Page 9 of Gideon's Gratitude

“I didn’t put a leash on you earlier, and I chased you through half the forest and onto the neighbor’s property.” The very cute neighbor, but that was beside the point. I held up the leash.

The glare morphed into an apathetic shrug. He sat and raised his chin so I could snap on the leash.

Within moments, I opened the door.

Bad move.

The wind whipped against me and blew through my pajamas.

Should’ve grabbed a coat.

That would’ve been too much effort.

Lucky looked displeased, but I pointed to the corner of the deck. He sniffed indignantly before heading out into the winds. Good thing the lab was sturdy, because the winds howled.

Huh. I was surprised none of this had registered after the power went out, but my focus had definitely been on a certain gentleman.

After he pushed back into the house, Lucky shook himself vigorously.

I snagged a towel and the dog again sat, waiting for the rubdown. A minute or so later, the pooch was less wet, so I let him saunter back into the family room.

The oomph resounded through the house as he settled in front of the fire.

I again fingered the fabric of the suit. Success. The suit was drying nicely. Good thing, because Archer appeared to have no outerwear.

Why had the man come up here without a proper coat? The temperature hadn’t been much above freezing all day. Certainly, too cold for just a suit jacket. And why had he stayed once the rains had started? Why not head back down the mountain before the worst of the storm hit? Maybe he didn’t understand how storms worked.

Nah, he seems pretty smart.

Although that was an assumption I was making based mostly on the expensive suit. Stupid people could wear expensive suits.

Sharks wore suits.

Don’t use the word stupid.

I’d taught my kids better, and so I should do the same. I shut off the lights in the laundry room and did a circuit around the house, unplugging anything that didn’t need to be plugged in. I grabbed a sleeping bag and a spare duvet from the linen closet. Damn, Archer would need to leave his door open so some of the heat could sneak in, or the room would be frozen come morning.

I listened quietly at the door but heard only heavy steady breathing. Without invading my guest’s privacy, I opened the door a few inches. Finally, I tiptoed downstairs, mindful of the creaky floorboard on the third step. Soon enough, I plopped onto the battered old couch—a relic from my grandparents’ time. I wrapped myself into the covers, gave Lucky one final look, and turned off the light.

I’d worried that sleep would be slow in coming, but it proved me wrong, and I drifted off quickly.

Chapter Two

Archer

Iawoke with a start when a large beast jumped onto the bed I was sleeping upon, placed his paws on my chest, and then licked every inch of my face.

Ew. Just…gross.

The dog’s action did have the undoubtedly desired effect of yanking me out of a perfectly lovely dream, and unceremoniously dumping me back into the world of the living. The tendrils of the dream ebbed away, leaving a sense of unease, but not actual memory of what I’d been dreaming about. Damn inconvenient. When the dog moved in for another kiss, I issued a terse, “get off”. Amazingly, the mutt backed off.

Hopping off the bed, the pooch spun in circles at the door.

Was this, as my brother Chuck was fond of calling it, thepee-pee dance?

My nephews had done this dance more than once, and one time, with no other adult around, Lewis had dropped to the floor and urinated on my Indigenous-made woven rug.

Now, the rug hadn’t been my favorite piece in the house, but my wife Thea had chosen it, so knowledge of what she’d do if she discovered what happened prompted me to call emergency cleaners and offer them five times the going rate to come out on Christmas Day.

---