Running from Monday

by Lea Sims

  “I didn’t forget about you, beautiful,” he said to Rogue, when she stuck her head between the seats to sniff the pastry bag Drew had just passed to Delaney. He pulled a peanut butter rawhide out from the console between the seats and held it up to her nose. She took it eagerly and flopped down in the back seat with it.

  “Oh, Drew, she’s going to make a mess back there with that bone,” Delaney protested. “She’s not a neat eater.”

  Drew laughed and shrugged. “She can’t hurt anything in this old truck. Besides, I couldn’t bring you breakfast and not bring her something, could I?”

  His eyes smiled warmly into hers. The way he looked at her gave her a warm, giddy feeling in her stomach. It wasn’t the same sexually charged flirtation she was familiar with, the kind that had marked the few relationships she’d had, including the initiation of her relationship with Danny. This was something different. He was something different. There was almost a too-good-to-be-true quality about Drew, and while it was undeniably attractive, it also made her very uneasy. Men like Drew had a way of making her feel unsure of herself, and the long-buried pain of not being “good enough” for a guy like that tended to rear its ugly head, tipping her normally confident demeanor upside down. She didn’t like it. She preferred to have the upper hand, where her position was never vulnerable and her emotions never exposed. To combat the effect his gentle smile and honey-gold eyes were having on her, Delaney had to keep focusing on her life back in New York, where her footing was sure and she knew who she was. A little voice in her head also kept telling her that Drew was too good a guy to be getting this close to. She had no desire to string him along. The last thing he needed was to get emotionally entangled with a newly divorced, adultery-committing, emotionally challenged, self-declared-but-suddenly-confused atheist. He deserves better, that little voice said again.

  So she endeavored to keep her fluttery feelings on lockdown for the rest of the day and to simply enjoy a day out with Rogue. Delaney was genuinely excited to be going to the animal care facility where Drew worked. He was being pretty secretive about where and what it was, which told her that it must be something unique. She was curious to find out about it, especially if it involved dogs.

  “Still not going to tell me where we’re going?” she asked, sipping her coffee.

  “Nope.” He grinned unrepentantly. “I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

  “Oh sure,” she said with a saucy eye roll, “like I can do that with you teasing me with surprises.”

  They both laughed and settled into a comfortable flow of conversation as Drew took them on a scenic drive outside the city, avoiding highways and sticking to tree-lined, two-lane roads that reminded Delaney of bygone days when long drives in her Jeep around the rural parts of Southeast Georgia had been a welcome escape for her. It was a beautiful day, and they drove for about thirty minutes with the windows down and the radio playing a mix of tunes from the 90s, to which they both sang along.

  Then Drew turned off the county road they were on and took them down a dirt road about half a mile. On one side of the road was fence-lined open farmland and on the other side nothing but dense woods. A canopy of large oak limbs hung out across the road from both sides for as far down it as Delaney could see. But she hadn’t seen a residence for the last few miles, so she teased Drew about the remoteness of where they were going. “I’m not going to end up being one of those Dateline NBC episodes, am I?”

  He gave her a startled look, then threw back his head and laughed. “Well, if you behave yourself, you won’t.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her, and she laughed back at him. He then directed her attention out the window and said, “We’re here.”

  He had turned right onto a gravel drive and pulled up to a large iron gate. A heavy, carved wooden sign hung between two posts over the gate. A line of tall pine trees was etched into the wood over the words, “Timber Ridge Sanctuary.” A smaller white sign hanging under it read, “By Appointment Only. Not Open to the Public.” Delaney’s head whipped around to Drew, eyebrows snapped together in confusion. He smiled and reached up to his visor, pushing the button on the remote clipped to it, and the gate slowly opened. They drove down the fence-lined gravel drive, which continued through the woods another quarter mile or so, then opened up to reveal a large two-story farmhouse, a number of smaller buildings, and what looked to be an extensive network of animal enclosures some distance behind the house.

