by Vivian Arend
Because no way did she want Sonora heading off on her own. But no way could she leave Josiah, either. The man looked as if he was turning to granite.
Sonora nodded, then huffed in annoyance. “Then I may as well take the biggest pain in the behind with me. Ashton Stewart,” she called loudly. “You’re taking me home. Get a move on, buster. I don’t have all day.”
She patted Lisa firmly on the arm, took one more look around the barn and shook her head sadly. She adjusted her hat and headed for the door, leaving Ashton to scramble through pens until he could catch up.
Lisa turned to Josiah. “Put me to work.”
It was the worst sort of hell. As they stood in the midst of the barn, Josiah remembered all the reasons why he’d gone in for veterinary training. It was good to be able to reach down and find a healthy little pup squirming with excitement, tongue lashing out to bathe Josiah’s fingers enthusiastically.
Josiah’s job was to help make animals feel better. Not to have to save them from pain that should never have happened in the first place.
They ended up with two different teams working different sections of the barn. The healthy puppies were all sorts of ages, from newborn to weeks old and already weaned. With the bitches that were in good enough shape, Josiah made sure to move carefully, letting them sniff him and feel his gentle touch before he moved them or their puppies.
Fifty percent of the time, he could shift them into one of the blanket-lined crates that had been brought forward. Lisa would offer some of the high concentrated liquid packs—kind of like an energy drink for dogs. Meanwhile, Josiah would concentrate on the puppies, separating out the ones that were too weak to survive from those that had a fighting chance.
He passed over the healthy ones, working side-by-side with Lisa. Her soft voice wrapped around him as she spoke quietly to the animals, calming them before placing them beside their moms.
The gentleness in her tone helped him stay calm and in control as he dealt with the sorry task of easing dying pups on their way.
Inside, though, he was swearing, furious at the people who had set up this horrific situation. This wasn’t why he’d become a veterinarian. He hated putting animals down, but it was better than letting them suffer.
Every time he had to push the plunger, it was as if another rope tightened around him. He grew colder, and it was hard to breathe. So many innocent creatures were suffering because of someone’s greed and stupidity.
The chaotic noises in the barn faded as the healthy animals were carried out the door and taken to Sonora’s ranch.
The hands from Silver Stone had brought a truck, the back bed lined with a heavy tarp. They would bury the poor beasts that hadn’t made it where they could use a backhoe to dig a hole in the frozen ground.
Lisa returned from handing over the last of the puppies that would never bark again. The building was finally empty.
She settled beside him, and Josiah paused, leaning their bodies together. “You didn’t have to stay,” he said softly. “I know this was hard.”
“I’ve had to do it before,” she said, sadness clinging to her words like icicles. “Not to this degree, but everyone who grows up in the country has dealt with death at some time.”
He put an arm around her and pulled her close. They both stunk, their bodies were tight with anger and sorrow, but it had been easier because she was there. “Thank you.”
She looked up, her lashes wet with held-back tears. She didn’t say anything. Just tipped her chin briefly, swallowing hard.
They sat there for a moment, holding each other, using the wall at their backs to stay vertical.
Suddenly, a scratching noise behind them interrupted the near quiet. And then another, followed by a soft whimper.
Lisa blinked. “There’s another dog somewhere.”
She scrambled to her knees and pushed on the wooden surface at their backs. It creaked but didn’t move.
Josiah began looking as well. It didn’t take long. “Here. Hinges.”
“It doesn’t look like a door,” Lisa complained, but her gaze darted rapidly over the surface. She pointed. “There. Someone stacked those cages in front of the doorknob.”
They moved everything out of the way as quickly as possible. With all the animals gone, the sniffing and small yipping sounds clearly declared, Don’t forget about me.
Josiah grabbed a board to wedge in front of the base of the door so he could open it carefully without the animal escaping.
Turned out he didn’t have to worry, because while the scratching and barking continued, nothing rushed out to greet them.
