But then his expectations of people hadn’t ever been fair. It was why he worked better with dogs.
“I guess they’ll have no problem with Atlas coming inside with us, then.” The big dog, sitting next to her, looked up at her then at Cruz and voiced a short bark.
Dog was getting more talkative than Cruz ever remembered him being, even with Calhoun. As a rule, the military working dogs were trained to be silent most of the time. Her habit of conversing with him was changing Atlas more than Cruz had initially considered. The question would be whether Atlas reverted to a more stoic behavior pattern once he was working with another military handler.
He should if he was going back overseas.
Time spent with Lyn was nothing to regret but Cruz was more than a little worried about the impact her moving on would have…on both of them. Lyn’s caring heart had softened them. If times were peaceful, it might not be as much of a worry but they’d just been given a taste of combat conditions in a place where there shouldn’t be any. Now, more so than ever, they needed to be vigilant. “Shouldn’t be a problem.” He waited until they’d joined him before climbing the few steps to the landing of the historic bed and breakfast. “And I should be able to handle any introductions to their dogs to avoid any potential issues.”
Her gaze settled on him, one eyebrow raised in an eloquent expression.
He nodded to her. “Not saying you couldn’t, but since these bruisers know me it’ll go faster if I do it.”
Subtle tension went out of her shoulders and the corners of her lips turned up in a rueful smile. “You have a point there.”
Any animal was more responsive with a familiar person. No matter how skilled the trainer, familiarity helped things go along more quickly. He’d met a lot of people with too much pride to acknowledge this simple practicality. As if admitting it made their skill less somehow. Or because they had to prove their abilities could overcome the advantage.
Lyn could be competitive. He had no doubts there. But she’d worked alongside him, burying her pride for the common goal. It’d made it easier for him to set his own emotional baggage aside and focus on Atlas.
Tonight, though—he was going to start taking more of a lead in the situation.
Almost getting run down did that to a man.
“Hopefully, they’ve got a room open for us.” He reached out and knocked on the door.
“Will they hear that? There’s a doorbell.” She pointed.
He shrugged. “Don’t want to wake up any other guests. There’s rooms on the ground floor. The dogs will hear the knock and alert them to someone on the property.”
Sure enough, Atlas stood. His big ears swiveled forward and nose twitched as he watched the door. The big dog stood ready and alert, every line the perfect balance of tension and listening. He was waiting for the barest whisper of a command.
Lyn huffed out a soft breath. “That’ll work.”
Quiet footsteps came to the door and paused. An older man peered out the tall thin window beside the door. A moment later, the deadbolt turned and the door opened. “David Cruz? What brings you to our door tonight?”
Cruz held his hands to his sides, palms open. More for the benefit of the big dog behind the older man than the man himself. Unarmed. Nonthreatening. The breeze at his back would carry his scent inside for the German shepherd. “How are you, Thomas? We were driving up north and got tired. Thought we’d stop in for the night if you’ve got the room.”
“Always room for you or any of the boys from the kennel.” The older man nodded to Lyn. “Hello, miss. Welcome.”
Lyn gave him a shy smile. “Hello. This is Atlas.”
Atlas had eyes only for the German shepherd. Until they were introduced, neither of them would relax. David planned to get it done as soon as possible. For the meantime, he shifted enough to block direct eye contact between the two dogs.
“Don’t think I’ve ever seen David here in the company of a lady when he’s working with his dogs.” Thomas gave Cruz a significant look as the older man stepped back and opened the door wider, giving his dog a quiet command to stand down. “You remember old Brutus.”
“He’s looking good.” David stepped inside and ran his hand down Brutus’s back as the dog’s tail waved side to side once in greeting. Gray around his muzzle and eyes showed his age. He had a couple of good years in him yet, though. “You mind if I put on his lead and take him outside? I’ve got another dog to introduce him to and it’s best to do these things out on neutral territory, off your property.”