  As they pulled closer to the house, something moved along the fence line in the enclosure to the right of them, and Delaney turned to see a very large red and grey dog jump up onto a wooden platform to peer at them curiously. Then she did a double-take. Her eyes flew wide in sudden recognition. That’s not a dog. “Is that a…a wolf!?” She gasped, tearing her gaze away to search Drew’s face.

  He nodded and watched her face transform from shock to delight to reverent awe. That was exactly the reaction he’d been hoping for. She had already unclipped her seatbelt, and they hadn’t even come to a stop yet. “Hold on,” he said to her. “There’s some ground we need to cover before we go inside, okay?”

  “Of course,” was her breathless reply, face close to the glass like a child standing in front of a Macy’s Christmas window.

  “We need to talk about Rogue,” Drew said. Rogue was pacing excitedly in the back seat, eyes on the canine sitting on the platform who had not stopped watching them. She was anxious to meet a new friend. “But let me tell you about the facility first. This sanctuary is a rescue facility for wolves and wolf dogs. It’s owned and run by John and Emma Bailey, and I’ll introduce you to them when we go in. They know you’re coming, so I thought we’d—”

  “Where do these wolves come from, Drew? Wolves aren’t abundant in the South, are they?” Delaney couldn’t help but blurt out the first of what would likely be a thousand questions today.

  “No, no they aren’t,” he replied with an appreciative smile. He loved that this was her first question. Most people would immediately ask if they get to “pet” the wolves, which was one of the reasons the facility was not open to the public. “There are some red wolves still left in the south, but they’re more coyote than wolf. Most of the animals at this facility were captive born and bred for an increasing number of people who think it would be cool to have a wolf as a pet. They find breeders on the Internet who sell wolf puppies, and a premium is paid for ‘high content’ pups, meaning those that are as close to purebred wolves as possible. The problem, of course, is that the purer the wolf is, the more disastrous it is to try to domesticate them. They’re not dogs. They end up being misunderstood by their owners and they suffer a lot of neglect and abuse. Many of them get surrendered to county shelters that are not equipped to care for them, much less figure out what to do with them. John and Emma give them a home here.”

  “How many are there? How long do they stay here?” Delaney asked.

  “I’ll let John and Emma fill you in on all those details. They’re going to take us on a tour and tell you about the facility and introduce you to our residents. But here’s the thing about Rogue—she can’t come with us when we’re touring the enclosures.”

  “No kidding!” Delaney agreed quickly. “Wolves have far more pack-protective instincts than dogs. Rogue thinks everyone is in her pack.”

  Drew shook his head. She continued to impress him. “I keep forgetting you’re the dog whisperer,” he said wryly. “I’m glad you can appreciate the challenge of having Rogue with us when we’re out by the habitat areas. I would have told you not to bring her, but I would have had to explain why, which would have spoiled the surprise, and I also didn’t want you to have to leave her cooped up in the hotel all day. So, we’re going to leave her with Jade, one of our interns, while we check out the facility. When we’re done, we can take Rogue back up toward the front of the property, where there are a lot of natural walking trails through our woodlands. But fo
r now, you need to leash her.”

  Delaney pulled Rogue’s leash out of her bag and held it up. “No problem. I don’t go anywhere without her leash when she’s with me. She’s so good about staying close, but I never want to test that when we’re in a new or unusual place.” She told Rogue to sit and stay, then got out of the truck and opened the back door, clipping Rogue’s leash to her collar. “Okay, my love. Let’s go.”

  They walked up the steps to the wrap-around front porch of the refurbished farmhouse and stepped inside. Drew explained that it was not only the hub of their business operations, but it was also the Bailey residence. The bottom floor housed their office space, conference room, and training classroom. John and Emma lived on the second floor. There was a small office immediately to the left of the front door, and Drew introduced Delaney to Shelby, their administrative assistant. They walked through the small staff kitchen to the back door, which led out to a deck and a good stretch of back yard that separated the house from the animal habitats. Drew led them to a large detached portable building to the left of the house that he told her served as the animal care center.

