by Karis Walsh
“She is,” Tegan agreed. “But we’ll help her get better.”
We? Alana liked the sound of her and Tegan working together as a team, but only because she was sitting far too close to her. As soon as she put a little distance between them, she’d regain control over her senses. She wouldn’t abandon the dogs but also wasn’t going to be able to both care for them and find a way to keep her job.
Tegan finished poking and prodding the little dog and sat back on her heels, giving Alana the distance she had mistakenly thought she wanted. Tegan made a few notes on a clipboard, then set it to one side. “Okay. Time for the puppies.”
She plucked them out of the box one at a time, weighing them on a small kitchen scale and inspecting them, which seemed to involve a lot of nuzzling and cooing.
“Are you examining them, or just playing?”
Tegan grinned at her, placing a pup next to its mother and diving into the box for the last one. “A little of both,” she admitted. “They’re irresistible. You have four girls and two boys.”
“So, what breed are they?”
Tegan put the sixth puppy down on the blanket, decidedly not meeting Alana’s eyes. “They’re brown and whites,” she said.
“Ha! I knew it. And you sounded so annoyed with me on the phone when I said that.”
Tegan laughed. “Seriously, she looks like she has some spaniel in her. Maybe a little Cairn terrier. And likely a few other breeds, as well. What’s her name?”
“Oh, I haven’t named any of them,” she said, reaching out and stroking one of the puppies with the tips of her fingers. “I can’t keep them, you know. With work and everything. And I’m not really a dog person.” Although she had probably said she was in her cover letter. Best not to bring that up. “But, I guess, in my head I’ve been thinking of her as Lace.”
“Lace,” Tegan repeated, writing the name on the clipboard. “Good. It suits her.”
Chapter Five
Tegan left Alana and the dogs in the examination room while she went into her lab and ran the heartworm test. Once she had finished, she puttered around for a while longer, collecting brochures about puppy care and searching through the shed in her backyard for a suitable crate for transporting the puppies. She was stalling and she knew it, but she had to give herself time to think.
She should have talked to Chip yesterday about Alana or confronted her directly today. Instead, she had made teasing references to Alana’s lack of experience, then had let the subject drop completely. She didn’t mean to string Alana along with threats of disclosure. Rather, she was trying to figure out who she really was.
Tegan’s first responsibility was to Chip’s horses. If his ranch was a success, they’d have a good life with him. If he failed, they would have to be sold, and their future was less assured. Alana wasn’t a qualified caretaker for them, but Tegan no longer had any doubts about her kindness. She had handled the horses gently the day before, even though she had clearly been frustrated with the situation. She freely admitted she wasn’t a dog person, but she had taken the puppies into her home and brought them here to Tegan. She seemed moved by Lace’s poor condition. And even though the story of Alana and her box of rats made Tegan chuckle every time she thought about it, the catalyst for the situation had been Alana’s unexpected desire to livetrap the rats. Plenty of other people would have merely dumped a box of rat poison between the slats of the porch. Still, all the good intentions and kindness in the world couldn’t magically give her the experience she needed to safely lead trail rides and handle a string of horses.
Tegan closed the door of the shed and lugged the large plastic crate across the back parking lot. She hated to admit the main reason she was equivocating about how to handle this situation. She was actually starting to like Alana. She was stunning, hindering Tegan’s ability to swallow every time she touched her or came close. When Alana had her hands full, holding Lace or the box of puppies, she had the seemingly unconscious habit of blowing her long bangs out of her eyes, giving Tegan ideas about how it would feel to have Alana’s breath puff against her ears and her neck. It made Tegan want to keep handing her things just to see her do it again.
