turned pink. “I really don’t know what I want to do for the rest of my life,” she confessed. “I wish I did. I wish it would just hit me on the head like it seems to do for other people, but so far, it hasn’t. But I’m not going to sit home waiting to find out, so I stay pretty busy.”
“Jill-of-all-trades,” he said.
“Huh?” she asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.
“As opposed to jack-of-all-trades. You’re a jill-of-all-trades,” he said.
She gave a slow smile that had a surprising edge of sexiness. “I like that. I’m glad Smiley led you to stop here today.”
Forrest felt flattered at the same time that a mental alarm went off. Angie might not be a teenager, but she was still too young for him, so he sure as hell didn’t want to give her any ideas. “Thanks for lassoing Smiley and giving me some hot chocolate. I should walk him back to the library now,” he said, rising. Pain shot through his leg, but he gritted his teeth so no one would see.
“There’s no need to rush off,” she said, bobbing to her feet.
He couldn’t prevent a twist of envy at how easy it was for her to move around. Those days were gone for him. At least for the present. “I really should go. Thanks again,” he said. “You take care.”
She met his gaze. “You, too. Who knows? It’s a small town. We may see each other again.”
Making a noncommittal sound, he made his way out the door to the sidewalk. He glanced back at the doorway and caught sight of Angie waving at him. He waved in return and walked away.
She was a cute girl. In the same way a sister was cute, he told himself. She was the exact opposite of him. He was a busted-up retired army major. Most days, he felt like he was eighty-years-old.
Angie had the lively glint of a very young woman who hasn’t seen the ugly side of life. He envied her innocence, and he couldn’t ever imagine being as open as she was. Not now. Not after everything he’d seen and experienced.
He took the short walk to the library and led Smiley inside.
Annabel smiled and greeted both of them. “Smiley, boy, good to see you. And to you, too, Forrest. How did Smiley do?”
“Pretty good except when he ran off,” he said, giving her the leash.
Annabel’s face fell. “Ran off?” she echoed and glanced at her dog. “When did he do that?”
“About halfway through the walk, he took off toward ROOTS. Maybe he was drumming up business for himself,” he said.
Annabel gave a half laugh, but he could tell she wasn’t really amused. “Maybe. He’s trained not to run away.”
“Angie Anderson stopped him. Good thing. I was afraid he would get hit by a car.”
Annabel winced. “I don’t know why he did that. Thank goodness for Angie,” she said, rubbing Smiley’s neck.
“True,” he said. “What do you know about her?”
“The Andersons are a great family,” Anabel said. “They’ve had some tough times, but Angie really came through it well.”
“She seems too young to be working at that youth center.”
“ROOTS?” Anabel said. “They actually like having some younger volunteers. It helps the kids identify with a good role model. I hear Angie’s a sweet, easygoing girl.”
Forrest shrugged, backing off. He shouldn’t be curious about Angie. “Okay. I’ll head on back home now. Thanks for the adventure,” he said.
She bit her lip. “I feel bad that he ran off on you.”
“It wasn’t a problem,” he said. “I caught up to him.”
“Well,” Annabel said. “I think Smiley is due for some retraining, and I’ll start tonight.”
Forrest nodded. “You’ll figure it out,” he said. “You’ve done a great job with him.”
“Thanks,” Annabel said. “But he’ll be even better next time you see him!”
Angie forced her attention back to the kids at ROOTS, but she couldn’t help thinking about Forrest. Talking with him had made her feel as if someone had lit a lamp inside her. A few other guys had temporarily captured her attention, but she knew that Forrest was totally different from them. It seemed as if every cell in her body was screaming how special he could be to her. The strength of her instant attraction to him was distracting.
As she cleaned up the snack station near the end of her shift, Lilly Evans approached her. Lilly was a beautiful serious-minded seventeen-year-old with long blond hair and green eyes. Lilly had been active in ROOTS during the last two years since her father had gone to prison. Angie admired the girl for keeping her focus during such a traumatic time.
“Hey, there,” Angie said. “How’d the study time go with Max?”
Lilly shrugged. “I’m not sure. He doesn’t seem to concentrate very well.”
Angie chuckled. “That could be because he’s got a crush on you.”
Lilly’s pale cheeks bloomed with color. “I don’t have time for that,” she said. “Too many other things going on.”
Angie heard an undertone of anxiety in Lilly’s voice. “Like what?” she asked.
“My mother’s afraid she’s going to lose her main job, so she’s started working another one part-time.”
“The economy is hard on a lot of people right now,” Angie said and squeezed Lilly’s shoulder. “I hope she’ll get some good news soon.”
“Me, too. If that weren’t bad enough, my brother Joey has been hanging around some bad kids. I’m worried about him.”
“How old is he?” Angie asked. “Maybe you could bring him to ROOTS.”
“He’s thirteen, but he doesn’t think ROOTS is cool,” she said, rolling her eyes.
“What else is he interested in?” Angie asked.
“Violent computer games,” Lilly said with a frown. “He shoots basketball every now and then. He’s a little on the skinny side, so I think he tries to act all tough.” She sighed. “We had a dog for a while and Joey really liked him, but my dad made us give him away.”
“Hmm,” Angie murmured, her mind working. “What about working at the animal shelter? We have a group that volunteers there twice a month. If he really likes it, he could go more often on his own. In the meantime, if he goes with the ROOTS group, he’ll be exposed to some different kids and maybe make some better friends.”
“That’s a great idea,” Lilly said. “If we can just figure out how to get him to go.”
“If you want, I can have one of the ROOTS shelter volunteers give him a call. I can call him, too.”
