for joining me for dinner tonight.”
“Oh, thank you.” Sonya’s smile was soft and almost sad. Amber wanted to hug her, especially as they closed the door and faced each other in the entryway.
“You okay, Mom?” Amber realized that was a stupid question. Of course her mother wasn’t okay and might not be for a long time.
But she was a sweet and caring lady. “I’m fine,” she insisted. “It helps to have friends like Nathan and others here in town. They’re just being kind, but their company does help me move forward. And your company, well—” Sonya reached out and the two women hugged tightly.
Amber felt tears in her eyes and held on for a moment before releasing her mother and stepping back. “Your company helps me, too, Mom,” she said. Then, as Lola, who’d followed the crowd from the kitchen, nosed her side she bent and petted the dog’s head. “And yours.”
As her mother laughed, Amber’s mind inappropriately imagined Evan with them, too. And yours, she thought, picturing his handsome face. But instead, she asserted, “Almost time to go out, Lola. I’ll start with you soon.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to accompany you with one of the pups?” her mother asked. Amber had gotten into a routine of taking each outside individually, or two at a time every night, though they all were pretty much housebroken. The personalized walks would help with their ongoing training.
“No, I’ll be fine.”
Amber knew that the short walks outside with these canines were good for her as well as the dogs. But all the dogs had previously belonged to her dad and kept reminding her of him.
Well, the new regimen of Evan’s training sessions would start tomorrow. That should help Amber move on.
First, though, she went outside to pull her car into the garage. Then she returned to the kitchen, and her mom and she each had a small good-night glass of wine. Sonya briefly described her evening with Nathan—just a nice dinner where they talked about how things were going with Chance Resort, Nathan’s luxury hotel with corporate conference facilities on his nearby property. All sounded fine and successful, and he made it clear he’d be delighted to accommodate people who came to the ranch for their dog training—including their dogs, as long as they were well behaved.
Depending on who they were and how long they’d be hanging around, that was Amber’s idea, too, much as things were when her dad was around. Not everyone would stay in the small, nonluxury accommodations they had for visitors, or downtown.
They’d also talked about how Sonya was doing, and she’d said she was fine, especially now that the lessons her husband had started here were about to recommence.
“Sweet man that he is, Nathan wished us luck and said he hoped we’d hired the perfect person to back up what your dad did.” Sonya took her last sip of wine and looked into Amber’s face with her sad brown eyes. “I hope so, too.”
“I’m sure he’ll do great.” Amber wasn’t lying, though that might be an exaggeration. She definitely hoped Evan was the perfect choice. But tomorrow would hopefully do a lot more to convince her. “Anyway, we’ll find out soon. Now it’s time for me to walk the dogs—and for you to head to bed. ’Night, Mom.” She gave Sonya a kiss and told Lola to come as she headed toward the family room to grab her leash first.
She walked all four of the dogs one by one. Each outing took only five to ten minutes. Amber tried to prevent herself from looking toward Evan’s house. Even if he was outside walking Bear, so what? What did she want from him? A good-night kiss?
She grinned wryly at her silliness. She must be more tired than she realized. Evan was her employee. They had said good-night already. And she certainly didn’t miss the kisses she had gotten from her unreliable ex. No, she wanted no man in her life, for now at least, except as an employee or a friend.
She didn’t see Evan anyway, a good thing. Soon, Amber closed the three pups back in their room and got Lola to come upstairs with her. Her mom had apparently already gone to bed.
Amber showered quickly in the hallway bathroom, then closed the bedroom door behind her with Lola inside. And wondered...
She shut off the light behind her and, after glancing down to ensure her floral cotton pajamas were buttoned and nonsuggestive in the off chance she was spotted by anyone in the vicinity—Orrin or Evan—she opened the blinds at her window.
And saw in the distance, where the fourth house stood at the end of the row, an outside light, just as she had hoped.
As she had hoped even more, there were forms moving within the glow: Evan, tossing a ball or something else that Bear fetched and brought back. She simply hadn’t been outside late enough to see them...
They stopped, almost as if Evan sensed he was being watched and from where. He was far enough away that Amber couldn’t tell for certain, but he seemed to look toward her.
With no lights on near her, she doubted he could see her, but that didn’t prevent her from waving to him as she rested her other hand on Lola’s soft furry head beside her.
“Good night,” she whispered toward Evan. “And may we have a wonderful day tomorrow as an omen of even better ones to come.”
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