Summer Rose (16 page)

Rose refilled their cups. “But animals don’t go to college or get into trouble.”

“But they’re as much like kids as the real thing. Don’t know of any that go to college, but they need tending every day, feeding, watering, medical attention, loving. And they do get into trouble every now and again.” Granny grinned and winked at her.

Setting the coffee carafe aside, Rose hid her smile. She knew Granny Jo was thinking about Rosebud chasing George.

“Granny, what can we do about George?”

The older woman’s eyebrows rose in unison. “Changing the subject?”

Her cheeks heated. Rose nodded.

The older woman sipped her coffee, and then set the cup on the table and picked up a muffin. “Well, that’s been a problem we in Carson have been asking ever since we elected him to office. Mind you, I didn’t vote for him. I knew right off he was a horse’s backside, but he managed to hornswoggle the rest of the folks or at least enough for him to win. Unfortunately, we’re stuck with him until elections come around in a few months.” She stripped the muffin’s paper cup off and set it aside, took a bite and chewed thoughtfully then swallowed. “But I don’t suppose that’s what you meant.”

“No, I was referring to him trying to close down the animal refuge.”

“Honey, he has to get that notion past the town council first.”

Rose wished she had as much faith in the town as Granny did. “Even after what happened yesterday?”

Granny stood and retrieved the empty basket. “Especially after yesterday. Don’t sell the people of Carson short. They’ll do the right thing.” She headed for the door. “Now, I’ve taken enough of your time. But just remember that problems very often have a way of sorting themselves out without our interference. Then there’s some,” she said, pointing to Rose’s tummy, “that needs a nudge in the right direction.” She cupped Rose’s cheek. “Tell him, child. You may be surprised at his reaction.”

Rose stood in the doorway and watched Granny drive away. Was she right? Should she just tell Hunter about the twins and hope for the best? Whatever she decided, she was not about to burden him with another problem until the George thing was solved. Hopefully, that would be sooner rather than later.

Several days later,
the sound of several trucks coming up the driveway startled Rose.

At the unusual sound of truck motors in the parking lot, Hunter came out of the backroom.

“Do we have a feed delivery due?” He passed a puzzled-looking Rose on his way to the front door.

She followed quickly behind him. “No. We just got one a few days ago.”

Just outside the front door, Hunter came up so short that he felt Rose stop her forward motion by bracing her hands against his back. He stared at the sight in the parking lot. “What the—”

Two trucks, parked one behind the other, had just come to a halt in front of the wild animal rehab building. One, a small pickup with a cap on the back, had a large green circle with the picture of a wolf in the center painted on the driver’s door. Encircling the wolf’s head were the words:
West Virginia Wolf Preservation Project
. The other, a much larger pickup pulling a closed-in box trailer had a sign on it reading
Monongahela Wildlife Refuge.

At that moment, Sheriff Ainsley pulled up in his patrol car, got out and spoke to the two men, then pointed toward the building that housed the wild animals. As Hunter watched the men head for the wild animal rehab building, a hard knot of dread began to form in his gut.

Ainsley followed their progress for a moment, then turned and strode purposefully toward Hunter and Rose. He carried a white sheet of paper. Hunter’s heart sunk. He had an awful feeling he knew exactly what that paper meant.

Ainsley removed his hat and nodded a silent greeting.

“Sheriff, what’s going on?” A totally unnecessary question. In his heart, Hunter already knew the answer. George had gotten to the town council, and Hunter was about to reap the whirlwind of the open house fiasco.

‘Doc, I’m as sorry as I can be about this . . .” He held out the paper.

Hunter stared down at it, unable to reach for it. He knew when he did that his fears would be proven right.

“It’s a court order to remove the wild animals, Doc.” Ainsley lowered his voice and leaned closer to Hunter. “I hear that the mayor has been working on the town council for the last few days and convinced them that the animals had to go. If you ask me, it should be the other way around. Lord only knows how he did it, seeing as how they all had such a good time at your open house and . . .” The words trailed off, and Ainsley looked a bit embarrassed as though he suddenly realized he’d been babbling to fill the awkward silence.

Rose took the paper and read it. Her face confirmed Hunter’s worst fears. “He can’t do this . . . can he?”

“’Fraid so, ma’am. He’s the mayor and . . . Well, the judge signed off on it, and I got no choice but to serve the doc here and make sure he complies.”

Rose grabbed Hunter’s arm. “We can take him to court and get it reversed.”

