Dog Tags for Christmas

by Lindsay McKenna

  Willow sighed, giving her assistant a look. “Yes, he does. About took my head off when I told him the dog could probably go up for adoption next week.”

  Nicky giggled, shaking her head. “You’re going to end up with a menagerie between the two of you.”

  Yes, they were. Flynn’s boss John and his girlfriend Shannon owned a cat that had delivered kittens a few months ago. Somehow Flynn had been coerced into bringing one home. They’d named the cat Carol, after one of the characters in the Walking Dead … and because the cat had a splotch of gray fur on top of her head. The rest of her body was white. The little bugger was constantly attacking her feet from under her bed. But she was cute and lovable. And even though Willow was usually the one to feed the animals, she’d taken a liking to Flynn, weaving around his legs when he came into the house.

  This dog would probably do the same. He’d already begun worming his way into her heart.

  Guinness seemed totally okay with the strange dog roaming his territory. There was very little tension. Oscar lay prone on the floor as soon as Guinness approached him, which seemed to stroke the older dog’s ego. Willow laughed as she watched him strut around, then pounce like he wanted to play. Oscar, on the other hand, seemed a little freaked out by the display. He seemed to be a Pit Bull mix, but he crawled across to Willow and hid behind her legs. She tried to encourage him to go play in the grass, but he refused.

  Tears filled her eyes as she wondered if he’d ever had a chance to play like a regular dog. His submissive nature suggested that it had definitely been a while. So while she threw the tennis ball for Guinness, Oscar wandered the yard, staying out of the line of the ball.

  She threw the ball again and Maya lunged in from the side, then she felt Flynn’s hands wrap around her waist. “Hello, Mama,” he whispered against her neck.

  Willow shivered and turned her head. “Hello, Papa.”

  The scrape of his beard up her neck made Willow shudder, and she was surprised all over again. She had thought that once they settled into a routine, the attraction between them would settle down, but it certainly had not. If anything, they were honing their skills, now made a little more difficult by working around Raven.

  Her tiredness vanished as he cupped her super-sensitive breasts. All her life she’d been a strong, healthy size, and he accepted her that way. But now that she had been shaped by pregnancy and childbirth, she felt a little uncomfortable. She wasn’t as slim as she used to be. Flynn always managed to ease those fears, though.

  As he ran his hands beneath her shirt to cup her satin-covered breasts, she prayed Flynn would continue to love her the very same way.

  Flynn must have sensed she was feeling a little on guard, because he turned her in his arms to look down into her face. “You are, truly, my every fantasy I never knew I had. Can I make love to you?”

  Emotion made the muscles in her throat tight, but she nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. “Raven is asleep and Debbie already left.”

  Without another word he tugged on her hand. Willow glanced back at the dogs, but they’d all settled beneath a tree for a snooze.

  “They’re fine,” he told her.

  Willow smiled at his words. He knew what she would be thinking, and worrying about.

  A half an hour ago she’d been ready to keel over in sleep, but as Flynn guided her to lay on the mattress, she felt anything but tired. Just those few little touches, and those few little words, completely reenergized her. And as he began to peel off her clothing, she lost herself in sensation. He didn’t just undress her, he greeted every piece of bare skin with a kiss. He made her feel like the most desired woman in the world.

  The next morning when she got up with Raven, Willow let the dogs out of the house for their morning run. Oscar followed along behind, though wasn’t as rambunctious as the other two. He watched them with interest, but didn’t seem to understand why they were so excited. And the dogs seemed to sense he wasn’t up to their shenanigans. They left him alone to wander around and do his thing. Holding Raven on her hip, they watched the dogs for several minutes before her daughter got bored. She called everyone in for breakfast.

  Flynn got up as she was changing for work and Willow took long enough to kiss him good morning. “Anything big on your agenda today?”

  He shook his dark head. “Nah. Working on that surveillance footage we’ve been watching for three days now. Hoping something will pop up we can use.”

  She hummed in agreement, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I have to go. I’ll text you if I have any issues.”

  He gave her a sharp look as he took Raven from her arms. “You’d better.”

