Greyson (The K9 Files) - Dale Mayer Page 0,10

to her, until she finally figured out that he was doing it as a joke.

But it was a mean joke, and one she didn’t appreciate. He got pissy whenever she accused him of it thereafter. She hadn’t seen any of his callous behavior before they were married, and she wondered why he had even married her. She had sincerely thought that she had loved him at the time but had never really been sure if he loved her. Maybe it was just a stage of life, and he’d figured he was supposed to be married. She didn’t know. For all she knew it was a ten-dollar bet with a buddy.

At that, her bitterness took an even deeper dive. She desperately needed to shrug off the attitude, and, as she walked down the sidewalk, she deliberately looked around to find things that made her happy, something to smile about. She pointed out a butterfly on a large hedge on the left, making Danny laugh with joy. And then a songbird trilled in the tree as they went underneath. She smiled at that.

Plenty of good things were in this life, so many wonderful things, like her son, but now her life was overshadowed by that fear that comes with having something so precious. Fear that you could lose it. She hadn’t experienced that until the fender bender.

She’d been completely oblivious to George, who existed out in the middle of nowhere. She didn’t know why he would even want a child now. Not when he’d made it abundantly clear that he wasn’t ready to be a father. But he had changed his mind recently apparently, and that just scared the crap out of her.

As she headed toward the shopping mall, her phone rang. She pulled it from her purse, only to realize that it was yet another Unknown Caller. No one was ever there, just noise in the background. Finally she decided to test it. “George, stop that,” she said. “It’s getting tiresome.” She heard a harsh gasp on the other end that, unfortunately, did sound like George.

She quickly hung up the phone and shoved it in her pocket, then stared down at her shaking hands. If it was George, what the hell would she do? And why hadn’t she already done something about it?

“What will you do now?” his grandmother asked Greyson the next morning. “How are you supposed to find a dog that may or may not have run away—or may or may not have been kidnapped?”

He chuckled. “Well, I’ll go back to the place where the dog went missing from and see if I can track her,” he said.

Both his grandparents just stared at him. “That was weeks ago,” they said.

He nodded. “It was, and I know the weather has been varied since then, but I’ll do my best.”

The two looked at each other and then back at him. His grandfather shrugged and said, “I’d offer to come with you, but I’d probably be more in the way than anything.”

“You have Leo to look after today,” Greyson said.

At that, his grandfather beamed. “Yep. I’ll go show him the walkways today,” he said. “Maybe I’ll take a mug full of coffee along too.” He looked over at his wife, and she immediately poured him a big silver mug full.

Putting the lid on, she handed it to him. “You go do that,” she said. “I’ll go into town and get some shopping done. Oh, and I’m meeting the girls for lunch today too.”

Rising to leave, his grandfather nodded and said, “Have fun, dear.” As he headed for the door, Leo, who had been under the kitchen table, hopped up and raced to the door with him. Grandpa quickly snapped on a leash, and the two of them went out the door, happy to be together, heading outside.

Greyson sat here with his coffee and watched his grandfather meander down the pathway. “Is it okay that Leo is here?” he asked his grandmother.

“Yes! It’s a really good idea,” she said warmly. “I’ve been trying to get your grandfather to get a dog all these months, but, for some reason, he’s been holding off. Something about Leo caught his attention, and that’s good because it took the decision-making away from him.”

“How is his health?”

“It’ll be much better now that he has Leo to fuss over,” she said with a laugh. She looked over at him. “Do you want some breakfast before you leave?”

He shook his head. “My stomach is still working on that wonderful dinner