Second Chance Soldier

by Linda O. Johnston

“Of course. I know who’s important in my household.”

  She laughed. “Dogs always come first. Anyway, why don’t you join my mom and me at about eight o’clock? We can decide then if we’ll start working together right after that or if you’ll want a break first.”

  “Sounds good, as long as Sonya doesn’t mind.”

  “My mom’s a lot easier to get along with than I am,” Amber said. “She’ll be fine with it.”

  They soon pulled up the same driveway that had taken Evan to what was about to become a new chapter in his life. Another car was parked there, and Amber drew in her breath.

  “Looks like my mom still has company.” She didn’t sound thrilled about it.

  “Her dinner date?”

  “It wasn’t a date,” she retorted quickly. “That’s our neighbor Nathan’s car. He’s been kind to her since—since we lost my dad. He must have followed her back here after they ate dinner together, like we did.”

  Which Evan knew had been far from a date…yet he now, in a way, wished otherwise. Except for the fact she was his new boss. Amber parked, got out and popped open the back door of her SUV to extract the stuff she had bought at the pet store. She then hurried toward the house, leaving Evan behind as if she’d forgotten he was there. No matter. He was a mere employee, and, again, this hadn’t been a date.

  Still, to be a polite employee he wanted to say good-night, at least to Amber and perhaps to Sonya, too. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to meet a neighbor, since he hoped to live here for a long time. He took out Bear’s food and closed the rear door. Leaving the food on the porch, he followed Amber and pushed open the front door that she had left slightly ajar. Good. She apparently expected he’d follow.

  He didn’t see her right away as he entered the front hall but heard voices that he believed came from the kitchen. He headed that way.

  Sure enough, Amber stood there near the doorway, and Sonya sat at the wooden table where Evan had signed the paperwork to join the ranch as an employee. A man sat opposite her. He looked to be in his fifties, with a full head of silvery hair and a concerned frown on his long and lined face.

  “So glad you two had a good time this evening,” Amber said. “We did, too—we discussed a lot about Evan’s dog training.”

  “How fun,” Sonya said. “And appropriate. I’ll want to hear about it.”

  “Sure, Mom. I’ll fill you in on everything soon.”

  The guy, meantime, glanced toward Evan and nodded a greeting. Evan did what he figured was expected and approached, hand out, though he avoided looking the guy in the face. He didn’t feel entirely comfortable with this nice, kind neighbor who apparently wanted to help Sonya. What would he think of a former soldier with PTSD being their new employee?

  It doesn’t matter what he thinks, Evan told himself. Amber was clearly in charge and she made her own decision. He simply had to make sure she continued to believe it was the right one.

  “Hi, I’m Evan Colluro,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”

  The guy stood, his hand now out, too. He was dressed nicely in a white shirt and black trousers. His clasp was firm but blessedly brief. “Nathan Treggory. Sonya told me they just hired a dog trainer.” Although his tone remained neutral, an expression of dubiousness passed across his face.

  “That’s right. I’ve got a lot of military and other kinds of experience,” Evan said, then wanted to kick himself. He didn’t need to justify his being here to this neighbor.

  “I’m sure you’re a fine trainer,” Nathan said, though he sounded as if he wouldn’t be particularly impressed even if Evan was the premier dog trainer in the world.

  Which suggested he wasn’t really a dog person. So did the fact that Lola had been lying on the floor at Sonya’s feet, but now rose and came toward Evan, as if the sweet Lab was taking his side in the discussion.

  He kneeled briefly to give her a quick pat, then rose again to see Amber smiling at him. He grinned back and looked away, to see that Sonya, too, looked pleased.

  Good. He was on the right side of the people in this room who really mattered, and the dog, too.

  Everything would be fine. He hoped.

  *

  Evan said good-night and left nearly as soon as he’d greeted her mom and Nathan. That was appropriate, Amber thought, although she wished he’d stayed a little longer—at least as long as Nathan was there.