  Winking, and with a final kiss for the baby, she headed up the sidewalk to the practice.

  Mateo was on the back steps again, and he watched her progress with interest. “You live there, doctora?”

  Willow nodded, then wondered if she should have confirmed that or not. Well, there was no way she couldn’t. He’d just watched her walk from one door to the next. Apparently he hadn’t notice where she’d come from yesterday. “I do. Makes it convenient for me to come over and treat my animals. Want to go see Ranvir?”

  The boy nodded, waiting with hands in jean pockets as she unlocked the door and turned off the alarm. She should probably have Flynn change the code, too, because there was no way Mateo hadn’t seen her enter the numbers. Later, she sighed.

  Mateo waited for her to lead him back to the recovery room. As soon as Ranvir saw him, the dog broke into excited whines. Mateo unfastened the cage and let the dog pounce on him, and Willow couldn’t help but smile at them. The dog was super excited to see his young master, and vise versa. “You can take him outside to the dog run if you want. It has a little patch of grass and a bench you can sit on.”

  The boy didn’t hesitate. He took the lead line Willow handed him and slipped it over Ranvir’s head, then led him out of the building. Willow heard the sound of play and it made her smile.

  Mateo left the dog in the run and when she glanced out a couple of hours later, unsure if he’d left or not, it was to find the boy hosing off the brick patio. It wasn’t especially dirty. Nicky took care of the cleaning. But it was nice that he was putting himself out to do something. Maybe he could clean the recovery room.

  The boy didn’t leave for hours, just worked quietly in the background. Nicky caught her eye a couple of times and Willow shrugged. “I think he’s working off Ranvir’s care. I don’t think he has anywhere to take the dog.”

  Nicky nodded. “Yeah, I kind of got that too. Want me to make him up a chore list?”

  Willow nodded as she picked up the chart for the next patient. “I think that would be a great idea.”

  Flynn brought her lunch at noon, and Willow grinned as she unpacked the bag. There was an extra foot-long submarine in the bag. He shrugged defensively when she lifted a brow at him. “I might have stopped by to see Raven earlier and seen him working in the back.”

  She shook her head, wondering if he realized he was adopting a new stray.

  Mateo’s eyes widened when she handed him the sandwich. He tried to hand it back to her but she could see the hunger in his eyes. “Just eat it, Mateo. Nobody else is.”

  Sadly, the thought he was getting what was left over made it easier for him to take the food, as if he were a dog getting the scraps from the table. That made Willow seriously concerned, but she worried that if she asked him about his home life he would clam up. Well, clam up and say less words than he did now…

  The boy left on the early afternoon, after a final cuddle session with Ranvir. Willow worried about the unknown, and hoped he had a loving home. She didn’t think that was the case, though. Obviously, they didn’t know about Ranvir, otherwise the dog would be at his home.

  It wasn’t until three days later, after stuffing himself to the gills with pepperoni pizza, that Mateo opened up to her the tiniest bit. They were sitting outside on the bench in the dog run.

  “I wish we could just st
ay here,” he murmured softly.

  Willow turned her head to look at him. “Well, there’s an unused cage and plenty of blankets.”

  He looked at her as if he were weighing her words, testing her truth, then he gave her a shy smile. “Yes, doctora. Thank you.”

  Mateo and Ranvir had settled in as if they’d always been there, and they’d all settled into a schedule. Mateo met her early in the morning at the back door, played with his dog for a while, then started cleaning until he had to leave for school. Then, in the early afternoons, he returned and started back on the list. Willow hadn’t seen Nicky’s job lists, but Mateo was everywhere in the clinic. If an emergency came in, he cleared out and made sure to give her space. But a couple of times she’d felt him peeking in on the cases.

  Willow didn’t mind. If he wanted to watch her treat the animals, it didn’t bother her. She could tell he was immensely curious, but too quiet to ask, so when a case came in that they needed to work on, she started talking out loud as she worked on the animal. Nicky had been curious at first, until she’d seen Mateo peering around the doorjamb.