Still, just like her kindness, all the sexy in the world wouldn’t affect Tegan at all if it wasn’t backed up by other, deeper attributes. And Alana seemed to have those, too. She seemed smart—okay, not about horses, but in general. She was funny and playful and strong enough not to back down from a fight. Unfortunately for Tegan, she also was out of her league in her new job, with her new canine charges, and in this new and unfamiliar town. Tegan had a habit of attracting women like Alana who needed saving. Damsels in distress who were using Yakima as a stepping stone, like Fay, or women with so much baggage they needed to rent a storage unit for it. Once the rescue was complete, the confidence restored, or the bigger and brighter opportunity available, then Tegan was discarded just like Lace had most likely been.
Tegan put the brochures on top of the crate and dragged the lot through the exam room door, moving slowly so she didn’t startle Lace.
“This will work better than cardboard,” she said, transferring the towel from the box to the new crate. “I keep a bunch of them around in case I find strays, or someone needs to borrow one, so you can keep this. And here’s some information about what you should expect for the next few weeks in terms of vet care for these little guys.”
Alana took the stack of brochures and stared at the top one—Your New Puppies!!—for a moment before looking at Tegan and shaking her head.
“I can’t keep them, Tegan. I have too much to do at the ranch, especially if Chip…when Chip finally opens up for guests. Besides, they’d be better off with someone more experienced.”
“Look, Chip won’t have the place going for another month, and by then the pups will be about old enough to be adopted. It’ll be easier to find a foster home for Lace once they’re weaned and she’s spayed. I can help you with a plan for feeding her, plus I’ll give you my standard discount for rescues on exams, vaccinations, and worming.”
Why was she arguing for Alana to keep these dogs, even as she was considering getting her fired and sent out of Yakima? Damn. She knew exactly why she was doing it, and she had to make sure Alana understood, too.
“We could try to find a rescue group to take them, but everyone’s full right now. More than full in most cases. The only other option would be the city shelter, and even though it’s a decent place, it’s not no-kill. Lace might not—”
Alana held up her hand to stop Tegan. “I know. Aaron the rat guy told me. Puppies are easy to place, but not adults.”
Tegan nodded. Alana clearly was aware of what might happen to a scruffy, skinny adult dog when there were always more animals than potential adopters. Otherwise, she probably would have driven the puppies directly to the shelter this morning instead of coming to Tegan.
“It’s just a few weeks for you, but it could make all the difference in the world to her. We can start asking around right away and get some new homes lined up for when they’re ready to go. If we weren’t in the middle of kitten season, it might be different, but—”
“Kitten season? You hunt kittens in Yakima?” Alana had been perusing the brochures in a daze while Tegan talked, but now she snapped into alertness and stepped between the puppies and Tegan, as if she might declare open season on them.
“Jeez, no. We don’t hunt kittens,” Tegan assured her. She wanted to laugh at the outraged expression on Alana’s face, but she carefully kept her face under control. “Kitten season is what rescue workers call the times of the year when most feral and unfixed cats have litters. Every shelter around here is in kittens up to their eyeballs.”
“Well, good,” Alana said. She was still frowning, though, as she knelt by Lace and her nursing puppies and rested a hand on the dog’s head. The image of camouflaged hunters stalking tiny, mewing prey must have been enough to push her protective instincts in front of every other concern.
“Fine,�
� she said. “I’ll keep them. Just for a few weeks, though, and you have to promise to tell me if another home comes available.”
Tegan smiled. One hurdle down. Now she had to broach the subject of Alana’s job. She squatted next to the puppies so she was at eye level with Alana.
“Let’s talk about your experience with horses. It appeared to be minimal to me, but Chip seems to think you have quite a lot. Any idea why?”
Alana turned her attention to one of the posters hanging on the exam room’s walls, as if she was suddenly fascinated by pet dental care. “Oh, I suppose I mentioned loving horses and the outdoors in my cover letter. And maybe I said I had ridden before, in competitions. And I think I wrote something about liking to fish.”
Her emphasis on the last word in the sentence, combined with her impish grin, made Tegan smile in response. She tried to cover it up by forcing her features into a suitable frown, but Alana seemed to see through it because her posture relaxed slightly and she stopped staring at the posters, looking directly at Tegan instead.
