More Than Neighbors by Janice Kay Johnson

ground. Didn’t last long—next minute he was jumping on Gabe, trying to kiss his face again.
    “Sit,” he repeated, this time laying his hand on the dog’s head to quell his quivering desire to spring back up.
    “He knows how to sit.” Mark grinned in delight. “See, Mom? He’s already trained.”
    “Do you have a leash?” Gabe asked grimly.
    He looked puzzled. “Yeah.”
    “Go get it.”
    While her son was gone, Ciara said, “I’m so sorry. I did ask.”
    “You ever think of checking in town? Somebody around here probably has puppies that have been raised around animals.”
    “No-o.” She drew the word out. “I researched shelters. We got Watson and Daisy at the Spokane Humane Society. I meant to get only one. You know, for Mark. But I was afraid nobody would take Daisy, and I thought maybe she’d have a calming influence on Watson.”
    Daisy had planted herself at Ciara’s feet, appearing completely content.
    “They already have those names?”
    “Yes. I asked if they’d been named at the shelter, but those are the names they came with, so I thought...”
    Gabe nodded. “It’s something familiar. They should be able to keep them.”
    Her smile brought something to life inside him he’d never wanted to feel again. “That’s what I thought, too.”
    Gabe tore his gaze away, concentrating on the dog squirming in front of him. He released him from the sitting position but whistled sharply every time he got too far away. When Mark returned with a short red leash, Gabe had him fasten it to the collar. “Now go get some carrots, if you have any.”
    “Mom bought lots!” Mark raced back into the house, almost falling halfway up the porch steps.
    Gabe winced in sympathy despite his irritation. I am still irritated, he assured himself, although his emotions had already become way more complicated than that, as seemed to happen every time he got close to these new neighbors. Either of them.
    Once the boy returned with carrots in hand, Gabe led a parade to the pasture fence. Even Daisy roused herself to toddle along behind.
    Gabe was far from sure the horses could be persuaded to come, but eventually they got near enough to be sure one of those humans was Gabe, and that there were carrots in the offing. Every time Watson barked, Hoodoo and Aurora neighed and shied away, but Gabe had Mark put his hand around the dog’s muzzle while reminding him sternly to “Sit,” and eventually he was able to persuade the two horses to come to the fence for their treat.
    There was a lot of backing and shying, but finally Watson touched his nose to each of theirs, and Gabe made sure they all stood there long enough for the animals to develop some level of comfort with each other. He knew damn well it wouldn’t last, but it was a start. He just hoped the dog was high-spirited rather than having a killer streak. He didn’t think Mark would take it well if the dog he’d picked out to be his had to be put down.
    “Use the leash a lot these first days,” he instructed him. “If your mom is okay with it, you can walk him in the pasture, as long as he’s always on the leash.”
    After a moment, she nodded. Reluctantly, he thought, but she must have been able to see the sense in his suggestion, and had surely become convinced his quarter horses were too scared of her son to want to trample him to death.
    “Why don’t you pet them?” he suggested, having noticed she was hanging back like she had last time.
    He stayed where he was to gentle the horses, which might have been a mistake. She stepped close enough to allow a citrus scent to rise to his nose. Probably shampoo. He studied her fingers as she tentatively stroked one sleek neck and then the other, giving a surprised squeak when Aurora lipped her fingers.
    “Her mouth is so soft!” Ciara exclaimed.
    He couldn’t help thinking her lips looked soft, too. So did her skin. It was exceptionally fine-pored, more like a young child’s than an adult’s. In