Free True Colors by Joyce Lamb Page A

recent stuff that happens to him. There’s going to be a learning curve for you both, but if he loves you, he’ll adjust.”
    If he loves you. Wouldn’t that be something? Just thinking about the possibility made her heart skip. “Did it take Noah long?”
    “No. He had the advantage of knowing about our cousin’s ability.”
    “Our cousin. That’s still unbelievable.”
    “I know. We’ve spent our whole lives thinking we had no family beyond each other and Mom and Dad.” A tiny pause. “And Sam, of course.”
    Alex’s eyebrows shot up as it hit her that their oldest sister might also be . . . “Do you think—”
    “I have no idea. She hasn’t returned my calls since after we knew you were going to pull through the shooting.”
    “Oh.” Alex studied Charlie’s clenched jaw. “You’re ticked at her.”
    “We can talk about Sam later. Our focus right now is you.” Charlie captured Alex’s hand and gave it a squeeze, a small grin playing at the corners of her mouth. “There are perks to the curse.”
    Alex arched an eyebrow. “Yeah? Like what?”
    Charlie’s grin turned sly. “I can’t ruin the surprise. Just trust me.”
    Twenty minutes later, Alex parked her Jeep in the garage, then waved good-bye to Charlie, who’d insisted on following her to make sure she arrived home safely. Alex let herself into her house and received the exuberant welcome of half a dozen mutts who acted like they hadn’t seen her in days rather than a few hours.
    As she scratched ears and murmured endearments, she realized she wanted nothing more than a long nap. First, though, she needed some food. She hadn’t eaten since the doughnuts with Logan this morning.
    The surprisingly subdued dogs followed on her heels, not making a sound while she looked in the fridge for something to eat. She cocked her head at them, smiling slightly when they cocked their heads back, their eyes intent on her, as though they knew she’d changed in some fundamental way.
    “Right,” she muttered, then raised her voice and said, “I’m empathic.”
    Doggy ears pricked, and adoring eyes blinked.
    “Not just regular empathic, either. If there is such a thing. But mega I-can-relive-your-horrible-past empathic.”
    Not one pooch raced howling from the room. A good sign?
    And then it hit her that she’d rubbed the ears and patted the bellies of living beings who’d endured terrible, painful tragedies. A broken then amputated leg. A bad back. A damaged eye. A missing tail and ears because of burns sustained in a fire.
    Thank God her so-called empathy didn’t kick in when she loved up her kids.
    She decided she didn’t have the energy to eat.
    Within another minute, she hit the sofa and instantly dropped into a deep sleep.

CHAPTER TWELVE

    L ogan rang Alex’s doorbell for the second time, wincing at the cacophony of barking that responded. No Alex, though, which was obvious after the first time he’d rang, but he’d wanted to be sure.
    He balanced the bouquet of fresh daisies on his forearms while he checked his cell phone again. Maybe she’d left a message that he’d missed. No messages. No missed calls. Had she stood him up for their first date? He couldn’t imagine that she had. She simply wasn’t wired that way. Must be a miscommunication. Or something unexpected had come up.
    Still, he had an uneasy feeling, so he walked around the side of her house and to the detached garage. Cupping his hands around his eyes, he peered through one of the dinner-plate-sized square windows in the garage door. Her Jeep Liberty SUV sat inside.
    Okay, now he was worried. She could be out for a run, he thought, as she had been when he’d dropped by unannounced this morning. But tonight he wasn’t unannounced. And it was almost dark. Would she go running in the dark?
    Deciding he’d rather look like an idiot now than find out later that something was wrong and he’d done nothing, he opened the gate that led to her back door. He discovered the door