by Loree Lough
“Daddy,” interrupted Nate’s hoarse whisper. He tugged at his father’s hand. “She’s bee-yoo-tee-ful!”
Lily chanced a quick glance in Max’s direction. Now he was blushing. Her heartbeat doubled when he met her eyes and smiled that oh-so-tantalizing half grin that had captivated her years ago. She’d changed a lot since he left for Chicago; she hoped he wouldn’t recognize her.
He got to his feet. “Lily? Lily London?”
Yeah, she thought bitterly, it’s me. The silly little twit who used to tag along behind you like a well-trained puppy, hoping for a pat on the head. She plastered what she hoped was a sophisticated smile on her face and tried to sound composed.
“How are you, Max?”
How long had it been since she last saw him? Five years? No, six…if she didn’t count the tens of thousands of times she’d pictured him in her dreams. Six long years since he’d left Amarillo—with his blushing bride on his arm.
“Wow. Look at you! I hardly recognized you. It’s great to see you.”
If he’d given her a thought at all in all these years—which was doubtful—he’d probably pictured her in braces and a ponytail, and carrying an armload of books. Surely the change hadn’t been that drastic, so why was he staring at her as if she had a third eye in the middle of her forehead?
Lily broke the intense eye contact by pretending to recap the pen, but ended up stabbing her palm with the point, instead.
She stifled an ouch, as Georgia said, “Who’da thunk that skinny freckle-faced li’l gal would grow up to be such a knockout!”
Nate took a step closer and smiled up at her. She’d heard through the grapevine that Max and Melissa had had a son. Mostly, she’d tried not to think about the fact that Max had started a life with someone other than her, because she’d loved him almost from the first moment they’d met—when she was a knobby-kneed seventh grader and he’d been Centennial High School’s star quarterback.
“Hi,” the boy said. “My name is Nathan Maxwell Sheridan. Max, here, is my dad. I’m very pleased to make your awk-a-ah…”
“Acquaintance,” his father helped.
“That’s it,” Nate said, nodding, “‘acquaintance.’” He looked up into Lily’s face. “What’s your name?”
“Her name is Lily,” Georgia said. “Lily London.”
“Sounds like a movie star’s name.” He furrowed his brow. “But I thought a lily was a flower.”
“It is,” Lily said, shrugging. “My mother’s name was Rose, see, so I guess she thought it would be neat to name my sisters and me after flowers.”
Nate giggled. “That’s pretty funny.” He giggled again. “What’re your sisters’ names?”
“The twins are Ivy and Violet, and there’s Cammi…which is short for Camellia.”
He narrowed his big, black-lashed eyes. “They’re nice names, but I like Lily best.”
A person would have to be made of stone not to warm to this child, she admitted, mirroring his friendly grin. “Well, thanks, Nate,” she said, shaking his extended hand. “And I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, too.”
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “My dad here could sure use a wife. See, my mom died when I was a baby. He does pretty good, considering he’s not a lady, but he sure could use some help. So…are you married?”
Georgia chuckled under her breath as Max slapped a hand over his eyes and gave a loud sigh.
Lily found herself enjoying his discomfort, perhaps a little too much. “I’m afraid I’m a little too busy to…help your dad out. I have a job. Two, in fact.”
His brows nearly met in the center of his forehead. “Wow. Two jobs?” he said, stuffing both hands into his pants pockets.
As if on cue, Max did the same thing, Lily noticed. It was obvious the two spent a lot of time together, because Nate had also picked up Max’s tendency to say “first” this and “second” that. Maybe Nate hadn’t been too far from the mark when he’d said Max was an okay parent.
“I’m an animal rehabilitator,” she told the boy. “And I manage my father’s ranch.”
Nate’s brow furrowed. “What’s that?”
“She nurses sick and injured animals back to health,” Max explained, “then takes them back where they came from.” To Lily, he added, “Sorry. He’s a great kid, but sometimes he talks too much.”
She was about to agree that Nate was a great kid and add that Max had nothing to apologize for, when Nate said, “Your dad has a ranch? With horses and cows and stuff?”
