Itwasaverysunny, warm day, and Halo was just helping me to sunscreen my back as Rowan’s car pulled up to the house. Halo hugged me from behind and kissed my cheek, then placed a stylish wide-brimmed sunhat on my head, before letting me go.
“Have fun,” she said.
I pulled on a light zip up hoodie over my dress and went downstairs. I could feel Severen’s eyes on me as I descended the staircase and walked to the door. I didn’t say anything to him.
“Skye, hang on.”
It was Crux. I staggered to a full stop, my hand on the doorknob.
“What?” I asked. Had he taken Severen’s side? Was he going to try and keep me under lock and key, too?
Crux walked up, practically pinning me to the front door if he wanted to. He reached out for the coat hooks mounted on the wall, and plucked his umbrella off one of the pegs. White and blue swirls. He held it out for me.
“It’s sunny out.”
My emotions got all tangled up inside as I took the offered umbrella, wrapping both my hands around it.
“We’ll get you a proper parasol this weekend,” he said.
I threw my arms around him and held him tight. I pressed into him, running my head against his jaw, his throat, his shoulder, willing my scent onto him.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
I let him go and somewhere in all that, my hat fell off. He knelt down, scooped it from the floor, and put it back on my head.
“Go on,” he said.
“Love you,” I stole a quick kiss from his lips before heading out the door. One hand on my hat, I hurried to the hatchback.
We grabbed lunch at a taco truck, and they had the most delicious chicken soft tacos. Rowan even ordered some nice warm plain tortillas for Tracker. He slathered a very thin layer of sour cream on them, and the shepherd was more than happy for the treat.
“You really like to make him feel included, huh?” I asked, running my hand down the dog’s mottled fur.
“He’s my best friend,” Rowan answered. “And he deserves the best. I was thinking after lunch, we’d go to the dog park, if that’s okay.”
I smiled. “Sounds nice.”
The dog park was a large plot of land, grassy in some places, gravel in others. It was surrounded by two layers of fence, an inner, and outer, to cut down on escapees. As soon as we got through the second gate, Tracker was all tail wags and happy dances. Several other dogs seemed to recognize him and ran over. A cloud of sniffing and huffs surrounded us. Rowan knelt and let Tracker off-leash. As a pack, all the dogs ran deeper into the park.
There were some little obstacle courses, and plenty of water fountains and dog bowls. By the public washroom stood a line of vending machines with selections of treats. Boxes held tennis balls or tug-toys, a pile of wooden sticks lay nearby.
It was heaven for dogs.
Rowan and I sat together on a bench, me under the shade of my umbrella, watching Tracker play.
“He seems popular,” I laughed.
“The whole gang is out today.” From there, Rowan pointed out each dog by name, and little facts about them if needed.
Tracker raced and wrestled for a solid ten minutes at least, before he got sidetracked by one of the toy boxes. He rummaged around and then trotted back to us with a frisbee in his mouth. He dropped it at Rowan’s feet, then sat down patiently.
“I’m being summoned,” Rowan said. “You don’t mind?”
“Not at all,” I said, lightly twirling my umbrella. “Go on. Play.”
Rowan picked up the frisbee and got to his feet. He jogged out into the grassy field and threw the disk. Tracker was a blur of grey and black as he chased after it. He leapt into the air and caught the disk in his mouth, and came down feet first, tail wagging. He ran back to Rowan and dropped the toy, then wasshowered with praise. The sight of it brought a smile to my face. There was something so easy and wholesome about the entire dynamic. They had a closeness that probably put some human packs to shame.
Rowan volleyed the frisbee over and over, and each time Tracker jumped up and caught it, or raced it to the ground and brought it back. It didn’t take long for dark stains of sweat to colour Rowan’s green t-shirt.
