The Sugarhouse Blues Page 16

  “Ben, don’t pay any attention to her.” Des looked up. Ben was standing with his hands on his hips, staring at the closed door. “Allie has that effect on a lot of people. Now, what to do with this little girl.”

  “Not so little. She weights forty-one pounds. But the vet did say she’d been spayed.”

  “She’s underweight. She should be between fifty-five and seventy pounds.” Des stood. “I’m going to have to find a place to keep her until we can find her a permanent home.”

  She bit her bottom lip, knowing she would have to find not only a foster home, but a permanent one as well. Tough to do without a network, and she really didn’t want to approach Barney to take in another stray. While Buttons had worked out perfectly, asking to bring another dog, and a large one at that, into the house was probably pushing her luck.

  “I guess it would be too much to ask you to keep her for a while?” Des was pretty sure she knew the answer before she even asked.

  “Can’t do it. My apartment is crowded enough with the last homeless dog I was talked into taking.” Ben hastened to add, “Not that I have any regrets. I really like my dog. She’s good company. It’s nice to have someone around, especially at night, even if that someone is a dog.”

  Des nodded. Ben had lost his wife and child to a drunk driver a few years earlier, the tragic accident being made even more horrible by the fact that the driver of the car that killed them was Joe Domanski’s alcoholic father, who also died in the accident.

  “Seth has lots of room out at his place. Maybe he could take her until I can figure out what to do with her,” Des said, thinking out loud. “I’ll text him.”

  Des sent a quick message to Seth, asking if he could take another dog temporarily, then waited hopefully for Seth’s response. Des brought the dog water and a handful of Buttons’s kibble to see if she was hungry. Normally a dog that had been on the run and was so obviously undernourished would be eager to drink and to eat, but this one’s head remained down, as if afraid to go for it without permission, though her eyes were on the food in Des’s hand.

  “Here, it’s okay, baby. This is for you.” Des moved her hand closer to the dog, who finally looked up at Des with the saddest eyes she’d ever seen. “This girl was tormented. I bet some yahoo with a sick sense of humor put food out for her, then punished and bullied her for going after it. No wonder she’s underweight.”

  “I’ll never understand people.” Ben nodded thoughtfully. “There’s room in my jail for whoever mistreated her.”

  “It would be tough to prove legally, especially since we have no idea where she came from, but it’s pretty obvious that this girl’s been abused. She’s still shaking.” Des pushed the bowl of water closer but the dog still hesitated before lowering her head and drinking. “At least she’s taking water. That’s a good sign.”

  Ben waited until the dog finished, then tried to pet her, but she shied away.

  Des’s phone pinged, and she swiped the screen to read the message. “Seth said bring her out and we’ll see if she gets along with Ripley.” She looked over at Ben. “Is he the best or what?”

  “Des, I think you could ask Seth to take fifty dogs, and he’d take them in just to please you.”

  Des ignored the obvious intent and replied, “Seth’s a dog lover and he has lots of space, that’s all.”

  “If you say so.”

  “Let me get my bag and a handful of treats . . . oh wait, I have no car. Cara is the only one of us who brought her wheels.”

  “I’ll drive you out. Get your stuff and let’s go. I’m covering for one of my patrol officers at ten, though, and it’s already nine twenty, so we have to hustle.”

  “Be right back.” Des went into the house, explained to Cara where she was going, and grabbed her bag and a handful of treats.

  Between Des and Ben, they were able to coax the dog into the back seat of the car. Des sat with her, talking softly to her all the way to Seth’s farm.

  “I see Seth has one of his many manly toys out this morning,” Ben said when they pulled into the driveway at the farm. He pointed out the window. “That man loves that ride-on mower of his. I swear he cuts the grass every time it grows half an inch.”

  The mower turned back toward the drive, and as it drew near, Seth waved. Des waved back and got out of the car, taking a deep breath of air scented by freshly cut grass.

  “Hey, guys.” Seth drove the mower to the edge of the driveway, then cut the motor. He hopped off and peered into the back seat of Seth’s car. “That’s the new dog?”

