Brody tightened his hold on her hand. Did her step lighten, just a little?

“But I’m still going to find this dog.”

“I never doubted it for a second.” He sniffed. Over the smell of trees and rain, he smelled . . . meat? “What’s that smell?”

Hannah pulled a package from her pocket. Brody shone the beam of his flashlight on it.

“Ball Park Franks?”

“AnnaBelle’s crack.” She opened the top and waved the package in the air. “Retrievers are hunting dogs. Theoretically, she should be able to smell the hot dogs if she’s nearby.” She stuffed the bag into her pocket and funneled her hands around her mouth. “AnnaBelle! Here, girl.”

They paused and listened. Nothing. Hannah strode off again. She moved through the forest with more confidence than Brody. Clearly, her childhood lessons had stuck.

They plowed through a thick layer of wet, dead leaves. He looked behind them. Dark, dark, and more dark. How far had they walked? “Shouldn’t we mark the trail so we don’t get lost?”

“We’re not far from the house.” Hannah stopped at a fork in the trail. Crouching, she played her beam on the ground and examined a paw print in the dirt.

Brody leaned over her shoulder. “That doesn’t look like a dog print.”

“That’s because it’s a possum track.” She stood and pointed her light at one trail and then the other. “You want left or right?”

Oh, no. He was not letting her out of his sight. “We stay together.”

She propped a hand on her hip. “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of calling you?”

“We stay together.”

“All right,” she sighed.

“You realize she’ll probably return to the house on her own.”

“Maybe. But I can’t just sit there and wait.”

No, Hannah needed to take action. They tromped around the woods for another hour, until the wet cold seeped through the sleeves of Brody’s jacket and froze his fingers.

He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets. “It’s getting late. Let’s go back and check the house. She’s probably sitting on the back deck.”

Hannah turned around. Even in the dark, he could read the distress on her features. “I hope so.”

How she knew her way around in the dark boggled his mind, but twenty minutes later, they emerged from the forest to stare at Grant’s backyard. They crossed the bridge, Hannah’s pace increasing to a jog across the lawn.

She drew up at the deck steps. “She’s not here.”

Brody wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his chest. He didn’t realize she’d been crying until he saw the tears glistening on her face. Hannah rested her forehead against his chest for a solid minute. Then she pulled away and wiped her cheeks with her fingertips.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”