Page 45 of Operation Protector
She hadn’t counted on Ziggy somewhat hysterically realizing, no doubt by scent, that this was Cutter’s place. The little guy pulled on the leash until she was afraid he’d choke himself.
“He’s probably not here, Ziggy,” she explained. “He’s home with Hayley and Quinn, not here.”
But what about Colby?
She yanked her mind off that path, and tugged the pup toward the open meadow behind the building. She didn’t thinkthe Foxworths would mind, given it was their idea. And Ziggy seemed willing enough, since she wasn’t pulling at him to leave. And he could apparently scent Cutter in the lovely open space as well, because he went back to sniffing madly. He was so excited, his tail wagging so fast, that if it had been longer and he lighter she thought he might lift off like the helicopter she assumed that pad on the other side of the building was for.
She laughed as Ziggy took a short tumble off the small rock he’d tried to climb over, rolled and came up on his paws, looking at her as if to say, “I meant to do that!”
“Very graceful,” she complimented him.
“Ali?”
She spun around, startled. She hadn’t heard a thing, she’d been so focused on Ziggy. Her heart gave another jump. Colby. He was here. Standing there, just a yard or so away, smiling at her. He had the best smile, and she wanted to see it more often.
She realized she was just standing there, gaping at him.
“Sorry,” she said, flustered. “I didn’t know you’d be here already.”
But I hoped…
She raced on before she let that thought slip out. “I wanted to find out exactly how long it would take to walk here. Turns out with Mr. Little Guy, it takes longer than I thought, so I figured on the way here I’d carry him and then he can get his walk on the way back. We don’t wantthe motherto get mad at how long Grace and I are gone, or worse, get suspicious about it.”
He was staring at her now, and she thought she must have sounded like some wound-up idiot. She tried to think of something to say, something calmer, less jittery, but she couldn’t. And she couldn’t trust herself to deliver it calmly even if she did think of something, because he made her so darned…edgy.
“You sound just like Grace when you say that. ‘The mother,’ I mean.”
“She does have it down,” Ali agreed, able to smile almost normally now. “So, you’re moved in here, temporarily at least?”
He nodded. “Didn’t take much. Not like my place is too far away, for whatever I forgot.” He hesitated, then said rather quickly, “I just put coffee on. Want to come in?”
She couldn’t think of anything she wanted more just now, but only nodded because she was afraid of what she might blurt out.
“I still have trouble believing these guys,” he said as they stepped inside, waving at the interior as if to indicate the Foxworths in general.
She bent to let Ziggy off the leash. He was fairly well house-trained already, although not perfect, but since he’d just spent a long time outside she figured it was safe enough. Just sniffing out where Cutter had been would keep him busy for a while.
“What really impresses me is how little they blow their own horn,” she said as she straightened up. “You go looking and aside from brief mentions in some news reports—many of which the reports say they limit—the only things you can find are posts and comments from the people they’ve helped.”
“I know.” He shrugged as he poured coffee into the two mugs he’d gotten from one of the upper cupboards. Obviously they’d showed him around. “I did some looking, too. Mostly out of shock.”
They took the coffee and sat in front of the fireplace. Ziggy, interestingly, immediately trotted over to Colby and nudged at his leg. Then he raised up and put his paws on the seat beside him. And Ali couldn’t deny that she liked the fact that he immediately and very gently lifted the pup up onto the couch between them.
Ziggy circled a couple of times then plopped down. He let out a long sigh as if utterly exhausted. As perhaps he was, walking that distance on his short little puppy legs.
“Yep, I’ll definitely carry him here,” she said, reaching out to stroke his soft fur.
A moment of silence spun out, then Colby said, his voice sounding a little tight, “I really don’t know how to thank you for this. For offering to do this, to take all that time to get Grace here.”
“We don’t have the mother’s permission yet,” she cautioned.
“I know. But that you’d offer to do it at all…” He trailed off, staring down into his coffee mug as if it held the answer to all the world’s questions.
She only wished it were that easy, especially for him. He deserved it. Grace deserved it. And she was more certain of that than she had been of anything since Josh had died.
Chapter 20
Colby watched as the puppy snuggled up to Ali.
