Her heart squeezed, and she blinked back tears, refusing to taint a moment of Sierra’s hard-earned joy. “I’m so happy for you.” Mary Hannah rocked the baby. “I’m going to miss watching this little guy grow up. I wish we still lived in the same town.”
“I hope you’ll come visit us.” Wearing a loose sweater dress and fleece boots, Sierra walked slowly around the room, pulling her folded gowns and slippers off the closet shelf. “Take a vacation. Come to North Carolina. We’ll go to the Outer Banks and make a holiday of it with AJ along. And you’re always welcome on your own any other time, too.”
“I’m going to take you up on that offer.”
“Thank you for sitting with me this morning. I feel bad for Mom that she’s had to worry about me on top of getting ready for the event.” Sierra placed the nightclothes in the full suitcase resting at the foot of the bed beside an infant car seat. “Then my crew piling in on her for a couple of days to rest before leaving. She pushes herself too hard.”
“You’re one to talk about taking on too much.” Mary Hannah nodded at her friend’s laptop computer case. “You’re working on the magazine even in the hospital.”
“Just some light editing and a quick couple of military mommy blogs.” She closed the suitcase and zipped it shut. “You should submit some articles. Let’s do a feature on the therapy dogs for military PTSD.”
“Just tell me the word count and when you want it turned in.”
“Oh, um, I can’t pay you yet.”
“I can live with that.” Mary Hannah tucked a tiny hand back into the blanket swaddling. “It’s good exposure for a great cause.”
“Someday I hope the e-zine will generate an income.”
“You’ll make it work. You have your mother’s drive and creativity.”
“Mike insists he wants me to follow my dream, but I know he worries about money.” She eased down into a chair beside Mary Hannah, gripping the armrest and sitting slowly, wincing as she settled. “I write freelance articles and that helps.”
“You’re an inspiration that marriage can work.” She kissed little Allen’s forehead, his skin unbelievably soft and sweet with the scent of baby wash.
“What about you and AJ? How are things going? Do you have big plans for Valentine’s Day?”
The words stung. “Between dress rehearsal tonight and the Mutt Makeover tomorrow, we’ll both be too exhausted.”
“I hope I’m not prying, but I noticed you’ve both been to visit but never together. Have you broken up and been keeping it from me out of a misguided sense that I should be wrapped in cotton right now?”
“We’ve both been busy balancing work and preparing for tomorrow.” She looked at the sleeping infant in her arms. The past two weeks she and AJ hadn’t exactly broken up, but she’d been distancing herself, preparing herself. Only in bed did she let herself be with him unreservedly. “We have good chemistry and too much baggage. If I was counseling us, I wouldn’t give us a chance in hell.”
* * *
WYATT HAD BEEN walking a careful line, not pushing Lacey on the marriage issue. Finding out she wasn’t pregnant after all had been a big fat blow.
Perimenopause, she’d told him.
He didn’t really want a kid. But he did want Lacey. He refused to let her push him out of her life. She’d told everyone he was only joking when he’d said they were engaged, that he’d been trying to get better ratings.
She’d been pissed, but she’d said they would talk after the competition. Good by him. That gave him more time. He closed the full dishwasher and pushed the start button. Turning, he leaned back against the counter and watched Lacey’s son at the kitchen table with his laptop. An ally on the home front wouldn’t be a bad idea.
“Whatcha doing, Nathan? Video games?”
“Signing up for SAT and ACT prep courses.”
“That’s cool, kid.” He’d always planned to go to college someday, get the degree needed to advance in the department like AJ had done. He’d just never gotten around to it.
Nathan shrugged dismissively. “I’m just filling them out to get Mom off my back.”
“You don’t want to go to college?” he asked carefully. His own dad had hounded him to go.
“I want to . . . someday.”
“But?”
Nathan pushed back from the table, a tangle of awkward skinny arms and legs, having grown six inches in a year. “I’m worried about my mom being here alone.”
