“I have a very serious problem to bring to your attention. My neighbor’s poor dog barks all night long. His cruel owners leave him outdoors every night. Now, other than giving them a stern talking-to, shouldn’t there be a law against this, gosh durnit?”
Ryan didn’t seem to mind the complaint. Instead, he moved to the side to have a conversation with Mrs. Richardson. A rather one-sided conversation, as he mostly nodded in places. Did residents bother him like this about every little thing?
As it happened, Zoey agreed with Mrs. Richardson, but on the other hand, some of her customers were whispering that there was a firebug in town. An arsonist setting fires way too close to wildfire season. Poor Ryan probably had a whole lot on his plate, although some of it might seem like a nuisance to law enforcement. She guessed this was what he got for working in their small town. But everyone clearly adored Ryan. The entire town had thrown him a parade when got home from Iraq. All Zoey remembered about that day was Ryan looking miserable and Jill next to him, his cheerleader, smiling and waving from the antique car.
Zoey didn’t know too much about how Ryan had made the decision to come back to Fortune a few years ago. Jill said their parents had begged him to relocate closer to them, but in the end it was the need for a new sheriff that got him back to the south Bay Area. He’d won the election in a landslide. Zoey guessed that was in large part to the fact that he was literally their hometown hero.
She rang up a few sales and glanced at her phone. No calls, texts or messages. If she had to hang on to one of the puppies an extra day, she wouldn’t mind at all. Maybe she could get Ryan to come over and help her...
Her store phone rang. “Pimp Your Pet. How can I help you?”
“Hi, Zoey. I got your message.” It was Yvonne Cruz, who had asked a year ago to be matched with the perfect puppy.
“Your forever pet is waiting for you,” Zoey said.
“About that. I can’t. I’m sorry.”
“What? Why?”
Sometimes it happened. People got tired of waiting and went elsewhere. She couldn’t blame them.
“We’re pregnant,” Yvonne gushed. “And right now the thought of a puppy is just too overwhelming. I feel like I wouldn’t be able to give it as much attention as he deserves.”
This was exactly why Zoey screened her adoptive parents carefully. Yvonne would have been a responsible pet owner. Too bad.
“I understand.” She hung up with Yvonne, grateful she’d been honest.
Zoey had another idea. Maybe Jill would take a puppy, even though she and Sam were living in a trailer on Wildfire Ridge while they built their dream home nearby. But they already had Shakira the rabbit and Fubar their dog in tight quarters. Maybe Carly, her other best friend...
“I’m here! Where’s my baby? Let me see!”
Mrs. Smith, a widow who had patiently waited a year for Zoey to find her the right puppy, walked inside.
“Perfect!” Zoey sang out. “Come see who we have here.”
Mrs. Smith got to immediately snuggling with Bear, who really was a pushy little guy.
Done with his resident outreach, Ryan came back and picked up Patches for a cuddle. “I’m kind of fond of this one.”
“You get to choose,” Zoey said to Mrs. Smith. “And then you get to pick out a bed, food, collar and leash, all paid for by Pimp Your Pet.”
“That’s so generous of you.” Mrs. Smith smiled and gazed at Zoey from behind her lowered glasses. “All from the same litter?
“Guessing that,” Ryan said, as Patches licked his face. “Found them on the side of the road.”
“Who would do such a thing?” Mrs. Smith said.
Zoey would have to guess a monster, but she didn’t answer because she was watching Patches nestle in Ryan’s arms. It was possibly the most attractive sight she’d ever seen in her life.
“Actually,” Zoey said. “They’re both available now. The other person can no longer take a puppy.”
Ryan quirked a brow. She wished he didn’t live in an apartment. Would it be crazy...no. He had too much to do without adding a puppy to the mix. But she trusted him to be a good pet owner. Watching him with the puppies she’d seen his tender side and it clearly ran deep.
“Actually,” Mrs. Smith said. “If you think it’s alright, I hate to separate them. They’ve been together all of their short lives.”