  Fortunately, Nathan soon followed Evan without her even having to hint about it. “Call me anytime,” he said to Sonya at the doorway where Amber also stood to see the men off. “Thanks for joining me for dinner tonight.”

  “Oh, thank you.” Sonya’s smile was soft and almost sad. Amber wanted to hug her, especially as they closed the door and faced each other in the entryway.

  “You okay, Mom?” Amber realized that was a stupid question. Of course her mother wasn’t okay and might not be for a long time.

  But she was a sweet and caring lady. “I’m fine,” she insisted. “It helps to have friends like Nathan and others here in town. They’re just being kind, but their company does help me move forward. And your company, well—” Sonya reached out and the two women hugged tightly.

  Amber felt tears in her eyes and held on for a moment before releasing her mother and stepping back. “Your company helps me, too, Mom,” she said. Then, as Lola, who’d followed the crowd from the kitchen, nosed her side she bent and petted the dog’s head. “And yours.”

  As her mother laughed, Amber’s mind inappropriately imagined Evan with them, too. And yours, she thought, picturing his handsome face. But instead, she asserted, “Almost time to go out, Lola. I’ll start with you soon.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to accompany you with one of the pups?” her mother asked. Amber had gotten into a routine of taking each outside individually, or two at a time every night, though they all were pretty much housebroken. The personalized walks would help with their ongoing training.

  “No, I’ll be fine.”

  Amber knew that the short walks outside with these canines were good for her as well as the dogs. But all the dogs had previously belonged to her dad and kept reminding her of him.

  Well, the new regimen of Evan’s training sessions would start tomorrow. That should help Amber move on.

  First, though, she went outside to pull her car into the garage. Then she returned to the kitchen, and her mom and she each had a small good-night glass of wine. Sonya briefly described her evening with Nathan—just a nice dinner where they talked about how things were going with Chance Resort, Nathan’s luxury hotel with corporate conference facilities on his nearby property. All sounded fine and successful, and he made it clear he’d be delighted to accommodate people who came to the ranch for their dog training—including their dogs, as long as they were well behaved.

  Depending on who they were and how long they’d be hanging around, that was Amber’s idea, too, much as things were when her dad was around. Not everyone would stay in the small, nonluxury accommodations they had for visitors, or downtown.

  They’d also talked about how Sonya was doing, and she’d said she was fine, especially now that the lessons her husband had started here were about to recommence.

  “Sweet man that he is, Nathan wished us luck and said he hoped we’d hired the perfect person to back up what your dad did.” Sonya took her last sip of wine and looked into Amber’s face with her sad brown eyes. “I hope so, too.”

  “I’m sure he’ll do great.” Amber wasn’t lying, though that might be an exaggeration. She definitely hoped Evan was the perfect choice. But tomorrow would hopefully do a lot more to convince her. “Anyway, we’ll find out soon. Now it’s time for me to walk the dogs—and for you to head to bed. ’Night, Mom.” She gave Sonya a kiss and told Lola to come as she headed toward the family room to grab her leash first.

  She walked all four of the dogs one by one. Each outing took only five to ten minutes. Amber tried to prevent herself from looking toward Evan’s house. Even if he was outside walkin
g Bear, so what? What did she want from him? A good-night kiss?

  She grinned wryly at her silliness. She must be more tired than she realized. Evan was her employee. They had said good-night already. And she certainly didn’t miss the kisses she had gotten from her unreliable ex. No, she wanted no man in her life, for now at least, except as an employee or a friend.

  She didn’t see Evan anyway, a good thing. Soon, Amber closed the three pups back in their room and got Lola to come upstairs with her. Her mom had apparently already gone to bed.

  Amber showered quickly in the hallway bathroom, then closed the bedroom door behind her with Lola inside. And wondered…

  She shut off the light behind her and, after glancing down to ensure her floral cotton pajamas were buttoned and nonsuggestive in the off chance she was spotted by anyone in the vicinity—Orrin or Evan—she opened the blinds at her window.

