18. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
W here had everything gone so wrong?
Even after a sleepless night, he didn’t have any answers.
The next day, Parker returned to work. He was thankful he had something to do. If he was at home, his thoughts would do nothing but torture him.
He couldn’t figure out how things had gone so wrong with Belle. One moment she was thanking him for bringing Odie back to her, and the next thing he knew, she was saying things were over.
Maybe it was just the stress over Odie catching up with her. Maybe a good night’s sleep would have her seeing things differently. He could only hope.
He reached for his phone, and before he could talk himself out of it, he called her. The phone rang and rang. Then it switched to voicemail. Instead of leaving a message, he hung up.
He thought of going to see her, but he didn’t let himself.
He knew from experience that even if the relationship was working for one person, that didn’t mean it was working for the other person.
He thought they had finally worked past all of the contention from their past. But apparently Belle didn’t feel the same way.
How could he have been so wrong about them?
When he glanced at the dashboard, he noticed it was seven forty.
There were four vehicles lined up at the red light.
He made it five vehicles. It was what constituted rush hour in Kringle Falls.
When he cleared the intersection, he drove a little farther and then turned around.
He maneuvered his official SUV into his position on the edge of town to wait for speeders.
As he watched car after car pass by, none of them were Belle. Had she changed things up from her usual drive to work? She could be trying to avoid him. Or had she called off from work? It would make sense that she was wiped out after everything she’d gone through.
And then a worrisome thought came to mind. Was something wrong with Odie?
He halted his rambling thoughts. He told himself it was the lack of sleep that had his mind working in overdrive, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. He checked the time. It was now seven fifty-six. His brother Colin’s office didn’t open until nine.
Parker reached for his phone and dialed his brother’s cell phone. Colin answered on the second ring. “Hey. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you this morning. Is everything all right?”
“I don’t know,” Parker said in all honesty.
There was a pause. “Well, then why did you call?”
“I was wondering if you could make a house call.”
“You mean to check in on Odie?”
Parker nodded and then he realized his brother couldn’t see him. “Yes. I don’t think Belle went to work today, and I’m worried that I was too quick to assume nothing was wrong with the puppy. Could you go check on them?”
“Isn’t that something you should do?”
Parker’s jaw tightened. He really didn’t want to get into this, but his brother wasn’t leaving him much choice. “Things…uh, aren’t going well between Belle and me.”
“Really? You two seemed really close the last time I saw you.”
Seriously? He was going to make him talk about this. “She told me things were over.”
“Ouch. Yeah. I’d agree that things aren’t going well. What did you do wrong?”
“Me?” Actually, it was the same question he’d asked himself last night while he’d been staring into the darkness of his bedroom.
He never did come up with an answer. But he didn’t like his brother jumping to the conclusion that it was his fault.
Even if he was most likely right. “Why do you think it’s my fault? ”
“As the big brother, you do have a tendency to take control of the situation and boss people around.”
“I do not.” The denial flew out of his mouth. He only did that when his younger brothers were acting careless. But had he done that with Belle? He didn’t think so.
“You still do it once in a while.”
Parker really wanted to argue the point, but he had a feeling his brother might be right. But was that the problem with Belle? Was she upset about him insisting on going with her to meet the suspect? But she hadn’t let his words stop her; she’d taken off on her own.
Trying to unravel what went wrong between them was giving him a headache. “I need to get back to work. Could you just stop over and check in on Odie? I’d really appreciate it.”
“I can do that. I was just heading out the door. I’ll head over now. Are you going to let her know I’m coming?”
He thought of how his earlier phone call had gone to voicemail. “No. It’s probably best if you just show up.”
“Uh…okay. Should I tell her that you sent me?”
“No.” The answer came out faster than he would have liked.
After the call ended, Parker stared at his phone as he debated calling her. But he kept hearing her saying the thing between them was over. Funny thing was that he’d thought their story had just been getting started. How did he convince her of that?
She’d called off work.
Belle just wasn’t ready to leave Odie. He’d been glued to her side since Parker had brought him home. He seemed really happy to be back, but he wasn’t eating much. It had her worried, and that was why she’d finally made the decision to stay home.
They needed the day to hang out together and unwind. The prior week had been so stressful for the both of them. Odie couldn’t tell her what he’d been through, but she worried that he was traumatized.
