The Truth Seeker by Dee Henderson Read Free Book Online Page A

into his and he felt how cold they were. He reassuringly grasped her hands, careful how he held her injured one, and pulled her up. As soon as she was steady, she removed her hands from his and pressed one against her left ribs.
    smile even if she didn’t know it. “What do you need? Maybe we can just not tell them.”
    “I’ve been craving a milkshake. Kate won’t tell.”
    Not exactly what her doctor had in mind. And she needed something hot.
    “It’s practically all milk,” she offered.
    “I don’t suppose it will kill you.”
    “Fix it while I peek in on my pets?”
    He laughed. “Sure. Go on.”
    “Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome,” he replied dryly. “Go.”
    He watched her walk slowly down the hall and enter the spare bedroom she had turned into a home for all the living things she collected.
    He shook his head. She was a walking contradiction—annoyed at him one minute, flashing that smile the next.
    He went through the dining room to the kitchen and opened the freezer. Vanilla or chocolate? He thought about asking, then decided he might as well make his favorite. He opened the chocolate ice cream.
    in the drawers for two straws. He carried the glasses with him to find Lisa. She already had a habit of forgetting to eat when she worked, and the last several days had been little more than IVs; the calories would do her good.
     
    Quinn stopped at the doorway, watching her. She was in her element with things that crawled and swam.
    The mice were awake, three adorable white and one sleek brown tumbling over the hollow climbing blocks she’d carved. Sliding aside the mesh top of the cage, Lisa took a moment to reach inside and greet them. They scampered across her palm and tickled her fingers. She refilled their water, then closed the cage lid.
    “Where did you find the brown one?”
    “A neighbor’s pet; Scott was moving and couldn’t take it with him.”
    She opened the jar of fish food flakes for the guppies she was raising.
    He had taken the time yesterday to clean the tank, change the filter, and replace the evaporated water. With close to two dozen baby guppies swimming among the upper leaves of the plants it had been an experience. He didn’t think he’d accidentally killed more than a couple.
    As she closed the cover the fish began to grab the flakes, shaking off smaller pieces.
    “Hi, Truebody.” Lisa tapped on the glass of the second fish tank.
    The praying mantis moved up the twig it clung to toward the light. She lingered over the third large tank, talking to the iguana. Oscar was one of her favorites.
    In the next cage a hamster pushed its way out of a burrow of shredded white paper. “Baby, what have they been feeding you?” The hamster had grown fat in the last ten days—very fat.
    “Kate thinks she’s pregnant.”
    “Really? Oh that will be so cool. I hope she has several.” She tilted her head to look at him. “You know, you could do with a pet
    ”
    He laughed. “On a ranch the size of mine, it has to be able to fend for itself.”
    “Nothing smaller than a breadbasket?”
    “Not unless it can outrun a wolf.”
    The parrot whistled, stalking back and forth. “I haven’t forgotten you, Iris,” Lisa reassured. She opened the cage door and offered her
    hand. The bird stepped up gracefully and ducked its head as Lisa brought her out of the cage. “Did you miss me?”
    The bird shook her head and fluffed her feathers.
    “Yes, you did, I recognize that huff.” She stroked the bird’s chest and it preened and cooed back at her.
    “A dangerous pet to have, given your others.”
    “I know. But we’ve got an understanding, don’t we, girl? She got loose at the pet store and sort of chose me. Landed right on my shoulder.”
    He didn’t miss the way her voice softened at that statement.
    She put Iris back in her cage and folded down the cover to tuck the bird in for the night. “It looks like everyone lived through my absence.”
    “We tried, although I’m glad you said the grade school had taken the mole.”
    “Charlie was