Lily smiled again. “He sure does.”
“Man, I’ve never been on a real-live ranch before. They don’t have ’em in Chicago, y’know.”
She glanced at Max. He’d grown up in cattle country; why hadn’t he taken the boy to see his buddies’ homes during visits to his mother?
“Are you a vettin-air-yun?”
“No, Nate, but I do work very closely with one.”
He crossed both arms over his chest. “I’m gonna be a vettin-air-yun when I grow up, ’cause I like animals.”
“Do you, now? Do you have a cat or a dog?”
Nate shot his father a less-than-friendly look. “Dad says I’m not old enough to be ’sponsible for a pet.”
“Well, maybe you’d like to come out to our ranch sometime, see my animals.”
Nate gasped. “Really? I could do that? Cool! What kind of animals!”
“Oh, a raccoon and a wolf cub, an eagle, some hawks, three monkeys and—”
“Monkeys! Way cool! Dad, I wanna—”
One look into his father’s stern face was enough to silence the boy. Lily couldn’t help but wonder why Max would have a problem with Nate visiting River Valley. It was the most natural thing in the world for a city boy to get enthused about the prospect of seeing animals up close, especially if his only prior contact had been at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo!
Lily knew that if she didn’t get out of there fast, she’d likely say something she’d regret. “Where should I sign?” she asked Georgia, pen poised above the cast.
Georgia pointed, and Lily scribbled Get Well Quick! above her signature. “I’d love to stay and chat,” she fibbed, handing Georgia her pen, “but I have a million things to do.”
“You got any kids?” Nate asked.
“No,” Lily told him. “But with two jobs, I don’t have time to properly take care of children.” She didn’t tell him that not being able to make her “wife and mommy” dream come true was one of the most disappointing and heartbreaking facts of her life. The lump that formed in her throat surprised her.
And before any of them could say another word, she headed for the door. “Bye,” she called over her shoulder. “See you all later.”
Not! she tacked on as the door hissed shut behind her. At least, not if she had anything to say about it!
During the drive back to the ranch, Lily’s cell phone rang. “There’s a dog doing its best to keep from drowning in Lake Meredith,” her sister said. “I heard two small-craft pilots talking about it, listening to my CB radio. They’ve been hovering overhead for a couple minutes. Don’t know how long the poor thing has been down there. If someone doesn’t do something for it soon, one of ’em is gonna put it out of its misery—with a rifle!”
The mental picture of a dog paddling like mad to stay afloat, while sharpshooters zeroed in on it, made Lily’s heart flinch. Ordinarily, she didn’t specialize in household pets but this was hardly an ordinary circumstance. “Okay, all right, calm down before you fall down,” Lily said, making a quick U-turn on Route 40. “I’m on my way. Meanwhile, get back on that CB of yours and see if you can reach those guys. Tell the trigger-happy one to keep the safety on his weapon. I’ll be there in less than an hour.”
She’d witnessed situations like this before, and knew that unless the dog had been injured, it could stay afloat for an amazingly long time. Over the years, people had taken to calling her Snow White because of her talent for communicating with animals. She hoped the gift wo
uld help her coax this poor pup to the shore before…
Taking the exit onto Route 136 and heading north to the small town of Fritch, Lily forced the horrifying image from her mind. Lord, get me there fast, she prayed. “Say, Vi…”
“Hmm?”
“I’ve always wondered…why do you have a CB radio in your shop?”
Violet laughed. “Well, originally I got it to keep track of deliveries. If a deliveryman called to say he was stuck in traffic, I’d know within minutes if he was telling the truth or feeding me a line of baloney. Didn’t take long to weed the dishonest ones from those I could trust.”
Grinning, Lily waited for the “other” reasons.
“I realized pretty quick it’s also a great place to catch up on local gossip. And I find out when a bus-load of tourists is rolling in at Georgia’s. One quick trip to the diner, one quiet mention of all the good deals across the street at my boutique, and I have all the business I can handle ’til the bus rolls out again.”
