Real Love
Copyright© 2025 by DB86
Chapter 8
Scout’s whining woke Callie up. Opening her eyes to the dimly lit room, she took in the open bathroom door and the light spilling out of it. Despite Scout being with her, she hadn’t been willing to sleep in complete darkness. Callie had been afraid she might wake up and think she was back in that cage.
Scout whined again and Callie shifted up onto her elbow to peer at the bottom right corner of the bed, but the dog wasn’t there. He was standing on the floor beside the bed, whining unhappily. When Callie glanced his way, Scout turned and moved to the door and then back.
“You have to go out, huh?” Callie asked, recognizing the signal. Sighing with resignation, she tossed her covers aside and sat up, wincing as a shot of pain caught her by surprise.
She’d forgotten about her back. Moving more carefully, Callie stood up, glanced around for her robe, and pulled it on.
A more urgent whine followed by a bark from Scout made her wonder how long the dog had been trying to wake her with his whines.
“Okay,” she whispered, as she reached the door. “But quietly. People are sleeping.”
Scout whined and wagged his tail and Callie opened the door. The dog was out the door at once, completely forgetting his manners. That said more about his urgency than anything else had and Callie hurried up the hall after him, grateful for the night lights in the plug sockets that lit her path.
Scout remembered his manners at the stairs and paused to let Callie go down first. She moved carefully down with one hand on the stair rail. As she led Scout toward the back of the house with the help of the night lights, Callie wondered what time it was. She glanced around for a clock as she crossed to the French doors and began to work the lock but hadn’t spotted one before she got the door unlocked. She pulled it open and Scout bolted out just as an alarm suddenly started to blare. Callie froze, only then remembering the alarm system. She’d just set it off.
The sudden screech of the alarm had Anderson abruptly awake. A wash of adrenaline pumping through him propelled him out of the bed and grabbed his gun. Before he even knew what he was doing, he was at the door and dragging it open. Movement at the end of the hall caught his attention as he started forward. Anderson slowed when he saw that it was Landon coming out of the master bedroom.
Like himself, Landon was shirtless. However, he did have his pants on. Anderson realized; he was wearing only his boxers.
“Callie?” Landon barked.
“On it,” Anderson shouted, as he hurried forward, but he couldn’t be sure Landon heard him. Moving swiftly again, he hurried to Callie’s door and thrust it open, only to find her bed empty. The bathroom door was open, and that room appeared empty, too. No Callie and no Scout.
Fear clutching at his chest, Anderson didn’t bother closing the door, but continued forward, shaking his head to tell Landon that Callie wasn’t in her room. Anderson got to the top of the stairs first and immediately started down, aware that Landon was right behind him.
Groaning, Callie leaned her forehead against the door and closed her eyes as she listened to the thud of feet overhead. She’d woken up everyone, of course.
Sighing, she straightened and turned to peer toward the stairs at the front of the house as she listened to the sounds coming from above. The thudding that had started at opposite ends of the house was converging overhead, and then they started down the stairs.
Callie didn’t want to stand there and wait for them, but had no choice. She’d accidentally set off the alarm. This was on her. Besides, what else could she do? Rush outside and hide in the bushes?
“Callie!” Landon shouted, skidding to a halt as he rushed into the room and spotted her by the doors.
“I’m sorry, Landon,” she yelled, to be heard over the alarm.
Her brother rushed to the French doors on the living room side of the room and began to punch numbers on a panel there.
“Scout had to go out and I forgot about the alarm!”
The last word was shouted into sudden silence as the alarm died abruptly. Landon picked up a nearby phone and called the sheriff’s office to let them know everything was okay.
Callie hardly noticed, however; she was too busy gaping at Anderson and what he was wearing. Or not wearing. The man was barefoot and bare-chested, in his boxers and damn, he looked fine. He was also staring at her as if he’d never seen her before, she realized and bit her lip.
Dylan entered the kitchen, and asked out of breath, “Is everyone okay?”
“We’re fine. Callie forgot to turn off the alarm accidentally,” Anderson informed him.
“No, I mean because of the intruders,” Dylan said, still breathing fast. “Weren’t they who triggered the alarm?”
“What intruders?” asked Anderson with concern.
“I was in my bed when Rover gave a throaty growl and barked as if there were someone outside the RV. I quickly soothed him, rubbing his head, and whispered ‘Quiet’.”
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