Currant Creek Valley - By RaeAnne Thayne Page 0,44
to find your owners if you wander off like that when I’m busy? And how on earth did you open the gate?”
The dog grinned at her as if to say, Look who I found, and Sam moved closer. “You’ve got a gap in your fence that looks just big enough for a troublesome dog to sneak through. Though I suppose he could also escape across the creek.”
She had whirled at his first words, her eyes stunned. Dismayed, even. “Sam! What are you... How did you find out where I lived?”
“Is it a secret?”
“No, I just...I don’t remember telling you.”
“You didn’t. Leo did.”
At the temporary name, the dog barked happily and plopped on his belly. Still looking stunned, Alex rose and joined him. She didn’t appear to notice Ethan, who had become distracted by a bird feeder next to the house where a couple of colorful little finches darted in and out.
“Seriously, what are you doing here?”
“House hunting. I just made an offer on that bungalow a few doors down and across the street.”
If he thought she looked stunned to see him before, it was nothing to the complete shock in her eyes now. “You...what?”
“If all goes well, it looks like we’re going to be neighbors.”
“Neighbors? Here? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous?” He hadn’t expected that particular reaction. She was looking at him as if he had just announced he was opening a strip club next door to the elementary school.
“You...you have a business in Denver. You’re only here for a few weeks, to finish Brazen.”
“Had a business. I’m moving my whole operation. I’m keeping my crew so I can still do some jobs in the city, but as of now the address on my letterhead will say Hope’s Crossing.”
She continued to gape at him and he couldn’t help wondering why this news seemed almost catastrophic to her.
“We were ready for a change, weren’t we?”
For the first time, she seemed to register Ethan’s presence. He saw her gaze move rapidly from the boy to him and then back to the boy again, lingering on Ethan’s blue eyes and curls and the wide mouth he knew they shared.
“We.”
He hadn’t meant to tell her like this. A completely unaccustomed—and unearned—guilt made him squirm. He had every right to protect his son, he reminded himself. “This is my son. Ethan, this is my friend Alex McKnight.”
“Alex is typically a boy’s name. I have a friend named Alex at school and he’s a boy.”
“Yes, but sometimes it’s short for Alexandra,” Sam answered.
“Oh. Okay. I’m very pleased to meet you, Alexandra. I think I like your dog.”
She hadn’t stopped looking at his son since becoming aware of him.
“Thanks.” Her voice sounded thready and she had to clear it before she spoke again. “I like him, too, except when he wanders off. But he’s not really my dog. I’m just watching him until we can find his owner.”
She smiled at the boy and Sam suddenly remembered she had several nieces and nephews. Of course she would be comfortable with children.
“Would you mind if I played with him? I would very much like to throw a stick and see if he’ll bring it back.”
“He’ll be in heaven. He’s a retriever. That’s kind of what they do. We’ve been playing fetch all afternoon. You should be able to find some tennis balls over by the back door.”
“Even better! A spherical object will be easier to throw.”
“That was my theory, too.”
His son and the woman he was fiercely attracted to smiled at each other in perfect accord and Ethan headed off, the dog at his heels, to find a tennis ball.
Alexandra turned back to him and her smile dropped away like that spherical object falling out of the sky. “A son. You are a man of mystery.”
He shrugged. “I like to keep a woman guessing.”
“I can see maybe keeping your favorite color a secret but this seems like pretty important information to withhold. You didn’t say a word.”
“I’m a little cautious about mentioning Ethan to people when I first meet them,” he admitted. “It probably comes from being in the military but I tend to be overprotective about sharing my personal life, especially about my family.”
“An understatement.”
He felt guilty, for reasons he couldn’t have explained. He hadn’t done anything wrong but the way she was looking between him and Ethan made him feel otherwise.
“I guess I should have mentioned him but I didn’t quite know how. I’ll admit I’m a little rusty about this. I haven’t dated since my wife died, in