Marceline noticed him before I could say anything. Her whole body went rigid with excitement, and then she was straining at the leash, pulling toward Holden with the intensity she usually reserved for squirrels.
“Hey.” Holden stopped in front of me, and before I could respond, he bent down and kissed me. Quick, casual, like it was something we did every day. His hand cupped the back of my neck for just a moment, warm against the cold, his callused fingers rough against my skin.
“Hey yourself.” My voice came out steadier than I felt.
He dropped into a crouch to greet the dogs, and Marceline lost her mind, wiggling, licking his hands, pressing against his legs like she'd been in on our scheme from the start. Bubblegum wasn't much better, her whole back end wagging as she nudged her way into his attention, waiting her turn with that patient dignity she always had.
“Yeah, I missed you too,” Holden murmured, scratching behind Marceline's ears. “Both of you.”
I glanced at Landon.
His face had gone carefully blank, but I knew that look. The tightness around his jaw, the way his shoulders had squared. He was watching his dog lose her mind over Holden Hutchinson.
“They really like him,” I said. Couldn't help it.
“I can see that.” Landon's voice was flat.
Holden straightened and looked at Landon with an expression I couldn’t quite read, not hostile, but not warm either. Just steady. The contrast between them was almost absurd: Landon polished and expensive, every detail calculated; Holden in his work flannel and jeans, looking like he'd just stepped away from his workbench.
“Hutchinson,” Landon said. A greeting that wasn't quite friendly.
“Hawkins.”
The silence stretched for a beat too long.
Landon nodded at me. “I'll call you when we get back.”
“Safe travels.”
He walked to his car without looking back. The engine roared to life, louder than necessary, and then he was pulling out of the lot, gravel crunching under his tires. The Range Rover turned onto Main Street and disappeared.
“He's gone,” I said. “Thanks again for showing up. Sorry I made you come all this way for just a minute or two.”
Holden nodded. “ Just part of the arrangement, right?”
The arrangement.Yeah.
“So.” He looked down at the dogs, who were still pressed against his legs like he might disappear if they let go. “He's going somewhere?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, trying to keep the leashes untangled. “Going to Cabo with his new boyfriend for Valentine's Day.”
Holden whistled low. “So you have them until then?”
“Through February seventeenth. I get an extra week with my girls.” I looked up at him, hopeful. “Is it okay if I bring them to the shop? They'll be out of the way, I promise.”
Holden's mouth curved, an actual smile, rare enough that I felt it like a small victory. “Yeah, that's cool. They're probably better company than most of my customers.”
I laughed. “You're terrible.”
“It's accurate.”
We started walking down the path, the dogs leading us toward the trail at the edge of the park. The path wound up into the foothills, mostly empty this time of year. Our footsteps crunched on frozen ground, breath pluming white in the cold air. The January light was already going gold, slanting through the bare aspens and catching on patches of old snow.
“I think he expected me to be jealous,” I said. “About the boyfriend, the trip.”
“Were you?”
I thought about it. The honest answer. “No. I was mostly thinking about how much extra time I'd have with the girls.”
