“Would that work for you, Stella?” she asks me.
“Yes, that would be lovely,” I reply, and that’s how a sweet lady named Sammy walked out of Saint Gertrude’s on her leash with me like the goodest girl. And when Leo pulls open the car door, she hops in like she was born a princess.
And then we go home so that I can introduce her to her new life…
• • •
“How was it?” Maeve asks as I lead Sammy through the halls of the private wing.
“Wonderful,” I smile at her.
“And who do we have here?”
“This is Sammy and she’s the sweetest girl in the whole world,” I answer as I crouch down to unclip herleash.
“I can see that,” Maeve laughs as Sammy licks my cheek. “And how long will she be staying with us?”
“Forever.”
“Lovely,” she replies. “The King will be pleased to know that he was correct in his estimation of your new patronage.”
“Ha ha.” I give a droll laugh as I look around the sitting room and beyond. “Anyway, have you seen little Leo? I’d like to introduce him to his new sister.”
“No, actually,” she says with a new pensive look on her face. “I haven’t seen him at all. Hmm…”
“I’m sure he’s in here,” I say. Where would he get off to anyway? Unless someone let him out of our private residence, he has to be in there.
“Of course,” she replies but I can tell by her tone of voice that she doesn’t really mean it.
“I’m just going to have a quick look… Would you mind watching Sammy? I don’t want her to eat a priceless sofa and get us both booted.”
“Of course,” she says, petting my dog. “And nothing could be as priceless as this sweet face…”
I don’t stay to admire the sweet pup, instead racing through the set of rooms, methodically looking through each one. I search all his favorite hiding places and then some but find my boy missing. My heart begins to race and my stomach flips in a way that makes me feel like I might be sick. I’m overreacting. Leo is probably off with Dahlia.
“Did you find him?” Maeve asks when I come back out of the bedroom.
“No,” I answer. “But I’m sure he’s off with Dahlia, enjoying her day off.”
Maeve looks at me in a way that has the hairs standing up on the back of my neck and I don’t like it at all. What she doesn’t do is explain what that look is for.
“What?” I finally ask.
“The dowager assigned her a last-minute duty,” she says. “She’s been gone all day.”
“Then where is Leo?” I ask and I’m no longer worried about overreacting because I know in my heart of hearts, something is very wrong.
“I don’t know, ma’am.”
“I’m… I’m just going to ask around to see if anyone’s seen him,” I stutter. “Do you… do you think you’d mind watching—”
“Of course not,” she says. “We’ll be just fine, won’t we? But I think maybe we should wait for the King to get home…”
“No, no,” I start. “It’ll be fine. I don’t want to worry Rhys. I’m just going to ask around.”
I pull open the main door to the suite and Sammy lets out a high-pitched yip.
“It’ll be okay, girl,” Maeve shushes her. I hope she’s right.