Bailey barked in agreement.
Grinning, Cody glanced her way. “Yeah, buddy. Best breakfast ever.”
Liftinghis second cup of coffee to his lips, Cody leaned back on the two-person glider on the deck and watched Ollie run around with Bailey. He pushed his feet against the wooden planks to move back and forth. A slight breeze rustled the air, and the sun shone bright in the vibrant blue sky. “Those two are going to wear each other out pretty quickly.”
Katherine sat beside him with her legs tucked under her, cradling her own mug. “I doubt it. Ollie has boundless energy and doesn’t stop until his head hits the pillow.”
“Good thing Bailey’s enough to keep him entertained,” Cody said.
“Great,” Katherine mumbled. “Now you’ve done it.”
He frowned. “Done what?”
Ollie ran past the deck then doubled back around, squinting against the sun as he stared up at them. “So what are we doing today? I’m bored throwing the ball.”
“You jinxed it,” Katherine whispered under her breath.
“Oops. Guess I didn’t know that unspoken rule.” He wrinkled his nose and tried to think about something he could do to makeboth mother and son happy. “How about a walk? I own the land outside the fence. There are some pretty easy trails. A nice waterfall not too far away. Would Ollie like that?”
She grinned. “He’d love that. I planned to take him on a hike yesterday but with everything going on, it didn’t seem like a good idea so we went to the shelter instead.”
“Are you comfortable going now?” He didn’t want her to feel unsafe about leaving his home. Even if they didn’t venture far, she might feel better with doors to lock out any unwanted visitors.
“Seriously? As long as you’re with us, I won’t have a worry in the world.” She stood then kissed his cheek. “I just need to put on my sneakers.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
An ache pulsed in his chest as she disappeared inside the house. Damn, he had it bad.
Standing, he leaned against the rail to look down at Ollie. “Want to take a hike?”
Ollie jumped onto his tiptoes. “Really? Can Bailey come?”
“Oh, she’ll insist on it. Do you want to grab her leash? She does okay without one, but if she sees a squirrel or chipmunk she might dart off. We don’t want that.”
“Where’s her stuff?” Ollie asked as he stormed up the deck steps, Bailey on his heels.
“Her leash is hanging on the hook by the front door. Why don’t you make sure she has some water before we go? Her dish should be filled, but if not let me know and I’ll fill it.”
“Okay.” He zipped past Cody and ran inside, Bailey following. “Mom, I’m getting the leash.”
His excited voice drifted out the open door and curved up Cody’s lips. Having the little boy there brought so much energy into his house. He already dreaded the thought of Ollie not being around, but he wouldn’t dwell on that now.
Katherine stepped outside and shook her head. “He’s filling the water dish. I swear, at our house getting that kid to do anything resembling a chore is harder than pulling teeth. Here, he’s hopping along, doing whatever he can to be helpful. Must be more of those tricks you were talking about.”
He chuckled and set his coffee on the table then met her in the middle of the deck. He cupped her biceps in his palms, resisting the urge to wrap her tightly in his arms and kiss the hell out of her. “Boys love taking care of dogs. Maybe you should get him one.”
“Ha! That’s the last thing we need, and if you say anything like that to him there will be repercussions.”
“So, what? You’ll punish me?” A thrill shot through him as a dozen of dirty ideas of how that could play out sprang to mind.
She wiggled her eyebrows, her thoughts clearly matching his. “Maybe, but I have a feeling you might like that too much.”
“No!” Ollie’s yell from inside pulled them apart.
Katherine’s eyes flew wide, and she spun around to dart in the house. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
Cody was fast on her heels, crushing into her back as he spied the puddle of water under the upturned silver bowl.
