“We’ll have to change that,” he said. He went over to the deli counter and ordered some cheese to be cut up as well.
She pulled him off to the side and pointed at the fruit. “We didn’t get to this section yet. Did you want any fruit?”
He walked over and smiled, immediately filling up the loose spaces in the cart.
She stared at the groceries and said, “This will be hundreds of dollars.”
“Good,” he said. “I’m paying anyway.” He pushed it up to the front, still hanging on to Kona’s lead. She was extremely well-behaved, always standing aside at a proper heeling position.
At the front counter, the teller commented on Kona and how well-behaved she was. They quickly processed the order, bagged it up, and, with Kona still behaving like a dream dog, they returned to her car.
As Greyson loaded up the groceries in the trunk, on top of and around the dog food, Jessica held Danny and looked at Kona and said, “I would never have thought a dog like this would be so well-behaved.”
“I’ll just say that we’re blessed at the moment,” he said, “because we’re all trying to get to know each other.”
She nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”
“Kona has to figure out her new world too,” he said.
Just as they were about to climb back into the car, Kona bristled. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Immediately Jessica hugged Danny tighter in her arms and got closer to Greyson. “What’s the matter?” she asked in a low voice. “What does Kona see?”
“I’m not sure,” he said, as he looked around the area. But it was obvious that the dog was disturbed by something. Her hackles had risen, and she growled in the very deep, dark recesses of her throat.
“Obviously she feels threatened by something,” Jessica said nervously.
He reached out a hand, tugged Jessica closer, and said, “If somebody happens to be out there watching us,” he said, “we’ll let them see that you’re not alone anymore,” he said quietly.
She looked up into his eyes and smiled. “And that’s only true while you’re staying with me,” she said. He smiled, then leaned over and kissed her on the temple, for the second time now. The first time she had let it go by, more surprised than anything. This time she wasn’t sure if it was part of the act or not.
“Still,” he said, “that makes you a much harder mark than as a woman alone with a child. You make for a pretty easy prey, but, if you’ve got a big dog like this and a big man at your side,” he said, “every predator has to rethink their strategy.”
She winced. “That doesn’t sound very nice.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “As long as they’re rethinking, they also stand a good chance of making a mistake.”
“I hope so,” she said.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, tucked her up closer, then leaned over and chucked little Danny under the chin. He was all nestled up against her neck. “Looks like this little guy wants to go home again.”
“This is about the extent of his shopping limit,” she said with a smile.
“Perfect,” Greyson said. “Let’s head home.”
And, with her gaze still wandering around, even as she watched Greyson, she realized that he had been quietly taking photos all around them. She hadn’t even considered something like that. But, at least when she got home, they could take a look at those photos. And, for all she knew, he was sending them to other people to check out.
Unnerved and a little bit surprised at the skill level he had displayed since she’d first met him, she buckled Danny into his car seat, and, when everybody was loaded up, they drove home.
“I’ll unload everything,” Greyson said, “but pull into the garage. Then we can close the big door.”
“I guess I should always do that, shouldn’t I?” she said. “But it was easy before, when I wasn’t thinking about being in danger, to just park out front and haul everything into the front door.”
“This way though,” he said, “nobody can attack you while you’re getting in and out of the car.”
She nodded stiffly. “Again I don’t think that way,” she said quietly. “It’s a little unnerving that you do.”
“I’ve spent a lot of years out in the field doing black ops missions,” he said quietly. “Some things you just learn and never forget.”
“In a whole different world,” she said.
“But my expertise is working to your benefit right now,” he said.
“And I appreciate it,” she said, pulling inside the garage and shutting the garage door with a push of a button. “I’ll get Danny settled inside, while you unload things.”
Greyson nodded, then he opened the trunk, grabbed all the bags of groceries, and carried them in, putting them on the table, and then went back out, with Kona following him every step to pick up the dog food. Then, as an afterthought, he brought the rope in with him and slammed the trunk shut.
Back in the house, he looked at her, joining him in the kitchen, and said, “I didn’t buy a dog food dish.”
“Not required,” she said and pulled out another bowl. He quickly filled it with dog food and set it down where the water bowl was, and then gave the dog fresh water. Kona wasted no time, as she went after the dog food like she hadn’t eaten for days.
“Oh, my gosh,” Jessica said. “I feel so bad now watching her.”
“But she has food now,” Greyson said. “She’ll be fine.” He checked for Danny, finding him in the living room playing with blocks, and then Greyson turned his attention to the groceries to put away, while she took off Danny’s shoes and the little windbreaker he had on.
“What do you want for dinner?” he asked.
“I wasn’t sure what your plans were for the things you bought,” she said. “I don’t have any meat thawed yet.”
“Tell you what. Let’s do sausages tonight,” he said, “and