“You would take both of them?”
It would be ideal, but most owners weren’t ready for two. Zoey had always disliked the idea of separating siblings. As an only child, she’d never understood her friends complaining about their brothers and sisters. It would have been wonderful to have a built-in friend. A protector and cheerleader.
“I certainly have the room. And now I have the time, too.” Mr. Smith had been gone for a year. She put Bear down and took Patches from Ryan. “Aren’t you precious?”
Within a few minutes, Zoey had helped Mrs. Smith choose everything she would need, including a big box of training pads. It was a few hundred dollars’ worth of merchandise and if Tio and Tia knew she did this occasionally, they wouldn’t be too happy. But somehow Zoey always managed to make it up in sales. The happy new owners spread the word about the friendly pet store in town. Word of mouth was powerful and her best marketing tool.
Ryan helped carry out the boxes to Mrs. Smith’s car while Zoey watched from inside, waving. Another doggy match made in heaven. Why did she feel like crying? She bit her lower lip till it felt like it might bleed, but it was no use. It only took Ryan walking back in the store, his furrowed brow questioning, to have her dangerously close to overflowing.
“What’s wrong?” When she didn’t answer, he lowered his head and peered from under long lashes. “You’re going to miss them.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Stupid emotions. Her resolution earlier this year was to be tougher and not so softhearted. So far it wasn’t going well.
She wasn’t pathetic.
No way.
But she had to be tougher.
“Hey.” Ryan drew her into his arms. “Aw, Zoey.”
She wound up pressed against his hard chest, trying to hold the tears back. And, oh my lord, he smelled so good. He felt even better, his arms strong and tightening his hold around her waist. A heat spread through her, wrapping around the backs of her knees and weakening them till they felt like dust. Suddenly she forgot to cry because she was distracted by another more intense emotion. Attraction, pure and simple. No longer a simple crush on a good-looking man. She didn’t want to recognize that feeling, but there it was. Lust. Need and desire. Also a hefty amount of tenderness and affection for him. For the way he’d saved the puppies and loved on them even for a short time. For the way he was oblivious to the women who fawned over him.
She pulled back, her fingers skimming up his long-sleeved white button-up, feeling steely biceps just to touch him one last time. “I’m okay.”
With one finger, he tipped her chin up. “Don’t make me sorry I brought you the puppies.”
“No, of course not. I knew I had to let them go. It’s just...tough to say goodbye.”
“Especially for a soft touch like you.”
Yeah, that was her. Soft. But she didn’t want to be anymore. She was tired of that Zoey and now wanted to be stronger and not just when it came to animals. The new and improved Zoey should have told the mean mother not to wrench her daughter’s arm the way she had. Not to speak in a voice that scared animals and children. Should have told her that parents, especially mothers, should protect their children. Not feed them to the wolves.
The door chimed again and who should it be but the return of Mean Mom. Her gaze slid down Ryan’s body as he continued to hold Zoey without moving, and her upper lip curled.
“I forgot the cat food.”
Zoey pulled out of his arms, gui
lty she’d given Mean Mom the wrong impression. It wouldn’t be fair to Ryan, even though she hoped he wouldn’t be attracted to this woman. Still, there was no accounting for taste.
“This weekend.” Ryan pointed as he backed up to the door.
“This weekend?”
“I’ll pick you up and we’ll go check out a local breeder. Pay them a visit.”
“You think they took Boo?”
It hadn’t even occurred to her. There used to be a few breeders in town, but there was only one breeder left that she knew about. Backyard breeders raised purebreds and sold them for fifteen hundred a puppy or more. Zoey was a huge Adopt, Don’t Shop advocate but not everyone in town was willing to wait for the right match.
“No, but I checked out all the people who’d wanted to adopt Boo and been turned down. Nothing.” He squinted just before he slipped the shades back on. “I know this is a long shot, but maybe they’ve heard something. Kind of running out of options.”
