Page 43 of Gideon's Gratitude

“May I say hello to the dog?”

I caught Gideon glancing at me. Hard to see with just the porch light for illumination, but definitely a look.

“Yeah, okay. Let me get him.” The man exited the vehicle and made his way over to the house.

I followed suit. The chill in the air bit. Good thing I’d stocked up on warm clothes.

Within moments, a very excited Lucky barreled over to me.

I stuck out my hand, expecting the dog to sniff.

He didn’t. He reared back and placed his front paws on my chest.

“Lucky.” Gideon’s cry rent the air. Part exasperation, part admonishment.

And, if I didn’t miss his mark, part amusement.

The dog licked my face before pushing off and lowering himself to the ground. He made a beeline for the trees and disappeared.

I turned to Gideon. “You’re not concerned?”

“Oh, the twit hasn’t eaten dinner. He’ll be back.”

Within moments, the hound returned, tongue lolling.

“Did you want to come in? For coffee or something?” Another forehead rub.

Instinctively, I reached out a hand to his elbow to steady him. “I think you need some rest.”

I expected him to pull away, but he didn’t. Instead, he met my gaze and held it.

“Rest might be good.” Finally, he glanced at where our bodies connected.

With reluctance, I let go.

He held my gaze for another moment before nodding and heading back to the house.

Lucky raced over, licked my hand, then followed his owner into the house.

Neither looked back as the front door closed.

Only after several minutes passed, was I able to acknowledge nothing else would be forthcoming. I got in the SUV, turned the vehicle around in the driveway, and headed back to town.

I’m truly alone.

Chapter Seven

Gideon

Morning dawned gray and dark. Lucky licking my hand continuously had me rolling out of bed. Gingerly. The slathering of saliva wasn’t a good habit, but the dog was letting me know he needed to go out, so I trudged down the stairs and opened the back door.

My black ball of fur barreled into the woods at the back of the property.

We’d spent serious time defining boundaries. The dog was whip-smart and caught on quickly. The only time he deviated was when he sensed new people next door.

Going to have to break him of that habit.

He couldn’t be heading over to Archer’s every timesomeone new appeared.

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