by Blaire Edens
Clark jogged up the stairs to his office in the loft and began combing through stacks of purchase orders and plans. Since the accident, Jake had shuttered his construction business, but he had tons of experience and know-how, so that was a real shame. He was one of the best in the business, and Clark wanted to see him working again. He’d suggested that Jake work for him for two reasons. His schedule would be flexible working for Clark, and Clark would have been around to pick up any slack. Jake had vetoed that idea immediately, and Clark hadn’t pressed. He’d tabled the work idea, thinking Jake would bring it up again when he was ready.
Jake didn’t like to be pressured. He was stubborn as a mule, and when he decided to dig in his heels, there was no moving him.
But now the situation was different, and Clark felt he had to do something to force Jake to start living again. He’d been out of the game for eighteen months, and it wasn’t working. He was depressed and withdrawn.
Knowing Jake was going to be all kinds of pissed, he picked up the phone and called the largest commercial builder in the region. After a short conversation with the office manager, he’d scheduled a job interview for Jake. He disconnected the call, feeling like he’d made some progress.
Chapter Eleven
“Louie and I are headed out,” Clark called to Anna who was still in the shower. “We’ll be back in time for dinner.”
It was a summer Saturday morning in June, and Anna had a couple of small jobs to do, so he was taking Louie with him for some male bonding. The little guy was really growing on him, and he looked forward to spending the day together. He had a plan that was going to make the kid’s week.
“Good,” she answered. “I’m making Louie’s favorite. Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and green beans.”
Clark narrowed his eyes and looked down at Louie. “That’s your favorite?” he asked in a whisper.
“No, but it’s better than most of the stuff she cooks,” Louie answered.
Clark winked conspiratorially at the kid. “Sounds great. See you later.” He placed his hand on Louie’s shoulder and guided him out of the cabin and into the booster seat. “Hop in, buckaroo.”
Louie scrambled up into the truck. “I really like your truck,” he said. “The engine is loud, and I like that.”
“It’s nice having another car guy in the house.” Clark made sure Louie was buckled into his booster seat.
The boy nodded solemnly. “Yes, sir. I love cars.”
Clark slammed the door and smiled. Louie reminded him so much of himself at that age. He was precocious and sweet. “Where would be a fun place to spend the day?”
“I like Fun Warehouse. They have laser tag.”
“Sounds pretty cool,” Clark said as he pulled out of the driveway and onto the road leading to town. “Anyplace else?”
“You won’t take me.”
“How do you know? It never hurts to ask.” Clark glanced at him in the rearview mirror.
Louie fiddled with the cup holder molded to his seat. By the look of extreme concentration on his face, Clark guessed he was working up the nerve to ask. “Can we go to the animal shelter? Just look at all the dogs?”
“That’s exactly where I was thinking about taking you.”
“Really?” Louie’s voice was high pitched and excited.
“Really,” Clark assured him.
“I won’t ask for a dog, Mr. Clark. Honest, I won’t.”
“Let’s just see what happens.” He’d already made up his mind. If Louie found the perfect puppy, he was going to let him bring it home. He hadn’t talked to Anna about it yet, but the cabin was a perfect place for a puppy. He had a big yard and plenty of room for a crate, and he wanted Louie to have a playmate.
The F-150 kicked up dust on the long, winding road that led to the animal shelter. Clark pulled into a spot near the front door. “Looks like we’re the only people here. Let’s see what they have.”
Louie unbuckled his seat belt and climbed over the arm rest and out the driver’s side of the pickup. He was still smiling when his feet hit the dusty ground. He slipped his hand into Clark’s. Clark had never held a child’s hand before but it felt natural, right.
Inside the shelter, a long hallway divided two rows of cages. The kennels were full of barking dogs. Big ones, little one, fluffy ones, short-haired ones. Louie seemed totally unfazed by all the noise and movement. He took his time, stopping at every cage to check out the residents. He spoke to each dog, his voice soft and kind.