“Why did you lie to him?”
Alana held up her hand, palm out. “I didn’t lie, I fudged. Everyone fudges on applications. It’s expected.”
“No, it’s not,” Tegan said. “Applications are meant to give an accurate assessment of your experience and skills so an employer can decide if you’re a good match.”
Alana laughed. “What dreamworld are you living in? Everyone does it. And in my defense—”
Tegan crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, this ought to be good.”
Alana ignored her and continued. “In my defense, I thought it was a desk job, planning activities and doing scheduling. I’m more than qualified to do that, especially at a small ranch like Chip’s. It shouldn’t have mattered if I said I recently won a Grammy or rode in the Kentucky Derby. I honestly thought I had the real skills I needed for the job. I sort of fudged so I’d be more suitable to the setting.”
Tegan uncrossed her arms, not sure what to say next. Alana seemed to be forthright now, but it didn’t change Chip’s erroneous beliefs about her abilities.
“Like you said, it’s a small ranch and it’s in its first year. Or will be, once it opens. A place like this wouldn’t have the need or the money to hire a full-time event planner.”
“Yes, I know that now. But I didn’t realize the mistake until I got here, just before I met you.”
Tegan couldn’t help but remember the moment when she first saw Alana. Beautiful, sophisticated, out-of-place Alana.
“And then I tried to explain it to Chip, but he didn’t want to hear me,” Alana continued when Tegan remained silent. Her cheeks flushed slightly. “I suppose I didn’t try very hard, either. The whole hiring process was very fast since I really needed this job, and Chip seemed just as desperate to find someone for the position.”
Tegan sighed. She had met the previous folks who had Alana’s job, and her negative comments had been part of the reason they had left. One had been overly rough with the animals, and the other had been annoyingly blasé about schedules, wandering in to work whenever she felt like it and keeping Tegan waiting despite having made the appointments. Neither had been there longer than a week.
“I understand why Chip was in a rush to fill this position, but if you’re really so overqualified for the job, and if you have as little actual interest in horses and hiking and everything as you seem to have, then why don’t you just quit? Go find a more comfortable position back in Philadelphia or wherever?”
The poster suddenly became fascinating again. Alana stared at it, seeming to struggle internally about whether to confide in Tegan.
“I was fired from my last job,” she finally said in a rush. “I made a mistake, or at least, didn’t catch a mistake, and got canned. My ex-boss has been spreading rumors about me, and I couldn’t find anyone who would give me a chance without a reference from her.”
“You say the word ex-boss with the amount of venom usually reserved for ex-girlfriend.” Tegan meant the comment to sound casual, and she was angry at herself for allowing a hint of inflection into the statement, as if she was asking a question and prying into Alana’s romantic past. Which was none of her business and certainly none of her concern.
“She was just a boss and never a girlfriend,” Alana said. She hesitated for a moment, tilting her head as if lost in thought. “I guess for me being betrayed by a boss was worse than by a girlfriend. I’ve always assumed I wouldn’t get into a serious relationship until I had my career where I wanted it to be, so I’ve never been deeply involved enough to be at risk of getting hurt. But it was different with work because I cared about my future more than I’ve ever cared about another person. Does that sound sad?”
“Not really,” Tegan said. She wasn’t sure if her answer was unselfish, or if it was a response to the fleeting sense of relief she felt at Alana’s admission. She had no business wanting to be the woman who could change Alana’s mind about relationships, but she felt the desire wash through her anyway. “I guess it would be sad if you made the decision to put your career first forever, but I understand focusing on work as a priority over romance, for a while, at least. I did the same thing during school and while I was starting my practice.”
Given her last relationship, Tegan would have been better off keeping her focus on work for at least a little bit longer. She decided to nudge the conversation away from the personal turn it had taken and back to the less emotionally charged—for her, if not for Alana—topic of careers. “What did you do to get fired?”
