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Wally strained against his harness—clearly trying to get to the larger furry brown-and-white dog.

Cute dog, with her big brown eyes and tan eyebrows that gave her face almost a worried look.

Adorable kid.Maybe—I don’t know, twelve?Thirteen?Short dark hair, snub nose, all arms and legs and happy, animated gestures as he talked to his dog.Just…very non-threatening.Much as Marcie and those kids had been this morning.

I wasn’t certain I was becoming a better judge of character.Or maybe just letting go of a touch of the vigilance that’d been a part of my life for the past four years.Oh hell, who was I kidding?Since I’d been old enough to understand the world was a dangerous place.Four?Five?

A child without a childhood needed vigilance.

“I’m Kevin.”The boy waved.“This is Zelda.She’s super friendly around other dogs and a little wary around strangers.”He smiled at Jeremy.“You’re a friend.”

Jeremy grinned, catching my gaze.“Kevin often walks Zelda up by the lighthouse, and I’ll admit to taking a break during my training to visit.I love dogs.”His grin was damn infectious.

So I smiled as well.“This is Wally.He’s new to me, so I have to be careful.”

“Oh, you rescued him?”Kevin ran a hand through his hair.“With Arthur?”

“Yes.”

“That’s so great.Rescuing dogs is the best.Zelda’s a rescue.My dad, Alec rescued her.And by then my dad Joe was sort of falling for him.And I was getting pretty attached myself.Zelda sort of sealed the deal.If Alec could rescue her when he was barely keeping it together, then he had to be a good person.”

“Alec is a good person.”Jeremy’s grin didn’t diminish.“Joe, Alec, and Kevin are newer to Gaynor Beach.”

“Hey.”Kevin squinted.

“Relatively new,” Jeremy qualified.“Not an old-timer like myself.”

That appeared to appease Kevin as his easy smile returned.

Zelda and Wally kept sniffing each other.

I kept a vigilant eye on them.Arthur assured me that Wally had been socialized and was good with other dogs.That being said, he and Jordan had both warned me about being super careful around strange dogs in case they weren’t friendly.If Jeremy vouched for Zelda, though, then I figured a lessening of the ever-present panic might be okay.

“Do you want to walk?”Kevin pointed down the boardwalk.“I was headed home.It’s too hot to go far today.”

Jeremy cast me a look.

“We’d love to, for a little bit.”I eyed Wally, whose tongue already lolled.“Maybe we can find some water first?”

“Sure, over here.”Kevin guided us toward a bowl of water on the shaded sidewalk before a food vendor.He pressed his hand to the side.“Nice and cool.”

I glanced at the vendor.Popcorn.

Before I could speak, Jeremy had his wallet out.“I plan to watch a movie later, so I’ll grab a bag.Would you like one?”

“I…uh…”

“Well, we can share.”

Just like that.Like we might watch the movie together.Or maybe share popcorn on the way back?

I’d been worried about cost.Everything was always about cost.I had a few dollars in my pocket, but I could never predict what might come up.What I might need money for.And asking for help didn’t appeal.Like, at all.

After the dogs had each drunk plenty of water, we headed out.Wally tried to keep up with Zelda’s strides.

Before I could say anything, Kevin gently pulled Zelda back.“We’ve walked a fair bit today and I think we need to take it easy.”

Zelda didn’t appeal the least bit bothered.She kept glancing down at Wally as if quite intrigued by this little guy.