Midway down the block, on the left-hand side, Louie got down on his knees and wrapped his fingers around the wire. The puppy inside ran to the front of the cage and began licking Louie’s fingers. A beagle mix, white with light-brown splotches that looked almost yellow. The little dog yipped and wagged his tail. “Hey there,” Louie said. “You’re my favorite. You’re the cutest dog here.”
The dog was barely old enough to be weaned, ten weeks old at the most. Cute as a button. Perfect for a little boy.
“You like him?” Clark asked.
Louie looked up at him, his eyes filled with affection. “Yes, sir. He’s the best dog ever.”
“Want me to ask the lady if you can play with him for a few minutes?”
“You’d do that?” The kid looked as if he’d just won the lottery.
“Sure. Stay right here. Keep him company. I’ll be back in a second.”
He found the kennel manager cleaning a cage at the other end. “We’re interested in the beagle puppy. Can you let the boy play with him for a second? See if he’s a good fit.”
“Sure. We’d love to send him to a good home,” she said. “All the others in his litter already got adopted, but he’s been the shy one. Although you’d never believe that judging by the way he’s bonding with your son.”
It was the first time anyone had called Louie his son, and it had a nice ring to it. “Maybe he was just waiting for the right kid.”
They walked to the cage. Louie was still on the floor, but he’d moved closer so the dog could lick his cheek through the wire. When the kennel manager opened the door, the puppy ran out and tackled Louie. He lay on the boy’s chest and licked his face, his neck, even nibbled his ears.
Louie was all giggles.
“They look like a perfect match to me,” the lady said. “About the same energy level.”
“We’ll take the pup.”
Louie stopped laughing and looked up at Clark. His eyes were shining with hope. “Do you mean it? We’re taking him home?”
Clark nodded. “For the record, we should’ve asked your mom first. But since you and I are willing to take full responsibility for the little guy, I think we can convince her a dog is a great idea.”
“I’ll take care of him. I promise. I’ll feed him and change his water and walk him every day.”
“I know you will, bud. Come on, let’s fill out the paperwork.”
An hour later, Clark had a stack of paperwork and a receipt for fifty bucks. Louie had a bundle of unconditional love. Wrapped in a tattered towel, the pup was fast asleep on the boy’s lap. For the first time since the accident, Clark felt like he’d done something really good.
Maybe I do have a chance at redemption.
“Got any ideas for a name?” Clark asked.
Louie rubbed the dog’s head and shrugged. “Not really.”
“Maybe your mom would like to help us.”
“That’s a great idea. She’s good at that kind of stuff.”
After a short stop at Tractor Supply for bowls, a crate, food, and a leash, Clark and Louie headed home.
“Think your mom will be angry?”
“Nah,” Louie said. “She loves dogs.”
…
After she’d taken a shower, Anna sat in a chair on the back deck, propped up her feet, and dove into the steamy novel she’d picked up at the library. In the weeks since she’d moved in to the cabin, she’d been reading plenty of them. The naughty scenes gave her all kinds of idea of things she’d like to t
ry with her husband.
Halfway through the second steamy part, she heard Clark’s truck rumbling up the driveway. She tossed the book on the hall table and walked out the front door.
The boys weren’t alone.
Following behind Louie, and nipping at his heels, was a puppy. Even though she and Clark had talked about getting one, she didn’t know he was going to do it today. She stepped off the porch and into the grass for a better look.
Judging by the look on her son’s face, this dog was just what he’d always wanted.
“Mom,” Louie yelled. “Look what Clark got me!” He raced toward her, the tiny spotted puppy hot on his heels. Boy and dog crashed into her. “Isn’t he the cutest?”
She looked down at the dog who was busy trying to gnaw her flip-flops off her feet. “He is cute,” she admitted.
Clark strode up beside him. “We hoped you might help us name him.” He had the same broad grin on his face as Louie.