  On Friday, before he left for the day, she handed him an envelope with a sheet of paper inside. “Even with Ranvir’s room and board paid for, you made some money this week.”

  He looked at the stack of twenties with disbelief. His dark eyes lit with pride first, then worry. “Thank you, Doctor Willow. Do you need help next week?”

  She nodded firmly. “If you have the time, I would love for you to help out with the cleaning around here. And Ranvir is welcome to stay as long as you need him to. Will you be back tomorrow? We’re open for a few hours in the morning.”

  “I’ll try.” With a nod, he gave her a wave before he left through the front door.

  Chapter Six

  Mateo glanced up and down the street, the money in his pocket burning like a hot coal. Hurrying down the street, he ducked into an alley and crouched behind a dumpster, before pulling the envelope from his pocket. Carefully, he counted the money again. One hundred dollars. All cash he had earned himself. And he had paid for Ranvir, too. So he had made a couple hundred dollars, probably, but Ranvir’s room and board cost part of that.

  Incredibly, tears filled his eyes, and he dashed them away. Emotions were making his throat tight and he wasn’t sure what he needed to do. This was so much money. More money than he’d ever had in his hand in his life. His father made money, but it seemed like he lost it just as fast, and he certainly didn’t give it to his family. Madre got some pay from her job as a maid at the hotel down the street from their house, but it all went to bills and food. For a moment he allowed himself the dream of walking in and handing her the wad of bills. She would cry and speak caring words to him in Spanish.

  No, she wouldn’t. If he could hand her a thousand dollars she would look at him and demand why he hadn’t gotten more? But even though he knew how she’d be, he felt like he needed to give her some of it.

  Sighing, he sat down on the dirty street, wondering what to do. If he had his choice, he would hide the money and save it up until he had enough to get away from his family. But he was only fourteen. School took up a lot of his time and he was gone many hours of the day.

  For now, he would hide the money and save it. La Doctora Willow was a good lady. She loved animals like he did. Maybe if he went to school and got good grades, she would hire him full time.

  Carefully setting the envelope aside, he counted the money again. Wow. Folding the bills over themselves, he reached down and stuck the wad into his dirty sock. He needed to do laundry again. Hopefully, there would be soap this time.

  “You okay, Mateo?”

  He jerked, realizing he’d been caught not watching his surroundings. He scrambled to his feet, meeting the gaze of la Doctora Willow’s dangerous husband. “S-si. I’m okay.”

  His attitude had had to change since he’d started working for her. Even though he didn’t like looking at the big gringo’s eyes, he’d gotten used to not knowing what the man was thinking. He probably wasn’t too bad. La Doctora Willow had married him and had a baby with him, and he hadn’t seen him hit her or anything.

  “I just…” he trailed off, no excuse coming to mind.

  The man bent down and picked up the envelope. He glanced at the Post-it note on top and suddenly smiled. “Counting your money?”

  Wow. Mateo didn’t know what to think when the guy smiled at him, but he kind of liked it. The guy didn’t mean anything to him, but Mateo could count on one hand the number of people who ever smiled at him. Maybe he wasn’t the pendejo he’d thought at first.

  “Yes. I’ve never had a job. And I’ve never been paid that much money.”

  The man nodded, turning to lean against the wall behind them. “I remember my first job. I washed dishes at a restaurant a few miles from my house. It wasn’t glamorous or anything, but the food was decent and the old man paid on time. I worked that job for a couple of years. It really makes you feel like a man when you earn money.”

  Mateo straightened. Yes! That’s exactly what he was feeling. It made him hope he wouldn’t always be under his father’s rule. And that maybe someday he could make a difference in the world around him. “What did you do after that?”

  “I worked for a construction company for a couple more years, then when I graduated joined the Navy and became a SEAL. I was a Military War Dog handler.”

  Mateo felt his mouth drop open. This guy had been a SEAL? Physically, he was huge, and he could tell the man was smart. He glanced down at the dog that always shadowed his heels. “Was she over there with you?”

  The man’s mouth tightened, but Mateo couldn’t see his eyes because of the sunglasses. “No. My war dog was killed a few years ago, and I was injured. Maya was a street dog I brought in to Dr. James for help, but she kind of adopted me.”

