Free Happy New Life by Tonya Kappes

new tricks on Tramp as soon as we get
home.”
    “Okay, buddy.” She ruffled his hair.
    There was no sense in hanging around, just to torture her
heart.

 
SEVEN
     
    “For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my
heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.”
    ~Judy Garland
     
    Liz had a hard time settling Hayes down for bed. He talked about Tramp
and how well Tramp had done. Plus all the talk about how “cool” Cole was and
how he knew so much about dogs. It was hard for her to drown him out during all
the Cole talk. Her longing to be back in his agility class at the Claws and
Paws was unbearable. Or was it her longing to be back in his presence that was
unbearable?
    Alone with Cole in Claws and Paws, watching him handle Tramp, seeing
his smile and boyish ways as he worked with Tramp was burned into her memory
like a tattoo..
    His smell.
    His dark eyes.
    The way his arm fit around her waist as if it belonged there.
    “Yes, honey.” Liz repeated blankly when Hayes would ask her questions.
“Yes, honey.”
    Finally he closed his eyes and he fell asleep.
    Liz was wide awake. She couldn’t quiet her mind long enough to rest.
Images of Cole and the twenty-year-old woman’s smile haunted her.
    Mindlessly, she walked around the house tiding up. She loaded more wood
into the hearth, and turned off the lights on the Christmas tree before she let
Tramp out one final time before bed.
    “Come on.” She petted his head and grabbed her favorite quilt her
grandmother had made for her off the sofa. “Let’s go outside.”
    Tramp danced around her with anticipation. She wrapped the quilt around
her to ward off the winter night chill.
    Not only did it warm her on the outside, it also warmed her on the
inside, as she thought of how much she loved and missed her grandmother, and
all the memories that she had of her.
    The night sky was clear. Oh, how she wished her mind was that clear.
Taking deep breaths, the night air flowed with ease through her nose and filled
her lungs. She closed her eyes and slowly exhaled.
    “You up for company?” Cole walked in the gate without a smile on his
face.
    “You startled me.” Liz held his gaze for a few seconds. She pulled the
blanket up around her neck. “What are you doing here?”
    Tramp jumped all over him. With a few simple commands, Cole had Tramp
under control and sitting patiently. The moonlight cast a shadow on him, making
it hard to see his salt and pepper crew-cut. He walked up and stood next to
her.
    The urge to grab him hadn’t gone away. His stare made her nervous, but
she didn’t turn away from him.
    The night’s darkness blanketed them like her quilt. She could barely
make out his eyes. The energy between them was like a magnet.
    They stood in silence.
    She could smell his sweet scent.
    “We need to talk.” He broke the silence. His hands were plunged deep in
his front jean pockets and he rocked back and forth on his heels. “Is Hayes
sleeping?”
    “Yes.” The word gently rolled off her lips. “What can I do for you,
Cole?”
    “That is a loaded question, Liz.” He turned around leaving her with a
view to be desired, only to come back. Closer. “The way I see it, we have a
problem.”
    She enjoyed the way his eyes licked her up and down, taking in the
curves of her neck and over her shoulders.
    “What problem is that?” she asked, cold and calculated.
    There was no way she was going to agree with such a statement. Even
though she knew he was right. She wanted to hear it from him. She needed to
hear that she made him as crazy as he made her.
    “You’re sexy as hell. I want you. Jenna is a problem.” He walked to the
gate.
    That’s it? Jenna was standing between the happiness that she’s feeling?
There was no way they were going to keep using Jenna as an excuse.
    “Why is Jenna a problem?” Liz shouted across the lawn. “I’m a big girl.
I can make my own decisions.”
    She stood firm. He rushed across the yard. He grabbed the edges of