Lily couldn’t help but smile. “So much for the ‘dumb blonde’ adage. You’re one of the savviest businesswomen I’ve ever known.”
She listened to the heavy silence for a few seconds before saying, “Vi? You there?”
“Yeah. I was just thinking about that poor dog.”
Nodding, Lily said, “Me, too. But don’t worry. I’ll do everything I can to save it.”
“’Course you will. Why do you think I called you as soon as I heard about it!”
“I only hope the mutt is wearing tags, so I can reunite him with his owner fast as I can. This whole ordeal will be traumatic enough without being separated from loved ones.”
“Well, a customer just walked in. Call me later, let me know how things turned out.”
Lily hung up, hoping that when “later” came, she wouldn’t have to tell her sister she’d been forced to take the dog home. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d taken in a lost dog or cat, and experience had taught her it wouldn’t be the last. Whether bringing the animal back to its former healthy state took months or days, every situation lasted only long enough to roust out a good family to adopt the pet. But regardless of how much or how little time and energy she invested in the creatures, Lily always experienced a period of mourning while she adjusted to life without the furry critter.
Nate Sheridan came to mind, with his big brown eyes and mop of dark curls. If she managed to save the dog and couldn’t find its owner, maybe…
Of course, that would require direct contact with Max. Lily’s heart beat double time at the mere thought. Clucking her tongue, she whispered through clenched teeth, “Get a grip, girl.” Because, really, what could happen between them in the few minutes it would take to get his permission to introduce Nate to the rescued dog?
“You’re getting way ahead of yourself, Lily.” She had no idea what kind of dog was splashing around for its life, no clue what condition it might be in by the time she reached it. A glance at her dashboard clock told her she’d been on the road less than fifteen minutes; it was nearly an hour’s drive to the entrance gate at Lake Meredith.
It dawned on her suddenly that she hadn’t asked Violet where the pilots had seen the dog. Acres of water made up this stretch of the park.
She reached for her cell phone, punched in her sister’s code. “Hey, kiddo…it’s me,” she said when her sister answered. “I didn’t think to ask earlier, but did those pilots mention where they spotted the dog?”
“I remember something about the boat dock. They thought maybe the dog had fallen off a sailboat or something.”
“But who’d go boating at this time of year?”
“I know I wouldn’t want to waste a nice day like this if I’d sunk a hundred grand into a sailboat.”
Violet made a good point, Lily admitted. The weather had been remarkably balmy for October, these past few weeks. “Did you manage to raise either of them on your CB?”
“No. We must be on a weird frequency. I’m hearing them fine, but they didn’t respond to me at all.”
Just great! Lily thought. Chances were pretty good that the sharpshooter who’d talked himself into believing he’d be doing a good deed by “putting the dog out of its misery” might actually take aim…and pull the trigger!
“Thanks, Vi. I’d better step on it. I’m still forty-five minutes away. I’ll call soon as I know something,” she said, and hung up.
“Please, God,” she said aloud, “watch over that pup. Give him the strength he needs to hang on ’til I get there.”
Maybe she should phone Georgia, so she and Nate could join in her prayer. No, the kid would get his hopes up. And knowing how much danger the dog was in would only worry him. Besides, if she didn’t reach the lake in time, his little heart would break, and for what? Lily knew only too well how much it hurt to lose an animal, any animal.
“Help me, Lord….”
What if she phoned ahead, told the rangers at the gate who she was! If she described her car and explained the urgency of her mission, they’d let her through without stopping.
Lily said a quick thank you to the Almighty for the idea and grabbed the phone again, dialed the number she’d memorized ages ago—and stomped on the gas.
Chapter Two
“Here’s our very own TV star!” Georgia said when Lily walked into the diner. “Does your dad know what got you on the evening news this time?”
“No, thankfully.” Lily plopped onto a stool at the counter and sighed. “But I’ll have to keep him away from television, at least ’til this whole ‘daring rescue’ nonsense is old news.”
Georgia clucked her tongue. “In all fairness to the reporters, from what I saw, you did risk your life to save that mutt.”
