Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Layla
R ocky pranced ahead of me, tail and head high. He’d scared a few sparrows out of a shrub and was feeling pretty darn good about it. I finished work feeling a little uptight and upset about my conversation with Emily. She was taking all this way too seriously. I knew she had a major crush on Nash. She really had her sights set on the man. My intuition told me all of this would end in a big disaster with me having to console Emily and her broken heart.
Rocky pulled in the direction of the tiny park. He was hoping to meet up with his squirrel nemesis at the big tree. Nose to ground, he led me that direction, then stopped beneath the tree to stare up into the branches.
“I don’t think he’s here today, Rocky. Sorry to disappoint.”
Right then, Rocky’s big head snapped in the direction we’d just walked. He growled low and angrily at something. I looked in the same direction but didn’t see anything, not even a bird.
He barked once, and it startled me. I looked back again but still didn’t see anything. “C’mon, you’re just making up invisible things because you’re sad about the squirrel.”
We kept walking. An onshore breeze had carried in some puffy white clouds but not enough to shade the hot sidewalk. Even Rocky looked like he’d had enough. “Let’s turn around. We’re both going to need some water.”
The big dog stopped again, lifted his head and growled. I glanced around, and this time I got a chill, a creepy-crawly feeling that someone was watching me. It was probably only because Rocky was acting oddly, but still, I was anxious to get back home.
Thankfully, that was the end of Rocky’s growling episode. He started pulling as we got within sniffing distance of his house. We reached the door and went inside. Rocky walked straight to his water dish, and I hung up the leash. The pile of note pages and the guitar were back in the same spot. I took a moment to have my own daydream about Nash Ledger. He was sitting on the couch in just his board shorts with a guitar across his lap while he strummed out a melody for a new song. His rich, amazing voice was singing the words. Rocky’s cold nose popped me out of the very nice daydream.
I patted his head. “You want a treat?” Nash had left a box of dog treats for after the walk. I handed him a snack, patted him on the back and headed out. It had been a long day, and I was ready to just relax at home.
I walked across the yard that separated the two cottages. I’d ridden my bicycle to work and hadn’t put it away in the shed yet. I reached it and stared down at the bike seat. Someone had placed a red rose on it. I glanced around frantically, but there was no one in sight. It had to be Dustin. Just when I’d started to relax and get comfortable thinking he’d finally moved on, he did something like this. He might have thought it was a romantic gesture, but it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Then, an even more distressing thought occurred to me. Had Dustin been following me on the walk? Had Rocky spotted him? Would he do something weird like that? I didn’t want to know the answer.
I picked up the rose, tossed it into the bushes and pushed the bike to the shed. My phone rang as I locked up the shed. I pulled it out of my pocket. If it was Emily, I was going to let it go to voicemail. I couldn’t deal with her in this manic state more than once a day. All the angst and stress of the afternoon melted away when I saw it was Nash.
“Hi, we’re back home. Got the big guy back safely,” I said.
“That’s great. Did you have a good walk?”
“We did,” I said without much conviction behind it.
“Uh-oh, did he chase a squirrel again?”
“No, much to his dismay. No squirrels in sight.” I headed to the house. The rose had really knocked me off balance, and suddenly, all I wanted was to be safely inside.
“The squirrels probably sent out a group text letting their buddies know that a big, silly dog was now part of their afternoon.”
I laughed. “That could be.” I stepped inside and locked the door behind me, something I rarely did. Our little cottage was so off the beaten path, we usually only locked doors and windows at night. Luke and Rhett had lectured us about leaving it unlocked so much. At the time, Ella, Isla and I had rolled our eyes, but now I was starting to see their point. “Hey, Nash, does Rocky sometimes—gosh—I don’t know how to describe it—does he sometimes stop and look super alert and growl at things that aren’t there?”
Nash chuckled. I could hear electric saws buzzing and nail guns snapping loudly in the background. “You mean his ‘I see dead people’ stare? Yeah, he does that occasionally at night, in a dark house, but out on a walk? Hmm. Not sure if I’ve ever seen him do it. Did it happen a lot today?”
I was feeling foolish for bringing it up. “Oh, just once or twice,” I said lightly. “It was probably just a cat behind us watching to see what the big dog was up to. How is your workday? I can hear a lot of activity in the background.”
“Yeah, the building is going up fast. I’m on a water break. It’s hot. The guy I was working with today got sick from the heat. I thought he was going to collapse.”
“Oh wow, that’s not good. Is he all right?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. He’s near retirement and has diabetes but insists on hydrating with sodas.”
“Probably not the best decision. And this has been an extra hot summer. Rocky was glad to get back to his water bowl.”
“Well, break’s over. Thanks again for taking Rocky out.”
“My pleasure.” I hung up and walked to the window to survey the beach. There were several families with little kids playing in the water. No one looked out of place. No sign of Dustin. I was letting my imagination run away with me.
I’d been thinking about a swim all day, but now it didn’t sound as inviting. I headed in to shower away the sugary stickiness of the day.