Pregnant by the Texan(12)

                “Thanks again,” she said.

                “Hopefully, Dobbin will be back home before we get there. You must get calls for all kinds of problems.”

                “I’m glad to help when I can. I’m lucky that my house didn’t have a lot of damage and I wasn’t hurt. Mildred had damage to her house. She’s already had a new roof put on and windows replaced. She has a back room that has to be rebuilt, but she was one of the fortunate ones who got help from her insurance company and had a construction company she’d worked with on other jobs, so she called them right after the storm.”

                “That’s the best way. Make the insurance call as soon as possible.”

                “It worked for Mildred.” They drove into a neighborhood that had damage but not the massive destruction that had occurred in the western part of Royal. Houses were older, smaller, set back on tree-filled lots. Stella saw the bright beacon of a porch light. “There’s her house where the porch light is on. Mildred is in a block where power got restored within days after the storm. Another help. There she is, waiting for us and probably calling Dobbin.”

                “He could be miles away. It’s a cold night and she’s elderly. Get her in where it’s warm and I’ll drive around looking for Dobbin. Hopefully, he loves treats.”

                When they reached the house, Aaron turned up the narrow drive. A tall, thin woman with a winter coat pulled around her stood on the porch. She held a sack of dog treats in her hand.

                “Thanks again, Aaron. You didn’t know what you were in for when you asked me to eat dinner with you. I’ll get her settled inside and then I’ll probably walk around the block and look. She said he hadn’t been gone long when she called.”

                “That’s good because a dog can cover a lot of ground. I have my phone with me. My number is 555-4378.”

                “And mine—”

                “Is 555-6294,” he said, startling her. “I started to call you a couple of times, but you said you wanted to say goodbye, so I didn’t call,” he said.

                That gave her a bigger surprise. She figured he had all but forgotten the night they were together. It was amazing to learn that not only had he thought about calling her, he even knew her phone number from memory. He had wanted to see her again. The discovery made her heart beat faster.

                “Stella—”

                Startled, she looked around. He had parked and was letting the motor idle. She was so lost in her thoughts, for a moment she had forgotten her surroundings or why they were there. “I’ll see about Mildred,” she said, stepping out and hurrying to the porch as Aaron backed out of the drive.

                “Hi, Mildred. I came as quickly as I could.”

                “Thank you, Stella. I just knew you would be willing to help.”

                “I’m with Aaron Nichols, who is Cole Richardson’s partner. They own one of the companies that has helped so much in rebuilding Royal. Aaron will drive around to search for Dobbin.”

                “I appreciate this. He’s little and not accustomed to being out at night.”

                “Don’t worry. We’ll find him,” Stella said, trying to sound positive and cheerful and hoping they could live up to what she promised. “Let’s go inside where it’s warm and I’ll go look, too. You should get in out of the cold.”