“Because of your grandfather being so out of it with Alzheimer’s?”
“Partly.” He tapped the edge of his laptop absently. “She shouldn’t be all by herself.”
Wyatt hesitated, not wanting to overstep and risk Lacey’s wrath again. “I’ll be around to help her. Your mom won’t want you to put your life on hold for her.” He himself had run all the way to Tennessee to escape his family’s disappointment and scrutiny. Leaving could be—liberating. “What do you want to do with your life?”
“I’m not my dad,” Nathan said defiantly.
“You’re not supposed to be.”
His green eyes turned earnest, a kidlike vulnerability edging past the teenage attitude. “So you don’t think my dad would be disappointed if I don’t join the army?”
Wyatt didn’t like to think about the fallen patriarch, war hero. His old man would have wanted a son like Allen McDaniel. He couldn’t help but feel the man’s ghost looming around here every time that damn cuckoo clock chirped. “I didn’t know your father all that well since he deployed so often.” Why couldn’t Lacey see he wanted to be here for her, every day? He would do anything to provide her with a full family and pampered life. “But from what I’ve heard about him, I believe he would want you to follow your own dream.”
“Um,” Nathan said hesitantly, cracking his fingers nervously, “I was thinking about the Coast Guard Academy, but it’s really tough to get into.”
“You’re a smart kid. If it’s what you want, I say go for it.” He was proof positive that if a man wanted something badly enough, he could make it work. He needed to remember that and keep the faith in pursuing Lacey. Low profile always won. “So, kid, how about finding something warmer to wear? AJ should be here any minute to go snowmobiling. We need to get a move on if we’re going to enjoy the fresh snow before your sister and the baby get home—”
The back door opened, letting in a blast of cold air.
“Hello?” AJ called. “You two ready?”
Holly bounded past him, big wet paws slapping the floor as she ran into the kitchen. She stopped short in front of Wyatt, the hackles rising on her back. She growled softly, not loud enough for anyone else to hear, but Wyatt couldn’t miss it.
Shit. He’d always hated that dog. The day of the meth-house bust, he’d been so focused on making sure he talked to Evelyn Lucas first and coached her on the best way for them both to get out of this mess with their lives intact. He would help her only if she kept her mouth shut. She’d played along to the letter.
He’d just never considered he might have to see any of those dogs long term. At least Holly couldn’t talk.
* * *
AJ HELD HOLLY’S leash, tucked just inside the stadium for dress rehearsal. Tomorrow the My Furry Valentine Mutt Makeover event would finally happen and close this chapter of his life.
The echo of barking dogs of all breeds and sizes reverberated up into the stadium. The ground level was still being decorated. Staff hauled in flatbed trucks piled high with bales of hay and a few decorative wagon wheels. Hammers and power tools clanged and whirred as a massive doghouse was built around the entrance for contestants. Agility courses were being assembled on one side, complete with the piece AJ, Mike and Nathan had made. On the other, workers wearing Billy Brock T-shirts constructed the stage and sound system for the musicians.
Mary Hannah and other seasoned volunteers with the rescue were assistin
g with the dress rehearsal. Lacey would be there tomorrow, but this evening she was with her family settling the baby.
Tonight, he and Holly would do a walk-through and sound checks as much for the dogs as for the people. Tomorrow, his work-mandated project with Mary Hannah would be officially complete. His boss would be satisfied.
And Holly would go up for adoption.
His throat closed at the thought. Despite the fact that this had been the plan from the start. Right? Prepare her for a forever family. Except these past weeks made him consider another plan. He wanted to talk it through with Mary Hannah, to consider moving in together and keeping Holly.
Except Mary Hannah had been erecting walls between them since the baby was born. Since the night she’d bared her soul then promptly retreated inside herself. They slept together. They worked with Holly. But they didn’t talk, not about anything important.
Still, he knew. She was pulling away. He was losing her.
She stood silently between him and her other entrants, the military family.
