“Sure did.”
“Did you draw a picture on it too?” she asked through a grin.
“You’ll have to get your spectacles on and find out.”
Amy laughed again. The fact that he could joke around, have a little fun with her, put her further at ease. Things were going to be okay. They were. “It’ll have to wait until I’m done checking on Oreo.”
With the alarm set once more, Jace still on the line, Amy treaded through the tall grass where the gate led to Mrs. Phillips’s yard.
Oreo fought for Amy’s affection with his wet tongue and padded paws as she refilled his automatic feeding dispensers, all the while explaining what it meant for the family to lose Jonathon and his wife at the shop.
“Even if Kassy comes on, we’ll need to hire at least one more employee.”
“I can tell Kip and Leo to spread the word if you’d like,” Jace offered.
“Thanks. I’ve got to be there in a couple of hours.” Amy sank onto the couch in Mrs. Phillips’s front room and helped Oreo onto her lap. The black and white dog licked at her cheeks in appreciation, then plopped awkwardly onto his back along her lap. Lacking even the smallest bit of subtlety, he stared across his pink belly and whined. Amy indulged him, rubbing the baby soft skin while his limp paws flopped from side to side.
“That’s great about your job,” Jace said, shifting the topic back to Delanna McKaffy’s announcement.
“I know, right?”Normal. She actually felt normal right now.That was encouraging. Amy leaned down, grabbed Oreo’s long muzzle, and pressed a kiss to his black and white head. “Bye, boy,” she mumbled before pressing another kiss to his velvet-like coat.
“Is thatkissingI hear?” Jace asked.
“Yep. Oreo gets kisses from me everyday.”
“Lucky dog,” Jace said.
Amy grinned, feeling bad for leaving the lonely canine so soon. “I’ll stop by later,” she promised before closing the patio door. Oreo darted through his doggy door and pawed at her legs while she snatched the hide-a-key off the ledge where she’d set it. She locked up once more and tucked the key back into the hollow of the fake rock. Once it rested back in its place beside the hose, Amy scooped Oreo’s stout body off the ground and cuddled him on her way to the fence.
“Okay, I’m really going,” she mumbled. “Bye.” Another kiss, and then he was back on the ground, trying to stop her as she closed the gate.
“Dang, more kisses, huh?” Jace said. “A day in the life of Oreo, the dog.”
She giggled.
“Hey,” he said, tone more serious now.
“Yeah?” Dread poured over her. Was there more to the case? Something he hadn’t told her yet?
“I’d like to come with you to the shop today.”
“You would?” She eyed the panel he’d installed, trying to remember how to reset the thing.
“Yes,” he said. “I’m here to keep you safe, remember?”
“So, you’re like my bodyguard?” She’d meant it to be playful, but realized, upon saying it aloud, how accurate the statement was.
“That’s exactly what I am.”
The certain way he’d said it put heat in her blood. “But don’t you have to, you know, do yourjob-job too? So you can get paid?”
There was a long pause. “Amy?” he came through the line.
“Yeah?”
“Thisismy job.”
“Oh.” It took at least five more seconds for her to digest that. He was getting paid for this. That was good. “Nice,” she said. And itwasnice. Wonderful, in fact. Which made it hard to explain the sense of rejection she felt suddenly.
