Chapter 6

Once Trish had left I asked Jordan to come with me on a walk around the trails I normally ran on. "It's not as good as a run but it gives me some exercise and I get out in the fresh air." Jordan couldn't wait and soon we we're walking fairly briskly on the trails.

"Hey, these trails are neat, Brian, I've never been out here before. I mean, I knew the trails were here but ... I dunno, I just never went for a walk on them." Jordan said.

"Well, you're not alone. I suspect that most of the folks around here have never been out here. Instead of walking or running here, they pay big bucks to go to the gym to exercise. That doesn't make any sense to me." I said as I smiled at Jordan.

Over the next hour or so we walked around the trail that I usually take. Since this was my regular route I'd seen some of the small animals that lived in the area and I was able to point some of them out to Jordan. She was thrilled with that. After about three quarters of an hour walking, Jordan asked if we could take a little rest. I told her there was a bench about 100 yards ahead and when we reached it, I sat down expecting Jordan to sit beside me but to my surprise, she sat on my lap and put her arms around my neck.

"Brian, I'm so happy that I'm staying with you these next two weeks. Mom's friend was nice and treated me real good but I knew she kinda wished she'd not agreed to look after me." She looked me straight in the face. "I know these two weeks are going to be really, really good." Suddenly she leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Jordan, I'm only too happy to help your mom out." I looked at her and smiled. "C'mon, let's continue. We've walked over half of the trail so it won't take as long to get back."

"I'm not tired, I just wanted to give you a hug and say thank you." Jordan said as she got off my lap. She reached out and took my hand and for the balance of the walk we held hands.

Supper time arrived and Trish came over. Supper was a lively meal with lots of chatter and jokes. Jordan told her mom about us going for a walk. I noticed that while she talked about walking and seeing various things, nothing was said about her affectionate thanks. Soon Trish went back home to finish packing and to do a bit more review.

After Trish left, Jordan took my hand and pulled me in to sit on the sofa then went and got Maxie's blanket so that she could get up on the couch. As soon as Jordan was seated and Maxie up beside her, she reached out, lifted my arm up and snuggled close to me. 'Better make sure she doesn't get too attached to you' I thought. As was the case the night before, I had to roust Jordan to go to bed and of course had to give her a goodnight kiss. I pondered calling Trish about Jordan's affection for me but decided to leave it until after her return.