Thomas nodded, reaching for one of two leather leads hanging from a hook on the wall. “Not at all. I’ll go get Caesar. We’ll introduce ’em all at once. Kathryn will get your room ready. You’re lucky tonight. Master suite is the only room empty.”
Cruz shrugged. “Ah. Any room would be fine.”
“Maybe for you. We give hospitality to ladies here.” Thomas tipped an imaginary hat toward Lyn.
Lyn laughed. “And it’s appreciated.”
Cruz opted out of the conversation and instead spoke quietly to Brutus. Immediately responsive, the dog sat for him and turned his head to make it easy to clip the leash to his collar. “You’ve been keeping up on their training.”
“More like they’ve been keeping us up on ours.” Thomas chuckled as he stepped away. “It’s the way you and the boys changed our lives by helping us with Brutus and Caesar. Couldn’t have done it without you.”
Cruz smiled, suddenly awkward and embarrassed. It was what he did, training dogs. A job well done meant a happy owner and a content dog. It meant a dog was more likely to have a home for the rest of his days. Comfortable. Belonging.
Lyn called to him quietly. “Let’s get them all introduced and then head up for some rest. It’s been a weird night.”
Yeah. Tomorrow wasn’t going to get any more normal.
* * *
Lyn wandered around the room—suite, really—and took a moment to simply enjoy. She stayed in hotels all the time and they were most definitely not all made equal. In fact, even hotels in the same chain varied to a certain extent, depending on location. She hadn’t spent much time in bed and breakfasts or inns or even boutique hotels but seeing this place, she might need to do research to start including these in her accommodations for the future.
This room was decorated with Old World charm, overlooking a garden with a formal fountain elegantly lit for nighttime viewing. As Lyn wandered past the queen-sized bed, she ran her hands over the sheets and pillowcases. Cotton woven so fine to the touch, she couldn’t wait to get into bed. Okay, and she was a sucker for a thick down comforter, too.
Peeking into the bathroom, she bit her lip. “Hey, David?”
“Yeah.” She heard David walk into the suite and shut the door. He must’ve unleashed Atlas, too, because she heard the sound of the big dog shaking himself.
“Mind if I take a bath?” Who knew what he’d think but damn it, there was a real Jacuzzi in there. “A real bath.”
David chuckled. “As opposed to a pretend one?”
She tore her gaze from the Jacuzzi, and shot him a pointed look. “It’s been an interesting road trip. I’d be stiff from the hours in the car alone. But then we had some insanity.” She held up her hand when he was about to say something. “A lot crazier than I think I can process all at once. I’d like a long soak because I don’t know how anyone is supposed to stay loose during that kind of driving and I will be sore tomorrow. This’ll at least help it from being worse.”
A long moment of silence. “It would be good. Go for it.”
Lyn started into the bathroom and halted. Leaning back out of the bathroom she studied David. “We are safe for the night, aren’t we?”
David tipped his head to the side. “Like I told you before, I don’t have all the answers. But yeah, we should be safe tonight.”
Should be? It was one thing to go searching for pieces of a puzzle. This had all gotten exponentially more real. David’s reserved personality
was somewhat frustrating all on its own but the way he hadn’t talked to her more about what had just happened or any precautions he might be taking wasn’t helping her relax any either. She did have faith that he was taking them, but she’d appreciate being part of the decision making. Which wasn’t exactly fair because she didn’t have the knowledge or the skills to be able to help in any sort of planning for this kind of thing. It was only for her pride, really.
She should be on equal footing with him. She should be actively a part of deciding their next move. Instead, she was asking if he minded if she took a bath. Her hard-fought independent nature had evaporated at the sight of a Jacuzzi tub.
She sighed, consciously relaxing her jaw and wondering if he’d been aware of her grinding her teeth. It wasn’t good for her to think in circles and wouldn’t be constructive to talk to him about it because he’d be damned one way or the other with the way her current thought process was stuck in a loop.
