Free Shelter Me by Catherine Mann

trotted through her head whenever Mike Kowalski was around. Except that his kiss had made her think of more than full nakedness. It had made her heart hurt with memories of what would never be.
    Easing the pillowcase to the floor, she slid down the door to sit on the braided scatter rug. She was tired of saying good-bye to people who never returned. She was through with putting her heart on the line. Her emotions had taken more than their fair share of hits for the year.
    For the decade, actually.
    The cuckoo clock blared through the house. Her head ached. She willed her heart to slow and her thoughts to gather into a coherent flow. With each even breath in and out, she began to realize something wasn’t right. The house was too quiet, other than that damn clock that kept reminding her of a military life with a patchwork of pieces collected from around the world. Every time they moved, her mother had reminded them saying good-bye to friends was a part of the lifestyle. Family mattered most.
    She’d gone along like a good little soldier for her whole life, and still, her family had been shattered.
    Sierra searched the length of the hall, looking into the empty dining room with a towering birdcage in one corner, then over to the living room with the cats sleeping on the sofa. The television wasn’t even on in the family room. She pushed to her feet and headed to the kitchen with Bo. Her brother sat quietly at the table with another bowl of chili, dished up in a Game of Thrones trencher she’d given him as a gag gift for Christmas.
    She put the snake down in front of Nathan as she looked past her brother into the empty family room. “Where are Mom and Gramps?”
    “I thought I was supposed to shut my mouth.” He ate a heaping spoonful of chili.
    “Quit being a pain in the ass, just for a little while, please. Where are Mom and Gramps?”
    “Gramps is taking a nap and Mom is feeding the animals.” He chugged half a glass of iced tea.
    “Okay, then. Please take Bo and put him back in your room for a while. If Mom comes in, let her know I need a quick shower before I help her feed all the critters.” She could catch up on homework before supper.
    “Not all of them.”
    Her brother’s calmly spoken words sent premonition dashing up her spine like crawling spiders. “What do you mean?”
    Nathan smiled, such a rare event it launched a fresh scuttle of spidery tingles. “Trooper jumped in the back of Mike’s truck.”
    Shit. Shit. Shit!
    She didn’t even have the luxury of time to be pissed at her brother. She tugged her cell phone out of her pocket just as the doorbell rang. Sierra sprinted out of the kitchen and into the hall, refusing to acknowledge that her heart was thumping faster over the thought that her good-bye to Mike had been delayed a few minutes longer.
    She jerked open the front door, and sure enough, there stood Mike with Trooper.
    *   *   *
    MIKE KNEW THAT before he left this house again, he would have to kiss Sierra.
    Maybe that wasn’t honorable or smart. But facts were facts. The flush along her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes as she’d opened the door were real. She’d been glad to see him. For just one instant, someone on this godforsaken planet was happy to have him back home safely. Majorly intoxicating to a man who’d been on a dry spell of anybody caring whether he woke up each morning.
    She held up her cell phone. “I was about to call you. Nathan just told me he saw Trooper jump in the back of your truck.”
    “Sorry I didn’t notice right away.” The tan and brown mutt leaned against Mike’s leg. Mike scratched the top of his head. “He’s playing Velcro dog.”
    “Let’s take him to the backyard to play so he’ll have more time to get used to the scent of here.” She tugged her tank top down, her toes crinkling in her worn sandals, all those awareness twitches that stoked his resolve. “He can play with Clementine.”
    “Lead the way.”
    “Sure, just hold a