Page 89 of Courting Danger

Chapter 24

Roan

“Look what I made!” Roan declared, waving Pope and Sunshine over to see his sand sculpture.

Beside him, Kermit and Ocean were digging for buried treasure, sand flying behind them as they worked on widening their hole. Every now and then one would stop and pull something out, presenting Roan with one of the shiny treasures they’d found.

“Wow!” Sunshine declared as she stepped closer to see the treasure chest he’d made, using the molds and digging tools Pope had ordered for him. “What a stunning piece of sand art.”

They were so cool. He’d used starfish molds and carefully carved the box around it, smoothing the edges, before sticking another mold where he wanted a starfish to be. An octopus head peered over the back of the treasure chest like she was looking inside at all the sea glass and shells Ocean and Kermit had found.

He used disk molds to make the suction cups on the bottoms of her tentacles and was super proud of the way it had turned out.

“You’ve done a wonderful job with this,” Pope declared as Danger came rushing in from the surf, with three clear, glistening rocks in his hand and a piece of pink sea glass he presented Roan with.

“More treasure!” Roan squealed, cupping his hands.

He studied each one before adding them to the box, carefully rearranging the growing pile in the middle.

“Mew!” Kermit meowed, holding something shiny up.

“All the treasure,” Roan declared when Kermit passed him a slightly dented quarter.

“All the treasure indeed,” Sunshine replied, taking pictures of their creation.

“I can’t believe you did all this while we were talking,” Pope said as he knelt beside Roan, hugged him, and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“You were talking for a long time,” Roan reminded him.

“We sure were, sweetheart,” Pope agreed.

“Are you done now?”

“We are.”

“Yay, then you can help find treasure too!”

Sunshine’s laughter rolled down the beach, joined by barks and mews as Danger, Ocean and Kermit joined in. They were in their animal headspaces today, and Roan got to play with them and have an amazing day on the beach, having fun in the sand.

“Oh, I see how you are,” Pope said, carefully tickling him so he wouldn’t wiggle too much and wreck his sculpture.

“You’ve got a little taskmaster on your hands, don’t you?” Sunshine asked.

“Looks that way, doesn’t it?”

“Please.” Roan said, folding his hand beneath his chin and pouting at Pope. “Pretty please. With sugar and cherries and marshmallow sauce on top.”

“Well, if you’re willing to add marshmallow sauce, then I’ve got to find something. That’s my favorite,” Sunshine said before heading for the surf.

“And I’m willing to hunt up the world for you just to see that smile on your face,” Pope said, lightly tapping him on the nose first to make Roan giggle.

The day was gearing up to be the best of his life, and it wasn’t even dinner time yet. Pope didn’t mind at all if Roan called him Papa Pope instead of Daddy because Roan liked the way it sounded better, and he’d promised them a very special treat after they ate supper tonight. Plus, the best, best thing in the world happened when they’d taken the dogs to the vet. Diesel and Grunge weren’t chipped. And since no one had replied to any of the posts Papa Pope had made in the online groups, he’d officially declared Grunge and Diesel their dogs and got special tags for their collars and everything. They even had their names on them and the address to the house on the back.

Today, they were in the newly screened area beneath the deck, where they could watch them from the shade, since Dr. Leroux, their vet, had been worried about the condition of their paws. Cracked and rough from hot pavement, she’d feared hot sand would worsen their condition and advised them to keep the dogs indoors until their paws had the chance to fully heal. She’d even given them an ointment to apply, and Roan and Ocean had promised to make sure they rubbed it in every day and checked their paws to make sure they were getting better.

He had pets and a Papa and human pets to play with and amazing treasures too.

The luckiest boy in the world was what he was now, after so many years of feeling like the unluckiest boy to ever exist.