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was of Aunt Poog.  She
wouldn’t leave Aunt Poog, no matter what happened.  Aunt Poog and Uncle Mike
never hesitated before moving into the big house to care for her after her
parents were killed.  Briann had been eleven and needed them.  They’d always
been there for her.  She had been so selfish to be gone all these years and it
was good to be home again.  Her eyes looked toward the road where the brake
lights of Slade’s truck brightened the darkness as he slowed before turning out
onto the highway.  Somehow, she’d have to learn to deal with these feelings.  Slowly
she walked toward the house, the speckled dog following close at her heels.

Chapter 3
     
    Over the next few days life began to settle into a routine. 
There were times Aunt Poog would be busy and without thinking, start to bring
Uncle Mike up, as if he were still alive, but then she’d catch herself and have
to leave the room.  Always later in that same day, she would take the truck and
drive to the cemetery for a while, most of the time taking Speck with her.
    Only Poog had seen the dog’s reaction to being at Mike’s
graveside.  Speck seemed to sense that it was as close to his beloved human as
he’d ever get.  From the very first time she took him, he walked up to the
grave and stretched his stout body out along the grave, in the area where Poog
always imagined Mike’s chest would be.  The dog would lay quietly while she
talked to the love of her life, fussed with flowers or whatever she felt she
needed to do at the time.  When she stood to leave, she’d snap her fingers and
Speck would hop up to follow her, but after walking to her side, he always
turned his speckled head with the dark patches around each eye and looked back
at Mike’s grave, then he’d trot along with her to the truck.
    As much as she’d hoped to avoid Slade, Briann knew it wasn’t
possible.  He dropped by to check on Poog almost daily and often accepted her
offer to have supper.  She discovered that Slade appeared to have accepted her
resolve to keep him at a distance and he made a conscious effort to keep their
conversations impersonal.  She appreciated that, but it didn’t help that his
mere presence was enough to raise her heart rate and the sound of his baritone
voice etched its way into her dreams.
    Briann had been gone from Atlanta for almost two weeks, and
knew she needed to go back to get the rest of her things, most notably, her
five year old daughter.  She’d never been separated from Tris for this long and
even talking to her nightly by phone just wasn’t enough.  She’d irrevocably promised
to make the trip the coming week-end.  Aunt Poog was planning on going with
her, and they needed to make arrangements for someone to look after the stock
while they were away. That still meant four more days, but it simply couldn’t
be helped.
    Briann hadn’t wanted to involve Slade at all, but he was
always the first person Aunt Poog thought of when she needed help and, of course,
he’d never refuse her anything.  When she’d told him of the impending trip,
he’d assigned two of his hands to take care of the Hudson farm while they made
the trip.
    Early Saturday morning, Briann and Aunt Poog left the house,
starting the four hour drive to her mother-in-laws house, where Tristin and her
horses were staying in her absence.
    Maggie had been very considerate to take Tris and the horses
for an undetermined period of time, but Maggie and her family were never
anything but kind to Briann and her daughter.
    Even knowing that Tristin was not her son’s biological
child, Maggie accepted and loved the little girl as though she were.  After
Evan died, Briann expected his parents to tactfully back out of her life, but
they had taken her into their hearts and she gradually came to see that she was
still a part of their family.
    Making the decision to move back home had been difficult for
Briann only because it put her in a closer proximity to Slade Butler.