinking fast, she cleared her sight and . . . oh crap. She recognized the old red truck rattling up the driveway. Mike’s truck. But why was he coming here? Her heart did that crazy flutter thing.
    She squinted and realized he wasn’t alone. Someone sat in the passenger seat. She stepped up to the porch post and held on. Just in case her knees turned traitorously wobbly. Except it wasn’t a person in the front seat.
    A dog stuck its head out the window, tongue lolling. And not just any dog. Trooper barked hello as if he’d just been out for a spin with his pal. She tried to wrap her brain around the fact that somehow, someway Trooper had jumped the fence and located Mike. Or Mike had found him, which didn’t make sense because he didn’t even know to look for the dog. Maybe they should have called him in the first place.
    The twelve-year-old Ford stopped in front of her house, and she kept her eyes off the back where she’d lain on a quilt under the stars, tangled up with Mike and a crazy infatuation.
    He stepped out, one long leg at a time, looking too hot in faded jeans and a rumpled brown T-shirt. “Did you lose something?”
    She hooked her arm around the post and tried to appear casual. “I may have.” Lost her heart, once upon a time, to this guy in fact. “Cute dog you have there. He seems vaguely familiar.”
    Trooper spun a quick circle on the seat before leaping out and onto the ground, sniffing Clementine in greeting once before galloping past the three-legged Lab over to Mike. Relief made her grip the post harder.
    The screen door swung open and slammed against the side of the house. Lacey ran out, flip-flops slapping the wood porch all the way down the step as she chanted, “Ohmigod,” again and again.
    She fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around Trooper’s neck. “You silly, naughty dog. What were you thinking running away like that?” She ran her hands over his fur as if checking for damage inflicted by the harsh, cold world. Never mind he’d survived in the desert on his own before sucking up to her dad. “Did someone tell you about your visit to the vet tomorrow? I promise to get you good drugs to sleep it off . . .”
    Lacey paused long enough to gasp and bury her face in the dog’s scruff and extend an arm to include Clementine in the hug. Sierra stared at Mike over her mother huddled around the two dogs. Pain glinted in his eyes, something mighty like an echo of what radiated off her mom and what Sierra herself felt every day. Somehow she’d lost sight of how much Mike looked up to her father. So much so, Mike had walked away from her, from what they’d shared.
    Her mother glanced