A Cowgirl at Heart

by Christine Lynxwiler

  “Thank you,” Maxine whispered.

  “I’m enjoying having him.” Maxine’s obvious emotion pushed the words out of Elyse, in spite of her shyness. “I promise to take good care of him until you’re ready for him back.”

  “You’re an angel.”

  Elyse’s face burned, and she shook her head.

  A few moments later, Maxine started to cough. When she finally quit, she collapsed backward on the bed and closed her eyes.

  Elyse stood quietly by her bed, uncertain what to do. She turned and raised her eyebrows at Andrew.

  He stepped forward. “We’re going to go and let you rest.”

  Maxine opened her eyes and smiled. “Okay. Come back soon.” She patted Elyse’s hand. “Keep me posted on my baby.”

  “We will,” Elyse promised. Her eyes were moist as she followed Andrew out of the room.

  ***

  Andrew didn’t speak when they first left the room. How many times had Elyse said she was shy and he’d just brushed it off? But seeing her in front of strangers gave new meaning to the term painfully shy. He looked over at her. She looked like she’d been through an ordeal. “Elyse?”

  She jerked her gaze up to meet his. “Yes?”

  “Want to get some lunch?”

  “Sure.” She sounded like she couldn’t care less.

  “Maxine seemed really glad to hear about Pal.”

  Elyse’s face flamed almost as red as it had in the room. “Yeah,” she said wryly. “Thanks for telling her.”

  Andrew glanced in the glass windows of the cafeteria as they passed. Doug was sitting at a table alone. Elyse obviously wouldn’t want to sit with Maxine’s nephew, but after they got settled in at their table, Andrew could casually drop by to say a word to Doug. It might be the perfect time to find out what he knew about Zeke. “Hey, how do you feel about hospital cafeteria food?”

  “Actually, I’ve heard it’s excellent. Some of my grooming customers come here to eat, even when they’re not visiting someone in the hospital.”

  “In that case, let’s give it a try.” He guided her in, and they went through the line. She started to dig in her purse. “My treat,” he said. “I asked you.”

  She frowned. “That’s silly. It’s lunchtime and I had to eat.”

  “Please...”

  “Fine. But next time, I’m getting it.”

  “Next time?” He grinned at her. “I’m glad to know you see a future for us.”

  The cashier handed him his change, and he turned around with his tray just in time to see Doug going out the door. Andrew would have to get back to see Maxine soon and ask her his questions directly.

  The sunny cafeteria was about half full, but there were plenty of available tables. They set their plates on a table for two, and Andrew stacked their trays together and set them on an empty table next to them. Several muted conversations swirled around them.

  After Andrew had quietly offered thanks for the food, Elyse looked up at him. “So I guess now you see what I mean.”

  He started to pretend he didn’t know what she was talking about, but he respected her too much to do that. “It’s really hard for you to talk to strangers.”

  She grimaced. “That’s an understatement.”

  “Can we talk about it?”

  “Me and you? Sure. I have no trouble talking to you.”

  He grinned. “I have to admit I’m very flattered by that.”

  “It’s not something I chose,” she said then put her hand to her mouth. “Wait, that didn’t come out right.”

  He started laughing. “Okay, my ego is properly deflated now. You can quit.”

  They ate in silence for a minute.

  “Does your shyness make it hard for you to do business?”

  She finished chewing and swallowed. “Groom dogs? No, not really. I just give them back to their owners, tell them an amount, take the money, and shut the door.”

  He nodded. “Makes sense.” From the look on her face, he was pretty sure there was more. “But what if you wanted to do something else?”

  A rueful smile played across her lips. “That’s the problem.” She leaned forward slightly. “I’m a dog trainer. It’s what I love to do. I wanted to do something with the gift God gave me, so I pushed myself to take classes.” She peered up at him. “Since that involved lots of listening, not much talking, and mostly working with the dogs, I got my certification.”

  “But now you can’t use it.”

  “Exactly.” She set her fork down and took a sip of her tea. “Matthew made me an offer last time he was home. He wants me to share an office space with him here in Shady Grove.”

  “As a dog trainer?”

  She nodded. “I’d probably still do a little grooming while I was building up my clientele, but yes, my ultimate goal would be to concentrate on dog training and working with troubled dogs.” She waved her hand as if pushing away her words. “What am I saying? I can’t do it. He asked me to wait until Thanksgiving to give him an answer, but I already know. I can’t do it.”

  “You’re awfully quick to be defeated, aren’t you?”

  She frowned. “Hello? Did you see me in there? Maxine’s bedfast, and I couldn’t even talk to her about her dog.”

  He nodded. “I was there.” It had been hard to watch a woman he knew was so strong unable to do something so seemingly simple.

  “Well then, you know...” She made a crash and burn noise with her mouth and motion with her hand.

