Page 15 of Christmas Homecoming Secrets
Bryce opened the door to his sister Kristy’s kitchen, and his dog, Sasha, darted around him to shake the snow from her coat. “Sasha, stop!” The dog did, but it was too late. She’d splattered melted snow everywhere. He grabbed the hand towel from the rack and made a futile effort to wipe her down.
Kristy entered with eighteen-month-old Liam on her hip. When the child’s gaze landed on Sasha, he squealed. “Doggy!”
“Shh. You’ll wake up your brother.”
“My doggy!”
Kristy rolled her eyes. “Wet doggy.” She walked into the laundry room, returned with two bath towels and shoved them at Bryce. “Messy doggy.”
“Thanks,” he said. “Sasha, sit.” The dog obeyed, and Bryce draped the first towel over her and rubbed. “She decided it would be fun to roll in the snow.”
“Of course she did. Which means she brings in a gallon of water just on her fur. You couldn’t get something like a schnauzer or a Chihuahua, could you?”
He raised a brow. “Really? You can see me with one of those?” He finished with Sasha and turned to the walls and pantry door.
“I guess not. What are your plans today?”
When everything was dry, he tossed the towels into the laundry room and told her about finding a lead into Frank’s disappearance. “So I’m going to rinse off, change and head over to the shooting range.”
Her gaze dropped to his prosthetic, the curved one that allowed him to run without falling over. “I forget you have that most of the time.”
“That’s one of the nicest things you’ve ever said to me.”
“Well…that’s kind of sad. I’ll work on it. There’s a ham biscuit in the fridge if you want to warm it up.”
“I’d love it, thanks.”
Her expression softened and she hugged him. “Go change your leg—you do realize how weird that sounds—and I’ll pour you some coffee. You can warm up the biscuit when you get done.”
“Thanks, sis.” He kissed her cheek and blew a raspberry on the baby’s, then headed to his room.
Once showered and changed, he returned to the kitchen to find Liam in his high chair and Kristy feeding him ham, eggs and little pieces of biscuit. Sasha lifted her head and watched him, tongue lolling from the side of her mouth.
Bryce shook his head, grabbed the biscuit from the fridge and popped it in the microwave. “She’s such a slug.”
“She’s a monster.”
“A monster in body, but she’s pure love in that big heart of hers. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” The microwave dinged and he grabbed the food. “I appreciate you letting us stay here. I know it’s not convenient.”
Kristy sighed. “We’re happy to have you here. We’ve missed you.”
Liam tossed a piece of ham straight at the dog. Sasha snagged and gulped it, then turned pleading eyes on the child as though begging him to do it again. “Hey, Sash, you already had your breakfast.” He chucked the baby on the chin. “You need to eat yours.”
“Doggy eat it.”
“You eat it.”
“No no.”
“Yes yes.”
Liam giggled, his little teeth glinting. “Doggy.”
Bryce raised a brow at his sister. “I’m not going to win this one, am I?”
“Nope.”
“Right.” He glanced at the clock. “I need to get going.”
