Chapter Two
Liam helped Andi off the ATV at the bottom of one of the highest hills on Waterford Farm. With Jag in tow and Liam’s innate knowledge of this land, it was the perfect place for them to do a thorough search.
“I’ll call when we find him,” Liam said, purposely sounding optimistic as he turned on an industrial-strength flashlight that would provide Jag with a light beam to follow. He’d need it since the moon was barely a sliver.
Shane revved the engine, anxious to go. “No, I’ll call you when we find him.” Of course his brother would make the dog hunt a competition he had to win.
“I just hope someone finds him.” Chloe nestled closer to Shane and rubbed her hands together. “Nothing worries me more than a lost dog.”
“No fear, babe,” Shane assured her as he rumbled away and left Liam and Andi to follow Jag. “We got this.”
The muscular German shepherd was trained as a Schutzhund, which made him a better protector than tracker, but his nose was powerful, and Liam was certain that he’d find any living thing out here.
They trudged through the snowfall everyone had been so excited about the day before, but a white Christmas seemed like icy danger now.
“You shouldn’t even be out here,” Liam said, gripping Andi tighter.
“I’m fine, really.”
“You’re barely twelve weeks pregnant.”
“Which is not a handicap,” she reminded him. “I’m being careful, and I know every inch of this area. I was out here with a surveyor a few days ago before any snow fell. Jag is just about to come to a rise in the ground.”
Almost immediately, the dog stepped up and then down, exactly as she’d said.
Still, Liam held her close and scanned the untouched snow of the hill where, come spring, they’d break ground for their own family home that Andi, a skilled architect, had designed.
“I still think you should have stayed with Gramma Finnie and Christian.”
She elbowed him on a laugh. “We’ve passed three months, and I’m healthy as a horse.” She grinned up at him. “And as hungry as one. Or maybe I could eat one. Can’t remember the phrase, but in this case, they both work.”
He unsnapped his parka pocket and pulled out one of the three protein bars he never went anywhere without. For her, not him. “Figured you’d get starved.”
“Oh.” She took it and looked up at him like he’d just handed her the crown jewels. “I’d marry you all over again, Liam Kilcannon.”
“Don’t tempt me. It was the best night of my life.”
She pressed closer and unwrapped the bar. “I admit I got a little panicked when Pru said ‘light snack.’ Wondered what everyone else was going to eat. Think the dog might smell this bar and come to us?”
He shook his head, watching Jag move with purpose. “The others will use treats or special whistles to get the dog, but we have Jag, and if there’s a dog out here, he’ll sniff that little pupper out from his hiding place.”
“Sad we don’t even know his real name, but we could try common ones. Rover! Spot!” She smiled up at him. “What’s another good dog name?”
“I like Anne.”
She stopped midstep and blinked at him. “That’s a good dog name?”
“It’s a good daughter name.”
“Oooh.” She let out a sigh. “That’s what’s on your mind?”
“Always,” he admitted. “I can’t stop thinking about this baby for one minute.”
“I know, I’m the same way.” She chewed contentedly as they followed Jag’s black silhouette in the light, watching him sniff side to side, but continuing his climb to the top of the hill.
In the distance, they heard the barely audible calls of his siblings, and the deep, baritone bark of Einstein, who’d gone with Declan and Connor.
“Do you think they found him?” Andi asked, excitement making her voice rise.
“No.”
“How can you be sure?”
“That bark is too steady and calm to be the sound of a hound who found his target,” he told her. “What about the name?”
She smiled up at the return to the baby subject. “Anne is your mother’s name. I kind of love that idea,” she said. “But I don’t know if there could ever be another Anne Kilcannon.”
“No, she was one of a kind, for sure.” Liam closed his eyes for a second, letting her memory hit. “No one loved Christmas like my mother. Every tradition is hers.”
“Even that candle Pru was talking about?”
“Oh, no. The Christmas candle in the window is all Gramma Finnie, straight from Ireland, like she is. But my mom made sure every annual tradition was kept alive, that we always did the little things that make Christmas the same every year.”
“I want to keep those traditions in our home, Liam,” she said. “Which will be right…” She broke away and jogged a few steps before tapping her boot on the snow. “Here. This is where our front door will be.”
“Wow, you do know your way around this hill.” He joined her at the rise and took a moment to do a slow three-sixty scan with his light. The beam highlighted the snow-trimmed trees and winter hills, making them look desolate, but beautiful. It would be a jaw-dropper of a view from their front window.
“See any tracks?” she asked.
“There’s no sign that dog was out here,” he said. “Tracks would be fresh.”
“Want to go down the other side of the hill?” she asked.
“No, no. Too steep for you.”
Even in the moonlight, he could see in her expression that she didn’t agree. “Go with Jag and check. I’ll wait here.”
He considered that for a moment, then shook his head. “We’ll look from up here and watch Jag.”
“What if the little puppy runs away?”
“He won’t.” Liam snapped his fingers twice, and Jag instantly stopped and turned, waiting for his master’s instructions. “Down there, boy,” he pointed, emphasizing the command by moving the flashlight. “In the trees and bushes.”
Jag didn’t hesitate, but loped across the hill, kicking up snow and following the light beam down the hill into a small grouping of trees.
“Will he stay in sight?”
“Unless he smells something,” Liam said, taking a few steps, his gaze locked on the dog, ready to give him the next command. But Jag sniffed dutifully, rounding the trees and poking his mighty snout in the bushes, while Liam and Andi scanned the landscape, looking for anything that might move, bark, run, or hide.
In the meantime, Liam wanted to go back to the subject that interested him most. “What about Anne as a middle name?”
“Oooh.” Andi nodded. “I like that. Especially since Anne is so close to my name, anyway.”
“True.”
“Look, Jag just went into those shrubs.”
Liam peered at the spot, certain the dog would be in and out in a second. “But it could be a boy,” he said.
“We’ll know in ten days,” she reminded him. “Unless you want to be surprised.”
“I think—”
Jag’s bark cut him off, loud and insistent. “Whoa,” Liam said, putting a hand up to stop Andi as she took a step in that direction. “Let him come out.”
“But the dog could run away!” she exclaimed.
“He won’t.”
Jag’s bark hit high gear, and Liam still couldn’t see him. Was something wrong?
“Go, Liam.”
He had to. Without giving it much more thought, Liam took off down the hill, still unable to see the dog, though he could follow his voice.
“Jag!” He slipped on some snow, but easily caught himself.
“Be careful, Liam!”
He held up a hand, which he realized she probably couldn’t see because he’d taken the flashlight, but zipped down in the direction of Jag’s furious barks.
“Watch out, there’s a sharp drop off a ledge—”
He didn’t hear the rest. He went flying through the air and felt the protein bars and his phone pop out of his pocket. His first thought? How in the name of all that was holy could he be that stupid?
His second one was how did Andi know their property better than he did?
And his third one, as he landed with a thud and felt his foot twist, was that he’d sprained his damn ankle. Which took him back to his first thought. Stupid.