She just…needed to be away from all the strong personalities for a while.
“Okay.” She looked at Atlas. “You, stay out here and be his wingman.”
Atlas dropped his jaw open and let his tongue loll out.
She stepped inside and closed the door.
David’s voice called to her. “Better lock it; he can open doors.”
She turned and responded through the closed door. “You know, this is like a scene where a velociraptor looks down at the doorknob and…”
“He can do it a couple of ways. Use a paw, use his nose. He can even spring himself from most crates on his own.” David didn’t sound serious.
Nah. None of the dogs she’d worked with had ever turned a round doorknob. Maybe if it were a handle, something for him to get a paw on and pull down—like the velociraptor did in the movie—but this wasn’t likely. She left it unlocked and turned the hot water taps to start filling the tub. It wasn’t as if David was going to come peeping.
She trusted him not to. And to be honest with herself, the thought of locking herself away from the only other friends she had in a strange place triggered a tightness in her chest. Probably a reaction to the freaky car chase. She wanted some distance from them but not actual isolation.
All the more reason to soak in a nice tub and relax, work through some of these weird nerves, and get back to steady ground.
There was a lovely wooden tray on a small table next to the tub, maybe teak? A few packets of bath salts were arranged in a glass jar, labeled with ingredients. A small handwritten card warned to read ingredients carefully in case of allergic reactions.
“Wonder how many times that’s happened,” she muttered.
“You need something?” David’s voice came through the door.
She straightened and studied the door thoughtfully. How close was he to the door if he heard her? “No. Just reading a few labels out loud.”
“Okay. Holler if you need anything.”
“Thanks.” She was guessing she wouldn’t need to raise her voice by much. He must be sitting right next to the door. Odd…
A snuffling sound came from under the door. Atlas.
She paused and thought that through. No. David wasn’t lurking by the door listening and damn, she should know better. Atlas must be by the door waiting for her and had reacted to hearing her mutter. David was a very perceptive trainer. He must’ve been watching Atlas and seen the cue.
Mystery solved and significantly less creepy. But then, David wasn’t the type of guy to do such things.
Sighing, she picked out lavender bath salts and poured the contents of the little packet into the water. Definitely not thinking straight and a good thing she hadn’t lingered out in the bedroom to talk with David like this. She felt bad enough about the way she was jumping to conclusions inside her own head. It’d be horrible if he heard her.
Turning off the water, she tested the heat before getting in. About right. And when she turned off the main light switch, the little porcelain night-light on the wall above the vanity provided just enough to see by. She undressed, leaving her clothes in a heap on the floor and stepped in carefully. She’d gather her clothes up later and hang them up to air out. Right now, she wanted to soak. Desperately.
Lowering herself into the tub slowly, she smiled. Really hard to find mid-range, reasonably priced hotels with a tub deep enough to enjoy a truly good soak. Most tubs, you could sit about waist deep or bend your knees and neck. Not exactly optimal. But here, she was settled comfortably in the deep tub with the water line right up to her shoulders. The heat immediately started to seep into her limbs. Oh, this was so good.
Inhaling the lavender-scented steam, she started to systematically tense and relax her body a part at a time. First her toes, then her feet, then her calves…and on up. Tension released in areas she hadn’t realized had been seized up. It didn’t take more than ten minutes, but the relaxation exercise helped immensely, more so in combination with the hot soak. She’d probably still be sore tomorrow but not as bad as she might’ve been.
Come to think of it, the whole night had turned out better than what could’ve been.
She’d reached for her car door handle when the other car had almost run down David. Stupid. Even if she’d have managed to get the door open it would’ve probably been too late to do any good or she might’ve hit him with it and slowed his escape. She hadn’t been thinking so much as horrified. Actually, if she’d opened her door and the car had collided with it, it could’ve hurt her pretty badly, too.
Swallowing hard, she wrapped her arms around herself.
