Page 64 of Sheltering Instinct

As Tess set out walking by his side, Levi tucked his thumbs into his straps so that old habits weren’t muscle memory. Her hands weren’t his to hold.

“You look very happy about everything that was said. I’m sure it all means something to you as far as Mojo’s training goes.” Tess stepped to the prescribed ten-foot distance.

“This is a terrific setup. Enrico is a master of his craft. I really want Mojo to succeed here. If this goes as well as yesterdaywent, I am pretty sure that Reaper and Goose will sign off on Mojo, and he’ll come home with me.”

“He’ll be your dog?”

“My dog.”

“Mojo reminds me of you,” she said in a voice that was reflective rather than conversational.

No one had ever known him better than Tess. “I’d like to hear more about that.”

“From the beginning, he’s been lovely. Hasn’t he? Protective by nature, but not in a look-at-me kind of way. He’s done what’s necessary without hovering and being overwhelming. Steady, skilled, dependable. He’s obviously a thinking dog. And when he offered emotional support, it was subtle. Soft. He didn’t call attention to the fact that I was struggling. There when I needed it, and then went on about his doggy day when my system calmed. Mmm, that’s vaguely right.” Her gaze was on the ground ahead of her.

She walked in silence for a while.

“I’m still thinking about this,” she said without looking his way. Then, she lifted her hand to gather the air and rub it through her fingers.

That gesture was something she’d done since he’d known her. It had a magical, graceful quality.

It seemed to Levi she was doing it more than usual.

“Qualifying the sameness in your characters isn’t easy. I don’t like what I said earlier. It’s too surface, like a veneer thought.” She painted a hand down her chest from neck to belly. “I’ve seen you two communicate. You’re on the same wavelength. Enrico needs to call Mojo’s attention to him and make a command. You and Mojo work together like old partners, each doing the thing that needs doing. I think, for now, that’s the best I can come up with.”

“Thank you. I value your opinion.”

She stopped and turned to him. Ten feet away was much too far. Levi wanted to walk closer as he asked this, but he wouldn’t chance messing up this evolution. Too much was riding on Mojo’s performance.

“Tess, I hope this isn’t uncomfortable for you. I’m mean ...” He flipped his hand over and drew his arm to the side in an arc. “I take it that you wanted to keep your private life private. Gwen … ” He let that trail off. “Seeing you has meant a lot to me. When I was at the hospital with you and on the drive back to the vineyard, it took me some time to process you being back in my sphere.”

She gave a short nod, obviously braced for what came next, and Levi didn’t want that. Deciding to ease into things and see where it took them, ready for any decision she might make, Levi tried, “I would like to stay part of your life going forward. I hope that we can be friends.”

“Friends.” She said it like she was trying to pronounce a foreign word for the first time. “I … I … I … Yes, I think I’d like that too.”

“Good then?”

“Good.” She started walking again, but her head was turned away from him.

When she angled back she asked, “Do you think your wife will be okay with the idea of being friends with someone from your past?”

“No wife. No girlfriend. Just a guy in a new job and a new city. You’re pretty close, right? Gwen said Annapolis?”

“When we’re not in the field, yes.” She bent and picked up a stick and whipped it back and forth through the air, making swooshing noises, and he let her process. Was she checking on his status, or was she simply trying to avoid future drama by accepting his offer of friendship?

Tess tossed a glance his way. “You had a dog in the military, right? You were about to go train in Texas last we spoke those many years ago.” She turned her head completely away from him.

Levi liked that they were talking, trying to talk. Awkward—that he could acknowledge. And there was that tender spot that hurt when any kind of weight was put on it. But dogs were neutral ground.

“I did. I loved it. It’s been a great career choice.”

“When you left the Navy, what happened to your dog?”

“This will be the first time I have a dog that I train with consistently. In the military, I chose a dog for an assignment. That could last a day or several weeks if I were moving off grid for a mission. Having a dedicated dog was for specific roles. Otherwise, we had to share. They’re just too expensive and long to train to tie a single fur-force to a single handler when they can be shared around.”

“That sounds hard on everyone.” Tess reached up and adjusted the strap on her bag, patting her water bottle. “And you had to carry your stuff and the stuff for your assigned dog?”

“Right.”

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