She heard those massive jaws snap and expected to feel searing pain, but the teeth hadn’t clamped on her. On her knees at the edge of the water, she crawled the last few feet out of the murky lagoon.
Barry yanked her to her feet and propelled her away from the water. The moment her toes touched the flagstone path, she wanted to collapse, but she glanced back toward the lagoon and saw the gator again, only its eyes above the water. Looking for the prey she’d nearly become.
She dropped the cat and threw her arms around Barry. “Thank God you were here, Barry. He would have eaten me for sure.”
He caught her in a fierce hug. “What were you doing out there, sugar? I could shake you.”
“The cat,” she babbled. “Someone threw the cat into the water to feed the gator, I’m thinking. I had to save it.”
“You nearly were food to Pete yourself. I couldn’t have endured it.”
His mouth swooped down and claimed hers in a kiss. The fury and passion in his lips whirled her away from noticing she was wet and dirty and frightened. She clung to him and returned his kiss. How wonderful that someone cared so much if she lived or died. Barry was someone she could depend on. He’d been there for her since the day they first met.
His hand traveled down her back to her waist, and he pressed her more tightly against him. The movement brought Alanna to her senses. She wasn’t ready for a real marriage yet. This was physical attraction, nothing more.
She tore her lips from his. “I need to draw a bath. I reek of the lagoon. Thank you for saving me, Barry.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, his eyes intense. “Don’t scare me like that again.” He dropped his arms, then put his hands in his pockets. “The cat isn’t worth your life.”
“I had to help,” she said. “I can’t explain it.”
The cat and the wet kitten still huddled at her feet, and Barry kicked at them. “Stupid cats, I’d kill them myself,” he said fiercely. “Cats are good for nothing, and you nearly died to rescue one. What were you thinking?”
Alanna watched the cats streak away and dive under the front porch. “I wasn’t thinking about the baby the way I should have been,” she admitted. Her warmth toward him evaporated. “How did you happen to see me?”
“I was looking for you,” he said.
She remembered the figure she’d seen by the water. Someone had thrown that cat in. “Had you been out here long? Did you see anyone?”
He shrugged. “A few minutes.”
“How did you happen to see me?”
“When I couldn’t find you, I decided to feed Pete. Good thing I did.”
She couldn’t be arguing with that. Still, the thought that he might have thrown the cat into the water haunted her. Who else could it have been? Grady was here. Hattie lived across the way, but Alanna couldn’t see the older woman doing such a thing. So it had either been Grady or Barry, or possibly a transient. Though she doubted anyone would trespass to capture cats and feed them to the gator.
The kitten had been wet too, as though it had been put in the lagoon but managed to escape without being gator food.
“I need a bath,” she said again. As she turned toward the house, she caught sight of a cardboard box by the water. “What’s that?”
“Nothing important. Just stuff I was feeding Pete.”
“What kind of stuff?”
He shrugged. “Garter snakes and lizards I’ve caught.” She shuddered. “Are they alive?”
He folded his arms over his chest. “Sugar, where is this questioning going?”
“They’re alive, aren’t they?”
He shrugged. “Pete likes to catch his food. It’s fun to watch.”
Alanna grimaced. “You watch him catch snakes and lizards? That’s sick, Barry. You threw the cat in the water, too, didn’t you?”
She watched him closely, wishing for a strong denial she could believe. When his shrug came, she took a step back. “You did it?” she whispered.
“I told you—I hate cats. The sneaky creatures slink around, and I fall over them when I least expect it. Don’t make such a fuss about it, sugar.”
Alanna felt ill. Did she know him at all? “I can’t talk about it right now,” she choked out. She ran for the house and paused only to scrape the gunk from the bottom of her feet on the grass by the porch. Inside the manor, she fought tears as she raced up the steps and to her bedroom. She grabbed pajamas and a dressing gown from her dresser before going into the bathroom.
Her cheeks were hot, and she sat on the toilet lid and turned on the shower. There was no bathtub in this room, and she was too dirty for a bath anyway. She shut the door, then stripped off her filthy clothes. Tears still rolled down her cheeks as she stepped under the hot spray. The water at her feet ran dark with South Carolina dirt.
Something creaked. The floor? The muscles in her throat tightened. “Is someone there?” she whispered.
“It’s me, sugar,” Barry said from the other side of the shower curtain. “I wanted to see how you are. I’m sorry if you didn’t understand. I never imagined you would care so much about the cats.”
She heard his steps come nearer and tried to cover herself with her hands. “Please leave, Barry. I’m not dressed.”