The wife, Callie, held her son’s hand while her husband sat in his wheelchair with the Cairn-Terrier pup in his lap.
Holly barked, again and again.
Mary Hannah looked down, forehead furrowed. “Quiet, Holly.”
Holly rarely barked, but she did understand that command. Normally. Apparently not as readily today.
Callie fidgeted from foot to foot, her eyes darting around the arena. “You said Barkley was a stray that landed at the shelter. What happens if his owners show up here and recognize him? What if they decide they want him back? Maybe this public forum isn’t such a good idea after all.”
The kid—Henry—looked up fast, his bottom lip trembling. “Barkley’s mine, isn’t he, Miss Mary Hannah? My mom and dad said I can keep him.”
Mary Hannah knelt in front of the four-year-old. “Whoever adopts Barkley has nothing to worry about. Shelters have rules. People have a certain amount of days to check for their missing pet, and then for the good of the animal, we find a new home. As long as your parents agree, you can be that home.”
She was such a natural with the child. The image of her with a baby of her own—their baby—filled AJ’s mind with absolute perfection. For the first time in longer than he could remember, he was able to look at a child and not feel pain thinking of Aubrey. He envisioned her happy, growing up safe and loved.
Mary Hannah would never put her child or any other child at risk. He knew that with total certainty. Just as he knew the rigid demands she put on herself would make it all but impossible to trust herself again.
“And Holly?” Henry asked. “Are you and Mr. AJ gonna keep Holly?”
She avoided AJ’s eyes. “That’s for him to decide.”
Callie’s hands shook as she rested them on her son’s shoulders. “Let’s not bother them right now, Henry. I’m sure Mary Hannah has other things to do for the show.”
She tugged her son, clearly anxious to leave. Henry looked back over his shoulder, waving. Declan steered his electric wheelchair alongside his family. Something tugged at AJ, an instinct he couldn’t deny, honed from years on the job.
Mary Hannah frowned. “I think I should go speak with them.”
AJ grasped her arm, stopping her. “Hold on for a second.”
She tugged back. “Can we talk later? This isn’t a good time.”
“It’s important,” he insisted, growing more certain by the second. “That woman, Callie Roberts, she’s on something.”
Mary Hannah’s eyes went wide. “What do you mean?”
“I mean she’s twitching and fidgety, uneasy to the point of paranoia, and we haven’t seen that kind of thing from her before. I’d bet my job that she’s on some kind of controlled substance.”
“Maybe it’s just dress rehearsal nerves?” Mary Hannah stared at the woman’s retreating back. Callie looked over her shoulder twice, absently chewing on her thumbnail.
AJ’s hunch only strengthened. “My gut says she’s exhibiting all the signs of a meth addict.”
* * *
MARY HANNAH FELT like an idiot.
AJ’s suspicion about Callie made perfect sense. So much so, it should have been obvious to a trained counselor. How could she have missed it? She of all people? Guilt hammered her. This was so much worse than having gotten a bad grade on some test in school. She’d failed a human being.
A family.
She just prayed it wasn’t too late to help them. “AJ, thank you for seeing what I should have picked up on months ago.”
“Don’t beat yourself up over that. I think she must be using more than usual because she wasn’t showing signs like that the last time I saw her. We’ve all been surprised by someone at some point. Addicts are good at hiding their problem.”
“I know.” God, did she ever know. Maybe she’d seen what she wanted to see in Callie, what Mary Hannah had wanted to be herself, a good mother, a loyal wife.
This wasn’t the place for a confrontation with Callie, but Mary Hannah had to do something, at least make sure the woman wasn’t so stoned she might be a danger to her family driving home. “AJ, could you talk to Declan and Henry while I speak with Callie? I just want to make sure the family’s safe for now and set up a time to speak with her privately as soon as possible.”
“Sure, but you have to remember I’m a police officer.”
“And you have to know I can’t break client confidentiality.”
“Fair enough.”
