Two Widows by Laura Wolfe

Author:Laura Wolfe [Wolfe, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781800190047
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2020-08-26T18:30:00+00:00

Nineteen

Gloria

Now

The sun soothed the knots in my back as I plunged the shovel into the earth and scooped away as much dirt as I could manage. The hole was almost wide enough for the young tomato plant resting nearby. It was the warmest day of the year so far, and I hoped the nice weather would hold out for Ethan’s arrival.

I hadn’t seen Beth since she’d returned from the police station yesterday, but I’d heard a reassuring report on the news. According to the newscaster, the vast majority of adult missing person cases were false alarms. With the information Beth was providing, I was hopeful it was only a matter of time before Amanda resurfaced.

A scratching noise grabbed my attention. “Rascal! No!” I yelled.

His paws rifled through the pile of dirt, spraying debris into the air behind him. I laughed out loud, despite the mess. It was difficult to stay mad when he was having so much fun. I’d mistakenly imagined the fenced-in garden would be an ideal place to contain the wild puppy. The moment I planted a seedling, he immediately dug it up, tail wagging and with a proud look on his face.

“Morning, Gloria.”

I jumped back, startled by the raspy sound of Joe’s voice.

“Cute puppy.” Joe wore a faded hooded sweatshirt, patchwork shorts, and flip-flops. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail and looked less greasy than normal. I suspected he’d taken a shower. But when he turned to the side I gasped, my eyes snagging on the three red scratches marring his cheek.

I glanced down and pulled off my muddy gloves. “I brought him home yesterday. He’s a handful.”

Joe held out his hand. Rascal trotted over to him and sniffed. “What’s his name?”

“Rascal,” I said, my eyes darting back to the gruesome slashes on Joe’s face.

“Hi, Rascal.”

Rascal halted and crouched low. He growled, his ears pinned back, muzzle crinkled, and all his razor-sharp puppy teeth showing. I stood taller, never having seen such an unfriendly reaction from my little dog before.

“I’m your neighbor, buddy.” Joe knelt down. Rascal backed off and sniffed the fence.

I rolled back my shoulders and cleared my throat, an image of Amanda’s photo on the news popping into my head. “What happened to your face?”

Joe’s hand raised to his cheek, “Oh, this? The brambles got me.” He waved toward the woods. “I wandered down a bad path.” He lowered his hand and squeezed three of his enormous fingers through the fence and attempted to rub Rascal’s head. My puppy jumped backward and yipped, still leery of Joe’s sudden movements.

I weighed the plausibility of Joe’s explanation. The scratches could have come from thorns, but they could also have been caused by fingernails. With Amanda missing, everyone was a potential suspect. I wondered if the walk-in closet in the garage apartment was big enough to hold a woman captive and I shuddered at the thought.

“Puppies are a lot of work,” Joe said.

“I’m starting to realize that,” I said, blinking away my wild thoughts.

My first night with Rascal had been a challenge, to say the least.

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.