“Roll over,” the voice said. This time, the three small boys were the first to respond. Of all the commands on the recording, roll over was their favorite. It usually ended up with them halfway across the backyard in a pile that was composed of equal parts giggling and brotherly wrangling.

This time was no exception. As soon as Wheezy had maneuvered himself into rolling position, Eva’s kids were already squirming their way through the grass.

“Ruby, you’re not rolling!” cried the oldest of the boys. Julio, who was six years old and the self-designated spokesman of the lot, took after his mother in the best of ways. Ruby didn’t think he’d stopped chattering since she’d arrived. “You hafta do it or Wheezy will get mad.”

This comment wasn’t as ridiculous as it sounded. Ruby had thought it a stroke of genius to bring Wheezy to spend the weekend at Eva and Maury’s house. Two full days of dog training and a built-in distraction for the boys seemed like the perfect plan. Unfortunately, she hadn’t accounted for just how fixated small children could get. When they’d heard that Ruby was training Wheezy to be a show dog, they wholeheartedly jumped on the plan. When they’d realized that Wheezy preferred to have company while he followed commands, they’d taken to sitting and shaking and rolling over with an obedience that would have done a military school proud.

When they’d realized that Wheezy would get personally offended if Ruby didn’t also participate, well, this was the result. She’d been rolling all over the yard for hours.

“I can’t, you guys. I’m old. My bones can’t take much more of this.”

“Ru-by!”

“Ruby!”

“Roooo!”

This last protest was uttered by Max, the youngest of the lot. At just two years of age, he was the one Ruby was most concerned about keeping alive, but he seemed to be composed of a combination of bulletproof glass and hard rubber. Nothing slowed him down.

When it came to slowing her down, however…

She rolled onto her back and closed her eyes. Thanks to the long hours spent on her feet at work, she was in good physical condition, but that didn’t mean anything when compared to the energy levels and capabilities of Eva’s kids. This was going to be a long weekend.

“Have they killed you already?”

Ruby’s eyes flew open. It took a moment for her pupils to adjust, so all she saw at first was a dark shadow looming overhead. She felt no fear at that shadow, suffered no nervous qualms. As she took in the outline of Spencer’s familiar shape and absorbed the soothing tones of his voice, all she could feel was the pitter-patter of her heart.

“I’m not dead,” she said. “I’m resting my eyes.”