The kid nodded. Luke went back outside and sat down, opening up his hot dogs. Barney sat next to him expectantly. Every once in a while, Luke would throw a red ball across the grass to one side of the building, and Barney would take off after it. He’d bring it back, and Luke would throw it again.
Pretty soon Todd came running out the door with Myrna right behind him. He spotted Barney, and his eyes lit up.
“Luke! You’ve got a dog!”
“Yeah. He lives at the shelter right now.”
“What’s his name?”
“Barney.”
Todd stared down at his missing front leg. “What happened to him?”
“He got in a little accident. But he gets around really good now.”
Todd patted Barney on the head, and the dog looked up at him adoringly. “He looks really happy.”
“That’s because you’re petting him. He likes that.”
Myrna walked over to the picnic table, her brows drawn together. “Luke? What are you up to now?”
“Just getting Barney here a little exercise.” He handed the ball to Todd. “Why don’t you throw it for him?”
Todd reared back and threw the ball across the lawn. Barney took off as if he’d been shot out of a cannon. In seconds, he’d brought the ball back and dropped it at Todd’s feet.
“Wow!” Todd said. “He’s fast!”
“Guess we’re lucky he doesn’t have all four legs, or he’d run so fast we wouldn’t even be able to see him.”
Todd giggled. “Can I throw it again?”
“Yep.”
Todd threw it. This time Barney buzzed across the lawn, leaped up, and caught the ball in his mouth. Todd’s eyes flew open wide. When Barney brought the ball back again this time, Todd knelt down to pet him. Barney licked his face, giving Todd a case of the giggles all over again.
“Hey, Todd,” Luke said. “It’s kinda hot out today. Why don’t you take Barney over to that water spigot on the side of the building and get him a drink? Just turn on the water and stick your hand under there like this”—Luke cupped his hand—“and he’ll drink out of it.”
“Okay. Come on, Barney!”
Todd hurried off with Barney trotting at his heels. Myrna watched them, shaking her head.
“Dog’s got a leg missing,” she said.
“Doesn’t slow him down,” Luke said. “And Todd doesn’t seem to care.”
“Is he any particular kind of dog?”
“Most likely not.”
“Is he housebroken?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Big appetite?”
“Not so much.”
“Any bad habits?”
“Yeah. He loves little kids, so he might follow Todd around wherever he goes.”
Myrna sighed. “I always thought you were the devil, Luke Dawson. Now here you are proving it all over again.”
Todd stuck his hand a little too close to the faucet, and water squirted all over both him and Barney. Todd’s laughter drifted across the yard to Luke’s ears, making him smile. There wasn’t much he loved more than the sound of a happy kid.
“He’s a good boy,” Myrna said. “He didn’t deserve having both his mama and his daddy leave him the way they did.”
“So where’s Belinda?” Luke asked.
Myrna frowned. “I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about that daughter of mine. If she wants to up and leave, good riddance.”
Luke just nodded.
“She may not have a lick of responsibility, but she didn’t get that from me. Todd’s my grandson. If I have anything to say about it, he’ll always have clothes on his back and food in front of him.”
But as she watched Todd and Barney making a mess with the water, Luke could tell she was wondering if there was room in the budget for something more than the basics.
“I’ll think about it,” Myrna said. “That’s all I’m gonna do. Just think about it.”
Luke nodded. “There’s something else I’d like to talk to you about.”
“What’s that?”
“There’s a high school rodeo tonight in Waymark. I know this is a lot to ask, and you can say no if you want to and there’ll be no hard feelings. But I was thinking maybe Todd might like to come along with me.”
Myrna turned her gaze to her grandson, who was still playing in the water with Barney. “He’s six years old. Doesn’t pay attention like he ought to. He’s liable to run out in front of a horse or fall right down the bleachers.”
“No, ma’am. No chance of that. Not while I’m watching out for him.”
Myrna lifted her shoulder in a half-shrug. “I suppose that’d be all right.”
Luke smiled. He loved the idea of taking a little kid like Todd to his first rodeo.