“Does every member of your family have one of those ringtones?”
“They each have a unique one, yes.”
“What’s Adam’s?”
“Turbine startup.”
Smiling a little, Nick shook his head and started knotting his tie.
“Wind shear … wind shear … wind shear!”
Rolf did a head tilt, and Jannie’s stomach tightened. She didn’t feel like talking to Ian; she’d much rather watch Nick getting dressed, which was almost as satisfying as watching him undress. The man even made buckling his belt look sexy.
“He’s determined. Could this be an emergency?”
“No,” she muttered. “I set up a specific group chat for that.” But Ian would keep being a pest until he heard her voice. “I’ll take this outside.”
As soon as that last word was out of her mouth, Rolf’s ears pricked, and he scrambled to his feet, then sat nicely, his tail swishing excitedly back and forth.
She had to smile. “OK.”
The dog sprang forward, joyfully leading the way to the patio door, his mouth open in a doggie smile.
Just as she raised the phone to answer, it stopped ringing.
Jannie shrugged. She took her time, sliding the door closed, pickingup the periwinkle dragon and sauntering to the middle of the yard. Rolf matched her step for step, gazing up at her with round brown eyes full of anticipation.
She reached down to caress one soft, pointy ear, feeling her chest stir with love for this sensitive, intelligent animal. He was getting older, and white hair had recently begun to spread across his once jet-black muzzle. Throughout everything she’d endured over the years, he’d been a steadfast, comforting presence, cheering her up during the dark times, making the good times better.
He sat perfectly still, telling her what he wanted with one excited bark.
“Yeah, it’s good to be you.” She smiled at him, raising the toy, watching his brown eyes sparkle as he obediently made eye contact, ignoring the dragon. “Eat, sleep, play … No decisions to make, no doubts about where your life is going, no worries, just living for the day.”
She realized that was exactly what she had been doing for the past month. And oh, how much she had enjoyed it, mostly because of Nick.
Rolf wagged his tail harder, whining impatiently.
Jannie threw the toy as far as she could, watching it fly across the lawn and hit the fence. “OK.”
Rolf took off like a rocket, bushy tail waving horizontally as he gracefully crossed the distance in no time, his energy and speed belying his age.
Jannie reached for her phone just as it started to ring again, this time with a FaceTime video request. She glanced at the screen. Yup: Ian.
“He’s trying everything,” she mumbled, tappingaccept.
Ian’s beaming face appeared. “Thereshe is! Hey!”
“Hey, yourself.” He looked good, she had to admit. Annoyingly so. And happy. Marriage was obviously treating him well.
An involuntary smile curved her lips. “What do you want?”
He smirked. “What do I want, are you kidding me? The whole family is trying to reach you! Mom and Dad are worried sick.”
She chose to ignore that, surveying his black leather jacket and messy helmet hair. “Trying for organ donor status again, Buck?”
He grinned at her use of his childhood nickname, his dark blue eyes, so like her older brother Adam’s and her own, sparkling. “I’m takingClaire dirt biking.”
Jannie grimaced. “She’s going willingly?”
