Chapter 16

Over the front stoop, down a few steps. The man stepped into the sunlight, peered around.

With the little puppy in his arms.

What the heck was he doing?

Amy stared from her vantage point at the edge of the forest in disbelief.

She watched as he bent, held the puppy tighter, then scooped up something, and fed it to the dog, who gobbled it up. And the man had the oddest expression on his face.

Tenderness.

And then they continued. He strode, keeping up a gentle, under his breath, cheery ‘we can do this’, monologue aimed at the pup.

At one point they passed so close that the puppy caught wind of her and beamed his dark eyes in her direction, and she froze.

Then they were past, the puppy bouncing in Nathan’s arms as he took each step.

At the edge of the clearing, he stopped. “Okay. We ready to be explorers?”

She didn’t know what to expect, but lo and behold the puppy whined. Nathan stepped into the forest, let the dog tumble out of his arms, and…magic.

The puppy jumped and danced at his feet. He barely came up to his knees when he did so, but he was a little bouncing bag of fur and excitement.

“You want something to chase?” Nathan dug in his pocket, pulled out a faded red and blue rubber ball with a white stripe around its middle. “Fetch!”

He threw the ball, but pulled the throw, so it thudded to the ground two metres away. The puppy ran after it, ears flopping all over the place. Wrestled with it mightily, nipping at it, picking it up, dropping it, then finally his little teeth clamped over it and he ran back to Nathan.

Nathan took the gummed-up ball once the dog really left it alone, and grinned. “Another?” This time he threw it farther, and again, the puppy tackled it. Fought the ball, growled at it, then finally decided the ball had had enough and brought it back to Nathan, presented it at his feet.

And so it went. They moved deeper into the woods, but something spooked the puppy and it came back whimpering and stuck close to Nathan’s feet. “Had enough for today? Ready to go back in and have a snooze together?”

The man bent, scooped the puppy up, and started back, once again.

She couldn’t believe the scene she’d just witnessed. Somehow the puppy had a deathly aversion to the clearing, but absolutely loved the woods. And the play—her heart had overflowed watching it. It was so good for the puppy, and by the way this big, tough Special Ops guy was watching the pup as it did play—it was good for the man too.

She observed their progress. As soon as they passed her, she’d hike back and get on with her regularly scheduled life. Just a couple meters more. She intuitively stiffened, kept herself as still as possible.

Abruptly, the dog started wiggling. Crazily, as if something had set it alight. “Whoa!” called out Nathan. “Ryker! What gives?”

Pouring out of his arms as it wiggled, the puppy reached the ground, and ran straight for her.

Crap. Moving quickly, she swiveled, her boots sinking once again into the pliant dirt.

And as fate would have it, once again she fell, right on her ass, just as the puppy got to her and started barking like crazy. Wouldn’t stop.

“Shhhh,” she hissed. “Quiet!”

But it was too late. A shadow fell across her and suddenly, beside the barking dog stood the big, tall ex-SEAL, Nathan Hero.

She watched as incredulity stretched across his face. His brows knit and his mouth flattened into a taut line.

But she was unprepared for the cold words that tumbled from his lips.

“You have exactly five seconds. Run.”