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His eyebrow arched at the word whatever and that was all it took for Isabel to realize she wasn’t the only one who wanted some of their fun to be bare-assed, naked fun.
“Cool.” Jackson gestured to the woods behind the cottage. “Shall we then?”
Isabel opened her door, got out, and released Blaze from the back. The dog landed without a whimper and after a quick inspection of the stitched cuts on his hind legs, Isabel deemed him hike-worthy.
“He’s not letting anything slow him down.” Jackson joined them on the passenger side of the jeep.
“He’s a lot like Grandpa in that matter.” Isabel pointed to her gleaming SUV in front of her grandfather’s cottage next door. “He insisted on washing my car.”
“He wants to keep busy. I’m sure a heart attack scared the crap out of him. Some people respond to that kind of fear by babying themselves. Others—like your grandfather—want to show their bodies who’s in charge.”
“Yeah. Grandpa is definitely the latter. I just want him to be careful. He had major surgery like only weeks ago.” She folded her arms around herself as they headed for the woods with Blaze trotting ahead. “I want him to be around forever.”
“Well, you know these Vermont lifers,” Jackson said. “They were born here, they work all their lives here, and they seem to hang on longer than the rest of the country.”
“True. I saw Noah Williams’ grandmother when I was driving back from the vet yesterday,” Isabel said. “She strode along the sidewalk as if she was at least twenty years younger than she actually is.”
“Her mind is super sharp too,” Jackson said as they stepped into the woods and onto the trail. “She remembered who I was, asked about my work, and quoted from an article she’d read about the Vikings. I seriously hope I’m that with it when I’m in my eighties.”
“I don’t know if I’m that with it now,” Isabel joked.
They wound their way around a large boulder. The air in the woods was a bit cooler due to all the shade, but soon Isabel had worked up a good heat as they hiked. Being in a spot where all you could see were trees on each side made her feel as if she and Jackson had entered their own little world. No one else existed right now. Just her, him, and Blaze plus the woodland critters going about their daily chores.
A few wild turkeys gathered to her left. A blue jay called from one of the tall pines. Two chipmunks chased each other around the base of a maple tree. Somewhere a woodpecker’s tap-tap-tap echoed. A collection of tiger swallowtail butterflies flittered over a patch of daisies growing in a clearing. High above, the screech of a hawk let her know their presence had not gone undetected.
“I love wandering,” she said as they happened upon a brook washing over rocks.
“So does your dog.” Jackson pointed to Blaze who had his nose deep in a hole he’d been digging.
When Blaze’s head popped up, he had something between his jaws. Fearing it was a chipmunk or mouse, Isabel jogged over to the dog. “What did you find, Blaze? Drop it.”
At the command, Blaze opened his mouth and let whatever he had fall to the ground. Crouching, Isabel raised her sunglasses and squinted down at the object.
“What did he nab from that hole?” Jackson asked as he walked toward her.
Nudging the object with her finger, Isabel said, “You might be better qualified to tell us what he found.”