Lisa poked her head around the corner. “Oh my God.”
She pushed past him before he could say anything. Josiah grabbed her arm to slow her, which meant they both arrived at the same moment in front of the source of the noise.
It was a cream-coloured terrier, eyes bright, ears upright. Definitely not one of the puppy-mill animals. The animal had a collar around its neck.
As Lisa knelt and held a hand forward, the little creature sat on its hind legs and tilted its head. Looking between the two of them as if waiting.
A sharp bark rang out and then silence. As if to say, Hello, could you get me out of here a whole lot faster, please?
The dog didn’t move forward, though, and that’s when Josiah saw it. “Back leg. It’s caught in something.” He placed an arm on Lisa’s shoulder to make sure she didn’t move as he inched closer. “Seems like a good-natured creature, but if it’s in pain, there’s no telling how it might react. Give me a second.”
He pulled on his thick pair of leather gloves, squatting on his haunches as he met the creature’s eyes. He glanced over its body. Ribs were a little more pronounced than they should be, but the animal was in far better shape than a lot of what they’d just dealt with.
“Boy or girl?” Lisa asked from her position at his back.
“Looks like a girl,” Josiah told her. “Hey, darlin’. Give me a chance to come help you out.”
He reached forward a hand, and the terrier sniffed it. Her stubby tail thumped a couple of times before she reached back and grabbed with her teeth at her ankle, worrying at whatever had her trapped.
Josiah slid closer, moving cautiously, but when the dog did nothing more than glance at him, then go back to work to free herself, he relaxed.
He ran a hand over her head and caught hold of her scruff. “My turn to try and get that off you.” He examined it for a minute, the terrier eyeing him but staying remarkably still. “Lisa, come closer. I need another set of hands.”
She bent around him, making soft noises. “Hey, pretty girl. What’d you get yourself into?”
“Looks like a stupid accident. That’s a mole trap.”
Lisa was pulling on her gloves. “How’d you get tangled up in this mess?” she cooed at the dog before glancing at Josiah quickly. “You got a good hold on her? Because she’s probably not going to like it when I get this off.”
Josiah stretched an arm across the terrier, pinning her against his body so that she couldn’t struggle while Lisa went to work. “I got you, little one. Hang on. Lisa’s going to help.”
It only took a moment for Lisa to detach the trap, laying it aside. “Her leg doesn’t look broken, but I’m not the vet.”
He adjusted his grip and rearranged the dog to examine her paw. Lisa took over scratching the dog’s ears and holding her for Josiah’s examination.
“Nothing’s broken, but she’s been trapped for a while. She’s been trying to gnaw herself free.” Josiah turned over the nametag on the collar. “Ollie. Okay.”
The dog wiggled, and Lisa loosened her grip enough that Ollie could adjust position and lick her back paw.
“She’s not the same breed as the others,” Lisa said.
“No. She looks like a purebred terrier, and she definitely wasn’t in here for breeding. Thank God, because I don’t think she’s more than a year old.”
“She seems well-trained for
a dog that young. She must belong to someone.” Lisa stroked a hand over Ollie’s head. She sat up, nuzzling closer until she was nearly sitting on top of Lisa and Josiah. Her tail thumped as she looked between the two of them.
“They’re a smart breed, but yes. She’s definitely someone’s pet.”
He scooped Ollie up, rising to his feet and bringing Lisa with him. “Come on. It’s time to get out of here.”
“Will you send Ollie to Sonora’s as well?” Lisa asked.
That was probably the smartest thing to do, but as he held the dog against him, and she laid her head on his biceps, it was too easy to give in to temptation. “I think I should bring her home with me. I’ll put out some inquiries to find who’s missing a purebred. She looks the type to have been on the show circuit. I’ll probably only have her for a week or so before her owners show up.”