  Des nodded. “I’m not sure if she’s afraid or stubborn, but she doesn’t want to come out of the car.” She turned back to the dog. “Come on, sweetie,” Des cooed. “You’re going to stay here for a little bit.”

  Seth whistled, and a moment later, Ripley dashed around the corner of the house.

  “Oh look, there’s Ripley,” Des told the dog, who was refusing to budge. “He’s going to be your new friend.”

  Tongue lolling out of the corner of his mouth, Ripley made a mad dash for Des, then stopped at the open car door when he picked up the scent of the Lab. His tail merrily wagging, he climbed halfway into the car to greet the newcomer. When the Lab turned her head away, he gently nudged her as if to say, “Hey, look at me! I’m a fun guy! Let’s play!” Finally the Lab swung her head around and whined softly.

  “She’s scared and she doesn’t know where she is or what’s happening,” Seth observed. He stood behind Des and watched his dog attempt to lure the Lab out of the car. Finally, as if resigned to her unknown fate, the dog jumped out and stood at Des’s side on the grass. Ripley did his best to make the dog play, running around her and barking, but she didn’t budge.

  “It’s okay, girl. You can play,” Des urged her. Looking up at Seth, she said, “She’s probably weak and tired, and I know she’s got to be hungry, but she seemed afraid to eat.”

  Seth watched the Lab for a moment. “I’ve got just the thing.” He turned and jogged to the house.

  Moments later he returned with a plastic container in his hands. He opened the lid and stood in front of the dog. “Chicken,” he explained to Des and Ben.

  “Good move, feeding Rip first,” Des observed, “so the Lab knows it’s okay to take it. I think you’re a natural.” She knelt next to the dog, who this time did not shrink away, though she did shake slightly with trepidation at Des’s touch.

  “Thanks. I learned everything I know from Ripley.” Seth petted his dog on the head. “And from you.”

  “Well, glad this is working out for you,” Ben said, “but I have to get back into town.”

  Des hesitated. The dog had accepted food and was beginning to let her guard down a little, but Des wasn’t sure how the Lab would react if she left so soon.

  “I’ll take you back, Des, if you want to stay with her for a while,” Seth offered.

  “Are you sure? I know you must have other things to do.”

  “Nothing that can’t wait,” he assured her.

  “Well, good. That’s settled.” Ben closed the car door that Des had left open. “Des, good luck. I hope you find a permanent home for her, but I think you need to have a plan in place if you’re going to insist on strays being brought to you instead of taken to that shelter over in Churchill.”

  “I looked into that place.” Des stood. “It’s overcrowded, the staff is poorly trained, and if an animal is not claimed in the first month, it’s euthanized. I would never take an animal there.”

  “Well, then, come up with an alternative. You can’t keep expecting Seth to bail you out every time a stray wanders into Hidden Falls.”

  “I think I can speak for myself, but thanks, bro.” Seth stepped up to the car.

  “Just pointing out the obvious, my friend,” Ben muttered. He closed the car door and started the engine.

  “He’s right, you know,” Des said as they watched Ben back out of the driveway. “I need some sort of a plan. I can’t keep looking to you every time a
stray’s picked up.”

  Seth stood with his arms crossed over his chest. “Why not?” he asked.

  “Because . . . because it’s a big responsibility. A big undertaking.”

  “Right now, it’s just one extra dog.” He nodded in the direction of the front lawn, where the Lab and Ripley were playing a somewhat subdued game of doggy tag. “And she seems to be doing okay.”

  “She’s better, but still a little unsure. See how she’s hesitating before she follows Ripley? But you’re right. Rip’s doing what we can’t do. He’s reassuring her in ways we can’t.”

  “He’s a good dog,” Seth said softly.

  “I will never be able to thank you enough for taking him,” she told him. “I honestly don’t know what I would have done with the dogs if you hadn’t taken him and bullied Ben into taking the female.” She smiled. “He finally named her, by the way. Lulu.”

