CHAPTER 10
Ali had been going a mile a minute since she woke up to Kade McKnight’s signature breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, and hash browns, but now she stopped midway through restocking the ice chest to take a breath and soak in her surroundings.
The sun was shining. There was music playing. Everyone was laughing, talking, and eating. Some of the kids were playing kickball and there was a makeshift dance floor on the deck. Doris Weathersby—whose claim to fame was that she was one of the original Rockettes when they were formed in her hometown of St. Louis—was cutting a rug with young Dr. Hanover. Ali had to admit, Chris had some serious moves for a veterinarian.
And most importantly, she felt her brother smiling down on them all.
Today’s a good day, Ali silently told Patrick.
There hadn’t been a lot of good days over the last year and a half. Actually, come to think of it, there might not have been any good days since Patrick died. There’d been days that weren’t excruciatingly painful. There’d been days where she hadn’t been as terrified as other days. There’d been days when she didn’t feel quite as overwhelmed as other days. But there were no days, that she could think of, where the boys were happy. Where she was happy.
Her eyes naturally drifted to the man responsible for making this happy day. Kade was holding court at the barbeque, cooking up another round of hamburgers and hot dogs. He’d done all the heavy lifting today. The grocery shopping, the cooking, even the setting up. She’d tried to help set up the folding chairs but he’d stopped her and called the boys over. The three of them set up the chairs and their card tables, while she looked on.
She appreciated the help, but she told herself that this might not last. That it was too good to be true and she couldn’t depend on it. She believed that Kade did indeed intend to stay in town, but he’d hated growing up in Whisper Lake. Sure, a big part of that was because of his home life. But also he’d been restless in this small community. And what if he did stay, but was miserable?
As selfless and honorable as his intentions were, she wasn’t sure she trusted the follow through. Plus, even if he did, she knew better than most that life, and death, threw curve balls.
Ali watched, captivated, as Kade laughed at something Ethan had said and her entire body felt it. Her pulse quickened as a burst of arousal rocked her center and then spread out through her limbs in tiny aftershocks. His laughter was as smooth and sexy as a John Coltrane sax solo. His smile had enough wattage to light up Times Square. And his eyes…those eyes should be nicknamed the Bermuda Triangle because it was so easy to get lost in them.
The man oozed sex-appeal, charisma, and magnetism. Plain and simple. No argument. It was a scientific fact. The earth was round. The human head weighs eight pounds (at least according to the Jerry Maguire kid). And Kade McKnight oozed sex-appeal, charisma, and magnetism.
Scared she might start drooling, Ali forced herself to look away from the sexiest man on the planet and glued her eyes to the boys and their friends. They’d abandoned their kickball game and were running around with the dog. The dog was the breakout star of the impromptu birthday barbeque. He’d greeted each and every person with sloppy kisses and a goofy grin and had been entertaining the guests with his fun-loving personality and his impressive tricks.
“Over here, Dumbass, over here!” Ricky yelled, waving his arms before throwing the ball to the dog who jumped in the air and turned in a full circle to catch it.
Some of the adults watching from the deck broke out in applause at the impressive play and the pup clearly loved all the attention.
It was official, everyone loved Dumbass and Dumbass loved everyone.
“Do you really think that’s an appropriate name?” Chrissy Caldwell asked as she bent down, lifted the lid of the ice chest, and grabbed a bottle of water.
Well…almost everyone.
“No. I don’t,” Ali answered honestly. “But that’s the name he came with and he loves it.”
They’d tried a handful of other names, but so far even with adding incentives when they called him, he had no reaction to any of them. But the second one of them said “Dumbass” he’d come bounding over with barely restrained enthusiasm. He seemed to wear the name with pride and dignity.
“Allison, he’s a dog.” Chrissy spoke to Ali in the same voice you’d use to explain to a child why they couldn’t have ice cream for dinner. “He doesn’t understand the word that you use. You could call him anything with a happy tone and he’d respond.”
Chrissy Caldwell was the girl in class that always sat in the front row and whose arm sprung up when the teacher asked a question. Any question. She had an answer for everything.
“Thanks for the tip.” Ali plastered a friendly smile on her face.
“Watch. Call him over,” she instructed.
Ali liked Chrissy, she really did. But she just had a prickly way about her. It wasn’t that she thought she was better than everyone else, it was just that she thought she knew better than everyone else.
“Dumbass,” Ali said with zero emotion.
The dog bounded toward them, happy as could be, tongue hanging halfway down to the ground. He skidded to a stop directly in front of Ali, plopped down on his rear end and looked up at her with sheer, unadulterated adoration.
“Okay, watch,” Chrissy instructed briskly before clapping her hands and chirping, “Rufus.”
Dumbass continued staring up at Ali.
“Buddy!”
He glanced over distractedly.