“He’s a bit of an attention hog.” Lance tried hard not to wince as he crouched down to the dog’s level to scratch its ears, but Sarah noticed it.
“Your knee isn’t feeling any better, is it?”
She didn’t like the thought of Lance being in pain—and chronic pain, at that.
“I have my good days and bad days.” He stood upright. “Today’s a not-so-good day.”
“Then let’s get back inside so you can rest it. We don’t need to go for a walk if you’re not up for it.”
“I’m up for it. It’s good for me to keep moving.” He collected Tahoe’s leash. “Plus, this little guy could use the exercise. I really want to tire him out before bed with the hope that he’ll actually sleep through the night.”
Sarah took hold of Lance’s arm again as they slowly made their way down the long driveway. “I’m telling you, not all that different from a toddler.”
“Raising a child and raising a dog are vastly different. You’re not giving yourself enough credit for the amount of hard work you put in with that little girl. You’re an incredible mother, and it shows.”
Sarah felt the weight of that compliment tugging upon her heart. Coming from Lance, it meant everything. His own mother had been an absolute gem of a woman, and when she was diagnosed with breast cancer when Lance was in junior high school, and passed due to her illness several years later, it was a loss that changed not only him, but their whole community. She was the type of mom to write notes in lunch boxes, bake cookies for no reason, and attend every school event. She was intentional in her mothering and unconditional in her love. She was absolutely unmatched.
“I’m doing the best I can,” Sarah admitted.
“That’s all any of us can do.”
He let Tahoe lead them, or more accurately, let the dog’s nose guide their path. Tahoe’s black snout rooted along the slushy ground, stopping every now and then to investigate a particularly smelly rock or interesting looking plant that poked out of the snow. Lance’s patience was notable. He let the little guy search and sniff until he was satisfied and ready to move on.
The starting and stopping would have killed Darren, not that she liked to compare the two men. But Darren often got frustrated when anything caused him to slow down or altered his plans. He’d once cursed at an ambulance pulled over on the freeway helping with an accident because it added five minutes to his morning commute, never mind the poor family that had a much larger monkey wrench thrown into their day than his.
“Have you read any more in the book?” Lance paused at a mailbox that Tahoe sniffed up and down, and down and up again.
“Only a couple of chapters.” Sarah smiled. “But I did get to the kiss.”
“So did I.” Lance matched her grin. “You think that had anything to do with the one you just planted on me?” He offered her a flirtatious arch of his brow.
“Maybe subconsciously, but I mean this when I say that I’ve thought about kissing you for a long time, Lance. I think I probably even have some high school journal entries back at my parents’ place that would corroborate that.”
This time it was Lance that halted deliberately, not the dog. He looked right at her. “You’ve wanted to kiss me since high school?”
Had she said too much? If so, it was too late to second guess herself now. Truth, especially when dealing with feelings, was absolutely necessary.
She tilted her head and squinted her eyes. “You have to know I always had a crush on you back then.”
“I did not, in fact, know that.”
Sarah’s elbow met his side. “Oh, come on. It was so obvious.”
“Um, no, it wasn’t. I was clueless.”
“Not even the time we went riding at your grandparents’ ranch? You didn’t realize then that I had a huge crush?”
“How would I have known?”
“Because I’m pretty sure I had honest to goodness googly eyes.” She batted her lashes dramatically in reenactment.
“Well, if you did, I couldn’t see you clearly through my own heart eyes.”
“Oh, please. You were always dating someone else. The head cheerleader or homecoming princess. You were never single.”
“Only because I never in a million years thought I had a shot with you.” Lance pulled his wool beanie over the tips of his ears. “I always assumed you thought of me as an annoying little brother.”
“I have an annoying little brother already, so no, I didn’t think of you as one. I did, however, think of you as my brother’s cute best friend.Bigdifference.”