Lisa swore softly as they walked back into the main shed, the smell barely diminished even though the animals were all removed. “I think we were in an office. I hope there’s something in there that identifies who did this. I hope they get caught and punished.”
He felt the same way, yet that was no longer where he needed to focus his energy. “Let’s do what we can to get Sonora up and running. I think she’s bitten off more than she can chew. If she can make the rescue center a reality, though, it will mean the world not just to these animals, but to the entire community.”
They were nearly at the door when Lisa smacked her hand against her forehead. “I didn’t think this through.” She turned and grimaced as their eyes met. “I sent Ashton home with Sonora on my ride. I figured I’d go home with you, but you rode as well. And we have Ollie to deal with.”
He grabbed an additional blanket left by one of the Silver Stone hands, then wrapped Ollie up tightly. “We’ll make it. Do up your coat,” he ordered. “It’s going to be cold out there.”
He waited until she was bundled up then passed over the swaddled dog. Ollie took complete advantage and slid her tongue along Lisa’s face from jaw to forehead.
Lisa turned her face away, laughing as she made a sound of disgust. “No. No kisses,” she said firmly.
“Damn. That’s not what I wanted to hear.” Josiah put an arm around her shoulders and guided her outside.
“I didn’t expect you to be able to tease,” Lisa said.
“There are moments when if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry,” Josiah admitted. “Come on. There’s room for all of us on my horse.”
8
Lisa climbed into the saddle. Josiah handed up Ollie, then mounted behind her.
They didn’t talk much during the first part of the ride to his place. Both of them were lost in their own thoughts, she guessed. The terrible situation they’d had to deal with wasn’t something she wanted to spend a lot more time talking about, either.
In her arms, Ollie wiggled until the blanket was free from her head, the little dog glancing around with curiosity before resting her chin on Lisa’s arm. Her position created the perfect vantage point to be able to stare at both her and Josiah.
Ollie took a deep breath and let it out. A perfect puppy sigh.
Josiah chuckled softly, one hand coming off the reins to tease a finger between the dog’s ears. “She’s a cutie.”
“Good-natured too,” Lisa pointed out. “Her back leg has got to be hurting, but she’s not fussing at all.”
“Sadly, she might not have a lot of energy left to fuss. But we’ll get it fixed up when we get home.” He turned down a side path Lisa hadn’t taken before. “I’ve got enough stuff at the house. I can patch her up, no problem.”
Lisa watched as they headed cross-country, cutting behind the hillside and toward the river. “You do know a secret route. Either that, or we’re going to be swimming in a minute.”
“Very secret. It travels through the Haunted Woods, though. You might have to hold on tight.”
She twisted to examine his face. His comment had to have something to do with his dramatic background. “Haunted Woods? As in Anne of Green Gables?”
“It’s a classic.”
“Tell me you’ve played Gilbert and some young woman got to hit you over the head with a school slate.”
His face twisted before his smile returned. “Never Gilbert, but one time I was the stand-in for Diana. It was my crowning glory.”
Oh my God. She grinned, then felt terrible for being amused considering what they’d just dealt with.
“Hey. None of that,” he ordered. “It’s okay to smile.”
“Are you reading my mind?”
“Possibly, but only because the expression on your face is familiar. It’s pretty much what I feel in my gut.” He adjusted his grip, pulling her closer to rest his chin on her shoulder. “Whenever I have to deal with death, whether it’s a tragedy on the job or having to put an animal down at the end of a long life, this happens. An incredible sadness sinks in, for good reason. Then something will come along that makes me laugh, and I’ll feel like shit, at least until I remember staying sad and unhappy isn’t healthy. And it sure the hell isn’t what a good friend like a dog, or a cat, or whatever animal that’s been a part of your family for years would want.”
Ollie’s eyes were closed. Her breathing even. Perfectly content, it seemed.
Josiah continued. “Do you really think something we call ‘man’s best friend’ would want us to spend even a single day crying? Heck, most dogs would be jumping over themselves to try and put a smile on your face. They’d want you to be thinking about all the fun times you’d had together.”
