Second Chances

Chapter 21

"TROUBLE!!!!!"

The newest addition to the Jacks family came racing down the hallway from Carter and Casey's bedroom. The bedroom slipper tightly clutched in his teeth was almost bigger than he was, yet he managed to hang onto it as he slid on the highly polished floors. He executed a perfect turn towards Carter's den as he heard his pursuer gaining ground.

"TROUBLE JACKS! YOU GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT WITH DADDY'S SLIPPER!"

Casey came flying out of the bedroom just as Trouble turned the corner and disappeared from sight. She was wearing an old, tattered chenille robe that came open as she ran, exposing the T-shirt and boxer shorts she had appropriated from Carter's drawer to sleep in.

Her change in sleeping apparel happened earlier that week when Carter was called away again to Washington for some last minute meetings. As was the case with any large business operation, there were some final glitches that needed special handling, and since Thao had been summoned back to the Continent to handle other business problems, Carter had to make the trip. Casey hated the fact that Carter had to leave when things between them were finally settling down. After their confrontation on the beach, Carter really seemed to be cautiously moving towards a reconciliation. But when his "short" trip stretched into four days, Casey decided she couldn't stand it anymore. She dug through Carter's chest of drawers until she found a T-shirt and set of boxers that didn't fall to her knees when she wore them. His scent still lingered in them, and it comforted her when bad dreams plagued her almost nightly.

"Daddy's gonna be angry if you chew up those slippers again, mister!" Casey stopped in her tracks when there was no sight of dog or slipper. She put her balled fists on her hips just as Thomas came out of the kitchen.

"Is that four-legged dickens givin' you a fit again, Mrs. Casey?"

"Carter is gonna make cockapoo STEW out of that dog if I don't find his slipper before he gets home." She tapped her bare foot on the shiny bare wood of the floors as she looked under a side table. "Have you seen Trouble this morning?"

Thomas turned towards Carter's study. "I thought I heard him goin' that way, Mrs. Casey. You need me to help you look for him?"

At that precise moment, Trouble poked his nose out of Carter's study. Casey raised her eyebrows and frowned at the puppy. "Not anymore. I think I've got The Fugitive cornered for now, Thomas." Trouble came frolicking out of Carter's office and down the hallway but stopped short about twenty feet from Casey. She leaned over towards him with her hands on her hips. "You know that if you were old enough, you'd be sleeping in the doghouse, don't you, buddy?"

Trouble totally ignored Casey's stern tone of voice. He raised his rear end in the air, waving his feathery tail madly while stretching his stubby front legs forward. It was a blatant invitation to play.

"Ohhhhhh, nooooooo, don't give me that "cute" routine," Casey drawled. "I know exactly what you're doing, Trouble, and it won't work." She straightened up and crossed her arms. "Now either you show me where you hid daddy's slipper or it'll be that disgusting Science Diet dog food for you and health shakes for me for a week!"

Trouble hesitated for a few minutes, but then stood up straight and spun around. Waving his tail proudly in the air, he pranced down the hallway towards Carter's study with Casey following. Thomas watched them both until they disappeared through the door, then he shook his head. "Now if we could just take care of those two-legged dickens as easy as the four-legged ones!" He frowned in the direction of Miranda's house, and then went back into the kitchen, muttering Aboriginal swear words under his breath.