“Look, Mom, he likes to chase me!” Louie took off running through the grass. “He already knows he belongs to me!”
“Louie,” Clark called to him. “Come back and let’s put his collar on so he’ll be easier to grab if he gets into trouble.”
The little boy ran back toward them and sat in the grass. Clark knelt and handed Louie the bright-red collar. “Here you go. We’ll get a name tag as soon as you and your mom decide what to call him.” Clark looked up at Anna and grinned. “I know you’ll figure out the perfect name.”
Clark’s eyes met hers, and she felt something strange. More than the physical attraction that was becoming much too familiar. This was something deeper, something solid. Her heart softened. He’d done something for her son she couldn’t do, and she was grateful to him, but there was a bittersweet current running just beneath the surface.
For the first time in her life, Anna had what felt like a family, and knowing it was all a ruse, that eventually they’d separate and go back to living their own lives, broke her heart.
There would be fallout. Eventually, she’d have to be the bad guy when she told Louie he couldn’t take the dog back to the house on Florida Street. But for today, she wanted Louie to enjoy his puppy, and she wanted to enjoy the fleeting feeling of family.
“I’d say our trip to the Humane Society was a success,” Clark said, snapping the collar onto the tiny puppy and turning him loose to chase Louie.
Anna looked across the lawn. Louie and the puppy had collapsed under a large oak tree. The dog was on top of the boy, licking his face like an ice-cream cone. It was like a scene out of a movie, and tears welled in the corners of her eyes.
“His heart is going to be broken,” she said. “He’s wanted a puppy for so long, and when we go back to our house, I’ll have to explain to him that he can’t keep him.”
Louie rose, and then he and the dog ran in large circles, taking turns chasing one another.
“I’ll be the bad guy,” Clark said. “I’ll keep the puppy. After, I mean.”
She shook her head. “It just would be another reason Louie would want to visit you.”
“It might be another reason you’d want to visit, too.” Clark took her hand in his. “This marriage.” He paused. “It’s a little more than I—”
“Mom, he’s hungry,” Louie said, bounding onto the porch, the puppy close on his heels. “We have to feed him. Now. And then we have to go to Aunt Taylor’s so she can meet him.” His face was flushed with exertion.
Anna looked at Clark, and he nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s get you two fed and cleaned up and we’ll head into town.”
Chapter Twelve
“The point, Taylor, is that he should’ve asked. I’m Louie’s mom. I get to make the decisions.”
They were on Taylor’s back patio, and Louie and the puppy were racing around the fenced yard, a blur of black curls followed by a blur of wagging tail.
Taylor took a sip of her iced tea. “I agree, but he was just trying to do something nice for Louie, and you did talk about it beforehand.”
“But we didn’t make a decision. We just tabled it until later.”
“I think you’re making a bigger deal of it than it really is. I think you’re overreacting a little.”
“I’m scared,” Anna admitted. “I really appreciate what he’s doing for us, but how am I going to tell Louie he can’t keep the puppy? You have no idea how much I dread that conversation.” Anna shook her head. “Maybe I can talk to my landlord. Maybe he’ll let us keep a dog if it’s housetrained.” She wasn’t getting her hopes up on that account. With all the money her landlord was spending to clean up the place, she’d be lucky if he allowed her to cook inside.
“I’m sure Clark will keep the dog if you can’t. He’d let Louie see him whenever.”
“That could be a problem.”
“How?” Taylor twirled the straw in her drink.
“I don’t want Louie to get too attached to Clark. It wouldn’t be good for any of us.”
“He would never hurt Louie.”
Having seen the two of them together at Max Patch, she knew Clark would do anything for her son. “I know he wouldn’t. It’s just that Louie and I have our life together all worked out. We don’t need a third person.”
“The more love a kid has, the better,” Taylor countered. “Look how happy he is.” She motioned to Louie and the dog. They were rolling around in the grass, and Louie was giggling while the puppy licked his face. “George would never do that for him.”
