Toward the Sound of Chaos Read Online Free PDF

though? Well, it’s hard not to lose yourself
and become a walking doormat. I stayed with Spencer’s daddy when I should have
tucked tail and run. It took two years for me to pluck up the courage to take
my son and get the hell outta Dodge. I didn’t make it to the next town before
he found me and dragged me kicking and screaming back home.
    The
next time I left, I made sure he’d never find us again. We zigzagged all over Southern
Carolina before deciding on moving two states over and settling in Fairhope.
That was six years ago, and I hadn’t been interested in letting a man get close
to me since. Before Jake Tucker came home, that was.
    I
lean against the railing of the shelter’s training ring. Until Olivia bought
this property it was used as a horse ranch; now it’s the perfect place to train
and house the dogs she rescues from death row.
    Spencer
plays in the small puppy pen off to one side of the ring. He giggles as those
furry little monsters climb all over him and lick and slobber and mouth his
hands, face, and boots. Olivia comes out from the house and I hand her the
double-shot mocha with low-fat whip that I promised her for making my week with
this here little visit.
    “How
you doing, Spence?”
    He
laughs again and calls out a greeting to Olivia, but one of the pups sticks its
long, pink tongue in Spencer’s face, and he giggles and tackles the dog.
    “He
okay?” She tilts her chin toward Spencer.
    “Yeah,
we both got a bit teary when we came in, but he’ll be alright. We sure are
going to miss her, though,” I say. Spencer picks up the puppy and holds it up
in the air, zooming it around as if it’s an airplane while he hums the Superman
theme song. “Careful, baby, they’re little and what do we do with things that
are smaller than us?”
    “We
protect them,” he replies, setting the dog on his chest and rubbing its silky
ears between his thumbs and forefingers.
    “That’s
right, so you be gentle, and you be their protector. Okay?”
    “Yes,
Mamma.” He glances down at the wriggling ball of fur and whispers his secrets
to the puppy.
    I
turn my attention back to Olivia. “We held our own little memorial for Lady
down by Mobile Bay yesterday. We’ve both been moping ever since.”
    “That
mean old bastard Williams. If he’d let you have a pet—”
     “Mamma,”
Spence says, sitting up as an array of furry bodies go sprawling. “Aunt Olivia
cussed.”
    “I
know, honey.” I give my friend a pointed look.
    “Speaking
of service dogs . . .” Olivia trails off, and I follow her gaze across the
yard. Jake Tucker and his dog approach us.
    “What
is he doing here?”
    “Who,
Jake?” Olivia says, as if she doesn’t know. “Well, I asked him to help out with
the puppies. Plus, Nuke’s comin’ in for a little more training. Can’t have him
disobeying orders, now can we?”
    My
mouth falls open. “How did you know about that?”
    “Honey,
there ain’t a thing that happens in this town that everyone and their dog don’t
know about by the end of the day.” Olivia pushes off of the fence and walks
toward him. “Jake, nice to see you again,” she purrs, and raises a brow at me
before turning to Nuke. She sooks him up appropriately and he wags his tail.
“Eloise and Percy are just finishing up inside, and then we’ll get started. Why
don’t you two talk amongst yourselves a little while I go and help them out?”
    “Olivia,”
I protest, but she just chuckles, tying up her rich chestnut locks as she walks
across the yard to the big old brick building.
    “Hi,”
Jake says, holding up his hand, which has a camouflage lead wrapped around it.
“He’s on the leash.”
    I
smile sheepishly. “I may have overreacted a little bit that day.”
    “It’s
okay. You were just lookin’ out for your boy.”
    I
give a half-hearted nod. “I may have also been embarrassed about puking on you
the day before.”
    “Ah.
Well, I could lie and tell you it’s fine, but it was pretty