Cowboy Take Me Away (22 page)

She hung up the phone and turned to Russell. “I have to go. Luke got a call about an abused dog.”

The minute she said Luke’s name, Russell’s mouth twisted with irritation. “Why do you have to go?”

“Because it’s my responsibility.”

She went to her bedroom, kicking off her shoes and grabbing her boots. Russell appeared at the door.

“Send Luke by himself.”

“Russell—I’m going.”

“You need to learn to delegate.”

She stood up, grabbing an elastic band from the top of her dresser and shoving her hair up into a ponytail. “I really don’t have the time to discuss my management style with you.”

“We were having a perfectly nice evening. Why are you letting Luke ruin it?”

“This isn’t about Luke ruining our evening,” Shannon said sharply. “It’s about saving an abused animal. If you think it’s anything else—”

Russell held up his palm. “No. Wait.” He exhaled. “Of course you’re right. I’m overreacting.”

She looked away.

“No. I am. I just…” He came forward and took her by the shoulders. “I just hate that our evening is being cut short like this.”

“It’s okay.”

“If I had a patient who had an emergency, of course you wouldn’t stand in my way.”

“No. I wouldn’t.”

They went back to her living room. “You be careful driving,” Russell said, opening the door. He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. “Another night?”

No. She knew now that she didn’t want another night with him. Unfortunately, now wasn’t the time to tell him. But the moment he asked her out again, she would. There was nothing really wrong with Russell. But tonight she’d finally come to the conclusion that, for her, nothing was really right, either.

“We’ll talk later,” she told him, already dreading the conversation.

The tip Luke had gotten said the place they were looking for was fifteen miles outside Rainbow Valley on a secluded state highway. He tried plugging it in to Google Maps, but that was little help. Finally they made their way to a rural property that fit the description. The house was two stories, with a paint-starved front porch and a rusted-out Thunderbird in the driveway. A dog was tied up in the front yard. Shannon turned onto the long driveway leading to the house and stopped.

“My God,” she said. “Look at that poor baby! He’s so thin. Do you see any food? Are they even giving him
water
?”

She began to inch up the driveway. The dog looked to be mostly pit bull with a few other things thrown in. The sun was nearing the horizon, but his ribs protruded so prominently Luke could see them even in the fading daylight.

“He must stay tied to that post every night,” Shannon said.

As she stopped behind the Thunderbird, a man came out of the house, the screen door slapping shut behind him. He had dark, scraggly hair, shoulders like concrete blocks, and a scowl that said visitors weren’t welcome.

“What do you intend to do?” Luke asked.

She jammed her truck in park and killed the engine. “Have a word with that guy.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“He clearly couldn’t care less about the dog. He’ll probably just let me take him.”

Maybe. But Luke still had a bad feeling about this. “No kidding, Shannon. He’s a big man. Don’t get in his face.”

But he’d messed with a dog, which flipped Shannon’s switch, which meant a confrontation of some kind was coming whether it was good for her or not. She got out of her truck and marched right up to the guy, who seemed to grow bigger and broader by the minute. Luke stepped out of the truck, getting ready to make right whatever was getting ready to go wrong.

“Is that your dog?” Shannon said.

“Who else’s would it be?”

“When’s the last time you fed him?”

“He gets plenty to eat.”

“Doesn’t look like it to me. You can’t just keep a dog on the end of a rope and not take care of him.”

“Says who?”

“Says the law.”

“He chewed up my sofa. What am I supposed to do? Let him loose in the house again?”

“Do you know the penalty for animal abuse? You could go to prison.”

“Good. I’ll be able to say hi to all my old buddies.”

Shannon must not have heard the guy’s mention of a prior stint in the Big House, because she moved even closer to him than before and raised her voice. Luke could tell she was only seconds from poking him in the chest with her forefinger. That kind of thing went over great with men whose self-images were tied up in lording their strength over weaker people. Women in particular.

Crap.

With a huff of irritation, Luke came up next to Shannon, who was going on about the advisability of messing with her, even though the guy was a head taller than she was, weighed twice as much, and had singlehandedly kept some lucky tattoo parlor in business. And he had plenty to say right back at her.

“Hey!” Luke shouted.

