Christmas in Sawyer Falls by H. M. Bailey Page A

that physically he took after his father instead of her. Every time she looked into her son’ s eyes it was a gift to her , w hich was why it upset her to see fear and worry in those eyes.
    “ Hey now, Buddy, no need to worry yourself like that. Those woods are like a playground for dogs , even more so than they are for boys like you . You know how sometimes you’re at the playground and you lose track of time and don’t want to leave? I’ll bet that’s what happened to Shadow .” David’s vo ice was soothing and reassuring as he placed his hand on Andrew’s shoulder.
    “How about we eat some of your grandma’s delicious lasagna and if he’s not back when supper’s over, you and I will go out and look for him .”
    Andrew shook his head, not quite ready to make a deal. “But, I think that we should go look for him right now? Please can we go now?”
    Hannah could tell by the look on her dad’s face that he was about to give in to Andrew’s pleas; he had a hard time saying no to his gr andson. “I want you to warm up for a little bit and get s ome food in your stomach first,” she interjected , so her dad wouldn’t have to . “It won’ t take that long and then you won’t get hungry when Grandpa takes you out to find him .”
    Hannah wasn’t worried about Shadow being in any danger. Growing up in this home, their dogs had been outside dogs, roaming the woods and coming and going as they pleased. They were a bit out of town, so there were no busy roads to worry about.
    At dinner, despite it being his favorite meal, Andrew barel y picked at his lasagna. His sad blue eyes were in a focused gaze at his grandpa, silently urging him to finish his meal so he could head out in search of Shadow. Tess and Hannah tried to talk to distract Drew and convince him to eat more of his dinner when David finally set his napkin down and met Andrew’s gaze with a twinkle in his eye.
    “I think we’ve made Drew wait long enough. Sitting in front of a dinner that he’s not going to eat isn’t going to accomplish anything. Come on, Buddy, let’s head out and find Shadow.”
    Before his grandfather had even finished getting the words out, Drew was out of his chair and rushing to get his coat and boots on. Once they were sufficiently bundled up and loaded with Shadow’s favorite treats, they headed out into the night on their mission.
    Hannah stood in front of the big window, watching them walk off as Tess began to clear the table. She noticed that even though Hannah was looking o utside, her eyes seemed to be staring vacantly into the night as if her mind were somewhere else.
    “Penny for your thoughts, dear,” Tess said, breaking Hannah out of her trance.
    “Oh, I was just thinking about Andrew and Shadow. I’m sure they’ll find him, but if anything ever did happen to that dog, I don’t know if Andrew could take another blow like that . That dog is his best friend and is what got Andrew through losing his dad.”
    “He’s been doing so well, too, hasn’t he? I t’s nice to have such a happy child in the h ouse. I know that Christmas might be a hard time, though. How have you been handling it this year?”
    Hannah turned from the window and walked into the kitchen to help her mother clean up. It wasn’t that often that it was just the two of them in the house and she knew her mother was asking questions that had probably been on her mind for a while. She hated that her mom worried so much about her and wanted to put her mind at ease.
    “I’m fine,” she told her mother and then after seeing her mother’s look of disbelief, added, “No, really, I am. I mean, I don’t know if I will ever completely get over it. I’ll always love him and it will always bother me that Andrew has to grow up without his father in his life, but each year it’s gotten easier. The pa in is not so raw.” Her mother grab bed her hand an d ga ve it a squeeze.
    “You are a strong woman, Hannah, and I’m proud of how you’ve held