  And saw in the distance, where the fourth house stood at the end of the row, an outside light, just as she had hoped.

  As she had hoped even more, there were forms moving within the glow: Evan, tossing a ball or something else that Bear fetched and brought back. She simply hadn’t been outside late enough to see them…

  They stopped, almost as if Evan sensed he was being watched and from where. He was far enough away that Amber couldn’t tell for certain, but he seemed to look toward her.

  With no lights on near her, she doubted he could see her, but that didn’t prevent her from waving to him as she rested her other hand on Lola’s soft furry head beside her.

  “Good night,” she whispered toward Evan. “And may we have a wonderful day tomorrow as an omen of even better ones to come.”

  Chapter 5

  Evan woke early the next morning, lying on the comfortable bed in the house that for now was his. It was the home he hoped to occupy for a long time because he intended to keep this dog-training position—but that would depend a lot on what he did or didn’t do today.

  He’d slept well but now leaped out of bed, ready to start his new job. He moved so quickly that Bear, on an area rug on the hardwood floor beside him, nearly leaped up, too, and growled before setting his gaze on his handler, who just grinned at him.

  “Good morning,” he said to the dog. “Ready to run?”

  As if he understood—and maybe the smart canine did—Bear stood and stared toward Evan, his shepherd ears at attention and his tail wagging.

  “Good boy.” Evan reached out and scratched the dog’s head, then turned toward the door of the closet, where he’d stowed the clothes he’d brought, mostly casual stuff he could easily wear while engaged in training exercises with dogs and their handlers, but also a few dressier items like what he had worn last night. He’d slept in his briefs and a T-shirt, though he had brought pajamas.

  He shaved, showered and dressed quickly, fed Bear some of the kibble he had just bought, then headed outside with the dog. Surely Bear was welcome to visit the others at the house at breakfast, too.

  He jogged along the narrow front walkway to the main house, carrying Bear’s official working vest but leaving his dog unleashed at his side. Evan recalled how he’d stared at that house late the previous night when he’d brought Bear out for his last short outing. Though he was too far away to see anything but the exterior, he nevertheless imagined where Amber was at the moment. Last night he’d attempted to figure out where her bedroom was and glanced now and then toward the window at the end on the top floor, where he’d noticed a light on.

  And let his imagination go wild, wondering if Amber, too, went to bed last night wearing only her underwear…

  A door opened beside him and Evan slowed as Orrin exited his house. “Good morning,” he said to the young guy whose blue T-shirt had a Los Angeles Dodgers logo on it.

  “Yeah, good morning,” the man replied. “You working with any dogs today?”

  “My own this morning—” he nodded toward Bear “—and some students this afternoon.”

  “In the field?” He gestured toward the portion of the large rolling lawn near them.

  “Not sure where Amber will want me to do it yet.”

  “Okay. I need to mow some of the lawn but can wait until later just in case. I’ll check with her.”

  So despite seeming grumpy, Orrin, who hurried around the other side of his house, apparently had a sense of responsibility, a good thing. Eventually, Evan would chat with him about how he’d helped Corbin with his K-9 training exercises, including acting as an agitator as Amber had mentioned.

  Amber. He felt as if he’d silently called to her since suddenly there she was outside her house, directing the leashed shepherd puppies into the smaller fenced area of the lawn where he had first worked with them. “Good morning,” she called.

  “Good morning,” he returned. He and Bear caught up with her while she closed the chain-link gate behind the pups, their leashes now loose in her hand.

  The smile she directed at him made him feel more than he should, considering she was his boss. To drive his thoughts in a different direction, he mentioned how he’d seen Orrin and that the handyman intended to mow the lawn when he received her okay.

  “He’s a good guy,” she said. “I’ll talk to him later. For now, my mom’s got our bacon and eggs nearly ready.”

  “Sounds great. You’re going to spoil me here.” He managed to look straight into her gorgeous brown eyes a little longer than was comfortable, but it helped that she was still smiling.

