Chapter 4Dusk had arrived by the time Sage slipped her key into the front door lock. Her shoulders slumped and she longed for the comforting embrace of her blankets and pillows. Somehow, while out with Allie and Checkers she managed to keep her bubbling emotions under the lid. They had followed a path around the park that led to the shores of a lake that with its twin formed the isthmus the city called home. They passed the occasional dog walker, cyclist, and jogger, exchanging friend hellos with complete strangers; it was one of the reasons Sage loved her Midwestern city.
And watching Checkers, the way he followed his nose from one intriguing scent to the next, wandering from tree to sign post to a bench where he sniffed a good three or four minutes before moving on, it warmed her heart.
