Instead, Sadie had proved the sweetest of dogs, with the perfect temperament. She didn’t yip or snarl. She could calmly sit beside Chloe when she had to practice reading aloud, then play and wrestle with Will when called upon.
They all adored her, after mere weeks of having her in their home, and the children wanted to take her everywhere. In this particular instance, Andie probably should have said no, but she hadn’t had the heart for it, especially since Sadie had been alone most of the day while Andie ran errands and had meetings with a couple of executives she worked with at Caine Tech.
The dog needed exercise and company. Surely Marshall wouldn’t object too strenuously to an unexpected guest, would he?
To give him a little warning, she texted him they were on the way along with her dog. He still hadn’t answered by the time they reached the stone house beside the river, so she knocked a couple of times before pushing open the door.
“Marshall? Can we come in? It’s Andrea Montgomery.”
“And Will and Chloe and our dog named Sadie,” her son sang out, and she couldn’t help but smile at this sweet boy with so much love to give.
Silence met her greeting for just a minute before he answered. “Yeah,” he said, his voice sounding a little rough and sleepy. “I’m back here.”
It was the kind of bedroom voice a man would use when he first rolled over in the morning. Hey, babe. Come over here.
Her skin erupted in goose bumps and she was very grateful he was in another room and couldn’t see them—not that he would be able to see many goose bumps beneath her coat.
Sadie sniffed at everything, her tail wagging like crazy, as Andie led the way back to the den. They found him in the recliner, obviously just waking up from dozing. His dark, wavy hair was a bit messy, his eyes still blinking away sleep, and a mystery novel was spine-up on the arm of the chair.
“Hi, Sheriff Bailey! Hi!” Will said. “We’re here to put the ornaments on your Christmas tree! Aren’t you so glad?”
“So glad,” he murmured. Though she gave him a close look, Andie couldn’t detect a trace of sarcasm.
“This is our dog, Sadie.” Will pointed to the animal in question. “She’s four years old, like me. Only, for a dog four years old is all growed up. She’s gonna help us decorate your tree.”
“How generous of her.”
“I know. And wait until you see all the snowflakes Chloe made. There’s, like, a billion of them.”
“Not quite,” Chloe said quickly, as if she didn’t want to be arrested for colluding to deceive an officer of the law.
“I’m glad it’s not a billion,” he said. “That kind of snowflake number would probably break your scissors, never mind your fingers.”
Chloe offered up her shy smile at his gentle teasing, which Marshall seemed to take to heart.
Will stood close to the sheriff and gazed down at his boot. “Does your leg hurt a lot today?” Will asked.
“Every day it’s feeling better,” he said, which she wasn’t sure was completely the truth.
“Will they have to cut it off?” Chloe asked. “My friend Janie said her grandpa had a sore that wouldn’t get better and they had to cut off his foot and now he has a fake one that he can pull on and off.”
Marshall looked alarmed. “Nobody’s cutting anything off.”
“Whew.” Will dramatically plopped onto the sofa in relief.
The sheriff appeared to be more awake now. Andie supposed a subtle threat of amputation could do that to a man. He eyed the little dog, but Andie couldn’t tell if his expression was one of interest or annoyance.
They were on borrowed time, she knew. He had said they could decorate the tree, but she knew he wasn’t looking forward to the activity and would probably use any excuse he could find to curtail it.
“Kids, we have work to do. Let’s get to it, shall we? I’m sure Sheriff Bailey can’t wait to enjoy the results.”
He gave her a steady look, that expressive eyebrow raised. What would it take to make the man laugh? She was far more curious about that than she ought to be.
“I’ll go get the stepladder I saw in the hall closet,” she said.
“Okay,” Chloe said. “But remember, you can only hang the top of the garland. We have to put on all the rest.”
The children had insisted this was their idea, their project, and she wasn’t to take over. She hoped that was more a measure of their desire to do something nice on their own than an indication that she hovered too much.
She found the small ladder—just right for decorating the top of the tree—and carried it back to the den, where she found Will holding the garland up for Marshall to admire.