Smiling, she reached up, placing her hand over his. “I’m sure. You know, you’re kind of cute when you’re all worried like this.”
A mix of relief and exasperation shot through him. “This isn’t funny, Sadie.”
She chuckled softly, squeezing his hand. “I know, I know. But you have to admit, you just pounded on the door and rushed in here like some kind of action hero. I’m surprised you didn’t kick down the door.”
“If I thought you were in danger, I would have,” Dale muttered, though a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Gabe, who had been standing quietly near the doorway, finally stepped forward, his sheriff’s hat in hand. “Sadie, you know the drill. I’m going to need to take your statement.”
Dale released her and stood back as she nodded.
“Let’s go to the kitchen. I made fresh coffee, or if you prefer, there’s some lemonade in the fridge.”
Gabe smiled. “Coffee always works for me.”
She returned the smile and grabbed a coffee cup off a nearby end table. “Me, too.”
“Noise. Bad…Noise. Bad.” Tesla stared up at them near his button mat.
Gabe’s mouth dropped open.
She bit back a laugh. “I know, buddy. But it’s over now.”
Dale frowned. “What noise?”
“Your knock,” she replied with a grin. “It scared me. I jumped and he scrambled off my lap.”
He stared back at the cat, who held his gaze while he pawed another button. “Mad.”
“Dale, uh, did a cat just tell you he’s mad because you knocked too loud?” Gabe asked, disbelief still lifting his brow.
“Looks that way,” he replied.
Sadie cleared her throat. “Not sure if you’re interested, but there is a “Sorry” button near your foot.”
Apparently, he was more rattled by the SUV thing than he realized, because without his permission, his foot tapped the damn button and, “Sorry,” echoed in the room.
Tesla rose to his feet, sauntered over to a cat bed, where he stretched, yawned, then settled down and closed his eyes.
Guess he was forgiven.
“Come on,” Sadie said, heading for the kitchen.
“So, that just happened,” Gabe muttered, following her, with Dale on their six. “Please tell me my wife is not aware of this button thing, because there are too many animals in our house. I’ll go bonkers.”
Sadie laughed. “Lyndsey hasn’t been here since I started teaching him to use them.”
Gabe exhaled. “Good.”
“But to be honest, I think your dog, Chief, would catch on the quickest,” she said, pulling two mugs from a cabinet and setting them near the coffeemaker.
Pride straightened his buddy’s shoulders as he walked over to make a cup. “Heisa smart aleck.”
Dale opted for the caffeine too, pouring himself a black coffee.
Sadie set a plate of delicious smelling cookies on the island before settling onto a stool in front of where she’d placed her cup.
“I thought we ate all of these earlier,” Dale said, reaching for one.
