Slider watched them interact with the dog and felt the rightness of this decision into his bones. He’d never been allowed to have a dog growing up, but he wanted the boys to share in both the responsibility and the unconditional love that came with taking care of one.
And maybe, just maybe, Cora and Bosco would stay around for a long, long time . . . After everything, Slider almost couldn’t believe that thought had originated in his own brain, but it didn’t make it any less real . . . or less terrifying . . .
Slider sat next to Sam so he could pet Bosco, too. “This is the older dog that had Cora asking that question at dinner the other night.”
“So he’d be Cora’s, but we’d get to spend time with him, too?” Sam asked.
Nodding, Slider gave the old dog a scratch behind his ears. “Yeah. Would that be okay? She’s sorta fallen in love with him.”
“Sure you can stand the competition?” Sam smirked.
Slider nailed him with a stare. “Just for that, you get to clean up any accidents in the house for the next week.”
Grinning, Sam smirked harder. But then he pressed his face to Bosco’s and closed his eyes. “If he could live with us, I would totally do that.” Sam’s expression grew more serious. “Cora should have a family, and Bosco could be that for her.”
“You mean like when my teacher calls her cat her fur baby?” Ben asked, hugging Bosco next.
Sam nodded. “Something like that.” He peered up at Slider. “I think we should get him for her.”
Cora should have a family.
Damn if the boy’s words didn’t hit Slider square in the chest—and unleash a strange longing inside Slider that was as scary as it was strong.
An hour later, they’d completed all the paperwork and sprung Bosco from the joint, and Sam’s words were still pinballing around in Slider’s head. Still, he could barely contain himself with the excitement of surprising Cora. But first they had about a hundred things to buy at the pet store—something that thrilled the boys to no end. They didn’t see a single toy or treat in the whole place they weren’t entirely convinced Bosco had to have.
Four hundred dollars later, Slider found himself glad he owned a pickup truck. While Ben climbed in the cab with Bosco, Slider and Sam loaded up the bags full of treats, toys, bowls, collars, and leashes, not to mention the giant dog bed and a fifty-pound bag of food.
They’d even had a name tag engraved for him:
Bosco T.L.B. Campbell
Slider had had to explain that to the boys, but he hoped Cora got it right away.
“Dad?” Sam asked when they’d loaded everything up.
“Yeah, buddy?”
“We just need to make sure we don’t mess anything up.” He ducked his chin. “You know, with Cora.”
Guilt sloshed like acid in Slider’s gut. He hadn’t been responsible for Kim’s cancer, of course, but their marriage hadn’t been everything he’d thought it was, either. Which meant, somewhere along the way, Slider had messed up in that relationship, hadn’t he? But what was important was making his son know nothing like that could ever be his fault. He crouched down so he could meet Sam’s gaze eye to eye. “Why would you think anything would get messed up? Or that you’d have anything to do with it?”
Sam gave him a troubled shrug, but nothing more.
“Well, I’ll promise you this. If Cora and I didn’t work out, that could never be your fault. But I’m going to do everything I can not to mess up. Because I’d like Cora to stick around a long while.” Maybe . . . maybe even forever.
Nodding, Sam said, “Okay.”
“Look at me, son.” Sam’s brown eyes finally met his. “I want you to know that you can talk to me. I know I probably wasn’t here for you the way I should’ve been the past two years, but I’m here now. Anything you need. Anything you just need to get off your chest. You come to me. Always. Understood?”
“Yeah, Dad.”
Slider couldn’t stand the distance between them for one more second. He hauled Sam against him, the first hug they’d shared in so long it hurt. And, Jesus, when Sam hugged him back, it felt like Slider had been on a journey on foot over impassable mountains these past years, and now he was finally home.
But Slider played it cool. “Now what do you say we go surprise Cora?”
Smiling up at him, Sam nodded.
And then they were on their way, and Slider wasn’t sure which of the males in his pickup was most excited to be going home.
Rattled after Sheriff Davis’s visit, Cora had picked up Haven to go shopping with her, and they’d bought out the home departments in at least three stores with all kinds of things for Slider’s house. And even a few things for her own bedroom. Cora had appreciated the company, even though Haven immediately wanted to alert the entire club about Cora’s unexpected visitor.