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Chapter Fourteen
Sadie whistledfor Rowdy as he raced across the park’s grass with Denali’s Belgian Malinois, Hank. Pulling on the front of her sweatshirt to fan herself, the temptation to pant grew with each minute she was out in the summer heat. It was cold just half an hour before when the sun hid behind the clouds. It’d be nice if the Alaskan weather would just pick a temperature and stay there.
At this rate, she’d be a sweaty, stinky mess when they finished filming. Good thing smell-o-vision hadn’t been invented yet.
Drew and his crew were busy setting up the cameras for their next training exercise. She’d come by earlier and buried a hat deep in the wood chips at the playground, and a baggie of synthetic narcotics several yards from the hat, under a tree.
The plan was to let Hank smell the gloves that went with the hat and Rowdy to smell the bag with the narcotic scent. They were hoping to show how the dogs could both find the item, even though they were being trained for different purposes. That a dog could be taught to find whatever the trainer had them smell, not just focusing on one thing.
This would be the first time they had tried this technique. She prayed it didn’t flop like the training at the glacier the day before. Thinking of yesterday brought Bjørn rushing back to consume her thoughts. Not that he’d ever really left them. She’d spent most of the night replaying the day in her mind, marveling anew every time she went over Bjørn’s words. She hoped the dark circles under her eyes from not being able to sleep didn’t look horrible on the screen.
“What are you smiling like the Cheshire cat for?” Denali pushed against Sadie’s shoulder, startling her.
She hadn’t heard her cousin approaching. How long had Sadie stood there with a ridiculous smile on her face? She toned the expression down, but couldn’t hide it completely.
Shrugging, she scanned the park to make sure Rowdy hadn’t gone too far while she zoned out. “No reason.”
“Hmm.” Denali stared at Sadie, making her twitch under the scrutiny. “Aurora said Bjørn set up a training hide and seek for you. Did you find him?”
Did she ever. Sadie’s neck heated in a blush. She puckered her lips and blew a two-tone sound that signaled Rowdy to come.
“Yeah. I found him.” Sadie crouched as Rowdy came up to her and rubbed his face.
“You got home pretty late last night.” Denali crossed her arms.
Sadie’s ears turned blazing hot under her cousin’s scrutiny.
“I knew it.” Denali poked Sadie’s shoulder. “Something happened between you two. Now spill it.”
Sadie bit her lip, then stood and stepped close to Denali. “It was amazing. He’s amazing.” Her gaze dashed around to make sure Drew was still setting up. “Bjørn hid in a glacier crevasse, and I had a panic attack while searching.”
“That’s amazing?” Denali’s eyebrow rose in skepticism.
“No, that was embarrassing.” Sadie plowed on, her hands flying as she spoke. “But he talked me through it and didn’t decide I was some lost cause. We went back to his place to have lunch and watch a movie.” She grabbed Denali’s arm. “Did you know he lives right down the street from us?”
“No.” Denali laughed, her smile the one she gave Sadie when she was telling one of her wild stories.
“Yep. Cute place,” Sadie said. “Anyway, he brings me a bowl of homemade spaghetti and meatballs.”
“He cooks?” Denali interrupted.
Sadie nodded. She cringed with the memory and told Denali how Rowdy spilled the spaghetti. Denali covered her mouth with her hand.
“What did you do?” Denali’s amused look turned to concern as she lowered her hand from her mouth. She knew just how self-conscious Sadie was about the scars.
Sadie stared off into the distance. Awe still flowed through her with Bjørn’s push to help her. “He asked me to trust him, so I took off the sweatshirt.” She shook her head, pulling her back. “He would find out eventually, so I figured I might as well get it over with.”
“What’d he do when he saw them?” Denali’s voice held caution.
“He kissed them. Told me they spoke of my strength.” Sadie’s throat hurt with happy tears. “Called them beautiful. Called me beautiful.”
“That’s because you are.” Denali threaded her fingers through Sadie’s and shook her hand. “Always have been.”
“I think he’s the one.” Sadie shrugged as a tear breached her lashes and dashed down her cheek. “I know it’s crazy, and I might get my heart broken, but I just—”
“Everything okay over here?” Drew walked up from behind them, and Sadie swiped her cheek.
“Yep. Everything’s great.” Denali rolled her eyes. Poor Drew had his work cut out for him with her. “Just like a guy to interrupt when the story was getting good,” she muttered under her breath before calling for Hank.