  He chuckled. “Okay, maybe not that bad. But there ought to be a way you could get around that and still be able to do what you need to with Matthew.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know yet, but maybe we can figure it out.” He put his fork down. “Matthew’s offer is an opportunity of a lifetime for you. If you don’t at least try to make it work out, you’ll be sorry.”

  Her eyes widened. “Is that the voice of experience talking?”

  He was caught off guard by her insight. Was he concerned because he recognized the same passion in her for dog training that he’d once had for his art? “Maybe. But my window of opportunity closed. I’d hate to see the same thing happen to yours.” He pulled out his phone and flipped it to his calendar. “Thanksgiving is four weeks away. If I can prove that you’re able to comfortably talk to strangers about their dogs by then, will you tell Matthew yes?”

  Her eyebrows drew together. “Andrew, that’s impossible.”

  He held up his hand. “No negative thoughts allowed.” He looked at his calendar again. “Do you have Monday night open?”

  She nodded. “I have 4-H on Thursday, but other than that I’m free every night.” She blushed. “Boy, that made me sound desperate, didn’t it?”

  He grinned. “Not at all. Let’s get together for supper after work Monday night and throw around some ideas. Okay?”

  A wide smile spread across her face. “I guess. But why are you doing this?”

  “I’m your friend, remember?” It was good to remind himself that was all they could be.

  She shook her head. “You’re crazy.”

  “Maybe, but I still think this will work.” He held out his hand. “Are you committed to giving it your best shot?”

  She returned his handshake. “I should probably be committed for going along with it,” she teased. “But sure. Count me in.”

  ***

  A deep growl woke Elyse in the wee hours Monday morning. She opened her eyes and lay still, letting her vision adjust to the darkness.

  Missy was straddling her, and even though Elyse couldn’t see her face, she could tell the dog’s teeth were bared by the sound of her growl. Somewhere in the darkness, Majesty growled, too. Even though she didn’t move, the hair on the back of Elyse’s neck stood on end. Was someone in the house?

  Suddenly, Pal came awake on the floor at the foot of the bed and took off down the hall toward the back door. The other dogs followed, all barking madly.

  Elyse got slowly out of bed
and picked up her cell phone. 4:40a.m. Should she call her dad? Or Andrew? Or even 911? The dogs were still going wild, so if someone was in the house, she wouldn’t be able to hear him.

  She tiptoed down the dark hallway and scooped a small brass clock off the hall table as she went by. If she had to smash it on someone’s head, she could at least give him a serious headache.

  The dogs clamored against the back door. Elyse turned on the porch light and peeked out the blind. No movement at all. She stood and watched for a few minutes. One at a time, the dogs deserted her, as if once they’d gotten her up, they’d lost interest.

  She stayed there for another minute alone, still considering calling someone. But what would she say? My dogs growled and I’m scared? Using her phone as a flashlight, she made her way back to her room. She set the clock back on the hall table as she walked by.

  In her room, she blew out her breath. All four dogs were asleep on her bed. She felt better with them there, so she made room for herself and climbed under the covers. She wished the police would find Zeke. Danger was not her game.

  She woke up late the next morning. “Silly pups, keeping me up half the night,” she muttered as she walked down the hall to let them out. “Now I’ll be draggy all day.”

  At the back door, she watched them all run to their favorite places. Something odd caught her eye in her peripheral vision, and she gasped. The gate stood wide open. Nikki wasn’t far from it. “Come.”

  Majesty and Missy bounded back to her with Pal right on their heels. She gave a hand motion, and they went in the house. “Nikki!” The little white dog had discovered the open gate and lost her hearing at the same time. She bolted for it like a prisoner who’d been suddenly set free.

  CHAPTER 17

  Elyse slammed the house door with the other dogs inside and took off after Nikki, praying as she walked quickly. Never chase a running dog, she reminded herself.

  “Nikki, come!” She followed the streak of white across the grass. The morning dew made her feet slick inside her flip-flops. And the little bichon frise still hadn’t slowed. “Not the pasture, not the pasture,” she begged under her breath.

  Nikki, so short she cleared the fence without even touching the first row of wire, took off through the pasture. She looked like a tiny white lamb hopping through the clover. By the time Elyse got to the fence, the dog was halfway between her and the cows milling next to a big oak tree.

  “Nikki! Come!” She slipped between the wires as she shouted.

  Nikki stopped and glanced back at Elyse. The big cow nearest the fence gave Elyse the evil eye. She froze and kept her gaze locked on Nikki. A curious calf stepped cautiously over to Nikki and snorted.

  The dog went wild. She ran toward the calf, barking. It scurried back to its mama. Elyse watched in horror as some ancient herding instinct apparently kicked in and Nikki went after both cows, nipping at their heels.

  Elyse gave up on being still and dashed toward the pandemonium. Her flip-flops were causing her to trip, so she just left them behind. The closer she got, the bigger the cows looked.

  Nikki apparently wasn’t worried. The dog had added a few more cows to her herd and was running them in a large circle, biting at their heels. Her brothers thought she didn’t know they called Nikki that little “ankle biter.” If only they could see her now.

