Page 4 of Austin (The K9 Files #29)

“I’m walking. I’m alive. I’m doing fine,” he stated. “I’ve come to terms with it, so all you need to know is that I’m okay.”

“But you walked in here,” she stated in confusion.

“Yes, that’s what happens when you get prosthetics, particularly good ones.”

“I think I’ve heard something about that woman,” Jake shared, frowning. He shook his head, muttering, “I’ll be damned if I know why.”

“Kat’s certainly made a name for herself. If you know anybody who has prosthetics,” Austin noted, “she is the person to contact for custom work.”

Jake nodded but stared off into the distance, still frowning. “I used to know a guy named Badger.”

At that, Austin chuckled. “That’s her husband.”

He stared at him, his eyebrows popping up. “Seriously?”

Austin nodded. “Yes, the two of them are together and have a couple kids. Badger also has prosthetics, and Kat was born with a leg that never quite worked and never grew. At some point in time, her doctors and her parents decided to surgically remove it because it was more of a hindrance than a help, and that’s how her love affair with prosthetics was born. ”

“Oh my,” Amie whispered, as she stared at him, “that must have been hard.”

“I think for Kat it was much harder to have a shorter leg drag around behind her that she couldn’t use,” he clarified. “She’s an amazing person.”

Austin realized that Rox hadn’t said a word, but that was fine with him. If she couldn’t handle a prosthetic, she sure as hell couldn’t handle the nightmares that kept him up in the middle of the night either.

When the conversation turned back to the ranch and any other question he could ask to deflect the interest from him, Austin finally stood up and noted, “It was a long drive.”

Amie bounced to her feet. “Come on. I’ll help you get settled.”

As she turned to head toward the stairs, Austin shook his head and suggested, “I would really be fine to crash in the bunkhouse.” He watched at Amie’s back stiffened, but he shook his head. “It’s probably for the best.”

Then Amie turned to face him. With the fighting look that came into Amie’s gaze, Austin knew he was in for a battle.

Behind him, Jake called out. “You might as well give it up, son. When she’s got her mind made up, it doesn’t matter what you say.”

Austin winced and turned to face Jake. “You know it’s for the best.”

“I’m right here, you know,” Rox declared, standing up from the table and glaring at the two of them. “You don’t have to talk over me.”

“It’s not as if you were joining in on the conversation at the end,” Austin replied smoothly, “so I wasn’t expecting you to care.”

She glared at him, looked over at Amie, and shook her head. “Do whatever you want to do.”

Amie nodded. “I will,” she declared, tilting her head up higher. “Don’t you worry. I will.” She stared at Austin. “Now, get going up the stairs and enough of your arguing.”

He hid a smile as he followed the petite-sized boss of the house up the stairs to the spare bedroom. He stood here in the hallway and leaned against the doorjamb.

Amie said, “Now don’t tell me it brings back painful memories because it also brings back sweet memories too.”

“Sure, but it’s also about everything else I lost.”

She froze at that and slowly nodded. “Yes, it is, but it’s up to you if you want to find what you lost.”

“No,” he countered. “I can’t go through that again.”

She smiled up at him. “I know that.” As she walked to the door, she patted him on the shoulder. “I know that you need to come and go and do your own thing, but you should know that Charlie is still here, and he’s looking for some exercise.”

He stared at her in surprise. “I don’t think that would be the same response Jake would give me.”

“You don’t mind anything those two have to say,” Amie proclaimed firmly. “Charlie is mine, always has been, always will be, and he adored you.”

That she used the past tense almost brought tears to Austin’s eyes, but he nodded. “I need to spend some time out on the road.”

“Anytime you need, I’ll pack you a lunch, and do not let those two stop you from doing what you need to do.”

He gave her a wry smile. “I won’t let them stop me,” he confirmed. “I’m here on behalf of the War Department, and it just would have made life easier and a lot simpler if I stayed in town and didn’t have to deal with anything else.”

“Not dealing with it is what got you into this trouble,” she spat, poking him in the chest, “and that time has long gone past, so sit up, straighten up, and do what you need to do to turn your life around.”

“My life is turned around,” he pointed out, with a note of amusement. “Believe it or not, I’m quite happy with where I am at these days.”

She turned to glare at him. “No, you’re not,” she argued.

“Somebody who doesn’t know you well might not see it, but I do.

I know that you’ve convinced yourself that you can live like you are, and you absolutely can,” she conceded, as she shook her head.

“Yet that doesn’t mean you have to, and it sure as hell doesn’t mean that you should.

Remember that you are with people who love you, even if their own tempers and hurt feelings are keeping them at bay for the moment.

This… whatever it is… will go away in a wash,” she stated, with a smile. And, with that, she was gone.

Austin took a few steps to the bed and crashed onto it, staring up at the ceiling. Out loud he wondered, “What the hell did you get me into, Kat?”

If Kat knew his history, both personal and naval—and chances are that she did—that’s exactly why she sent him here, and that was a messed-up thing to do.

Yet, in a way, he also understood. He’d fought confronting this issue over the past five years, but a moment of truth and understanding had also hit Austin as he had spoken with Kat.

He really couldn’t go forward until he cleaned up his past, and, even though he understood that, it just wasn’t something that he wanted to do.

Hell, it wasn’t something he figured he should have to do either, if he were honest. When he turned and picked up his phone, Rox was staring at him from the doorway. He raised an eyebrow. “Yes?” His tone was cool, polite, but distant.

Rox hesitated for a moment but relented. “Don’t let Mom talk you into doing anything you don’t want to do.”

He froze at that and asked, “What do you mean by that?”

She shrugged. “She’s obviously hoping we’ll reconcile.”

He laughed. “The day for that is long gone.”

She sent him a look he couldn’t quite read, then turned and walked away, leaving him wondering if he’d just done something wrong. But, as far as he was concerned, there was no going back, not after all this time. And there sure as hell was no going back to the life that he’d had before with Rox.

Was she still dynamite, in and out of bed?

Probably.

Was she still somebody he would love forever?

Yes, but that didn’t mean he could live with her or that he was interested in even trying anymore. As he’d already pointed out, that time had passed.