He chuckled. “Babe. You’ve got yourself a deal.” He meant every word.
Oops… me and my big mouth. “Uh… yeah, right. As if…”
He turned to face me, standing close, without any part of our bodies touching. “I don’t make deals I don’t keep.”
“We’ll see.”
“So you’re not taking me up on it?”
“Would you really take your shirt off?”
“I guess you’ll never know.”
“Ugh. I can’t win. Remind me that I shouldn’t play games with you.”
He chuckled. “Now what would be the fun in that?”
I shook my head and smacked him in the arm because he was right. I enjoyed this banter with him way too much, and I wasn’t sure I could stop. No, that wasn’t right. I could probably stop, but did I want to? Nope. Still, I vowed to do better in the future.
That worked until I got on the motorcycle behind him, and all I could think about was playing pool with a bare-chested Ramos. My cheeks flushed just thinking about it. Sure… it was tempting… but, of course, it was never going to happen. Even so… I could still dream about it, right?
The next morning, I left home to take Coco on a walk. But this wasn’t just any walk. We were headed over to Mack Haywood’s house. Today, Misti and Austin were meeting at Mack’s house for the first time, and since they’d both wanted me and Coco there, I was happy to oblige.
They’d decided to meet at Mack’s house because it was common ground, and Austin had asked me to come a little early.
I was excited to be included, but I didn’t plan on staying too long. I had other things to do today, one of which was finally getting that doggy door installed. I’d had to order a whole new pane of glass with the door in it. That meant they had to take the old pane out to make the exchange. But I was excited that Coco wouldn’t have to wait for one of us to let him out whenever he needed to go.
I’d also had a chat with Lance Hobbs about getting the training for the search-and-rescue team. He’d been thrilled, especially when I’d asked if Josh could come with me. I told him I’d solved Mack’s murder, but I was waiting to tell him all the details until our first training session at one this afternoon.
I knew he’d be proud of Coco when he heard that the dog had come to my rescue when I needed it.
As we neared Mack’s house, I told Coco we were going for a visit. “It’s just for a little while, then we’re going home. Okay?”
Yup.
I didn’t know how dogs dealt with death, but Coco seemed like he’d moved on.
I knocked on the door, and Austin pulled it open with a big grin on his face. “Hey there.” He leaned over and ruffled Coco’s fur. “Come on in. Look Coco, I put everything back. See?”
Inside, everything had changed. The furniture was back in place, and pictures hung on the walls. All the boxes were gone, and it looked like someone was living there.
“Do you like it?” Austin asked me. At my nod, he continued. “I decided to move in. I mean… why live in an apartment when you have a house, right? Some of the furniture is mine, but I kept most of my Dad’s stuff.”
“That’s great. What made you change your mind?”
“I think I finally accepted what happened to him… and that he’s gone. He’d want me to be happy and live a good life. I had to let go of the anger. A lot of it is because of you. It made a difference to find out what happened to him and why. Now I have a sister. I just thought she’d want to see this place and the things that made us a family.”
I nodded. “That makes sense.”
Austin stuffed his hands in his pockets, and I picked up an underlying worry. He wanted to ask me something, but he didn’t know how. Glancing at the dog, he spoke. “Hey Coco… I got your bowls out. Want a drink?”
Coco woofed and ran into the kitchen. He knew right where his bowls were and lapped up the water. Finished, he sniffed around and trotted over to a shaggy dog bed that sat in a special place by the back door. “See your bed? I found that too.”
Coco sniffed it first, then turned around in a circle a few times and plopped down. He rested his head over the edge, like all was right with the world, and closed his eyes. My stomach tightened, and I suddenly knew what Austin wanted.
“Wow,” I said, my heart breaking. “He looks comfy.”
“Yeah. Uh… there’s something I wanted to ask you.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “You have to understand that when I found my dad…” he motioned to the spot where his father had died, “like that, I wasn’t thinking straight. I blamed Coco, and I shouldn’t have. It wasn’t his fault. I took him to the pound, and that was wrong. I shouldn’t have done that to him. He was all I had left, and it was a stupid thing to do.
“I know this isn’t fair for me to ask, and I’ll totally get it if you don’t want to agree… but I was hoping that maybe… just maybe… there was a slight chance you’d let me keep him?”
I couldn’t seem to breathe. “Oh… uh… I don’t know what to say. He’s… uh… a great dog, and we’ve … my family… we’ve all gotten pretty attached to him.”
Austin nodded. “Of course. I just… I just wondered if you’d give me a second chance. But if it’s too much, I understand.”
My heart broke for him. If Mack had died any other way, Austin would have taken Coco and been happy to have him. He was right. His emotions had gotten the best of him, and he’d made a mistake. Did that
