exactly keeping us safe-at least deterred the most aggressive of the photographers.
After I was sure Tinkie was asleep, I took her cell phone and hurried out in the hallway to meet Graf. He’d been busy, too. He had two-by-fours and nails and a hammer. He was serious about blocking the passageways.
We started in the kitchen, hammering loud enough to wake the dead, a phrase that gave me mild discomfort. It was a good thing Graf was doing the carpentry work, because I had Tinkie’s phone in a death grip. I willed the veterinarian to call and give me a good report. Chablis had to be okay. She had to be.
After twenty minutes of hammering, the pantry entrance was blocked off, as was the dumbwaiter. Still clutching the phone, I started putting the canned goods back.
“Hey,” Graf said, grasping my shoulders as he swung me into his arms. “Chablis will be okay.”
I looked into his eyes and searched for the lie, the soft truth, rotten at the core, that he was peddling. All I saw was calm certainty. “How can you be so sure?”
He shrugged. “I’m not psychic or anything like that, but the vet looked confident.”
“He didn’t say-”
He put his finger on my lips. “Words don’t guarantee anything, Sarah Booth. You know that. But I’ll make a deal with you.”
My poor heart cracked wide open then. The last lingering doubts I felt about Graf melted. Here was a man who cared enough about my worries to bargain with me, even in a situation where he had no control. “Okay,” I whispered, “what’s the deal?”
“If the vet hasn’t called in another hour, we’ll drive back to the clinic. We’ll sit there until he has some word for us.”
“We have to work tomorrow. We’re both going to look like crap.” Even as I argued, something strange and wonderful was happening. Graf had touched me with the most precious of gifts-trust. He’d seen a great weakness in me, and he’d moved to protect it. By action, he’d shown that my feelings were safe with him.
He kissed my fingertips. “We’ll work, because we have to. What difference does it make if we stay awake at the vet clinic or here?” His arms pulled me into his chest, and I clung there, listening to the steady thrum of his heart.
I would have stayed forever, safe in the haven he created for me, but Tinkie’s cell phone rang. Graf took it from my hand and answered.
My first reaction was to protest, but I realized what he was doing. If the news was bad, he would tell me. I would not have to hear it from a stranger.
While I waited, I imagined Chablis, sun-glitzed hair rumpled by the wind as she hung out the window of Tinkie’s Caddy. I saw her romping through the fields of Dahlia House with Sweetie Pie, two unlikely friends. I remembered her bowed up and barking, protecting Tinkie or me or Sweetie. Even Oscar. She only weighed three pounds, but she had the heart of a wolf when it came to those she loved.
I couldn’t look at Graf, and his voice was a low murmur. When he grasped my arm, a sob escaped.
“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s okay, Sarah Booth. She made it through surgery and she’s doing fine.”
I made some sound that was only half human and flung myself against him.
“Thank you, Doctor,” he said. “We’ll be by first thing in the morning to check on her. Yes, a couple of days. I understand. Thank you again.”
We tiptoed into Tinkie’s room to share the good news, but the sedative had kicked in and she was out. Graf placed a call to Oscar. In a few moments he’d updated Chablis’s father on the good news. He snapped the phone shut and kissed me, hugging me tight. “I’d hate to see your reaction if the news was bad,” he teased.
I tried to speak, but the only thing that came out was a pitiful bleat. Instead of laughing at me, he cuddled me against him and stroked my head. “That little dog has everyone’s heart, doesn’t she?” he asked.
“She’s like Tinkie’s child,” I managed to get out. “And Oscar loves her, too. I’ll call him again in the morning. As much as he protests, Chablis is his family.”
“And well she should be.” He lifted my chin. His gaze was definitely wicked. “But maybe it’s time to start thinking about a real baby, Sarah Booth. I want that. I want to have children with you. I want a family.”
“Have you been talking to Jit-” I stopped just in time.
“Who?”
“Never mind.” There was nothing like nearly giving away a secret to dry up a girl’s tears.
“I haven’t been talking to anyone. But I’ve been thinking. Sarah Booth, I want a future with you. I never thought I’d hear myself saying these words to anyone, but you’ve changed me. When I see you in the morning with the sun slanting on your face and hair, I want that every morning for the rest of my life. I want to grow old with you.”
“We’re only in our thirties.” He had surprised me, and I wasn’t sure of my own feelings. I’d grown to care for Graf, and I was falling in love with him. But children? I’d been so busy fighting for survival I’d never given a child serious thought. Jitty was always on me to spawn, as she so lovingly called it. Somehow, I’d managed to think such decisions were far in the future, but Graf was right. I was thirty-four. My biological clock was marking the passage of the seasons.
I’d always assumed I would have a child, but the offer Graf was making wasn’t some distant dream like being a rock star. It was real and imminent. “I don’t know.” It was as honest as I could get.
“I’m ready to be a husband and a father. Not this month or next, but once the film is over and we’re permanently settled.” He stroked my cheek. “I’ll work to be the best husband. I know I’ll be a good father.”
“Graf, I don’t doubt you in either capacity.”
“Then you’ll think about it?”
“I will.” Once Chablis was safe, I’d likely think about nothing else. He’d just rearranged my entire life’s priority. “You’ve surprised me, but I will think about it.”
He grinned. “I always thought the woman I proposed to would fling her arms around me and kiss me while saying, ‘Yes, yes, yes!’ ”
I felt heat rush to my cheeks. He was right. My reaction was unnatural. “I’m sorry-”
He kissed me lightly. “No, you’re not, and you shouldn’t be. You’re cautious when it comes to your heart, Sarah Booth. I like that. I want you, but only if you’re dead certain. I’m not interested in a temporary marriage or a part- time post as a husband and father. I want ‘until death do us part.’ ”
“You sure know how to turn a girl’s head.” I matched his smile. Graf knew the bargain he was striking. The most remarkable thing was that he knew it and still wanted me.
“I won’t ask again until the movie is done. Now, let me tell you everything the vet said. Chablis is in good hands.”
“How badly is she hurt?” I was almost afraid to ask.
“He patched the hole in her lung and put the ribs back in place. She’s going to be delicate for a while, but she should heal perfectly and be back to new in a couple of months.”
It was going to be hard to contain Sweetie and Chablis-the two were such mischief-makers. But we’d manage it. And Chablis would heal.
“When I find the person who did this, I’m going to do something vile.” It wasn’t a threat, it was a promise.
“I’ll hold them for you.” Graf held out the hammer. “We can break every bone in his feet.”
He was kidding, but it made me feel better. He knew how to give emotional support to a Mississippi woman.
“Graf, let’s not talk about children publicly. Tinkie wants a child, but there’s a medical problem.” I wondered if Graf could really understand that longing. “She hasn’t been able to conceive. If something happens to Chablis…”
He put his arm around me and directed me toward the stairs and our bedroom. “I don’t know how we can help with a conception problem, but if we can, we certainly will. But for now, let’s get some sleep. I took care of the peepholes in the tapestry in your room.”
I opened the door and saw my best pair of red lace panties tacked over the tapestry. My laughter rang through the huge old room, and I knew that the release would allow me to sleep.
“Chablis, my precious baby.” Tinkie stroked Chablis’s head as she reclined, torso bandaged, in a kennel. An IV fed into one of her tiny little veins, but her eyes were alert and she licked Tinkie’s hand.
Tinkie turned to the veterinarian. “Thank you, Doctor. Thank you.”
“She’s a lucky little dog. Not all animals are so fortunate to have someone who loves them or who can afford