  “Why cows?” she moaned. “Why couldn’t you chase bunny rabbits?”

  Any second now, one of the huge cows would get fed up with being run in a circle like a carnival pony ride and step on the white fluff that was causing it. Elyse suddenly remembered a thread she’d read on an online bulletin board about unconventional ways to catch a runaway dog. She glanced at the trampled muddy ground and shook her head. She had to try it.

  She threw herself down. “Ow!” she yelled in her best hurt voice, which wasn’t hard since there were a few stray rocks in the mud. Then she waited.

  Nikki hesitated for a second, but instead of coming alone, she turned and guided her cows directly toward Elyse.

  “Oh no!” Elyse jumped up, mud dripping off her, and gaped at the angry cows coming toward her. Her brothers had always said that she shouldn’t be scared of cows. “All you have to do is wave your arms and they’ll run away,” Matthew had told her more than once.

  She waved her arms and screamed, jumping up and down like a mad woman. The cows, apparently deciding she was more of a threat than Nikki, turned and ran away. Nikki stopped in front of Elyse and tilted her head. Elyse picked the little brown and green ball of fluff up in her arms and half cried, half laughed. “You scared me to death.”

  “You scared us to death,” a voice behind her said. She turned around to see Andrew standing a few feet away and her daddy beside him.

  Elyse pushed a muddy strand of hair out of her face. “Now you come to help.”

  “We didn’t know anything about it until we looked out here and saw you doing some kind of crazy mud dance in the pasture,” her daddy said, but he was fighting back laughter.

  Elyse looked down at her flannel pajamas, dripping mud and who knew what else.

  “We hurried to get to you, but sadly the ritual was over about the time we got here.” Andrew’s eyes twinkled.

  Elyse stepped toward them with one arm out. “I think you both deserve hugs for your heroic attempt at rescuing me.”

  “Oh no, that’s okay,” Andrew said.

  “Gotta run.” Her daddy held his cowboy hat on his head and took off toward the house in a literal run.

  She took another step toward Andrew, and he soon caught up with her daddy.

  Elyse almost didn’t see the bottle beside the big tree before she stepped on it. Clutching Nikki, she bent over and fished it out of the mud. 90 Proof Whiskey. The label was still intact and very readable. It couldn’t have been out here more than a day or two. She looked toward her house, plainly visible from here. This was the perfect lookout. She held the bottle up to her nose. Or the perfect place for a man to drink enough to get up his nerve to go closer.

  ***

  Elyse put Nikki in her crate. “Sorry, baby. I’d bathe you first, but I’m dirtier than you are.” She took a long hot shower and scrubbed the mud out of her hair. After she dressed, she wrapped a towel around her damp curls and groomed Nikki. She carried the crate outside on the back deck to wash out the remaining mud.

  When she was finished, she decided to solve the mystery of the open gate. The sturdy latch on it had never given her any trouble, and she was fanatical about keeping it closed. Everything appeared to be in working order.

  She turned to go back in and stopped. Footprints in the soft dirt went around the deck and up to the den window. She walked over to get a closer look. Her pansies were broken and bruised. In the mud around them were several big boot prints. Her heart caught in her throat as she remembered the whiskey bottle.

  She swung around and looked at the yard. Was Zeke here? She hadn’t locked the back door when she’d taken off after Nikki. What if he was hiding in the house? A chill ran up her spine. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and called Andrew. When he answered, she quickly explained the situation.

  “I’ll be right there.” In less than a minute, he came in the back gate.

  She told him about the dogs going wild in the wee hours of the morning.

  When he saw the bottle and the footprints, his expression grew serious. “We have to call the sheriff. No arguments.” He looked at her. “Please.”

  A hysterical laugh bubbled up in her throat. “You aren’t getting any arguments from me.”

  Jack said he’d be right out. When Andrew hung up, he put his hand on Elyse’s shoulder. “Let’s go in and get you some coffee.”

  “What if he’s in there?”

  “How did the dogs act when you got back with Nikki?”

  “Perfectly normal.” She slapped her palm against her forehead. “Silly me. I’m so jumpy I didn’t even think about that.” She followed him onto the deck and into the house.


  “Are you going to tell the sheriff about Luis?”

  She shook her head. “This wasn’t Luis.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Whoever did this wore work boots. Big work boots.” She looked down at her feet. “Luis’s feet are small ... like mine. Small and narrow.”

  “Maybe you should just tell Jack anyway and let him decide.”

  She shook her head. “I despise my biological father for everything he did. As far as I’m concerned, he killed my childhood, my mother, and my future. But he paid his debt to society. If I drag him into something like this and he ends up back in trouble...” It was hard to explain, but she wanted him to be okay. Just somewhere far away where she couldn’t get sucked into his latest con. “I can’t do it. Not when I know this wasn’t him.”