David had been quick and avoided the danger far better than she could have. And then the drive…
At those speeds, would any of them have walked away from a crash? Atlas hadn’t been secured. He’d have bounced around the car like a ping-pong ball. Even with the seat belts, she and David could’ve been seriously hurt.
Visions of the car running off the road, flipping over and rolling, flashed through her mind. There was a chattering noise and it took her several seconds to identify the sound as her own teeth. The water around her was still warm but she was shaking all over. She’d drawn her knees up without noticing and she sat in a semi-fetal position in the tub trying to hold herself together.
But it was too late. The panic attack was in full swing. More images streamed through her mind of the dark, the bright headlights. The sounds of engines and screeching tires echoed in her ears. Her heart beat harder and she couldn’t catch her breath.
Then the sounds changed to words.
…she won’t see our faces.
There was a sharp bark.
“Lyn? You okay in there?”
But we can show her a couple other things before we leave.
She held her breasts, trying to protect them from the painful pinch. Squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to see his face. No. No. No.
Another bark, deeper, and a scratching sound.
There was a soft creak as the door was opened and Atlas was there, leaning over the tub, licking her face.
“Lyn! I’m coming in.”
She didn’t protest, glad for Atlas and relieved as she realized David was there.
David reached in and lifted her out of the tub, cradling her against his chest. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”
“S-sorry. S-sorry!” She couldn’t stop shaking, couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering.
“It’s okay. We’re here.” David carried her out of the dimly lit bathroom into the warm light of the bedroom and set her on the bed.
She wanted to cling to him, ask him not to let her go. But he was back in seconds and wrapped a soft blanket around her.
David sat next to her then, his arm open in invitation. She tipped right into his chest, burying her face in the hollow of his shoulder. He stilled for a minute. “Just this once. Over.”
She looked up in time to see Atlas jump onto the bed and give her a quiet, concerned whine. The big dog stared into her eyes for a long moment, then lay down pressed up a
gainst her other side. His heavy weight against her hip helped settle her jangling nerves.
“I love baths. I don’t know why I’m like this. I hate this.” She was babbling and she had no idea why.
His hands rubbed up and down her upper arms, warming her through the comforter. “Could be a lot of factors. These things sneak up on you.”
He was matter-of-fact about it, accepting. None of it was weird to him. She was so glad he wasn’t calling her crazy. She was a little worried that she was, in fact, losing it.
“I don’t understand what’s wrong with me.”
He kissed her forehead. “None of this is wrong. You’ve been through awful things. They’ll come back and bite you once in a while.”
She considered his words. “You get these…moments. Panic attacks?”
“Yeah. Not often. More nightmares than these, but I’ve seen it enough.” His voice turned rough. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Leaning into him, she breathed in the scent of him. He smelled like clean air and woods. “How do you make it stop?”
“You don’t.” Simple. Matter of fact. Gruff but not callous. “You figure out how to work your way through it each time it happens, but don’t try to avoid it and don’t convince yourself it won’t happen, because that’s when it’ll catch you with your pants down. Accept it. Work through it.”
It was what he did. She considered his words. Short, to the point. But not without caring. His understanding helped more than lots of talking. He’d gotten through these kinds of things. Nightmares? He woke up every day and walked out into the world and she couldn’t ever remember a moment she’d thought he was anything but capable and confident and on top of it all.
He’d shared a weakness with her and somehow, it made her ridiculously relieved to know she wasn’t alone.
David’s arm had closed around her and he used his free hand to clear strands of wet hair from her face. “Take your time and get your bearings. Look. Listen. Smell. Everything is different. You’re safe here. It’s all good.”
It was his face she looked at. His chiseled features and dark hair, his steel blue eyes. She etched it into her memory and drove away the other man’s disgusting leer with the warmth and concern of David’s expression. Here was safety, strength. This was what she wanted to remember.
Extreme Honor Page 14