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Kara opened the driver’s door. “Back seat, buddy. Your paws can’t reach the pedals.”
The dog jumped into the back, tail wagging, and thrust his head between them as they both climbed back into the truck. Jace scratched the dog’s ears.
“You need a bath, dog,” he muttered.
“You need a name,” Kara decided.
“How about Dog?”
She rolled her eyes.
“Duke?”
The dog whined.
“He’s not a Duke. But definitely aDname. How about Darby?” Kara asked.
The dog barked as if agreeing. Then he nudged Jace’s hand with his cold, wet nose as if asking for pets.
A lump clogged his throat as he obliged. Rocky had done the same. Oh, Rocky had a good home after that pitiful yelping and running after the car. The rich kid whose daddy shelled out the five hundred for him had bragged in school to Jace about all the tricks Rocky was learning. How Rocky slept in his bed every night and how they took Rocky everywhere, including a vacation to the mountains, where Rocky went hiking and fishing with them almost every day.
Each time the rich kid told Jace these stories, he hated himself.
Hated his mother more.
Even at thirteen, he knew he should have let go and walked away from the rich kid waxing poetic about Rocky, but like a guy who never got over losing the woman he loved with all his heart, he’d listened to every tidbit, every single story about Rocky.
Just to know his beloved dog was doing okay.
He’d done the same with Kara, when her father had met him for lunch a time or two after their breakup, asking Jace what went wrong. Listening to how she was doing, making sure she was okay because he still cared.
Even though he didn’t want to care.
Thankfully, those tortuous visits stopped when he applied to become an agent and training started at Quantico. He learned to deal with life’s curve balls and managed to forge ahead.
Yet he never forgot Kara.
At the cabin, Jace climbed out of the vehicle, opened the door for Kara. Darby bounded out of the car. Halfway expecting him to bolt for the woods, Jace was surprised to see the dog bound up the cabin stairs and stand by the screen door.
Kara laughed. “Look, he thinks he’s home.”
Such a delightful, sweet sound, her laugh, and it echoed in the valley ringed by mountains. It soothed him, made him smile and nearly forget the reason they were here.
Inside the cabin, they set about putting away groceries and the dog danced around them.
“Uncle Phil keeps dog food in the pantry for the abandoned dogs...” Kara opened a door. “Here.”
She poured kibble into a stainless-steel bowl and set it on the ground, and put water out for Darby. He drank the water, sniffed the kibble and then looked at her, tail wagging.
Kara laughed and opened a package of cooked chicken, sprinkling it on the kibble. The dog began eating with a voracious appetite.
Out of habit, he checked his phone again. Nothing. Jace picked up the phone on the table, heard the dial tone and replaced it in the cradle.
“No selfies here,” he mused and she laughed again.
He hadn’t seen Kara this relaxed in a long time. Maybe this could be a good thing, hanging here for a few days, the place to themselves... He plopped down on the sofa and crooked a finger.
“C’mere.”
