“I’m so full,” Cody moaned as they began the trek home.
“Me, too, and I didn’t have a big piece of chocolate pie like you did,” she replied.
“No, but you totally pigged out on the garlic toast. Besides, the chocolate pie was worth it. It was delicious.”
Dinner had been pleasant. They’d visited with friends and neighbors and enjoyed the good food the diner always provided. “You know what the best thing about eating out is?” she said.
“No dishes,” Cody replied.
“That’s right,” she agreed with a laugh.
The neighborhood sidewalk was darkly shadowed as the clouds hid the moon. Their footsteps rang out in unison in the otherwise still of the night.
She was definitely feeling the lack of sleep from the night before and all she wanted now was the comfort of her bed and a night with no dreams.
Her body tensed as she thought she heard the scuff of a footfall behind them. She whirled around, heart pounding, to see nobody sharing the sidewalk with them.
Had she only imagined it? They had only gone a couple more steps when a rustle sounded. Once again she turned around, her heartbeat accelerating even faster.
She saw nobody. However, there were bushes and trees right next to the sidewalk where somebody could hide, and her intuitive senses were screaming that somebody was following them.
“I’ll race you to the house,” she said to Cody. She couldn’t explain the fear that suddenly torched through her, she could only respond.
Her heart still banged an unsteady rhythm as Cody shot just ahead of her. “Winner gets a cookie before bedtime,” he exclaimed.
She ran, making sure Cody stayed just ahead of her. He could win the race and have his cookie, but she intended to see that nobody sneaked up on her son.
The house had never seemed so far away and she’d never felt the kind of abject fear that coursed through her as they raced to safety.
“Ha, I win,” Cody said as he reached their front porch two steps ahead of her.
Allison fumbled her keys out of her purse and quickly unlocked the door. She pushed him through the doorway. “Get upstairs and get your pajamas on and then you get your cookie reward.”
As he headed for the stairs, Allison remained at the front door. She looked down the sidewalk from where they had come. Had somebody been following them or had it only been a trick of her imagination?
A dog barked in the distance and a chill walked up her spine. She quickly closed the door and locked it, then leaned with her back against it as she waited for her heart to resume a more normal pace.
If there had been somebody out there, it was possible it was Chad being drunk and stupid and hopefully no harm had been really intended. Still, that thought somehow didn’t chase away the simmering fear that remained with her long into the night.
Knox arrived at Allison’s house at three forty for his visit with Cody. The plans he’d had for them for the afternoon and evening were a washout due to the rain that had pelted the area since before dawn.
Thank God it had tapered down to just a fine mist as he left his car and raced for Allison’s front porch. She met him at the door and let him inside, where awkward greetings were exchanged.
“Cody should be here in just a few minutes,” she said.
He looked out the door. “Since it’s raining, maybe I should take the car and go pick him up.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
He turned to look at her.
She smiled. It was the first real smile he’d received from her since he’d accosted her at Jade’s stables and it warmed him from the chill of the rain.
“I’ve been told by Cody that nine-year-old boys don’t mind walking in the rain,” she said. “He’s also told me quite firmly that he isn’t a baby anymore.”
“Then I’m glad you stopped me from doing something to insult his budding manhood,” Knox replied.
Before he could say anything else to her Cody ran through the door, bringing with him muddy shoes and boyish laughter. “Hi, Knox,” he said as he kicked off his shoes. “Sorry about the mud, Mom.”
“Hi, Cody,” Knox replied. “I had some plans for us outside this afternoon but the rain has changed everything.”
“That’s okay. Maybe we should just stay here and play some games. I’ve got some awesome video games and Mom mostly stinks at all of them.” Cody flashed his mother an apologetic grin. “You know it’s the truth, Mom.”
“Okay, I’ll admit I’m fairly lame at video games,” she replied with a grin.
“And maybe we could order pizza for dinner,” Cody said. “It could be a really fun night.”
Knox looked at Allison. He wasn’t sure she would consider his presence there all evening a really fun night. She gazed at her son and smiled. “Of course you two can hang out here, and pizza for dinner sounds great, but before you start any video games you need to go upstairs and change out of those damp clothes.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” Cody headed up the stairs and Allison’s smile disappeared as she turned to face Knox once again.
“If this is inconvenient for you I can always take him to Thorne’s or Mac’s,” Knox said.
“Cody being here is never an inconvenience to me.”
“I wasn’t talking about him being here, I was talking about me,” he replied wryly.
“You’re a necessary evil,” she said.
“Said the kettle to the pot,” he replied. “Why am I the only bad guy here?”
A dusting of color filled her cheeks. “I guess you’re not...yet.”
He released a sigh. “At some point you’re going to have to trust me, Allison.”
“It’s going to take time.” She reached up as if to grab a strand of her hair, but it was in that charming, slightly untidy knot at the nape of her neck and she dropped her hand back to her side. “Cody can get the video games set up and whatever else you might need. I’ll be upstairs until dinnertime.”
As she began to climb the stairs, Cody came back down, and within minutes he and Knox were in the living room with game paddles in their hands as an earnest rain began to pelt the windows.
With a gun Knox could outdraw most men, but he quickly discovered that he was no match for a nine-year-old’s nimble fingers on game paddles. The first two football games they played, his team lost to Cody’s by a landslide. Cody’s triumphant cries of victory didn’t last when he put in a gun range challenge and they exchanged paddles for plastic weapons.
A wooden fence appeared on the television with bottles lined up. Knox cleared them before Cody got off his first shot. “Wow,” Cody said, his eyes glittering brightly as he high-fived Knox. “That was awesome. You shoot like a superhero.”
Cody set his gun in his lap and gazed at Knox. “My dad is a superhero.”
Knox froze. “A superhero?” he finally said.
Cody nodded. “That’s why he can’t be here with me. He’s doing important work keeping the world safe and catching bad guys. There are a lot of bad guys.” He stared down at the gun in his lap. “I just wish for one day he could forget about the bad guys for a little while and come here and say hello to me.”
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