“Shhh.”
He pulled her into a hug. She stood stiffly in his arms at first, but he held her and stroked her back until she relaxed in his embrace. Her shoulders shook just once as she took a hiccupping breath that would have been a sob if she had permitted it. Then, she took a deep breath and pulled back.
“Come on, let’s sit down,” he suggested.
He led her to the sofa and sat beside her. Janus jumped up on the coffee table and didn’t take his eyes of Felina.
“What happened?”
“Amos—George Daniel’s dog—howled this morning like something was wrong, so I ran down to his place. I was in such a rush that I didn’t even see the poor thing. Nothing was wrong with Amos or George, so Janus and I were walking back. That’s when we found the possum near the Pettigrasts’ driveway. It was having seizur