  “That’s where you work,” Delaney said with a smile as they walked the gravel path to the door, and Drew nodded. Once inside, he took her on a quick tour of the exam rooms, treatment areas, and storage rooms. Everything was neatly organized, labeled and documented. Delaney paused in front of a huge cork wall in the large storage room. There was a giant map of the facility in the middle of the wall showing all the habitats labeled by numbers one through twelve. Within each marked habitat were well-penciled drawings of the physical elements positioned within each enclosure. There was also a wallet-size photo of each wolf or wolf dog living in that habitat with their name and statistics marked underneath. It was an amazing view of the entire sanctuary, and studying it for a few moments, Delaney was shocked by how many animals were currently in residence.

  “Holy cow. There are over thirty wolves living here,” Delaney murmured to no one in particular.

  “Thirty-six, actually,” said a female voice from the corner of the room. Delaney turned to see a young woman who looked to be in her late twenties. She was organizing and stocking what looked like large bottles of vitamins and supplements on the shelves in the corner. She was wearing khaki cargo pants, hiking boots, and a sky-blue T-shirt that had the same tree-line Timber Ridge logo on the back that Delaney had noticed on the entrance gate. The words “Howler Crew” were imprinted on the front left side.

  “This is our intern, Jade,” Drew said. “Jade, this is Delaney.” The two shook hands and exchanged greetings.

  Jade then squatted down and exclaimed, “Ohh, is this Rogue? Oh my goodness, what a beauty you are!” Rogue made a beeline for Jade and submitted eagerly to a hands-on introduction. Jade reached up on the counter and took a dog biscuit out of a bowl. Without being told, Rogue stepped back and sat down, looking up at Jade expectantly.

  “Set it on her nose, Jade,” Delaney said to the girl, relishing in an opportunity to show off her dog’s amazing skills. Jade put the treat on the flat bridge of Rogue’s nose and instructed her to stay. Rogue sat perfectly still from head to tail, staring up at Jade unblinkingly.

  Delaney let her sit there for a good ten seconds and then gave her the release command, “Take it.” Rogue immediately stood up and let the treat slide off her nose, catching it in her mouth before it hit the ground. Drew and Jade clapped in approval. Then Drew told Jade they were heading out to tour the facility, and Jade reassured Delaney that she would keep Rogue occupied.

  Drew led Delaney out a set of doors to a covered walkway leading to a large tin-roofed barn where all of the facility’s equipment was stored. As they approached, one of the doors slid open, and a man driving a black Polaris Ranger pulled out of the barn. A woman stepped out behind him and slid the barn door closed again. She looked up and saw Drew and Delaney walking toward them, and the man in the Ranger pulled up in front of them.

  “John, Emma…this is Delaney,” Drew introduced them with a smile. “Delaney…John and Emma Bailey.” Delaney bit back a smile as she took in the pair of them. If someone had asked her what kind of people would dedicate their lives to running a wolf sanctuary, she would have described the exact couple standing in front of her. John was of medium height and build and wore faded jeans, a flannel shirt over an old Allman Brothers T-shirt, and steel-toed work boots. He looked to be in his early fifties, with salt-and-pepper hair that hung in a long braid down his back. He had an equally graying beard that was grizzled and untrimmed and wore an Indiana Jones style brown leather hat. Emma, who looked to be about the same age, wore camouflaged cargo pants, boots, and the same Howler Crew T-shirt Jade had been wearing, only Emma’s shirt was tied in a knot at the back and covered in dust and smudges of dirt. A straw cowboy hat was perched atop a long mane of curly hair that looked like it had once been fiery red but was now muted by streaks of gray throughout. A rawhide strip of leather had been used to gather and tie her hair about halfway down her back. She had the look of someone who had a few stories to tell, and she sported a few tattoos on her hands and arms, including a set of wolf paw prints that ran up and around one arm.

  “Hi there!” Delaney said cheerfully, sticking out her hand to Emma. “I’m thrilled to meet you.”

  Emma didn’t shake Delaney’s hand but instead put her hands on her hips and looked Delaney over from head to toe as if sizing her up. “Drew says you’re a dog girl,” she said without preamble. “But he also said you live in New York City, so I’m not sure what that means. You look like you belong on a fashion runway, that’s for sure.” She eyed Delaney’s French manicured nails with suspicion.