  Maya looked up at the man adoringly and he smoothed the hair on her head. It was obvious they loved each other. He wanted to ask the man about being a SEAL, but he didn’t know what exactly to say. He thought too long because the man lifted a hand in farewell. “I didn’t mean to bother you.”

  “You didn’t, Mr. Flynn. I was just,” he paused, wondering what he could say to the man without making himself sound like a sissy. “My family is very poor, but if I give it to them they would ask me where I got it, and I would have to tell them I got a job with the doctora. They wouldn’t let me keep working there. I would have to quit, and I don’t want to quit. I feel like I actually belong with the doctora.”

  Mateo realized that sounded a little different in his head and winced, but the man waved his hand and laughed a little. “I know what you mean, Mateo. She has that kind of heart. Well, can you hide the money? Maybe you can give them just a little bit and tell them you found an odd job. Would they say anything then?”

  He shrugged, not really knowing the answer. “I will hide it for now. And hope they don’t say anything about me going out.”

  Mr. Flynn nodded. “Do you have a cell phone, Mateo?”

  Mateo shook his head.

  “Do you have a telephone in your house?”

  He nodded. “Yes, if my padre has money for the bill this month.”

  The big man reached into his back pocket and pulled out a wallet. Then he pulled out a white business card. “This has my contact information on it. If you ever need anything, please call me. Doctor Willow would be heartbroken if anything happened to you.”

  Mateo carefully took the card, wondering if what Mr. Flynn said was true. Would she really? He glanced at the number, then slipped the card into his back pocket. “Gracias, Mr. Flynn.” With a wave, Mateo headed down the block toward home.

  Flynn watched him go, wondering what Willow had gotten them into. The kid seemed like he had a decent heart, he was just rough around the edges. Or maybe he had just been raised rough and never known any other way.

  Maya whined up at him, making Flynn wonder what she wanted. She, too, looked after the hunched-shouldered boy.


  Flynn headed back across the street, Maya on his heels. As they entered the waiting room they were greeted by a cacophony of noises. Flynn cringed and his grip tightened on Maya’s leash. Before he could be delayed he headed behind the counter.

  Sue looked up at him with a forced smile. The older woman wasn’t quite comfortable with him yet, which was understandable. He’d been pretty cold for the first year he’d known her. And now, as she looked up at him, she seemed a little surprised, still, that his relationship with Willow had changed and he was allowed behind the counter.

  “Hello, Flynn. I don’t know if Willow will be able to get away right now. As you can see, we’ve had a rush of patients.”

  He nodded. “That’s fine. Tell her I went over to see Raven.”

  The woman smiled in agreement and jotted the note down onto a Post-it. “Will do!”

  As soon as they entered into their own yard, he let Maya off lead and took her service dog harness off. Guinness wandered over from the shade trees, and Oscar stood up but didn’t come over. Crouching down, Flynn tried to coerce the dog over with kissing noises. Oscar stared at him for a long minute before slinking over to cower in front of him.

  Flynn hated to see a dog, or even a person, cower like they were nothing. It spoke to abuse somewhere in their lives, and he couldn’t stand abusers. It angered him. Breathing deeply, he rested a hand on the dog’s scabby head. The poor guy was healing, but it would be a while before he would be even passably fit to be seen in public. Flynn scratched his ears carefully, and he could tell he found a sweet spot when the dog leaned into the touch.

  Maya wandered over and licked at Oscar’s muzzle, just like she had every time she’d seen him. Oscar went to his belly in front of her. Flynn reached out and scratched his chest, but even down here he had painful healing wounds. If there was a way to find out what had happened to this dog he would do it, damn it.

  Raven was in rare form. As soon as he walked in the door she squealed at him. Flynn grinned as he picked her up from the walker, toys scattering everywhere. As soon as he wrapped his arms around her, she burrowed into his neck, then looked up at him. Her grubby hands patted his hairy cheeks and he turned to rub his chin into the palm of her sticky hand, making her scream with laughter. Their little game made him laugh too.