Catch a Falling Star by Beth K. Vogt Page B

and along the shoulders of her coat. She ran her fingers through her hair, causing it to stand in short spikes, before pulling the hood of her coat over her head. “My offer stands. I’m not on call, so I’m free.”
    Letting her help him made sense. He didn’t like it, but it was the fastest way to get to Ian.
    â€œDeal. Let me just secure things.”
    â€œOkay.” She started back to her Jeep. “I’ll let Sully know you’re coming.”
    Wait—what? Sully? She had a guy with her? Or a kid? What had he agreed to?
    His decision to insist on calling for a taxi disappeared the moment he opened the passenger door to be greeted by an oversized, overly friendly dog.
    â€œSully!” Kendall Haynes tugged on the dog’s collar. “I told you to get in the back. We have a guest.”
    â€œYou have a dog?”
    â€œYes.” She stopped trying to shove Sully into the back. “What? I’m not the type of person you expect to have a dog?”
    He waited to slide into the front seat until the dog lumbered to sit behind him. Actually, she wasn’t. Poor dog. “I hadn’t thought about it, one way or the other.”
    â€œUh-huh.” She adjusted her seat belt, waited for a break in the traffic, and then moved back onto the highway. “So, you said Ian’s at a friend’s?”
    â€œYeah.” Griffin gave her the address, which she told him to punch into her GPS. “Let me give him a call and tell him I’m on the way.”
    As he left yet another message for his brother, Griffin watched Kendall Haynes. She’d lowered the hood of her jacket, and the soft fur surrounded her face. Within seconds, Sully leaned forward, squeezing the upper half of his body between the two front seats and resting his head on her shoulder. She reached up and scratched behind his ear, whispering to the dog. Silence filled the car once he finished his calls.
    â€œSo, you’re military?” Dr. Haynes’s question appeared to be asked out of politeness, an attempt to start a conversation.
    â€œAir force.”
    â€œAre you at the Academy?”
    â€œNo, I’m down at Schriever.”
    â€œWhat do you do?”
    â€œI’m a pilot.” Griffin shifted in the seat, realizing that his statement probably required an explanation since there was no airfield at Schriever Air Force Base. “I’m flying a desk right now.”
    â€œExcuse me?”
    â€œI’m grounded. Flying a desk.”
    â€œOh. Funny. Flying a desk.”
    Hysterical. Take a pilot out of a plane—the reason he was in the military to begin with—and stick him in a cubicle. He laughed all the way to work. But he had no one to blame but himself. For convincing himself the dizziness was no big deal. No need to mention it to anybody, least of all a doctor.
    Sully’s wet nose snuffling at his neck pulled Griffin from his thoughts. “Hey, guy.” He scratched underneath the dog’s neck. “How ya doing?”
    â€œJust tell him to leave you alone.”
    â€œHe doesn’t bother me. I like dogs.”
    â€œProbably easier to talk to him than to me.”
    Griffin turned in the seat, catching her quick glance his way. “You’re pretty direct, aren’t you?”
    â€œWell, all I’ve been getting is one- and two-syllable words out of you. You’re either the strong, silent type or extremely uncomfortable.”
    â€œGuilty as charged.”
    â€œOr more likely, both.” She slowed the Jeep as they headed onto an off-ramp. The snow was falling harder, beginning to cover the ground. “So, how’s Ian doing?”
    â€œHe’s okay.”
    â€œDid you get him in to see another allergist?”
    â€œWhen I called to make an appointment, the receptionist told me that he’s booked until May.”
    â€œFigures. I’m booked until about then, too.”
    â€œThen how did we get into see