“He’s house trained and used to people.”
She reaches out slowly and pats his head. “Whose dog is it?”
“It was Kent’s.”
She goes still. “Was?” When I don’t reply, she straightens. Alarm flashes in her eyes. Despite the marital bliss that has her face permanently glowing these days, those green pools appear as haunted as ever. “What happened?”
“He double-crossed me.”
I don’t have to say more. She knows what that means.
Her cheeks pale. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Shoving a hand in my pocket, I tilt my head toward the dog. “His name is Flash. He needs a new home.”
Catching on, her mouth pulls into an O. “Do you think he’ll be a good match for Noah?”
“Reino took him to a dog trainer. I didn’t want to take any risks. He passed all his tests. We spoke about adopting a dog for Noah, but if this isn’t what you want, I’ll understand. I can find him another home.”
“No.” Her face crumples with an adoring look. “I feel so sorry for him. Do you think he knows?”
That Kent is gone? Animals know these things. “At least the dog is eating normally and didn’t object to Reino taking him for his walk.”
She bends down and scratches him behind the ear, muttering endearments.
I let my gaze play over her beautiful face, remembering last night and already wanting more of that when I should be focused on Flash. “Shall we find Noah?”
“He’s playing in the backyard.” She beams with delight. “He’s going to be so happy.”
Making my way to the back door, I pat my thigh for Flash to follow me. “Let’s give it a test-drive and see how it goes.”
“I’ve always wanted to get him a dog.”
I stop. “You remember that?”
“Not exactly.” She flushes a little. “I can’t explain how I know it. I just know it’s something I wanted to do but circumstances got in the way.”
Those circumstances being running from one dump to the next to save her and our son’s lives.
She shrugs off the comment. “It’s intuition, I guess.”
Tatiana and I walk outside with Flash sandwiched between us.
Noah is practicing his kicks in the goal net. When he sees us, he drops the ball and comes running.
“Daddy!”
Not used to boisterous voices and actions, Flash hides behind me.
Noah crashes into my legs, nearly knocking me off my feet.
“Hey, buddy.” I catch him to prevent him from bouncing off my shins and landing on his ass. “I brought a visitor.”
Flash peeps out from behind my legs.
“A dog,” Noah exclaims.
Flash doesn’t retreat, but he tucks his tail between his legs.
