style="font-size:15px;"> Jackson Bennett glanced around. Was it possible that the dog the woman was so worried about had been unharmed? He hoped so.
He squinted through the heavy falling snow. Where was the dog? Maybe if he caught it, he’d be able to pay the woman back. They could part on even terms. He hated feeling indebted to anyone. If only he could locate the source of the barking.
“Arff! Arff!”
He glanced around for some sign of Mae. Maybe she could find the dog. But it appeared she was still off in search of a makeshift cane for him.
Jackson got to his feet. With difficulty, he turned around. There beneath a tree, where the snow wasn’t so deep, stood a little gray-and-white dog. It looked cold and scared. Jackson could sympathize.
“Come here,” he said in his most congenial tone. “I won’t hurt you.”
There was another bark, but it didn’t move. The dog continued to stare at Jackson as though trying to decide if Jackson could be trusted or not. Jackson kept calling to the dog, but the little thing wouldn’t come near him. Jackson smothered a frustrated sigh. How did he gain the dog’s trust?
He again glanced around for Mae. How far had she gone for the walking stick? A town on the other side of the Alps? Italy perhaps?
He considered shouting for her, but then he changed his mind. If he frightened the dog, they’d never catch it. And it wasn’t fit for man or beast in this snowstorm.
Jackson turned back to the dog. If only he had a way to coax him over, but he didn’t have any dog treats. And then he thought of something. He’d missed his lunch and had grabbed a pack of crackers to eat in the car. Would a dog eat a cracker?
Jackson had no idea. His experience with a dog consisted of exactly seven days. And it hadn’t gone well at all.
Once the dog had made a mess on the floor, chewed one of his mother’s favorite shoes and howled when his mother put him in the backyard for the night, she’d taken the dog back to the shelter. Jackson remembered how crushed he’d been. He’d begged and pleaded for his mother to change her mind. His mother had told him that it was for the best and sent Jackson to his room.
He banished the memories to the back of his mind. Those days were best forgotten. His life was so much different now—so much better. He didn’t have a dog and, for all intents and purposes, he didn’t have a mother, either. It was for the best.
He pulled the crackers from his dress shirt pocket. He undid the cellophane and removed one. It consisted of two crackers with cheese spread between them. He hoped this would work.
“Here, boy.”
The dog’s ears perked up. That had to be a good sign. The pup took a few steps forward. His nose wiggled. Then his tail started to wag.
“That’s it. Come on.”
The dog’s hesitant gaze met his and then returned to the cracker. The pup took a few more steps. He was almost to Jackson.
Jackson lowered his voice. “That’s a good boy.” He laid the cracker flat on his hand and took a wobbly step forward. The dog watched his every move but held his ground. Jackson stretched out his arm as far as it’d go.
And then the dog came closer. After a few seconds of hesitation, he grabbed the cracker. Jackson caught sight of the blue sparkly collar on the dog’s neck. Something told him that this was most definitely the woman’s dog. The flashy collar was in line with the woman’s rhinestone encrusted cell phone and her perfectly manicured nails.
As the dog devoured the cracker, Jackson knew this was his moment to make his move. Balancing his weight on one foot, he bent down. He lunged forward to wrap his hands around the little dog.
The dog jumped back and Jackson lost his balance. He reached out to regain his balance, but he’d moved too far from the large rock. He instinctively put his weight on his injured leg. Wrong move. He swore under his breath.
“What in the world!” came the beautiful stranger’s voice.
It was too late. She couldn’t help him. His injured leg couldn’t take the pressure of his weight. It gave way. He fell face-first into the snow.
Jackson sat up with snow coating him from head to toe. He blew the snow from his mouth and nose. Then he ran a hand over his face. At that moment, he felt something wet on his cheek. He opened his eyes to find the dog licking him. Ugh!
“Aww...you found him.” A big smile bloomed on the woman’s face. If he thought that she was beautiful before, she was even more of a knockout when she smiled. “You’re such a naughty boy for running off. Come here, Gizmo.”
“Gizmo? What kind of name is that?” Jackson attempted to get to his feet. He failed.
The woman’s brows drew together, but she didn’t move to help him. “What’s wrong with his name?”
Jackson sighed. “It’s a bit cutesy for a boy, don’t you think?”
“Cutesy?” Her green eyes darkened to a shade of deep jade.
“Never mind.” What did he care what she named her dog? If his head wasn’t pounding, he would have kept his thoughts to himself. He would have to make a mental note to tread carefully going forward. Without Mae’s help, he hefted himself to his feet.
In the meantime, she picked up the dog and brushed snow from Gizmo. “We need to get you home and in front of a fire. You poor baby.”
As Jackson brushed himself off, he couldn’t help but watch how the woman oohed and aahed over the dog. What amazed him the most was how the dog was eating up the attention as though it knew exactly what she was saying.
Mae turned to Jackson as though an afterthought, holding out a stick. “Here you go.”
He accepted the sturdy-looking branch. Somehow it made him feel like some sort of Paul Bunyan figure. Although his suit and dress shoes would definitely suggest otherwise.
“How in the world did you find Gizmo?” she asked.
Jackson couldn’t actually admit to having done much of anything, but if she wanted to give him partial credit, who was he to reject it. After all, if he hadn’t thought of the crackers in his pocket, the dog might have run off again.
“We sort of found each other. And he likes the same crackers as I do.”
“Crackers?”
“Yes. I have some in my pocket. They were supposed to replace my lunch, but I got distracted when I turned on the wrong road and my GPS wouldn’t work out here. Anyway, I forgot about them.”
She nodded as though she understood, but there were still unspoken questions in her eyes. “I hate to say it, but the snow’s not letting up. If anything, it’s getting heavier.” She frowned as she glanced upward. “I threw a bunch of snow on the fire when I was looking for Gizmo. I think it doused it. If not, this heavy snow should take care of it.” She turned to him. “Are you ready to hike out of here?”
“I don’t see where I have a choice.”
“I’ve