  “After the Hoffmans’ Lulu, I’ll bet. Ben’s neighbors when we were growing up.” Seth grinned. “Now, there was a dog. Lulu was a Chihuahua and Jack Russell mix. Nasty little pup. The feistiest thing on four legs.”

  “I had the impression from Ben that she was a sweet dog.”

  Seth scoffed. “She had a mean streak, and you never knew when she was going to turn on you.”

  The thought crossed Des’s mind that perhaps Ben’s early dealings with his neighbor’s dog had prepared him to deal with Allie, but before she shared that with Seth, he took her arm.

  “Let’s see how the new girl does inside,” Seth said as he turned them both toward the farmhouse. “We’ll see if she’s housebroken.”

  “You’re willing to take the chance she isn’t?”

  “Sure. Only one way to know for certain. And if you’re going to try to find a home for her, that’s one of the things you should know, right?”

  “True. Still . . .”

  “I’m not worried. Let’s see how it goes.” Seth whistled for Ripley, who stopped in the midst of play, then ran to his owner. After hesitating for almost a minute, the Lab followed.

  “Good girl.” Seth opened the front door and watched the dog cross the threshold with Ripley.

  Once in the house, the Lab stayed at Des’s side.

  “Looks like you have a friend,” Seth said.

  Des had followed Seth into the living room, where he gestured for her to choose a seat. The room was a cheerful blend of the 1970s and the present. The furniture was a mixed bag of formal marble-topped side tables and a mishmash of lamps, and upholstered pieces that had hung around for a decade or two too long. A large gray-stone fireplace took up one entire corner, and over it hung a photo of what appeared to be the farm in better days, the house and the barn painted and tidy, the porch level, flower beds blooming, the fields high with corn, and the apple trees heavy with fruit.

  The windows were open on two sides and a cool breeze eased in. Des sat on the green-and-white-plaid sofa, the Lab at her feet. Seth took one of the club chairs and turned it so it faced her.

  “So now tell me,” he said. “How are you going to find a home for our new friend?”

  “I can contact the local newspaper and see if they’d like to do a feature. You know, ‘Pretty Lab retriever needs a good home, maybe yours.’ It could help. I could also talk to Doc Trainor and see if I could put some flyers up in his office.”

  Seth nodded thoughtfully.

  “What?” she asked.

  “I was just thinking. Let’s say the dog’s owner saw the newspaper article and claimed her. Could you hand her over, suspecting she’d been abused?”

  “I don’t know how I could avoid giving her back if someone could prove she was theirs.” Des bit her bottom lip. She didn’t like the odds of that happening. “We could document her condition, the fact that she’s so undernourished, but that could be explained by saying she’d been loose for a while.”

  “And the behavior she’s exhibited? How is that explained?”

  Des shook her head. “It would be their word against mine.”

  “But you are experienced with dog behavior, right?”

  “In Montana, but that means nothing out here.” Des sighed. She knew he was playing devil’s advocate, but the points he raised were legitimate.

  “The place you have in Montana keeps the dogs you can’t find homes for, right?”

  “Right,” she said. “We don’t turn any animals away.”

  “At some point, maybe you should set up a shelter like that here in Hidden Falls.”

  “It’s not that simple. I can’t establish a shelter here, then abandon it when I move back to Montana.”

  “Then you’ve already decided not to stay?” Seth asked.

  “I haven’t decided anything. I’m just saying it’s a big decision. I’ve been happy there. I’ve done good work there. I’m not sure I’m ready to walk away for good.”

  “Des, sooner or later, the theater is going to be finished. You’re going to need to decide.”

  Des frowned. “Commit or let it go, and don’t bother you anymore, is that what you mean?”

  “Yes, except for the part about bothering me.” He reached across the space that separated them and took one of her hands. “I’ll never turn you away. But at some point, the dogs might suffer. They’ll need attention beyond feeding and sheltering them. Rip and I do just fine. We might even do fine with her.” Seth nodded in the direction of the Lab. “But I don’t know how fine it would be if there were a dozen or more of them without some sort of advance plan. Right now, it’s not a problem. Hidden Falls has never been overrun with strays. I do have some room here, so if you’d come out to work with them, between the two of us, we could make it happen.”