  “Oh, don’t count on that. We just want to make you feel good on your first day working here. After this you’ll be pretty much on your own for breakfast. Besides, we usually stick with toast or cereal and coffee, nothing fancy.”

  “Of course.” He’d need to make that run downtown later to stock up on supplies besides Bear’s.

  Amber started to turn away. He approached the fence and motioned for the pups to come to him, which they did. Good. Corbin had chosen young dogs with good training potential. Plus, they’d already been socialized, at least somewhat. Evan would enjoy continuing to work with them.

  “Good morning, Rex, Lucy and Hal.” He scratched each behind the ears.

  “I’m sure they say ‘good morning’ back,” Amber said, humor in her tone. “Now let’s go inside before my mother gets upset that we’re not at the table yet.”

  Once they got through the door Lola and Bear traded sniffs once more.

  Speaking of sniffs, Evan immediately caught the aroma of their breakfast, including bacon and, he believed, some pretty special coffee. “Hey,” he said, “maybe I should make my working here conditional on getting the kind of breakfast I think I’m about to eat.”

  “Too late,” Amber said. “You’ve already signed the contract.”

  Evan laughed and followed her down the hall, Lola at her side, to the kitchen. There, he saw Sonya at the stove working with a full frying pan of eggs, another pan of bacon behind it.

  “Good morning, Sonya,” he greeted, glad she was too busy to glance at him even though he’d managed to look Amber in the eye briefly.

  “Morning. Hope you like eggs and bacon but I didn’t have time to ask before I started to cook.” She hesitated, then said, “This was my husband’s favorite breakfast.”

  Even if he’d hated it, Evan wouldn’t have said so after a statement like that. Fortunately, he could tell the truth. “It’s about my favorite breakfast, too, although, one morning soon, I’ll have to get some pancake mix and invite you both to my place.”

  His place. He realized he was taking a lot for granted—though Amber had been the one who’d just mentioned the contract they’d both signed. But there was a provision that allowed her to fire him, and another that permitted him to quit. The terms were mostly about what he’d do and how he’d be paid as long as he worked here.

  “Sounds like a good payback,” Amber said. “Meantime, for today, have a seat. It’s our turn to feed you.”

  Which they did, fairly quickly. The food was as good as it smelled. And th
ough Evan had given Bear a quick breakfast before leaving their house, his dog also got another morning snack.

  As they finished up around that round wooden table, Evan expressed again to Sonya how much he enjoyed his breakfast. Then he glanced briefly toward Amber.

  She seemed to be staring at him, which made him uncomfortable. He mostly studied his plate and the cup of coffee beside it on the table. He’d been feeling somewhat at ease in her presence before, especially after she’d demonstrated sorrow and other emotions yesterday that he could identify with.

  But this was an important day. He would be in the spotlight—and working, later, with people he didn’t know. She would be watching him, questioning him, evaluating his skills further.

  Would he measure up to the standards she was setting?

  He had to. In fact—

  “So you about ready for our demonstration with Bear and our discussion this morning?” He looked her straight in the face and made sure he didn’t turn away.

  She looked surprised and maybe a bit amused as she continued to look at him. Smiling, she said, “I’m definitely ready. Are you?”

  *

  Amber answered a quick call from Mirri first, promising to let her friend know how the day went, then exited out the front door. Evan put a dog vest he’d been carrying on Bear and they followed Amber down the steps toward the fenced-in lawn. She would have remained completely aware of Evan’s tall presence behind her even if she hadn’t heard his footsteps on the porch.

  Not that he wasn’t welcome to walk beside her. Was he worried about his upcoming performance?

  She doubted it.

  At least she was glad he’d said he was ready to begin around the same time she was about to ask him. She wanted to get things started.

  The outside air was chilly and humid, but even if she became uncomfortable, that was just a risk of working outside. Now she crossed toward the left, just short of the houses where students could stay during their lessons. Here, the paved driveway was large and square, a suitable area for some kinds of dog training.

  “Hey, let’s go somewhere closer to the pups,” Evan called.