Shrugging, Lily rolled her eyes. “I borrowed a rowboat and paddled to the middle of Lake Meredith. Hardly what I’d call life-threatening.”
“Yeah. Right. Without knowing if the dog was vicious, or diseased.” She punctuated her opinion with a haughty harrumph. The redhead aimed a bony forefinger at Lily. “You can’t fool an old fool, so quit tryin’, girlie!”
Then Georgia’s brow furrowed. “How’d the soggy ol’ fleabag get out in the middle of the lake in the first place?”
Grinning, Lily shrugged again. Leave it to Georgia to put a brand-new spin on things. “Near as anyone can figure, she fell off a boat. When her leash got tangled in a buoy wire, she couldn’t get loose.” She frowned. “Guess her collar fell off in the struggle. Weird thing is, none of the boaters on the lake claimed her.”
“Maybe she didn’t fall. Maybe somebody tossed her overboard.”
Lily gasped. “Why would anyone do such a horrible thing! Especially considering she’s a beautiful, well-behaved, intelligent golden retriever.”
“Maybe she has the mange.”
“There isn’t a single solitary thing wrong with her. She’s positively perfect.”
Georgia leaned closer and whispered beside a cupped palm. “Maybe she witnessed a murder and the killer had to get rid of her so she couldn’t identify him.”
Lily laughed. “That would be pretty spectacular, even for a dog as smart as Missy.”
“Oh, ho! Don’t be so quick to judge. I read a novel where a dog could communicate by spelling stuff, using Scrabble tiles. Now that was one brilliant canine.” She narrowed her eyes. “Hey, wait just a minute. Did you call her ‘Missy’?”
Lily nodded.
“I thought she didn’t have a collar.”
Another shrug. “She didn’t. But, how she got into the lake, who owns her, her medical history—it’s all a mystery. So I called her Miss-Terry.”
“Miss-Terry, I get it,” Georgia said. “Missy for short.” Then she added, “Not the smartest move you’ve ever made.”
Lily held up one hand. “I know, I know. If I do find her family, it’ll be harder to give her up now, because I named her.” But then, it always was hard to give up an animal once she’d rehabilitated it. Eagles and hawks, lizards and snakes, fawns…it d
idn’t matter what species; Lily inevitably went through a period of mourning when her work with the animal was done.
She glanced at Georgia’s cast. “What’s this I hear about your leg not healing properly, about your needing surgery?”
“Where’d you hear that?”
“One of the park rangers is married to your doctor’s receptionist. She called on his cell phone while we were debating how to save Missy. He mentioned my name, and she wanted to know if I was the girl who used to waitress at Georgia’s Diner. I said no, that was my sister, Cammi. And she asked if he’d heard about your leg.”
Georgia stared in silence for a moment. “Well, I guess it’s true what they say.”
“Bad news travels like wildfire?”
“’Zactly.”
“So,” Lily pressed, “what does the doctor hope to accomplish with an operation?”
It was Georgia’s turn to shrug. “Oh, who knows? Robert probably wants to do it so he can pay off that fancy sports car of his.” Chuckling, she added, “Either that, or he wasn’t kidding when he said the bone isn’t knitting like it’s supposed to.” She shook her head. “Says he’ll have to put a pin or two in there, hold things in place.”
Lily patted her hand. “I’ll add you to my prayer list. That’ll get the job done.” She gave Georgia a look. “‘Robert’?”
Georgia blushed but ignored the question. “So tell me, what brings you to town? It isn’t like you to stay away from your menagerie so long.”
“Well,” Lily began, looking left and right, “I wanted to run an idea by you. If you agree, maybe I can solicit your help.”
“Oooh,” the woman said, rubbing both hands together. “Sounds like a conspiracy. Count me in!”
“Hear me out, first. You might decide it’s the worst idea since Custer took his last stand.”
“Then, time’s a-wastin’, girl. Spit it out!”
Lily told Georgia about her plan to unite the golden retriever with Nate. “Missy has such a sweet-natured temperament. If Max will allow it, she’d be great company for Nate.”