They both fell silent.

“Nice dog,” Luke said to the guy, nodding back over his shoulder. “I’ll give you forty bucks for him.”

The man blinked with surprise. “What?”

“You heard me. Forty bucks.”

The guy flicked his eyes over to the dog, who had settled down onto the ground and was panting like crazy. “Eighty.”

“Fifty,” Luke said.

“Seventy.”

Luke looked at the dog, then back again. “Sixty. Final offer.”

“Done.”

Luke reached into his wallet and pulled out three twenties. The guy snatched the money, went back into the house, and closed the door behind him.

Shannon’s mouth fell open. “What the
hell
did you just do?”

“Bought myself a dog.”

“Don’t you ever do that again,” Shannon said hotly.

“Do what?” Luke said, walking toward the dog. “Save you from getting knocked around by a very large, very angry man?”

She hurried along beside him. “I can take care of myself.”

“No, Shannon, you can’t. Not when he has a hundred pounds on you and picked up his attitude in prison.”

“Exactly. That guy should be in jail.”

“I agree.”

“He’ll only abuse another animal.”

“So report him. But right now, we need to get this dog out of here before the Incredible Hulk changes his mind.”

Luke knelt beside the dog, who stood up and whimpered, his ribs looking like corrugated tin. Luke pulled out his pocket knife and slashed the rope that held him, making it short enough to double as a leash. “Come on, Fluffy.”

“Wait a minute,” Shannon said as she walked beside them toward the truck. “Fluffy?
Seriously?
”

“My money. I get to name him.”

“Names generally roll right past me, but come on, Luke. That dog’s about as far from a Fluffy as a dog gets. He’s not even a long-haired dog.”

“His name’s Fluffy. Case closed.”

“You’re naming him that just to make me crazy, aren’t you?”

“Yes. I’m naming him that just to make you crazy.”

Luke grabbed a bottle of water out of the truck and poured it into his hand for the dog to drink from. Then he opened the passenger door of the truck. The dog didn’t have to be asked twice to jump in. Dogs had a pretty good survival instinct, and this one had undoubtedly decided his chances were better inside the truck than out.

Shannon yanked the truck into gear. “You’re out sixty bucks.”

“It’s only money.”

“Which you’re short on. The shelter will reimburse you.”

“Not necessary. I doubt you have a line item in the budget for animal purchase. You generally get them for nothing.”

Shannon shook her head with disbelief. “You bought a pit bull and named him Fluffy. You are
so
weird.”

Luke just smiled and gave the non-fluffy dog a pat on the shoulder. To his surprise, the dog lay down on the seat and rested his chin on Luke’s thigh. Nobody had ever accused Luke of being sappy or overemotional, but when those grateful doggy eyes turned up to meet his, he felt a funny twinge somewhere in the area of his heart.

Suddenly he knew. This was it. This was why Shannon had a look of determination permanently stamped on her face. Why she took on angry men twice her size. Why she rescued more animals than she had money to feed.

Because they looked at her like this.

He smiled to himself.
Way to go, sweetheart. Keep up the good work.

Later as Shannon left the office, she looked toward the barn and saw Luke standing at the gate leading to the back pasture, staring across the field. Fluffy sat beside him. Luke had given him food and water while Shannon filled out the intake paperwork. They’d keep him in a quarantine cage tonight, then take him to the vet tomorrow to get him checked out. Shannon hoped there was nothing wrong with him that a lot of love couldn’t cure.

Judging from the way Fluffy hugged Luke’s side, Shannon had no doubt the dog knew who had saved him, and he’d instantly given Luke his devotion. Dogs usually knew good from bad at a single sniff. If Shannon hadn’t already discovered just how good Luke really was, she’d have taken Fluffy’s word for it without question.

She walked down the path. Fluffy met her, and she scratched him behind the ears before coming up beside Luke. Dusk had almost turned to darkness. Luke glanced at her, then turned his attention back to the horses congregated in the middle of the pasture. Manny was in their midst, looking like a toy version of the horses that towered over him. She rested her arms on the gate beside Luke. “A good meal perked him right up,” Luke said, reaching down to pat the dog. “I think he’s going to be just fine.”

