A Forever Home by Annie Rains

Author:Annie Rains
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2021-11-16T00:00:00+00:00

Della’s heart had been breaking for Roman since he’d shared his story with her. They’d watched the ceremony, and afterward, she and Roman had said hello to Brian and his wife, Jessica. Roman had made it a quick exchange, offering his congratulations and his regrets that they had to leave so soon. Then he and Della had climbed back in the rental car and driven silently out of town.

“We need gas,” Della pointed out, leaning across the center console to check the dashboard. She couldn’t help but catch the scent of Roman’s cologne as she got close. Judging by how perfect it was, she guessed it was expensive. If he had money, he wasn’t showy about it. Unlike his parents.

“I’ll stop at the next gas station before getting back on the highway,” Roman said.

Della nibbled at her lower lip as she returned to her upright position in the passenger seat. “Your brother and his wife seemed great.”

“Yeah.” Roman nodded.

She wanted to ask for more details about his family situation, but it wasn’t any of her business. So instead, she continued to nibble her lip, a bad habit she’d had since childhood. She’d managed to nix biting her nails and twirling her finger in her hair, but she’d never been able to stop chewing softly on her lip when her nerves were overfiring.

Five minutes down the road, Roman pulled the car into a gas station. He parked and got out to fuel up.

Della pushed open her car door as well to get some air. It wasn’t all that fresh. Instead, it was tinged with gasoline and cigarettes. She coughed, preparing to close the door again when a dog came dashing toward her with a friendly bark.

“Well, hello to you as well.” Della didn’t stick her hand out immediately because the furry canine might be rabid. It timidly approached her with a wagging tail, panting softly as its tongue lopped out of its mouth. There was no collar on the dog’s neck, and it appeared to be thin and dirty. “Where’s your owner?” Della asked.

The dog took another step closer.

“Are you hungry?” She turned back toward the center console, where she had a piece of bread she’d pulled out of her bag. It was homemade bread that she’d packed for her trip. She broke off a piece and held it out to the stray. It stepped closer, sniffed, and then pulled it into its mouth quickly, eyes trained on her the entire time.

“It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you,” Della said quietly.

“There you are!” a man said, taking quick steps toward the car. He was wearing a shirt with the gas station’s logo. “I’m sorry if the dog is bothering you, ma’am,” he told Della.

“Oh, he’s not bothering me at all.”

“Well, she’s been bothering me for about two weeks now. Every time I call the animal shelter to come get her, that rascally stray is MIA.” The man addressed the dog, pointing his finger. “Not this time, girl. They’ll be here any minute, and then you are going to doggy jail.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.