  Delaney grinned at Emma’s frank appraisal, not backing down. “I’m very much a dog girl,” she said steadily, quirking a challenging eyebrow up at the woman. “And I have no use for runways…unless I’m on a plane.”

  “Good lord, Emma,” John said, rolling his eyes at his wife and reaching out to shake Delaney’s hand. “You of all people should know not to judge a book by its cover, and for goodness sake, stop scowling at the girl. If Drew vouches for her, that ought to be good enough for you. It’s nice to meet you, Delaney.”

  “Oh, I didn’t say I’d vouch for her,” Drew said shaking his head in mock disagreement. “She’s been a city girl for so long, I’m not sure she even knows how to use a shovel.” Then he burst out laughing at Delaney’s face as she spun around and looked at him indignantly. She smacked him on the shoulder, but he refused to accommodate her with an appropriately repentant look. He just grinned down into her lovely animated face and enjoyed the glower she was giving him.

  Emma watched the exchange closely and darted her eyes to John, who was sitting in the Ranger taking it all in. She could see the chemistry between Drew and the girl, and she was pretty good at sizing people up. Delaney looked a little too “put together” for Emma’s liking, and she wasn’t sure what Drew would have in common with a Manhattan career girl like Delaney, but she decided to hold her peace and get to know her first. She wasn’t overly fond of showing people around the facility just to appease their curiosity or their love of “dogs,” but Drew had never asked to bring anyone to the sanctuary before, and Emma didn’t want to refuse him. She was also very curious about what girl would have prompted Drew to request it.

  “Okay, Delaney,” Emma said, climbing into the UTV and waving a hand to Drew and Delaney to follow her. “Let’s show you around.” The three of them settled into the Ranger, and John drove them down the dirt drive to the first habitat. Emma stole another look at the young woman in the large rear-view mirror, wondering again whether she was going to be dealing with a prima donna who wouldn’t want to get her hands dirty or who might want to take a “selfie” with one of the animals. The girl was a beauty, Emma would give her that, but she had it on good authority that Drew wasn’t a sucker for a pretty face, especially if there wasn’t anything of substance behind
it.

  An hour later, Emma was regretting those assumptions. Delaney had listened in rapt attention to every detail of John’s overview about how the sanctuary was started, how the animals were located and adopted, what their unique care requirements were, and how the habitats were constructed. As they had visited each enclosure and discussed the pack dynamics of the wolves in each habitat, she had watched the animals intently but never asked if they could go in, pet the wolves, or disturb them in any way. Instead, she asked how they were adapting, how their underground dens were built, what happened when an animal might be cast out of a pack, and whether any of them could be rehabilitated to the point of being returned to the wild.

  “No, very few can be relocated to natural habitats,” Emma said, finally giving Delaney a smile. “Nearly all our dogs are captive bred, so they wouldn’t last very long in the wild. They might have some pack assimilation skills, but they have not been taught or allowed to hunt.”

  “Emma, how does all of this get funded?” Delaney asked suddenly, eyebrows furrowed. “You aren’t open to the public, so you aren’t generating revenue.” She knew the money had to come from somewhere. The property was expansive and the facility impressive. But she’d also picked up on several clues throughout the tour that told her they were hurting for funding. Their habitats could use some upgrades and repairs, the supply room she had seen earlier could be much better stocked, and she had seen Drew flush uncomfortably when Emma had joked about how one day they might actually be able to pay him for his services. Delaney had pretended not to hear that comment, but she had to turn and look the other way to conceal her astonishment and admiration for Drew, who was obviously donating his time to the sanctuary. The man was starting to worry her with his saintliness. He had to be hiding some kind of fatal flaw somewhere. Maybe he has a sixth toe or bites his fingernails, she thought drily. Somehow she doubted it.

  John was the one to answer her question about funding. “We have a circle of benefactors who give regularly to support our operation, and we hold a fundraising dinner every year to generate a new stream of donors, but we don’t do a lot of marketing.” He shot a sharp look at Emma. “Because some people think it would draw too much attention to the property.”