Taking Heart by T. J. Kline Page A

again since arriving. Being with Julia was easy. She might be brutally honest, but she didn’t push him for things he couldn’t give. She still hadn’t asked about his injuries or pressured him to talk about what happened to get him here. Being with her made him think he might be able to let go of the nightmare that seemed to haunt his waking moments.
    â€œThat’s exactly right,” she said as he navigated Roscoe through a tunnel. “See how he’s looking at you when he finishes? Don’t forget to praise him.”
    Dylan didn’t need to be reminded. The dog was quickly breaking down the arguments he’d used against getting a service dog. In the two days he’d been at the facility, he’d already spent more time focused on something other than his PTSD than he had since returning from overseas. There was no amount of praise he could give Roscoe that would show how appreciative he was for that small accomplishment. Dylan reached down and rubbed the dog’s golden head as Julia approached with a broad smile on her lips.
    Just a glimmer of that smile made him want to return it. Gage was wrong. She wasn’t beautiful. She was angelic. Her long, dark blonde waves swung over her shoulders, and her bangs fell into her brown eyes again. Dylan stuffed his hands into his pockets to keep from running his hands through those silken tresses. It had been a long time since he’d noticed a woman, let alone wanted to touch one, but, like the dog, Julia was quickly, almost magically, chipping away at the wall his accident had erected around him.
    Chipping? She was breaking it down so quickly, she might as well be using a sledgehammer. He had to do something, anything, that kept him from thinking about that smile that was making his pulse pound against his ribs.
    â€œWhat now?”
    She laughed at him. “I think we need to give Roscoe a break. You two have been at it for almost two hours.”
    Dylan glanced at his watch. He’d been enjoying himself so much that he hadn’t realized so much time had passed. He wondered when Gage was coming and hoped it wasn’t soon. The feeling surprised him. Not only because his brother had been the one constant in his life, but because he knew he didn’t want to compete for Julia’s attention. As much as he knew it was wrong of him, he wanted to get to know her better.
    â€œCome on, I have an idea.”
    She led the way back to the house and dropped the tailgate of her truck before calling Tango to her side. The dog came bounding through the dog door at the back of the house and skidded to a halt at her legs. She patted the back of the truck and he leapt inside.
    â€œAre we going somewhere?”
    â€œYou’ll see.” She let Roscoe in the cab of the truck and slid behind the driver’s seat. Dylan paused with a hand on the door, curious about what she had planned but hesitant to put himself into a situation that might trigger an episode. “You coming?”
    He climbed into the truck and looked around curiously as she drove to a gate partway down the driveway. He hadn’t noticed it when he’d arrived, but he hadn’t been paying much attention to anything but his desire to go home. She drove over well-worn ruts in the open field as he watched her. She was a bit of an enigma.
    She was quick to smile, stubborn, but confident enough to stand up to him. There was a softness about her, a tenderness he’d rarely seen in the people who surrounded him. She was optimistic yet, by her own account, she’d seen the worst the world had to offer. He was drawn to her, like a magnet.
    â€œHave you ever ridden a horse?” She turned her face toward him, and he could see the playful gleam in her eyes.
    â€œDo I look like the kind of guy to ride a horse?” His hand settled on the back of Roscoe’s head, scratching his neck absently.
    â€œYou never had a pony ride as a kid?”
    â€œI