“Don’t worry, she doesn’t bite,” Olivia’s father said from just behind her. “Neither does the dog named Kat.”
Laughing, Gracie turned and looked up at him. “I was hoping he’d make a friend as much as train the dog.”
“He’ll be fine. Kids and dogs. What could go wrong?”
She laughed again, then glanced toward the now empty hallway.
“Come on,” he said, surprising her by gesturing toward the door. “You can see the training room from the windows that face the parking lot. I already scoped it out so I could surreptitiously keep an eye on her.”
“Your daughter doesn’t seem to need supervision,” Gracie said, walking with him, aware of the sheer size of the man, who had to be six-two, with well-defined muscles under a thermal shirt and down vest.
“That doesn’t stop me from hovering,” he said, leading the way toward a bank of windows at the side of the building. “But I’m a single father, so I get to hover. I’m Marshall Hampton, by the way.”
“Gracie McBride.” He was a single dad? She should tell him she was in the parenting game alone, too. She should?—
“Oh, look,” he said, jutting his chin toward the windows to take in the chaos in the training room.
A dozen—maybe fourteen—kids clustered near the center, dogs tangling leashes and brushing noses. Staffers in matching blue shirts moved among them, cheerful and competent. A teenage volunteer collected coats and hung them. The floor was padded, a soft gray fleck that would be easy on paws and knees alike.
Gracie found Benny immediately. He was standing apart from the crowd, holding his dog in his arms, scanning the room—or sizing up the competition.
Olivia, on the other hand, was right in the middle, firing orders to Kat, who was in a bark-off with the golden retriever and completely ignoring her owner.
“I hope she can handle the chaos,” Marshall said, his gaze on his daughter with a soft look of love. “You want your son to socialize and I want my daughter to learn that she can’t control life with brains and determination. Sometimes, life controls you.”
There was the tiniest note of sadness in his voice that made Gracie tear her attention from the training center to look up and study his profile.
He had strong features, rich dark skin, and long eyelashes. He turned and met her gaze, making her blink and look away so it didn’t seem like she was staring at him.
“I hope they make friends with each other,” he said. “Any kid who names his dog Sir Isaac Newton is definitely her kind of people.”
“I hope they do, too.”
After a moment, they stepped away and started walking back to the parking lot. There was a beat of awkward silence that Gracie so wanted to fill, but she didn’t know what to say.
Poor Benny. He came by his struggles naturally.
“Do you have the week free before the New Year?” Marshall asked, obviously more skilled at small talk than she was.
“Oh, no,” she said, grateful for something easy to talk about. “It’s a busy season in my business.”
“What do you…” His voice trailed off as she stopped next to her van. “Sugarfall? The bakery? Do you work there?”
“Actually, I own it.”
His brows shot up and he slowed his step, looking at her with…respect? Awe? Worry? She wasn’t sure.
“Have you been in?” she asked. “I’m in the back so much…”
“I’ve stopped by in moments of weakness,” he admitted, sliding her a look. “Those cream puffs are deadly, so I usually just walk across the street.”
Gracie felt her cheeks warm. “Deadly? I’m not sure I’d go that far, but you be careful on the other side of that street. I saw there’s some construction starting in January. Something going up in the neighborhood.”
“Yes,” he said. “I’ve heard—” He pulled out a cell phone and glanced at it. “Sorry, better take this. And I’m over there.” With his other hand, he pointed a key fob that flashed the lights on a muscular black truck. “I’m sure I’ll see you around this week, Gracie.”
She gave a smile and unlocked the van. As she climbed in, she pulled on the seatbelt and sighed, unsettled for reasons she didn’t even understand.
Would Benny make friends? Would the bright little girl with the superstar dog intimidate or upset him? Andwhywas Gracie so nervous, especially when it came to talking to a man?
