Josh’s elbow nudged hers, only this time she realized it wasn’t an accident. When she glanced up at him, he was smiling down on her. Leaning in a little closer, he dipped his head and the warmth of this breath on her neck had her swallowing hard. “You have a terrible poker face.”
Blinking twice, she struggled to pry her tongue from the roof of her mouth before finally managing to utter, “Whatever do you mean?”
Chuckling, he didn’t move. “If you don’t have a winning hand, I’m a monkey’s uncle.”
“You shouldn’t speak that way about your family,” she teased, biting back a smile.
Josh burst out laughing, every set of eyes at the table turned on him and Katie felt the heat rising in her cheeks. What was this man doing to her?
Chapter Ten
A cold, wet nose pressed against Josh’s palm, followed immediately by the jingle of metal tags. In the dead silence of the country night, the soft sound might as well have been a cymbal crash. Forcing one eye open, Josh groaned. Except for the sliver of moonlight cutting through the blinds, the room was pitch black.
Raider whined again, a low, desperate sound that vibrated against the side of the mattress.
“All right, buddy. I hear you.” Josh pushed the quilt aside. He knew better than to bolt upright. That lesson had been learned the hard way over the last few weeks since the explosion—move too fast, and the world tilts on its axis like a carnival ride gone wrong. Instead, he sat up by degrees, gripping the edge of the mattress and waited for the fluid in his inner ear to settle. One. Two. Three, he counted the seconds in the dark. The dizziness was there, a low-grade hum in the background, but the room wasn’t spinning. Progress. “Let’s go,” he whispered.
Raider needed no encouragement. The shepherd’s nails clicked against the vinyl floor as he moved slowly toward the door. Josh stood, locking his knees, finding his center of gravity. Reaching for the belly band, he carefully slipped it under Raider, holding it in one hand as his free hand caressed the wall, his fingers trailing against the plaster for orientation. Leaning toone side, he opened the door, surprised to have a soft, golden glow spill from the kitchen, shining a beacon across the hallway floor.
Josh paused, his hand still on the doorframe. Raider didn’t wait; the dog tugged him toward the light, his tail giving a rare, low wag. Josh followed, the two moving slowly, Josh’s bare feet silent on the wood in complete contrast to the rhythmic tapping of Raider’s nails on the floor.
At the sight of the refrigerator door wide open, he came to a sudden stop. It was too late for the family to be up, and too early for Alice to be making breakfast. Staring into the depths of the fridge, Katie shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her robe wrapped behind wiggling just enough to set him off balance in a way that had nothing to do with his ears. Smiling at the sight before him, he paused in the doorway. “Casing the joint?”
Katie jumped, a small jar of pickles nearly slipping from her hand. She bobbled it, caught it against her chest, and spun around. Her eyes went wide, then softened when she saw him. “Good grief.” She let out a breath that made her chest heave and his balance waver once more. “I didn’t hear you coming.”
“Sorry. Walking softly is an occupational hazard. Though Raider here doesn’t seem to have that problem.” Smiling at her, he nodded toward the fridge. “Find anything good?”
“I was told there was leftover fried chicken.” She turned back to the shelves, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “But I think Alice might have hidden it. She runs a tight ship.”
Raider nudged at his leg, letting out a whine that reminded Josh his current mission had nothing to do with the fridge and everything to do with the back door. “He needs out.”
“Oh, of course.” Katie didn’t hesitate. Twisting around, she set the pickles on the counter and rushed to the back door, flipping on the porch light and grabbing a flashlight that hungon a nearby hook. “Despite the blanket of stars in the sky, it gets awfully dark out there.”
He nodded, and as they walked past, Raider seemed to bump against her, not so much an accident as it seemed a gesture of thanks, perhaps a doggy version of a fist bump.
Out on the porch, Katie clicked the flashlight on, sweeping the beam across shrubs at the foot of the back steps. “Should I help getting him down the stairs?”
Josh thought for a second. The dog seemed lighter in the band tonight, to be bearing more of his own weight. “Let me take this off and see how he does on his own for a few minutes.”
Gingerly, Raider made his way down the stairs and took an immediate interest in the smell of every shrub along the back of the house, marking them one at a time.
“He’s moving better,” she noted, her voice low.
“Yeah. Time, rest, and that elevated bed all help.” He wished the same for himself, but he wasn’t sure if there was enough time and rest in the world to fix him.
She crossed the porch to stand beside him, her gaze on the distant, dark horizon.
“Penny for your thoughts?” He didn’t know where that came from, something his grandmother used to say when he was a little boy, but it seemed to fit the moment.
“All those stars, all that black of night, it’s like the stars are hiding the night’s secrets.”
Well that was a different thought. “Secrets huh?”
Staring ahead, she nodded.
“Like what?”
She didn’t face him, but the corner of her mouth tilted up. “Probably a little of everything. Secret lovers sneaking out at night to steal a few moments together. Children reading under the blanket with a flashlight when they should be sleeping.”