  “You already have so much responsibility here. I’d hate to add to that,” she told him. “This morning you were the first person I thought of. Maybe I shouldn’t have . . .”

  “I want you to think of me first. Always, and for anything. I’m just saying, you need a plan. I’d be happy to work with you on one.” He gave her hand a squeeze, then dropped it and stood. “For now, let’s leave this pretty girl here with Rip, and I’ll get you back to town.”

  “You’re going to leave them here, unattended, in your house?” Des raised an eyebrow. “That’s a little risky. You don’t know if she’s housebroken, or if she has anxiety issues and will eat your furniture. Seriously, Seth. That’s a possibility.”

  Seth appeared to think that over. “I don’t know what else to do with her.”

  “What about that pen you have out back? Couldn’t she stay there for a little while?”

  “Let’s find out how she feels about confinement.” Seth called his dog, and unbidden, the Lab followed Ripley through the house and out the back door to the pen his friend had built for his litters of hounds.

  Seth unlocked the old pen and went inside, both dogs following.

  “Ripley looks like he’s going to stick with his new friend,” Des said.

  “I’ll get them a bowl of water, and we’ll see how they react once I leave.”

  The dogs didn’t seem to mind the enclosure, settling down in the shade even as Seth and Des walked away.

  “How long do you think before they start barking or howling?” Des wondered aloud.

  “That’s not something Rip would do. He’ll wait for me to come back, and that should keep the Lab calm as well.”

  “I hope you’re right.” She glanced over her shoulder as they walked away.

  “And even if they bark, who do you think they’ll disturb out here? It’s not as if I have neighbors who’d complain.”

  “Good point.”

  “Any guess how old she is?”

  “Not much more than twelve to eighteen months would be my guess. She looks really young, but the vet could give you a better estimate.”

  Seth’s pickup was in the driveway, and Des walked toward it. But after a few steps, she realized he was walking in a different direction. Puzzled, she watched him open the barn door. A moment later, she heard
a roar, and a startled Des jumped just as the motorcycle emerged, sputtering and puffing like a feisty black dragon. Seth rode it to the back porch, where he let it idle, and got off.

  “I’ll be right back,” he told Des as she walked toward him. “You’re going to need a helmet.”

  He took the steps two at time and disappeared inside the house. Des stopped five feet from the shiny black beast, which growled softly even at idle. She’d never been that close to a bike like that before, and it was a formidable sight. She walked around it, eyeing the machine as if she was unsure if it could bite.

  “Here. Try this on.” Seth came down the steps wearing a leather jacket and carrying two helmets and a second leather jacket. He handed a helmet to Des and she strapped it on. She was sure she’d have the worst helmet hair in the world, but there were worse things that could happen on a bike.

  “And you need the jacket, because if we take a fall—which is unlikely—the road burn would be excruciating.”

  “You sound as if you have personal knowledge.”

  He nodded. “Something I don’t want to repeat. You’re in luck, though, because Amy left her jacket here over the weekend.”

  She slipped on the jacket, which was, like his sister’s shirt, several sizes too large, but she zipped it and pulled the sleeves back far enough to free her hands.

  “You ever been on a bike before?” he asked as he adjusted his helmet.

  “Nope.”

  “Too much of a walk on the wild side for you?” He slid his shades onto his face, effectively covering the twinkle in his eyes.

  “Just never had the opportunity.”

  “And you’re how old?” There was no covering up the teasing grin.

  “Thirty-five.”

  Still smiling, Seth got onto the bike. “You’re going to get onto the seat behind me. Don’t worry. You’re not going to fall off, but you might feel a little more secure if you hold on to me.”

  She climbed onto the bike, slid her arms around his waist, and settled into the seat. She could feel her heart beating in her chest, but she wasn’t sure if it was due to trying something new she’d never expected to do—never really wanted to do—or her proximity to Seth’s hard-as-a-rock body.