He thought he was stopping for a stray dog in the snow-until he saw what she was hiding beneath her body

in worse places than this frozen yard, that panic was contagious. So was calm, if you could make it real enough. He breathed through his nose and kept still until the dog’s gaze flicked from his hand to his face.

Then, slowly, she gave him permission.

It was almost nothing—a tiny lowering of her head, the faintest loosening along her spine—but Cal understood continue reading …