“I think so, too. Thanks for calling me.”

“Hope I didn’t catch you in the middle of something tonight.”

She’d practically forgotten her evening with Russell already, making her realize once and for all how wrong a relationship with him would be.

“No,” she said. “Nothing important.”

Luke just nodded. After a few more seconds of restful silence, he said, “Want to see something?”

“Sure.”

“Manny,” he said softly, then made a clucking sound with his tongue. “Hey, Manny!”

In the distance, the little horse’s head flew up. He pricked up his ears and looked in Luke’s direction. As quietly as Luke spoke, it surprised Shannon the horse could even hear his voice. After a moment, he started walking toward them.

Shannon couldn’t believe it. “He comes when you call?”

“Yep. I have something he wants.”

“That would have to be oats. Alfalfa. Strawberry cheesecake. He’ll eat anything.”

“Nope. It’s not even food.”

“Can’t be. Manny likes something better than food?”

Manny stopped near the gate. Luke swung it open and approached him. To Shannon’s surprise, he just stood there as Luke squatted down in front of him, rested his palm behind his ears, and began to scratch him there. Shannon held her breath, but to her surprise, Manny didn’t try to bite. He didn’t even flinch. Instead, his head dipped lower, then lower still, and his eyes slowly fell shut.

“I don’t believe it,” Shannon whispered.

Manny’s wariness had disappeared. He simply stood there peacefully, enjoying the touch of a human being instead of drawing away from it with apprehension. After a while Luke stopped rubbing behind his ears and stroked his face instead. Manny’s eyes opened, but instead of recoiling, he just stood there calmly, his ears in a neutral position.

Finally Luke stood up. Manny looked at him expectantly for a few moments, then turned around and walked back across the pasture toward the other horses. Luke came back through the gate and shut it behind him.

“I wouldn’t let anyone else try that just yet,” Luke said. “But it’s a start.”

Shannon shook her head with disbelief. “How did you do that?”

“You expect him to bite, and he bites. I just quit expecting him to.”

“I thought you didn’t have time to do any horse taming.”

He looked away, a tiny smile on his lips. “Turns out I was able to squeeze in a few minutes.”

The pasture was bathed in the faint light of dusk. It fell across Manny’s dappled coat in a way that masked his scars, and for a moment Shannon had a glimpse of what he might have been like if only he’d experienced from day one the kind of compassion Luke had shown him.

“He’s so calm,” she said, then fanned her gaze across the pasture. “This whole place is calm.”

“Well, that doesn’t happen very often,” Luke said.

Shannon laughed softly. Then her face faded into a gentle smile. They leaned on the fence for a long time, watching the horses. Evening became dusk, and fireflies danced in the fading light.

“What if that guy had demanded a hundred dollars?” Shannon said.

“What?”

“For Fluffy.”

“Then I’m afraid poor Fluff would have been out of luck.”

“No,” she said softly. “You’d have given it to him.”

“I didn’t have a hundred bucks on me.”

“You’d have gotten it.”

“Unlikely. I hear that ATM at the savings and loan is pretty unreliable.”

“Thank you for saving him,” Shannon said.

“You’ve saved a whole lot more of them than I have,” Luke said. “Or ever will.”

“But what if we find another Fluffy and we’re full up?”

“We’ve had a lot of adoptions lately. We’re not anywhere near full up.”

“Not now. But what about the future?”
When you’re not here?

“You’ll find a way.”

“No. There’s a limit. We could reach it someday. Too many animals, not enough money. And even when everything’s done that absolutely has to be done, I start thinking,
there are more out there.
So there’s really no end to it, is there?”

“The more stressed out you get, the less effective you are. Take it easy, and things will turn out fine.”

She nodded, knowing he was right even though it was difficult for her. “I know you think I’m just a workaholic. That work is more important to me than a personal life. But it’s more than that. They haunt me, Luke. Seriously. Helpless animals I can’t save. I could put it in the back of my mind while I was in Houston, but the moment I came back here…” She sighed softly, looking off into the distance. “I had a dream one night the whole town was full of them. They were hurt and starving, looking at me with pleading eyes, and there was nothing I could do. There were just too many of them. And every time I blinked, I saw even more.”