Hunter turned to look into her tear-filled eyes. Rose never ceased to amaze him with her unshakable belief that they could beat George at his own game. Unfortunately, that was looking less and less likely. This time the mayor had the law on his side, and Hunter’s hands were tied. “I wish I could, but I can’t afford the kind of money it would take to get a lawyer and fight this, Rose. I’m afraid we have no choice but to let them take the animals.”

Before he could say more, a man emerged from the animal rehab building and called to them. “Hey, there’s a kid in the cage with the wolf, and he won’t let me take her. Can somebody reason with him?”

Together, Hunter and Rose whispered, “Davy!” Then they ran toward the building.

The man from the wolf preservation project followed them inside. “I explained why I was here to the kid, but when I try to remove the wolf, he yells, and then she bares her teeth.”

“Don’t let them take Sadie, Doc, please!” Davy’s tear-stained face peered at Hunter over Sadie’s shaggy back, his arms wrapped firmly around the animal’s neck. The wolf’s yellow-eyed gaze never left the people standing around her cage.

“Davy trusts me. Let me talk to him.”

Hunter grasped her arm. She smiled at him. “I have to try.” He studied her for a moment, then nodded and let her go.

Rose moved closer to the cage. Sadie’s top lip curled up, and she emitted a deep-throated snarl. Rose paused and waited.

“It’s okay, Sadie. It’s Miss Rose. She’s our friend.” The wolf quieted, but kept her large, gray body stationed solidly between anyone outside the cage and Davy. A pair of wary eyes rested on Rose.

Rose squatted near the cage. “Davy, this man is from the wolf preservation project. He’s not going to hurt Sadie. He just wants to take her to live with the other wild animals, where she’ll be able to be with her own kind.”

“No.” Davy tightened his hold on the wolf’s neck. “She’s not wild. If she was, I couldn’t be in her cage with her. And she doesn’t need to go there. She likes it here with me and you and the doc.”

Realizing this was going to take a while, Rose sat cross-legged on the floor beside the cage. She leaned forward. Sadie emitted another throaty growl.

“Shhh,” Davy said, running his hand over the wolf’s flank. “It’s okay.”

Rose’s heart went out to the boy. Sadie had become like his pet dog, and separating him from her would devastate him. Rose blinked away the tears threatening to fall and then swallowed back the emotional lump gathering in her throat.

“Davy, they’ll take really good care of Sadie. She’ll be able to find a boy wolf, and they’ll make babies together and have a real family.”

“No, I’m her family.”

Rose shook her head. This was tearing at her insides. “No, not really. Only other wolves can be Sadie’s real family. You’re her friend. Her very best friend, but she needs other wolves to have a real family.”

“Rose,” Hunter called across the room. “It’s time.”

Rose waved him off with a swipe of her hand.

“Okay. Here’s the thing, Davy.” She paused, hating to use this argument, but seeing no other way to persuade him to let the man take Sadie. “A judge says that Doc has to let them take all the wild animals. If he doesn’t . . . if you don’t let them take Sadie, Doc will go to jail. You don’t want him to be locked up in a cage, do you?”

Davy shook his head. Fresh tears cascaded down his cheeks. “No. But I don’t want them to take Sadie either.”

“I know, sweetheart, but you’re gonna have to. And besides, if you let Sadie go with this man, she’ll be able to run through the forests instead of being locked up in this cage all the time. It’s not fair to her to keep her here when she could be free, is it?”

Davy said nothing, but she could see, by the deep frown lines in his forehead, that he was considering what she’d said.

She wanted to cry or scream or something. Anything that would stop this and make it all go away—make Davy smile again and take the slump from Hunter’s shoulders.

God, this is just so wrong. What in Heaven’s name is George thinking by sending these men here? Doesn’t he care about his son at all? Davy loves that animal so very much, and it’s obvious that the wolf loves him. Separating them is just beyond unfair. It borders on criminal.

Finally, the boy spoke, his tone low and accusing. “My dad did this, didn’t he? Just ‘cause Rosebud chased him around the yard?” His voice, though still choked with tears, had grown angry.

Rose didn’t answer. How could she? Whatever else George was, he was still Davy’s father. She didn’t have to answer. Davy wasn’t stupid. He knew who to blame.

“I hate him!” Davy screamed. “I hate him!”

Even the wolf sensed something was terribly wrong. Following Davy’s outburst, Sadie threw back her head and howled the most mournful howl Rose had ever heard from her. The sound washed right through her, making her shiver with the intensity of sadness it held.

Rose didn’t try to argue with Davy. At this very moment, he probably did hate his father. Nothing would make him feel differently. She sighed. What more could she say to persuade him to let Sadie go? She’d used up all her arguments.