Her boss, Mavis, had been understanding and told her to get some rest. Belle planned to do exactly that.
She had a bunch of holiday movies recorded.
With the snow lightly falling, it was the perfect day to curl up on the couch beneath a blanket, and with Odie by her side, she’d watch some Christmas movies.
After she tried to get Odie to eat again and failed, the pup jumped onto the couch. He settled himself in the middle of the blanket. Belle smiled and shook her head. For a little fellow, he was always stealing the blankets.
She went back to the kitchen to make herself a tall mug of hot coffee with lots of milk. She was carrying it to the living room when she heard a knock at the door. It startled her. She wasn’t expecting anyone. And then she thought it might be Parker.
He’d called earlier while she was outside with Odie. He hadn’t left a message. She thought of calling him back, but she knew if it was important, he would call back. Maybe instead of calling back, he’d decided to see her in person.
Odie started barking at the top of his little lungs and charged toward the door. Belle put her coffee down and followed him to the door. She owed Parker an apology for the way she abruptly ended things. It hadn’t been her finest moment.
As Odie continued to bark, she picked him up. “Hush.”
Odie pretended not to hear her and continued to bark.
With a sigh, she opened the door. Her apology for Parker was on the tip of her tongue.
When she found her visitor was Colin, she stumbled over her greeting.
“Oh. Hi.” And then gathering her thoughts, she opened the door farther.
“Don’t mind the yappy one. He thinks he’s a guard dog. Come on in out of the snow.”
Colin stepped inside. “Sorry to just stop by.”
“No problem.” She wondered why he was there. And then it came to her. “If you’re looking for Parker, he’s not here.”
“That’s okay. I’m not here to see him.” He held up his doctor’s bag. And then he turned to Odie, who was wagging his tail. “Hello.”
Colin cautiously held out his hand for Odie to sniff. Once Odie seemed fine with him, he reached out and pet him. Thankfully, it quieted him down.
Colin lowered his arm. “I heard about Odie, and I wanted to check in on him.”
“I didn’t know you did house calls.”
“I don’t. But this is a special circumstance.”
That was putting it mildly. Still, she thought there was more to his visit than him just going out of his way for one of his patients.
Although, he had really good timing. “I was actually going to call your office when it opened.”
Colin’s eyes widened. “Is something wrong?”
“I can’t get Odie to eat much. He’ll eat a couple bites of food, and then he walks away. That’s not like him. He used to always wolf down his food. I had to buy him a slow feeder bowl, but now he doesn’t have much of an appetite. And his stomach is upset.” She went on to lay out the details.
Colin nodded his head. “Is he drinking?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a good sign. Do you mind if I examine him?”
“Sure. Go ahead. I would really appreciate it. I took today off from work because I just didn’t think he was up for staying home alone.”
She carried Odie into the living room. Colin was very gentle with Odie as he examined him. He didn’t rush through the exam. He took the time to talk to her and ask questions about how long Odie was gone and how he reacted when he got home.
She wrung her hands together as she waited for Colin’s verdict. Was there something wrong with Odie? She hoped not.
At last, Colin straightened. He sent her a reassuring smile. “I think Odie has been through a lot over the past week. He needs a bit to adjust to being home. I checked him all out, and it appears the person that had him took care of him.”
She nodded. “That’s what Parker told me. He thought the person was planning to keep Odie.”
“I see.” Colin was quiet for a moment as though not sure what to say. “As long as he’s drinking and eating a little bit, I wouldn’t worry for a couple of days. I think once he relaxes that his appetite will come back. But if it doesn’t, call my office, and we’ll see what’s going on.”
Belle breathed easier. “Thanks so much for stopping over. It’s a relief to hear that he’s all right.”
“I’m glad this story had a happy ending.”
“Me too.” She felt the need to give credit where credit was due. “Parker was really great through this whole sordid affair. He went above and beyond. I really appreciate him bringing Odie back to me.”
Colin arched a brow. “He had a lot of good things to say about you too.”
Heat rushed to her cheeks. “He did?”
Colin nodded. “I’m not supposed to tell you, but it was Parker’s idea for me to come over this morning.”
Belle was touched by Parker’s thoughtfulness. She started to wonder if she’d made a huge mistake by ending things with him. She’d been reacting in the moment, and perhaps she let her exhaustion and emotions get the best of her.