They walked past a group of Girl Scouts sitting on a quilt with three toy poodles, then wove around an elderly couple grooming a Labrador. Finally, they reached the Roberts family as Callie opened a tote bag of snacks. Their tenuous peace would be blown to bits by this secret.
AJ tightened his hold on Holly’s leash, but she still strained at the harness. “Declan, I saw a station set up with water and treats for the dogs. What do you say we get Henry and the dogs out of this chaos?” He glanced at Mary Hannah. “Do you mind staying here and texting when it’s our turn to walk through?”
“Sounds great.” Mary Hannah turned to the young mother. “I see a couple of diet sodas in there. Care to share? I see a blissfully quiet spot to sit over by the bales of hay.”
“Oh,” Callie said, jittery, “of course. Lead the way.”
Holly tugged and pulled at the harness as AJ led her away. Clearly the distractions of so many people and dogs were upsetting her even though they’d tried to desensitize her to large settings.
Mary Hannah shook off the distraction and focused on Callie. Sitting on a bale of hay, Mary Hannah unscrewed the cap on her diet soda. “I can hardly believe it’s almost time for the competition. Are you planning to keep Barkley?”
“Of course we are,” Callie said, not sounding the least bit happy about the prospect. “I know it’s the right thing for Declan and Henry. How silly to be jealous of a dog. But Barkley gets more affection from Declan than I do. Although that’s not saying a lot, actually.”
“He’s connecting with the dog. That means he’s healing. It’s going to take time, but this is an important first step.”
“As you’ve already pointed out more than once, my husband and I are not good at communicating.” She picked at the plastic bottle, her nails ragged today. No manicure in sight. “We’ve spent more time apart than together. Now we have all the time in the world and I don’t know what to say to him.”
“Extreme stress has a way of making us say and do things we might otherwise never consider.” She guided the conversation as best she could in this public setting, trying to assess Callie’s state of mind. “I want the best outcome possible for you and your family.”
Noticing Callie’s pupils, her speedy pulse throbbing along her temple, rapid speech, a million other signs that should have been obvious, all confirmed for her what AJ had already guessed. Callie was
using, and not just weed, but hard-core drugs, because damn, there were tiny pinprick marks between her fingers. Needle tracks in unexpected places indicated Callie was too good at hiding the signs for the habit to be new.
Callie sipped the soda, her hand shaking so badly she sloshed a dribble on herself. She swiped her wrist across her chin. “Oh, damn it, I’m a mess. I should go to the restroom and clean up.” She grabbed her purse like a lifeline, her foot knocking over the insulated food sack on the ground. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Mary Hannah knew with total certainty the frazzled woman was going to the restroom to shoot up. “Callie, please sit down. If you don’t, I’m going to follow you to the restroom. I know what’s in your bag.”
And in that instant, Mary Hannah could feel the full force of that temptation only a hand’s reach away. Memories flooded her of the moments she enjoyed using the drugs and the easiness they could bring to a scattered, scared mind. She wasn’t thinking about meth, but she thought about her drugs, the ones that she’d clutched with the same choke hold Callie used on her purse.
She got the draw. Totally.
But she also felt the mental and emotional barriers she’d put into place to help her stay strong. She trusted herself now in a way she’d feared she never could. Even after all life had thrown at her this past month, she hadn’t slipped. She was coping. She could handle life.
What’s more, maybe her messed-up, horrible past was a way to bring her to this place where she could help other people.
“Callie, you need help. You don’t have to do this alone.” She expected Callie to argue; God knows Mary Hannah had been in denial about herself until forced to face her demons.
After only a few seconds, the young mother’s face crumbled. Tears streamed down one after the other. “I’m just trying to cope.”
“I understand.” Empathy filled Mary Hannah, along with relief that this first crucial step had been taken—acknowledging the issue. “And I’m here for you every bit as much as I am for Declan and Henry.” She kept her voice low as a couple passed with their overexcited schnauzer.
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