Warm Nights in Magnolia Bay Babette Jongh (best romance ebooks .txt) 📖

A flash of gray, a flicker of movement at the edge of her vision, caught Abby’s attention. Barely seen and gone already, it had to have been Wolf. Georgia’s ears pricked up, and she whined. Abby sat forward and turned around on the chaise to look toward the corner of the house. “Come here, buddy,” she called, knowing Wolf was near enough to hear. “Come on, we won’t hurt you.”

Tail wagging with anticipation, Georgia quivered and stared at the spot where Wolf had been. Abby had the impression that Georgia was communicating with Wolf, inviting him to show himself.

“Puppy, puppy,” Abby called. She whistled low. “Come on out.”

The azaleas shivered, then Wolf appeared. Nose first, low to the ground, he commando-crawled onto the open lawn. “Hey, Wolf, you’re okay.” Abby held her hand out, knuckles first. “Come on.”

He crawled forward a bit more, then dropped back down to his haunches, sending anxious glances toward the house.

Georgia hopped down and ran across the lawn toward him, jubilant and encouraging. She stopped in front of him and rolled to her back, licking his mouth in welcome.

Then Quinn opened the door, and Wolf disappeared into the azaleas like a ghost. The moment was lost.

* * *

“You should’ve seen it,” Abby gushed. “He came closer than ever this time.”

Quinn kicked back in the recliner and muted the TV, because he didn’t need the sports commentary to know what was happening on the field. “I’m sorry I missed it.”

She had told him this story about a dozen times. He didn’t mind hearing it again, though, because her pretty face was so animated, beaming with happiness about such a simple thing. Wolf had shown himself a few times, but only when Abby was outside alone, and only for a few minutes. He’d been coming closer each time, but never close enough for Abby to touch.

“Wolf was so scared, I could see him trembling. But he wanted to come to me. I could tell. And Georgia was so sweet to him.” She reached down to stroke Georgia’s thick fur. “It’s like they’re in love, isn’t it, girl?”

Abby sat on the couch with a book in her hand, her foot propped up on the ottoman. Georgia stretched out next to her on one side, Max the tabby lay on the other side, and Griffie sat like a half-chewed loaf of bread in her lap. “I wish he’d just come to me,” Abby said. “I know that big scab on his side needs vet care. It looks like something tore a big chunk out of his skin.”

“Maybe the next time you see him, he’ll let you touch him.”

Sharing the recliner with Quinn, the new kitten, Stella, kept stretching up to nuzzle his chin. He had given up pushing her away. Abby said Stella hadn’t had any use for her since the day Abby had grabbed her from the culvert, but the kitten seemed to have decided that Quinn was okay. He stroked her soft fur and decided that he liked her, too.

“I know I’m probably trying too hard,” Abby said. “It’s enough right now to know that he’s getting fed.”

“Yep.” Quinn put a bowl of dog kibble out on the patio every night and went back to pick up the empty bowl an hour later, so they knew Wolf ate his food as soon as Quinn went inside. “There’s no harm in letting Wolf take his time deciding that this is a safe place.” Especially since they knew he was safe in his den under the porch.

“I just worry that he hasn’t had his shots, and he might need antibiotics for that wound in his side.”

Quinn knew that Abby wanted to get Wolf the veterinary care he needed and to get him neutered (a concept that made Quinn squirm whenever he thought about it). But first, they had to earn his trust. “All we can do is all we can do, though, right?” Quinn stopped petting Stella, and she settled down in his lap. He was almost getting used to being surrounded by animals, and it wasn’t all that bad. In fact, he enjoyed having a cat or two purring next to him in bed at night.

“Hey,” he said to Abby. She looked up from the book she was reading. “That pile of mail I’ve been putting on your aunt’s desk is getting pretty thick.”

“I know. I’ll handle it tomorrow. Promise.” She closed her book and sighed. “I think I’m about done for. I’m going to bed.”

He wished he had the courage to follow her in there. He had long since stopped torturing himself by denying their mutual attraction. He’d been keeping his distance, though, because that’s what she seemed to want. Since he had moved in, they had fallen into a routine that felt as intimate as an old married couple’s life together. Like Abby’s emerging relationship with Wolf, they were close, but not close enough to touch.

* * *

After the morning chores and a big breakfast, Quinn and Abby went to separate ends of the house to get cleaned up for a grocery run in preparation for Sean’s Wednesday evening visit. In the guest bathroom, Abby plugged the tub and turned on the taps. When the tub was full of perfect-temperature water, she performed the yoga-like ritual of stepping into the tub with her good leg, then lowering herself carefully into the water while leaving her cast hanging over the edge.

Reversing the process was a little trickier; she had to lift herself out of the water while keeping the cast outside the tub, then get her knee on the scooter’s seat while holding the handlebars for balance—

The scooter sailed out from under her and crashed against the wall while her butt skidded off the tub’s edge and hit the floor. “Ow, dammit!”

Georgia yapped outside the closed bathroom door, and Quinn came in without knocking. “What happened? Oh, shit. Dammit, Abby.”

As if she’d decided to fall on purpose. “Don’t yell.” Her tailbone hurt all the way up