Rainbow Snippets*-- Hello Fall

This week's snippet is a little long, but I'm taking a break for the next few weeks while my boss is on vacation, which means I'll be spending more hours at the store and less on writing. 

From my last "official" walk of the summer. 

I'm still snipping from Fangs for the Memories, but I've jumped ahead to the last paragraphs of the chapter. (read part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six, part seven) Alex is safely tucked into the back of Artie's panel truck. It's nearly sunrise and Artie and Sally are planning the day. And Artie has a (maybe unwelcome) revelation. Told from Artie's POV:

“Is he dangerous?” Sally reached out as if she wanted to touch [Alex], but then pulled her hand back.
          I cupped her cheek. “I’m not dangerous, and neither is he. But he will be disoriented. So, if he wakes and I don’t, talk to him. Keep him calm. He’ll go right back to sleep.”
          Alex would need to feed when he fully woke, but we had time. And options. So I didn’t tell her. She was going to have a long, worry-filled day as it was and I didn’t want to add to that. With a start, I realized I cared. It had been years since a warmblood had been more than entertainment, been more than a distraction. I had become attached to these two random children, and I didn’t know why, nor what it was about them that had grabbed my affection so completely. If anyone had asked a week ago, I would have denied I was lonely. But I felt it suddenly, an emptiness that they filled. I wasn’t overly happy about that revelation.

*Rainbow Snippets is a (Facebook) group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers who gather once a week to share snippets from a work of fiction–-a WIP or a finished work or even a book recommendation. If you're interested in following a diverse group of authors, check it out here.