“I see.” Zoey wanted to cry all over again. This time for Boo. Would she ever see the big guy again? “Thank you for trying.”
“Hey, I haven’t given up yet. We’ll try this. If nothing else, we might get a lead.”
A lead. Well, this sounded like detective work. But she figured, as a small-town sheriff, he’d prefer this to some of the other petty stuff he occasionally had to handle. Last week she’d heard Mr. Boris took scissors to Mr. Olaff’s lawn, claiming it wasn’t perfectly even. Mr. Olaff then took scissors to Mr. Boris’s lawn. Mr. Boris called 911.
“Better go check in with Fred at the auto repair. He wants to make sure we’re doing everything we can to catch the person who started the fire in your dumpster.” He took a step forward. “You didn’t see anything that day, did you? Anyone suspicious hanging around outside?”
But that was the day she’d lost Boo. The day Ryan had shown up to help. The day she’d had a delivery of messed-up dog tees and skin cream from her mother.
She wouldn’t have noticed if the Unabomber had been loitering.
* * *
“It’s one of the skateboarders, I’m telling you!” Fred shook his finger. “I’ve been in this same spot for thirty years and change, and all I can say is every year it gets worse. Littering, even with a dumpster nearby, smoking, god knows what else. I saw that no-good kid, Ethan Larsen, hanging out by the dumpster, pants almost down to his ankles for the love of Pete. Right before the fire.”
Ethan was one of the kids Ryan worked with at the Boys and Girls Club. He had been having a tough time since his mother got remarried to a city councilman. Ryan had been trying to reach out to Ethan with small steps but he hadn’t gotten very far.
“You sure it was Ethan?” Ryan pressed.
“Absolutely.”
“Was he alone?”
“Alone?” Fred scratched his chin. “I think so. Either that or with his best friend.”
So much for being absolutely sure. Ethan had no best friends. “What friend?”
“Do I have to do all your work for you?” Fred scowled.
“Thanks for your help, Fred.” Ryan nodded and headed out the door.
He’d talked to every shop owner in the strip mall. Not one other person had seen Ethan in the vicinity, which made Fred’s ID increasingly suspect. Ethan was a troubled kid. He’d done a bang-up job of winning friends and influencing people when he tagged the wooden fence on the outskirts of Fortune with a marijuana-plant design. He was a classic teenage vandal, but he didn’t strike Ryan as fitting the profile of a pyromaniac.
There were four to five different types of arsonists, and though the most common was arson to cover up a crime there were also pyros who simply got off on setting fires. And the great majority in that category were young Caucasian males. They were of below average to average intelligence, often with difficult home lives. All of which described Ethan, but that didn’t mean he was the perp.
Still, he’d keep his eyes open and talk to Ethan next time he saw him.
Chapter 6
“For the last time, I’m not going to ask him,” Zoey said into the phone.
“But I already did and he’s free,” Jill said.
“Oh no, you didn’t!”
“I didn’t ask Ryan to take you to the party. I just mentioned there was one and wondered by chance if he had any plans. He said he didn’t.”
Zoey broke out in a sweat. “You are so not helping.”
“Look, if you’re already going to spend the day together—”
“Looking for Boo!”
“I’m just saying, if there’s a lull in the conversation somewhere, you might mention it.”
Zoey understood why Jill kept pressing the issue. As a best friend, she was simply doing her duty to get Zoey a passable date and Ryan was more than passable. But Zoey’s sense of pride meant she didn’t want him going with her as a favor. She could get her own date. Or not.
“I just don’t see the big deal. It would be like going to the party with your big brother,” Jill went on.
Zoey couldn’t entirely blame Jill for being so clueless. Zoey wanted a date with Ryan to be nothing like going out with a big brother. But Jill had been tied up with Mr. Hot Marine for the past two months. Pretty much oblivious to the world. And to be fair, Zoey had never shared her huge attraction to Ryan with Jill.
