Together We Fall

Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

"Come on, Sadie!" I call out through the house and listen as her feet patter towards me.

She's been waiting for this walk ever since I got home from school and told mom about it. That little eavesdropper heard the words 'take for a walk' and has been excited about if for an hour. She's been following me around the house, waiting for me to be ready. When she finally got tired of waiting, I was done with my stuff and was ready to walk her.

She runs to me and I laugh as I hook the leash to her collar.

I throw my jacket on and we go outside. The wind blows and Sadie breathes it in.

I've been excited for this walk myself. Even though I wouldn't go on them if not for my dog, I enjoy the ones we take.

We don't have a specific destination. We're just walking while looking at the beautiful scenes ahead.

There's houses on my left and a straight and narrow street to my right, with another line of houses after. Tree's are planted in yards with the occasional flower garden. We live in a quiet neighborhood that's seemingly perfect with pretty houses lining the streets and friendly neighbors.

It's a good little street with friendly people. A park is at the end of our block, coming into view.

Sadie loves going to the park and playing with the little kids. She'll run around and chase them, happy as a lark. She's really good with kids and children love her.

From my current position about a quarter mile away, I can see kids roaming all over the equipment. They're all wearing little coats with cute hats to keep them warm on this windy day. Everyone is laughing, having the time of their lives.

I let Sadie off the leash and the two of us run to the playground. She gets there a few seconds before me and I walk to the bench to watch everyone play.

Sadie runs up and children crowd around to pet her. She doesn't mind though, she loves the attention.

"Emma?" I turn in the direction of the deep voice to see Trace.

As always, his hands are in his pockets.

He's wearing a pink hat with a picture of Snow White on the front with a dark gray jacket and his usual pair of sweat pants.

"Hey, I didn't know you were here. I love the hat though." I laugh and he snatches it off his head quickly.

"I forgot I was wearing that." he laughs awkwardly, "Dylan lost my hat last week and the only way Olivia would wear a hat was if we all wore one so I had to use one of hers."

I smile, "Well pink is definitely your color. I'd go for a darker shade though, it'd look better with your tanned skin."

He rolls his eyes with a playful grin, "So why are you here?"

I gesture to Sadie and he nods. Dylan and Olivia come into view as they run around chasing her with open arms.

Well, that explains why he's here. Not that I was curious because from the moment I saw him I figured I'd be seeing Dylan and Olivia soon enough.

"You take your dog to the park?" he asks with an amused grin and I shrug.

"Why's that weird?"

"Well," he starts, "it's not weird. But dogs can't do anything at the park, they can't even walk on the equipment."

Clearly, he's never had a dog.

I point to my dog and he turns to see her running across a swinging bridge. There's a metal bridge built onto the playground that connects two parts together. It swings back and forth slightly as the kids run across it.