“But Clark isn’t going to be in his life forever. This is just temporary.”
Taylor shrugged. “Just because the marriage is fake, doesn’t mean the relationship between Louie and Clark has to be fake.”
Maybe Taylor had a point. It would be good for her son to have a man in his life who was kind and responsible. Not an asshole.
It might be good for her, too.
“It’s just that after living with a control freak like George, it makes me uncomfortable when he just takes the reins,” Anna said.
“First of all, he’s nothing like the asshole. He takes charge, but he does it to help other people, not for his own gain. His relationship with my parents wasn’t the best, and he’s always had this compulsion to fix things for the people he loves. He must love you a lot.”
The word “love” hit her like a bucket of cold water. She had to change the subject before Taylor asked her how she felt. She wouldn’t lie to her best friend, but she wasn’t ready to discuss it. After her disastrous marriage to George, she promised herself she’d never fall in love again, but Clark was making that difficult.
“What really happened with Jake? He and I went to high school together, but we weren’t really friends. I remember when the crash happened and how worried you were about Clark, but I thought it was just because the road conditions were so bad. Why does Clark still feel so guilty?”
Taylor took a corn chip and dipped into some salsa before she answered. “It’s kind of a long story, but Jake owned a construction company, and he and Clark worked together on a lot of projects. The night of the wreck, they’d just finished a big one and were hosting a party at Jack of Hearts.
“The weather went south and the band canceled. Jake was pretty far into the tank and he made a lot of noise about going to his place to get his guitar. Clark, who was cold stone sober, got tired of hearing his mouth and agreed to drive him.
“The roads weren’t bad here in town, but once he got out into the country, they were pretty icy. In an argument over Jake’s cell phone, he hit a patch of ice and lost control of the car. It tumbled down the side of the mountain. Clark had a mild concussion and a few scratches, and Jake ended up losing his leg.”
“No wonder he feels so guilty.”
Taylor nodded. “In some ways, it was harder on my brother than it was on Jake.”
“Did Clark get in any legal trouble because of the wreck?”
“He was charged with reckless endangerment, but he won’t talk about it.”
Clark had never mentioned the charge to her, either, and it concerned her. Could it have any effect on the custody case? She gone all in to protect her son and the last thing she needed was something hanging over Clark’s head that could tip the scales in her ex-husband’s favor. “Jake and Clark been close for a while?”
“Forever. For as long as I can remember. Jake’s getting a prosthetic soon. It will get him out of the wheelchair, and maybe he can go back to work. That’s what he needs.”
“I told Clark the same thing. I think he’s working on getting him some interviews.”
“I hope that he’s better at showing up for job interviews than he is with his doctor appointments.”
“Are you close to him, too?”
Taylor laughed. “I wish. I’ve been trying to get close to Jake since puberty.”
“How come you never mentioned that to me?”
“It’s embarrassing. I’ve never had trouble getting a date, but Jake is absolutely immune to my extraordinary beauty and charm.”
“Are you sure he’s alive?” Anna laughed. “I can’t believe a living, breathing man could resist you.”
“He’s alive, all right. That I’m sure of,” Taylor said with a wink. “Very alive.”
Anna thought about Clark, how he must feel. The burden of the overwhelming guilt. The accident had been his fault, and for the first time since he’d blown into her kitchen, she understood how much it reinforced the feelings that had followed him since childhood. He was the responsible one, and he’d failed his best friend. It was a large weight to carry.
At a little past six, she grabbed her purse. “Come on, Louie, let’s head home.”
Louie raced inside, the puppy on his heels. “But I want to stay with Taylor. So does the puppy.”
Anna looked at her best friend.
Taylor shrugged. “Fine with me. I can drop him off in the morning.” Her eyes twinkled. A sure sign that she was up to something.
“What are you up to?”
“Nothing.”
“I’m not buying it. Did Clark text you?”
“He’s my brother.”