GARRETT HART
Garrett stared at Rigby. Rigby stared at Garrett. Garrett turned to stare at Mike, whose face was puffed up from trying not to laugh.
"How the hel—heck did he get up there?" Garrett asked, scratching his head.
A muffled choking sound came from Mike, and Garrett's gaze shot to the boy. Tears streamed down Mike's face as his shoulders shook. His cheeks deflated like twin balloons and a howling laugh escaped. "M-maybe he doesn't know dogs can't climb trees," Mike managed to say between guffaws.
Garrett grinned. "More likely he's been watching too many reruns of Lassie. He probably thought a squirrel needed rescuing."
"Or maybe a vicious raccoon treed him."
Rigby peered down between the leaves and whined, obviously thinking that the situation was not funny in the slightest. Both Garrett and Mike burst out laughing. Rigby barked his disgust with the two humans below him.
Garrett wiped his eyes. "I guess we better get him down." He looked up at the dog. "Hey, Rigby, jump! C'mon, boy, you can do it!"
Rigby's ears perked up and he tilted his head, but didn't move the rest of his body.
"I don't think he's going to jump," said Mike.
"That's what I was afraid of." Garrett pointed at the ground. "Rigby! Down!"
The German shepherd barked at the firmness in Garrett's voice. Garrett realized that the dog wasn't going to come down of his own free will, which meant someone would have to go up.
"Why don't I go up and sort of push him down to you," Mike said. "The limb's right above your head, so it wouldn't be too far for Rigby to jump."
Garrett gazed at the limb about a foot above him and grimaced. Shoot. He was not looking forward to a 100 pound dog dropping like a boulder into his arms. But there didn't seem to be any other way, so he turned to Mike and nodded.
Garrett lowered his hands and braided his fingers together to give Mike a boost up. He felt the ridged lines on the bottom of Mike's high-top against his palms as he pushed the boy toward the tree. Mike grabbed the branch and pulled himself up with the strength and grace of youth. Rigby whined in protest as Mike crawled across, shaking the limb with his efforts.
"Sit next to him for a minute," Garrett said. "Introduce yourself and pet him."
Garrett watched Mike settle next to Rigby. The boy put his hand up to Rigby's nose and then petted the dog with long strokes.
"He's shaking," Mike said. "He looks real scared."
"Maybe he's just realized that dogs can't climb trees."
After a couple more minutes, Garrett said, "You might as well try to push him to me. He'll never be prepared for getting knocked out of a tree."
"Okay."
Garrett watched as Mike put both hands behind the dog and push. Rigby scrambled against the branch, his thick nails scraping the bark.
"He's heavy," Mike puffed, still pushing. The dog moved forward a little, but leaned back.
"C'mon, Rigby," Garrett said. "Down, boy."
Garrett didn't know if Mike finally succeeded in moving the big dog or if Rigby suddenly decided death was better than living on a tree branch. Rigby came flying off the limb, missed Garrett's arms completely, and connected with his chest. A feeling of déjà vu came over him as his legs gave out and he tumbled to the ground, landing flat on his back. Rigby sat on him, contentedly crushing all the air out of his lungs.
"Wow," Mike breathed from the tree branch. Garrett thought he heard the boy snicker.
Rigby barked, licked Garrett's nose, and bounded off his prone master. As Garrett gingerly sat up, he gulped air into his lungs and contemplated whether or not he was being punished for some unknown sin.
Mike swung down from the branch and cautiously approached Garrett. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Garrett wheezed.
"Do you need help up?"
"No," Garrett said in less squeaky voice. "As soon as the trees stop spinning around me, I'll be able to get up on my own, thank you."
"Okay," Mike said. "That's really something, isn't it?"
"What? Rigby climbing a tree?"
"No. You getting pounced on by two dogs in the same day. I mean, what are the odds?"
The boy's green eyes were twinkling much the way Natalie's did when she teased him. A joke. Mike had been teasing him. Garrett had a feeling Mike didn't often joke around. A light emotion Garrett hadn't felt in a long time swept away his irritation.
"Indeed. What are the odds?" Garrett repeated. "I seem to be a pouncing dog magnet today."
"Race you to the house!" Mike challenged, then spun around, and darted between the trees. Rigby followed, barking. Garrett grinned, dusted off his pants and shirt, and then took off after them.
***|***|***|***|***
NATALIE HANOVER
"Where are they?" Natalie asked for the thirty-second time. "It's been almost forty-five minutes."
She slapped some mayonnaise on a bread heel, wishing the tortured piece of bread was Garrett's head.
Sylvie had picked apart a sandwich, nibbling on the meat and cheese, and then had gone into the living room to watch television.
Natalie hadn't felt like eating, but she made a sandwich for herself anyway. It sat uneaten next to the peanut butter and pickle concoction Andie had wanted.
Instead of gulping it down in her usual fashion, the five-year-old had curled up on the couch next to Sylvie and fallen asleep.
Natalie put a piece of turkey on the bread and added a tomato slice. She wondered when Susan would return and hoped it was soon. She suddenly wanted to leave and never come back.
Garrett had affected her in ways she hadn't expected. Like, for instance, the way her heart contracted when she found Andie curled against his chest in the barn. They both had dark hair and blue eyes. Andie could have been mistaken for Garrett's child.
For some reason, that irritated her and, well, maybe it had pleased her, too. No. Only in a flash of insanity, she thought, refusing to think further about her strange reaction.
She put a ring of onion on the sandwich, wondered if Garrett really liked onions, then she added two more just in case he hated them.
She heard Mike yelling and a dog barking and then...