“There were four different events taking place in the hotel on the same day. The guest speakers for two of them sort of got flip-flopped. I might have been responsible since I was the one who initially called to schedule them, but my boss and I were both there on the day, running around and taking care of last-minute issues. I was willing to share the blame, but she put it all on me.”
“That doesn’t sound like a big deal,” Tegan said. “Couldn’t you just say you’re sorry and get the speakers into the correct rooms?”
Alana stared at the ceiling now, apparently no longer interested in dental care. “The people involved were sort of high-profile. It might have had an impact on my boss’s and the hotel’s reputation, so she decided to ruin mine instead.”
“This is getting more interesting by the second,” Tegan said, still fighting a smile. “What were the two parties?”
“One was a dinner for a group of conservative politicians’ wives. The other was a bachelorette party.”
Tegan couldn’t keep from laughing. “So the conservatives got an unexpected stripper? That must have been a shock. Still, I don’t understand why they wouldn’t just cover their eyes and forgive a mistake.”
Alana ducked her head, but Tegan could see the quirk of her mouth. “They probably would have let it go once we got it sorted out. The bigger problem arose when their guest speaker showed up at the drunken bachelorette party, ready to give his inspiring speech.”
“Who was it?” Tegan asked. When Alana didn’t seem prepared to answer, she held up her phone, ready to play dirty to get the punch line of the story. “I have Chip on speed dial.”
“So you’ll criticize me for fudging, but you’re willing to resort to blackmail. Fine. It was the Chief of Police.” She continued, talking over Tegan’s gleeful laughter. “In his dress uniform. We might have gotten it figured out sooner if he hadn’t been wearing nearly the same outfit as our stripper, minus the Velcro.”
Alana laughed, too, but it faded to silence again. She waved her hand at Tegan. “I don’t blame you for laughing because it really is funny. But I lost my job because of it. And my home, since my hotel room was part of my salary. And my future plans, because the hospitality world really is quite small and connected, so everyone who might be hiring has heard about the fiasco.”
“Everyone, except for a small-time rancher in an out-of-the-way city.” Tegan sobered up when she realized the extent of Alana’s predicament.
“Exactly,” Alana said with a nod. “I was prepared to do my time here and wherever else I needed to go next, slowly making my way back to more prestigious hotels and resorts. Then Chip told me I’d be guiding tours, not just organizing them. I thought there might be some way to learn enough to get by during this first year, while there won’t be many guests. But then you showed up, and I realized I didn’t even have enough knowledge to pretend I knew what I was doing.”
Tegan frowned. She felt she understood the situation better, and she believed Alana was telling the truth, but something was still bugging her. “I get it, why you need this job. But learning to ride and going rafting and hiking? It seems like an awful lot of trouble, especially if you don’t enjoy any of it. There must be other people like Chip in other small towns who might be offering a more suitable position.”
Alana shrugged. “Like I said, no one else would give me a chance, not even people I knew from school and other jobs. But Chip did. I felt I owed it to him to at least try.”
Tegan hadn’t expected that. She had thought all of Alana’s lies were—understandably—meant to protect her and fool Chip.
“Oh,” Alana said, suddenly looking at Tegan with a bright smile. “You can teach me to ride.”
“Whoa,” Tegan said, holding up her hands. “What are you talking about?”
“See? You know words like whoa, so you’re qualified. Besides, you’re the only one here who knows the whole story, and you have a personal interest in helping both me and Chip.”
“I do? What reason do I have for helping you?” Tegan wasn’t sure how she had gone from being the bystander vet to being involved in Alana’s mess.
Alana seemed unperturbed by Tegan’s suddenly snappish tone. “Well, I’m sure you want to keep him as a client, with all his horses and the care they need, so you want his ranch to be successful and make money. So he can pay you.”
Tegan nodded. “Yes, I know my reasons for wanting Chip to do well. Why exactly do I want to help you?”