Hunter had come to stand beside Rose. “Davy, bring Sadie out of the cage,” he said, his tone gentle, but firm. “She has to go now.”

The boy glanced at Hunter. “But, Doc—”

“Now, Davy. Please. For me.”

Reading his resignation in the sudden slump of the boy’s slim shoulders and the anguish in his face, Rose fought back her tears. “Davy, you need to do as Doc says.”

After wiping his nose on the sleeve of his shirt, Davy sniffed and stood. “Can I take her to the truck?”

Rose looked over her shoulder at the man from the preserve. “Can he?’

The man stared at the boy and the wolf. “Take this to tie around her neck.” He held out a rope with a loop in the end.

Rose smiled and shook her head. “He doesn’t need a rope.”

Still the man hesitated to give his permission. “You sure?”

“As sure as I am that the sun will come up tomorrow.”

He hesitated for a moment longer, and then nodded his okay.

She turned back to Davy. “Yes, you can take her.”

The boy stood and threw is arm over Sadie’s back. “Come on girl.” Together they left the cage.

Everyone stood back while Davy led the big wolf from the cage, his hand resting on the scruff of her neck. Davy looked too small and too skinny to have such control over a full-grown timber wolf, but Sadie walked docilely beside him like a well-trained dog.

The man from the preservation project watched openmouthed and shook his head. “I don’t believe this.”

Rose had a flashback to the first time she saw Davy in the cage with Sadie, and the wolf had gently taken food from Davy’s mouth. She smiled recalling her own disbelief. “Believe it. He’s a miniature Dr. Dolittle.”

Hunter’s arm slid around her shoulders. “He’s
our
Dr. Dolittle.” A wistful sadness colored his voice as he watched the wolf and boy walk out of the building.

Everyone followed the pair outside and across the parking lot to the truck.

“Up, Sadie,” Davy told her. The wolf jumped agilely from the ground to the bed of the truck and walked inside the cage. She lay down and faced Davy. He threw his arms around her and hugged her. “I love you, Sadie. Don’t forget me. I’ll never forget you.” Then he buried his face in the wolf’s fur and sobbed.

A few minutes later, the man gently laid his hand on Davy’s shoulder. “We have to go now, son.”

Rose wiped away the tears that, despite her best efforts to stop them, had finally escaped and were now streaming freely down her face. She walked to the boy and pulled him away from the truck. The man closed the cage door and then the door to the truck’s cap. He turned back to Davy. “We’ll take really good care of her, son. She’ll have a whole forest to run in and lots of other wolves to keep her company.” Then, he climbed into the driver’s seat.

Moments later the truck’s motor roared to life. The sheriff’s car followed by the two trucks, one holding Sadie and the other holding the remainder of the wild animals, moved slowly down the driveway.

Davy threw himself into Rose’s arms. She cradled him close, smoothing his hair and trying to sooth his broken heart. The mournful howl of the wolf broke the silence of the late afternoon. There would be no assuaging either of them for a long time.

Hunter balanced the cold can of beer
on his stomach, stretched his legs out on the chaise lounge and stared absently into the distance at the silhouette of Hawks Mountain against the star-studded summer sky. His stomach growled for lack of supper, but he’d had no appetite, and since Ken had gone off to have dinner with Lydia, there hadn’t been any reason to pretend.

Truthfully, his thoughts were far from food. He kept hearing Davy’s cries and Sadie’s howls and wondering what he could have done to stop it. But nothing came to mind. How could he fight a court order?

It seemed impossible that in the last twenty-four hours he’d lost so much of his life. So much that mattered to him. So much—

But had he? Yes, he’d lost the wild animals, and they had definitely mattered. But he still had his veterinarian practice, his home and . . . and Rose. Thoughts of Rose brought with them an urgent need to see her, to talk about the day’s events. To share his day with someone who cared.

But would she want to see him? Was she in need of someone to talk to, also? There was only one way to find out.

Resolutely, he set the beer can on the table beside the chaise, stood, took a deep breath and then hurried toward Rose’s apartment. As he made his way around the building to her door, he told himself this visit was purely because he needed company, someone to talk to, a friendly, sympathetic ear and nothing more.

But when he got to her door and raised his hand to knock, he hesitated. The realization slammed into him that he didn’t just need
someone
to talk to. He needed Rose. And that scared him to his toes. Hunter Mackenzie. The man who didn’t want a family, didn’t want the responsibility that went with it, needed someone else.

He dropped his hand and stared at the wooden blockade between him and a woman who had somehow managed to become essential to his peace of mind. Dare he risk going in there?