“Okay. I said I’d think about it.”
Zoey hung up with Jill then let the pets out, went through the morning feeding, had her coffee, took a shower and dressed in her coverall denim shorts, pairing them with a short-sleeved tee. She braided her hair so it would be out of her face and wore her reliable Chucks for ease of walking. They’d probably be doing a lot of that today. While she waited for Ryan, she recited over and over the reasons she shouldn’t be nervous.
1. I’m not asking him to the anniversary party.
2. He’s obviously not interested in me.
3. We might actually find Boo today.
That last one filled her with hope. Maybe tonight she’d be feeding Boo and watching as he and Corky silently judged Indie and Bella for hopping up on Zoey’s bed.
When Ryan arrived in his Jeep, dressed casually in jeans that weren’t too tight but nevertheless accentuated his great butt, Zoey was primed for him.
She’d psyched herself up to the point where she seriously didn’t care that his T-shirt had short sleeves that strained against impressive biceps. Paid zero attention to the sexy tribal tattoo that wound around one biceps. Also she was completely unaffected by his opening the passenger door for her like a gentleman, and of the fact that if Tio Raul were watching he’d probably award Ryan a second medal of honor.
Yes, Tio and Tia already adored Ryan. Who didn’t? He was kind of perfect but in that careless way that made Zoey sense he didn’t really try. So as he drove them to the outskirts of Fortune and the few farms left in the area, she concentrated on paying no attention to the fact that the wind coming through his rolled-down window whipped through his hair and gave him a tousled, just-rolled-out-of-bed look.
Yep, she paid no attention at all.
Chapter 7
Ryan pulled on to Monterey Street and glanced at Zoey sitting next to him. She was dressed down as usual, in her short coveralls and Chucks. It was almost as if she worked hard to look plain.
It didn’t work. Because Zoey Castillo could never quite accomplish fading into the background. At least, he’d never thought so. The dark-haired, dark-eyed beauty was the kind of woman who he imagined wouldn’t look any different the night before than she did waking up in the morning next to her lover.
Her lover. Well, there was a word he didn’t ever associate with any of his sister’s friends. There was a first time for everything.
“I didn’t call ahead, so Max is not expecting us.”
“Are they still breeding Great Danes?”
�
�And goldens. Unfortunately I heard a rumor that they might be overbreeding.” He cleared his throat. “What’s new with you?”
“Nothing other than this kidnapping case.”
Fail number one.
She wouldn’t be volunteering any information on the anniversary party. But Jill had dropped mention of the party in passing.
While it was true that he was a great casual “big brother” date, he also wanted to spend more time with Zoey, and their case was coming to an end. If they had no leads today, he’d run out of options. She would simply have to wait and hope that the person or persons regretted their decision and returned Boo. Or somehow got caught.
And though Jill had warned that he shouldn’t start anything up with Zoey unless he was ready to, in her words, “put a ring on it,” Jill had encouraged him to ask Zoey about the party. He’d promised to think about it.
But hell no, he wasn’t ready to put a ring on anyone. He was soured on the idea of marriage, even if he admired those who got it right. His father the doctor and his mother the scientist had been married for thirty-five years and rarely been apart. They set the bar high, as they tended to do with everything. He’d been born into an overachieving, goal-oriented family and he was no different.
But not long ago, Ryan had come to a realization. Falling in love was not something he could achieve or earn. True love should be given freely and without conditions. And so far, in his case, it seemed to be MIA.
Jill seemed to be on the right track, for which he was grateful. Sam was a good man, a former marine. He would take care of Jill or die trying. One less thing for Ryan to worry about.
“We haven’t really had a chance to talk since the Christmas party at Carly and Levi’s,” Ryan said.
“I’ve been busy with the store and stuff.”
“Your aunt and uncle are having an anniversary, I hear.”
“Um, yeah. Forty years, can you believe it?”
“You got a date for that yet?”
“What?” She turned to face him.
Home for a Hero Page 5