help.
She couldnât think of Gabeâs pain now. Sheâd do this alone.
No. Sheâd do it with Horse.
âHeâs my dog,â she said, making her voice firm.
Henrietta turned to Gabe. âSo. Letâs get this straight. Are you planning on evicting Nikki because she has a dog?â
âShe doesnât know what sheâs letting herself in for.â
âYou work at home, right?â Henrietta asked her, obviously deciding to abandon Gabeâs arguments as superfluous.
âYes.â
âFantastic. When do you need to go away again?â
She did a frantic mental reshuffle. âI can put it off for a while. Three weeksâ¦â
âThen you have three weeks to learn all about dogs,âHenrietta decreed. âIf at the end of that time you decide you canât keep him then weâll rethink things. So Gabe⦠I have a happy ending in view. What about you? Youâll seriously evict her if she keeps him?â
They were all looking at him. Nikki and Henriettaâ¦Even Horse seemed to understand his future hung on what Gabe said right now.
âFine,â he said explosively.
âThatâs not what I want to hear,â Henrietta said. âHow about a bit of enthusiasm?â
âYou expect me to be enthusiastic that thereâs a dog about to live here? With a totally untrained owner?â
âYouâre trained,â Henrietta said. âIâd feel happier if you were offering, but I have a feeling this guy will settle for what he can get. If the heartâs in the right place, the rest can follow, eh, Nikki?â
âIâ¦yes,â she said weakly, wondering where exactly her heart was.
âThatâs great,â Henrietta said and patted Horse. who was still looking nervous. âWhat will you call him?â
âHorse,â Nikki said. âIâll need stuff. I donât know what. Can you tell me?â
âGabe might give you aâ¦â Henrietta started and then glanced again at Gabe. Winced. âOkay, maybe not. Letâs take your new dog inside and Iâll make you a list myself. Unless you want to evict her first, Gabe?â
âIâm going to the boat,â he snapped. âBe it on your head.â
Â
He headed for the boat, away from women, away from dog. Away from stuff he didnât want to deal with.
He needed to sort cray-pots, mend some. He started but it didnât keep his head from wandering. He kept seeing Nikki, sorting through her pile of rocks. His motherâs pile of rocks.
He kept seeing Nikki curled in front of the fire, sleeping beside Horse.
Horse. It was a stupid name for a dog.
What was also stupid was his reaction, he told himself. What was the big deal? His tenant had found herself a dog. It was nothing to do with him. As for the stone wallingâ¦
She wouldnât touch it again.
Why not let her finish it?
Stupid or not, he felt as if he was right on the edge of a whirlpool, and he was being pulled inexorably inside.
Heâd been there before.
There was nothing inside but pain.
The cray-pots werenât hard enough.
Heâd check the Lady Nell âs propeller, he decided. It had fouled last time out. Theyâd got it clear but maybe itâd be wise to give it a thorough check.
Ten minutes later he had a scuba tank on, lowering himself over the side.
He should do this with someone on board keeping watch. If there was an accidentâ¦
If there was an accident no one gave a toss; it was his business what he did with his life.
He had scores of employees, dependent on him for their livelihood.
He also had one tenant. Dependent?
If Horse decided to head for the beach again, he was bigger than she could possibly hold.
It was none of his business. She didnât need him. The dog didnât need him. No one did. Even if something happened to him, the legal stuff was set up so this townâs fishing fleet would survive.
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