Page 21 of Cozy Little Christmas

“What will happen to him?”

Wes scratched Kodi between the ears. “I’ll probably adopt him. That’s the way things are looking. There’s no way I could ever let him go to another family. We’ve bonded since he was a puppy. I’m not sure how I’ll make it work but I’ll figure something out.”

He clipped on Kodi’s leash and was heading for the door when the doorbell rang.

Hannah looked surprised. “If that’s one of my brothers coming over to help me put the bed together tonight after all, I’ll owe you a huge apology.”

She opened the door and Wes saw a pale, fragile-looking, dark-haired woman and a couple of cute school-age kids.

“Morgan!” Hannah exclaimed. “This is a surprise.”

“I’m sorry,” the woman said. “The kids have been anxious about moving here without seeing the place first. I told them we could drop by and say hello and maybe bring some of their things.”

“Of course! Come in.”

Wes watched with interest as the children came into the house, cautiously looking around.

“You have a dog?” the boy exclaimed, eyes wide as he gazed at Kodiak.

“Oh.” Hannah looked flustered. “I’m afraid not. This is my friend Wes and his dog, Kodiak. Wes is a police officer, and Kodiak is his police dog. Wes, this is Morgan, Carter and Riley.”

Carter’s eyes grew wide. “A real police dog? Does he bite the bad guys?”

“Sometimes,” Wes said with a smile. “Most of the time he just scares them.”

“What happened to him?” Riley asked, pointing to the bandage.

“He got hurt by one of those bad guys, so he’s trying to recover.”

“That’s so sad,” Riley said.

“Can we pet him?” Carter asked.

“Sure thing.” Ignoring his aching abdomen, Wes got down on his haunches and put a protective arm around the dog. Kodiak was as gentle with children as he was with cats but Wes didn’t want to take any chances. “Hold out your hand so he can sniff it first,” he said. “You should always do that when meeting a new dog.”

Carter did as instructed then giggled when Kodi nuzzled his fingers. “He likes me!” he exclaimed.

“Looks like it,” Wes said. The boy petted the dog and his sister came over to do the same thing.

“It’s really sad that he was hurt,” she said.

“He’s getting better,” Wes said, hoping he wasn’t stretching the truth.

After a moment, he rose and gripped the leash. “Kodi and I will just get out of your way so you kids can check things out. It was nice to meet you all. Morgan, I’m sorry for what you’re going through and wish you all the best.”

The woman gave him a tremulous smile. “Thank you. I appreciate that. I’m sorry if we pushed you away.”

“We were just leaving,” he assured her, shrugging into his coat.

“Wes has been helping me set up a bed in the bedroom where Carter will stay,” Hannah explained.

“I get my own room?” Carter looked excited. “I’ve never had my own room.”

“I hope you’ll like it,” Hannah said.

She held the door out for Wes and his dog. “Thank you again for everything. If that starts bleeding again, you need to go see someone.”

“Sure thing.”