He was right. “We had an old dog at Whiskey Creek ranch. We called him Grampa because every time a new litter, cats or dogs arrived, he would end up in the middle of them. Sniffing and giving them a tongue bath if he had half a chance. Any time we lost one of them, he would come and put his head on your knee and look real sad for a while. But then he’d go off and find one of his ‘grandkids’ to pin them down and clean them up whether they wanted it or not.”
Another laugh escaped Josiah, this one a little brighter. A little hardier, as though he was giving himself permission and in doing so, proving he meant what he said. It was okay to feel joy. “Yeah, that’s dogs.”
“Cats, however…” She felt the rumble of laughter in his chest this time, deep and intense. “You know their minds work completely different.”
“True. Cats would prefer for us to set up effigies to them and spend the rest of our lives worshiping their memory. Probably how those Egyptian beliefs started in the first place.”
They were in the middle of a nearly overgrown path, the tree branches connecting over their heads in a perfect arch.
Lisa glanced up, looking around in amazement. Under the horse’s hooves, the ground was nearly free of snow because the trees were so thick overhead. The dry brown grass poked through a few inches of ground cover instead of the feet that lay everywhere else. “Is this the Haunted Wood?”
“It is. And up ahead there’s a Lake of Shining Water.” This time he paused as she laughed softly. “I can’t take credit for all the names. My sisters were up here shortly after I bought the place, and they had a heyday naming everything in sight. I think they drew a map—it’s probably up in the great room.”
They fell quiet again as the trees opened up. The trail grew steeper, cutting behind the mountainside, with the huge rise of the Rocky Mountains on the right-hand side. It was beautiful and Lisa stared, secure with Josiah’s arms around her.
“Before Sonora contacted me, I had sent you a message. I wanted to get together with you today.” Kind of a shitty date, yet at the same time, she was glad that she’d been there to help.
“We’ll just consider this the start of our date,” he said. “By the way, I got a message from you, and Caleb, and Tamara. Any idea what was going on?”
Oops. “I might have suggested a slight challenge.”
“Aha. The infamous Lisa-betting-spree continues.” His house was quickly approaching, and he headed to
ward the barns.
“I don’t make that many bets.”
“How about Kelli demanding payment just a week ago? Or the fact Caleb complained you got money out of him for being clueless about one of his brothers falling in love?” He brushed his cheek against hers, humming gently. “People talk to me, darlin’. I hear all sorts of things.”
He stopped beside the barn doors, sliding them open. Lisa guided the horse forward using her knees. Once inside, Josiah took Ollie from her, then Lisa slid to the ground.
Josiah sent her off to the house. “I want to take care of Ollie’s paw and feed her. There’s no reason you have to stay and plenty of reasons for you to go hop in the shower.”
They both sniffed involuntarily.
Lisa nodded briskly. “If you’re sure. I don’t mind helping.”
He pointed at the door. “Use the shower in my bedroom. There are clean clothes in the dresser. Bottom drawer has some stuff that my sisters left behind once, if any of it fits you.” He paused. “Or if you want, you can use my truck and go home. I shouldn’t be too bold and assume.”
Lisa looked him over, slow and steady. “I’m just fine hopping in your shower. If it’s not too bold, I’m fine with you joining me once you’re finished here.”
His cheeks flushed before he turned away, talking to Ollie in that sweet, even tone.
She was still grinning as she made her way into the main house to ditch her boots in the mudroom. It only took a second to strip down to nothing and leave her clothes in a somewhat orderly pile next to them. No way was she putting any of those things back on until they’d been thoroughly sterilized.
Naked, she walked quickly through the living space to the bedroom hallway. She slowed once she was in the master bedroom and then she was too cold to take more than a brief glimpse around the room. It was neat and tidy, with lots of blues and browns, but the space she was currently interested in lay to the west.