“Why don’t you go relax on the back porch. I’ll make a nice pot of tea.” Alice turned off the water faucet.
“Oh.” Katie set the dry pan in the cabinet below and set the towel on the counter. “I can do that.”
Drying her hands, Alice shook her head. “No need. Go.”
At that moment, Clint turned from the fridge where he’d stored the last of the leftovers and smiled at Alice. Everyone in this place was insanely happy and it showed. Except for Josh.
Her gaze drifted to the back door, excusing herself, she made her way outside. Closing the door behind her, she carefully strolled over to where Josh sat on the swing. “I love swings.”
He lifted his gaze to follow the chains that hooked into the ceiling. “I suspect there have been a lot of nights spent stargazing and snuggling on this thing.”
“I won’t argue with you.” Not wanting to invade his space, ignoring a ridiculous urge to test out the snuggling idea, but more curious if he was all right, she leaned against the railing and stared out into the distance. “Hard to believe Honeysuckle and Houston are both in Texas. So different.”
“Ranch country is different from most places on the planet.”
“Do you think that Raider will really be okay here?”
He took so long to respond that she turned to face him. He was staring into the distance, eyes narrowed. “It might be hard for him at first. Being a service K9 is probably all he’s ever known.” He remained quiet another few seconds. “I joined up right out of high school. The army is the only life I’ve ever known.”
“So you know how Raider feels?” She didn’t want to mention the explosion was another thing they had in common.
He nodded. “I think if this place can’t heal him, no place will.”
Tempted to ask more, she sensed now might be too soon, too raw. Instead, she walked closer to the swing and leaned back against the railing again. “Won’t it be difficult switching handlers?”
“Not all dogs spend their entire careers with one handler.”
“I see.” She glanced over her shoulder and then back again. “I thought every handler had his own commands, his own demeanor, making it hard for someone else to work with their dog.”
“Some. But most commands are standard, like sit, stay, down, drop it, guard or stand down. Enough that working with the dog shouldn’t be hard. Now, bonding, that’s a whole other issue.”
“Mm,” she murmured. “Do you think I can come along for the ride?” She had no idea where that request had come from, but now that the words were out, she knew that she’d meant them. She wanted to see this dog, and maybe, if she could, help. Not that she had any idea how. “I’d stay out of the way.”
He shrugged. “It’s not up to me. I suspect it might not even be up to Sara Sue. The decision may very well rest in the hands of the clinic that has Raider in its care.”
“I suppose.” Now she did glance away, returning her attention to the stars splattered above.
“It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?”
Whirling around, she leveled her gaze with his. A question in her eyes.
“The stars,” he explained, before a little smile tugged at one corner of his mouth, “and for what it’s worth, I think Raider would be a lost cause if he didn’t find you a pleasant addition to his recovery entourage.”
“Thank you for that.” She knew her cheeks had to be flushing bright red at the compliment. What she didn’t know was if he was really speaking for Raider, or for himself?
Chapter Five
The sun shining through the window meant Josh had slept longer than he should have. This family was up and about before sunrise seven days a week. Since he couldn’t really do much with physical labor, he didn’t see any real reason for climbing out of bed and rushing to dress and leave his room. Besides, he was enjoying replaying last night on the porch with Katie.
There was nothing spectacular about the quiet evening. Nothing earth shattering or mind boggling. Except for the blanket of stars, that was pretty impressive—as was the company. What made the time together even nicer was that for the first time in weeks, he felt almost…normal. Katie didn’t treat him like someone who needed to be coddled or pitied; she just hung out, as if they were friends. And right about now, a friend seemed like a really nice perk. Though he knew she could be called back to work any day, the idea of having her around actually made him smile. And wasn’t that an interesting twist of fate. His usual response to a night out with a pleasant female was more like Mark Twain’s views on company: after three days it starts to stink. In Josh’s case it was more like after three dates. He couldn’t remember when he’d actually looked forward to spending more time with a woman, especially fully clothed.
A rap on the door dragged him away from the memories of the porch and back to his room.
“You up yet?” Kade’s voice carried easily through the door.
“Yeah. Come on in.” He didn’t bother to sit up. If he moved too quickly, that could bring on a dizzy spell and he was getting seriously fed up with them. If he eased up slowly, then he’d be showing his weakness. Not that it mattered in front of Kade, there were no pretenses, but his pride just wouldn’t let him.
“Listen, I heard from Sara Sue. There are a couple of trauma cases coming in to the veterinary facility and they can’t keep Raider. We’re leaving to pick him up in thirty minutes if you still want to tag along.”
