Page 22 of Shake the Habit

“Nope. She said I deserved it but she wouldn’t waste her time and energy on me.”

“My Lord. I’m glad she didn’t hit you, but that wasn’t a very nice thing to do, not any of it.” That included what she’d said at the end. Why wouldn’t her child have been worth her time? “What had you done?”

“I ran away,” he answered, and he whistled for the dog. Sir had roamed as we talked, and he’d disappeared from view a few times. That made me very worried, but he always came right back when Caleb called or whistled.

The next time the dog took off, I reminded myself of how he’d returned before. “Let me try to call him,” I suggested after he’d been on his own for what I considered too long. “Sir, come,” I yelled.

We stopped and listened for the sounds of him running back to us, but the old orchard was quiet.

“Sir, come!” My voice had gone higher in pitch and I glanced at Caleb. “Maybe he went too far to hear me.”

“No, he didn’t have time to cover that much distance and his sense of hearing is superior to ours.”

Ok, but he still wasn’t here. “Sir!” I started walking in the direction he’d headed. “Maybe he’s hurt, and that’s why he isn’t coming back.”

“Try to lower your voice and call more forcefully.”

“This is how I am! Am I supposed to be a totally different person to make him love me? I mean, to make him listen to me?” I took a deep breath. “Sir!”

There was suddenly a crashing sound in a group of trees, and my dog appeared. He galloped over to us.

“Oh, thank—” I started to say, and I finished with, “Umph!” He had knocked me over, but it was because he did love me, after all.

“Hell.” Caleb picked me up under my arms and dragged me out from under a hundred pounds of fur, muscle, and drool. “Sir, sit! You are not to jump on her, do you hear me? Do. Not. Jump.”

The dog looked at him and I swore that he understood. He wagged his tail and I wanted to hug him, but I reminded myself that I was supposed to be acting tough.

“I’m fine, and I know he didn’t mean it. And he came back,” I said, smiling.

“Yes, and you’re covered in leaves.”

“It’s just a little dirt.” I brushed myself off and he also brushed at me, a lot more forcefully. “I don’t mind it, as long as I didn’t go into a puddle, too.”

“You’re different from what I imagined about a beauty queen.” He gave my back one last swipe.

“Well, remember that I wasn’t the actual queen. I was rarely even a runner-up.” I checked, and I still had on my ersatz jewelry. “I think I’m ready to go back.”

After the extended exercise session of the morning and the roaming he’d done this afternoon, Sir was finally tired. I was, too, but the farmhouse was so uncomfortable. The only couch had an exposed wooden frame that bit into the back of your thighs, and there was no screen to watch a travel show on, except for Caleb’s big computer monitor that was full of different colored line graphs. I wouldn’t have wanted to mess that up. And although I wasn’t wet after that fall, I was definitely cold because there was no heat in this place.

I sat with Sir, my feet under his warm body, while Caleb started to make a fire. “I need to get more wood,” he said, heading back outside, and I reached my hands toward the tiny flames in the grate. I couldn’t feel any warmth yet…

And then they blew right out. “My Lord,” I grumbled. I hadn’t noticed a breeze, but Caleb could have left the door open, or maybe it had come down the chimney. I pulled my feet from beneath the dog so I could go find the origin of the draft, and he jumped right up and turned his head, staring at the fireplace.

“It went out, unfortunately,” I explained. “Now we may freeze. Well, not you, since you have that gorgeous fur, but I’m up the creek. I wish I hadn’t shaved my legs today because maybe I’d feel a difference.”

Sir suddenly growled, that same scary sound I’d heard him make once before.

“What’s the matter?” I asked him.

His eyes were glued to the fireplace and his body was tense. Then I watched his head turn as if he were watching something, too, and tracking it across the room toward the door. He remained as taut as a bowstring but he stepped to stand in front of me.

And it scared me to death. I stood behind the dog, ready for anything—

“I got a big load,” Caleb said as he entered through that door. Sir immediately relaxed and wagged his tail but Caleb stopped, midway across the floor, and stared at me. “Why do you look like that? Your eyes are as big as dinner plates.”

“The fire went out,” I said, pointing at it.

“That’s all right. I can restart it.” He bent to build up the wood, but I was shaking my head.

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