Page 21 of To Bring You Back
“You just got in?”
Before he could answer, a little boy approached the gray dog. The mom snatched him back, but John waved him forward. “Trigger’s nice. Camo too.”
The kid’s hand was tiny on the dog’s broad head, and when the brown one moved in with kisses, the boy retreated to his mother, giggling.
After they moved on, John glanced back at the menu. “I’ll have a Super Superior and two plain hot dogs, no buns. Cut them up in bowls.”
The unusual order brought Asher to the window. “Now those look like a couple of superior dogs.”
John chuckled. “Ought to be after living with their trainer for so long.”
Her boss stuck his hand out the window. “I’m Asher.”
“John.”
They shook, no recognition flickering in Asher’s face. John kept a much lower profile than Gannon. No TV shows, no actress girlfriends, no solo magazine covers. “Once I get this order up for you, do you mind if we take a picture? We never let our canine friends go without one.”
“Absolutely.”
Asher went back to the grill, clearly oblivious.
John winked to Adeline. “You were saying?”
“You just got in?”
“Haven’t even been to the cabin yet.”
So the band was staying in a cabin. It was a wonder the whole city wasn’t talking about them. Maybe everyone assumed Gannon had left. She’d find out tomorrow when she faced Olivia and the other teenage girls at church.
She took another customer’s order while John lingered by the window. As she handed the other man his change, John asked, “Have you seen much of our boy?”
Our boy?The phrase made Gannon sound like someone who belonged to her in some way, but with their ugly history, Gannon wasn’t and could never be hers, nor she his. She shrugged and glanced at Asher and the other customers. “Ran into him a few times.”
“Small-town living.” John watched the people walking by, but his dogs garnered more attention than he did.
“All right. Here you go.” Asher handed over John’s Super Superior and two diced hotdogs, each in its own boat. “Still have time for the picture?”
“Yes, sir.”
Asher handed Adeline his phone, and they met John and the dogs on the sidewalk. She snapped the picture, and then John gave his phone to Asher.
“Get one of us?” He removed the sunglasses again. “Addie and I go way back.”
As Asher took the picture, John tugged her into a side hug that threw off her balance. When Asher showed them the shot, John’s arm was around her and she was laughing with her hand braced on his chest and one of her legs flung out for balance.
“That’s a keeper.” Smirking, John pocketed his phone and put the dogs’ hotdogs on the ground. He only got in one bite of his own food before the animals had devoured theirs. “All right. Addie, we’ll have you out, okay? Don’t be a stranger.”
She nodded, but how could she take him up on the offer to visit without seeing Gannon?
He walked off toward the public parking lot, the dogs trotting after him, content to ignore everything but their master even as they drew everyone’s attention away from him. How long would that last?
Mostly obscured bytrees and a bend in the island, the peach color of the closest lighthouse marked the spot where, at night, a beacon slowly pulsed. Another sightseeing boat meandered between there and the cliff, too far out for Gannon to see if anyone lingered on the deck.
There was a song in there somewhere. A distant light. Faceless people. He brought his notebook to the great room, and the pages opened easily to the next blank space, but before he touched pen to paper, the door swished.
He leaned back to see if it was Tim.
When John appeared, Gannon got to his feet. John clapped him in a brief hug, then turned, taking in the room. Doors to bedrooms lined the second-floor balcony. The ceiling with its cedar beams stretched far overhead, and a two-story wall of windows looked out onto the patio and the lake. The dogs, who had followed John in, trotted from one place to another, sniffing.
