Summer Rose (6 page)

“Meooow!”

“Okay, calm down. Dinner will be served in a minute.” She carried her to the back room where the animals confined in cages stayed for a few days to recover or just be watched closely for health reasons.

“Meooow!”

This time Thomas’ voice rang out, quickly followed by another plaintive caterwaul from Pansy. The cat jumped from Rose’s arms and raced to the cage holding Molly Goodwin’s pet. The orange, tiger-striped cat wailed again as she rubbed herself across the wire cage. Thomas answered her with an ear-splitting cry.

Rose stared at them for a time. What on earth could be wrong with them? Two more wails filled the air before Rose figured it out. They were lonely. What harm would it do to let them play together for a while? “So you both want a little company, huh? Well, that’s easy enough to fix.”

She walked to Thomas’ cage and lifted the latch, then jumped back to avoid Pansy as she sprang from the floor and landed inside the cage. The two cats rubbed against each other and the wailing ceased.

“Thank goodness,” she said, her ears still ringing with the high-pitched meows. “If you don’t squeal on me, I’ll let you guys visit for a while, but Pansy has to leave before Hunter comes back.” She closed the cage door, then walked back into the outer office to enjoy the peace and quiet and finish some paperwork she’d started in order to avoid Hunter.

She’d just begun when Davy arrived. “Hi, Miss Rose.”

“Hey, Davy.”

“I see Doc’s truck is gone. Did he tell you what I’m supposed to do today?”

“He sure did.” She pulled pad from the pile of papers she’d been working on. “He wants you to water and feed the peacocks and the raccoons, but stay away from the wolf.”

“Sadie?”

She stared at the boy. “Sadie?”

Davy grinned, his glowing cheeks throwing his freckles into prominence. “That’s what I named her.”

Rose fought to suppress a smile. Since Davy had been working here, he’d managed to name almost all the animals. “Okay, Sadie. Doc doesn’t want you anywhere near her.”

“Aw, Sadie won’t hurt me. We’re friends.”

Rose wagged her pencil at him. “Davy, I will not take responsibility for you getting hurt on my watch. Promise me you’ll keep your distance from the wolf.”

He nodded reluctantly. “Okay.”

“When you’re through there, Doc wants you to fill in the hole the Adamson’s yellow Lab dug under the fence again.”

Davy nodded and dashed out the door.

Almost immediately, the phone rang. Rose hurried to pick it up. “Good afternoon. Paws and Claws Animal Clinic. How may I help you?”

Josephine Hawks needed to update Jake’s vaccinations. Rose went through several dates and times before Mrs. Hawks settled on one for the old dog’s visit. During the entire conversation, Rose found her gaze drifting to the doorway through which Davy had raced moments earlier. A feeling of unease slowly formed in the pit of her stomach.

Probably just her wild imagination. However, for her own peace of mind and not because she didn’t trust Davy, she decided to check on him. Rose quickly jotted Jake’s name in Hunter’s appointment book, then ended the conversation.

Before the phone could ring again, she clicked on the answering machine, and then followed the path Davy would have taken to the wild animal ward—a separate building set off to the side of the office to hold the animals not well enough to be put into one of the outdoor pens. Right now, only Sadie resided there.

As she stepped through the door, her breath caught in terror at the sight that met her gaze. Davy had not only begun feeding Sadie, he had chosen to do it from inside the cage with the wolf’s head in his lap.

Rose froze. Hunter’s description of the power in the wolf’s jaw raced through Rose’s mind. Her terror grew. She tried to call out to him, but stark fear had stolen her voice. She stared at the two of them in panicky silence. Her hands shook and her palms began to sweat, as she strained to speak.

“Davy.” The word emerged from her tight throat as barely a squeak. She cleared her throat quietly and tried again. “Davy.”

The boy looked up and grinned. “See? I told you she likes me.” As if understanding Davy’s words, the wolf turned her head and licked Davy’s cheek from jawbone to hairline.

Rose gasped. “Get out of the cage. Do it slowly.” Rose put a hand to her chest where her rapidly beating heart threatened to break free. “Don’t frighten her.”

“She’s not afraid, Miss Rose. Watch the trick I taught her.” He put a piece of meat between his teeth, then leaned toward the wolf’s powerful mouth.

Fearing she’d scare the wolf and the animal would bite off Davy’s face, Rose stifled the scream building in her throat.

Instead of biting the boy, the wolf rolled back her lips and gingerly took the food with her teeth. Rose’s sigh of relief could be heard for miles. “Davy, please get out of Sadie’s cage, now.”

“It’s okay, Miss Rose. Really. I’ve been visiting her every day, and we’re friends now. Isn’t that right, Sadie?” After the wolf finished chewing, she swallowed, then licked him, this time from chin to forehead. Davy laughed and wiped at his wet face with the sleeve of his cotton shirt.

Rather than calming her fears, Davy’s words brought new horrors. He’d been alone in here with this wild animal, and no one had known about it. Horrific scenarios raced across her mind’s eye. What if the wolf hadn’t accepted him? What if she’d hurt him?

“Come on, Miss Rose.” Davy motioned for Rose to come closer. “Pet her. She won’t hurt you. Honest.”

Rose stared at them for a long time. The boy seemed so trusting of the big animal and she of him. Could he be right? Against her better judgment, Rose took one tentative step closer to the cage. If nothing else, she’d be close enough to snatch Davy out, should it come to that.

The wolf, sensing Rose’s movements, raised her head from Davy’s lap, stared at her for a split second, moved her gaze to Davy, then nestled back into the comfort of her human pillow.

With that one simple gesture from the animal, Rose breathed easier. As crazy as it sounded, she’d seen the same trust and love in the wolf’s eyes as she had in the eyes of their canine patients when they gazed at their owners. Unable to take her gaze from the wild creature and the little boy, she watched for a long time, still ill at ease, but trying to see this from the point of view of someone more used to interacting with animals.

The sound of a car pulling into the gravel parking lot drew her attention.

Hunter had returned.

Quelling the sudden double time of her heart and loath to leave Davy alone for one second with the wolf, she stepped into the open doorway and motioned for Hunter to join her. When he got close enough, she took his hand and pulled him into the building.

“What’s going on?” Hunter asked.

She shook her head, laid a finger over her lips, then pointed at the scenario inside the wolf’s cage.

Hunter’s first impulse . . . Get Davy out of there. Rose stopped him with a tug on his sleeve and an empathic shake of her head. He strained against her hold, trying to step around her, but she blocked his progress.

“He’s been coming here every day since the wolf came. They’ve made friends. He’s even taught her tricks,” Rose explained.

At that moment, Davy threw his little arms around the wolf and hugged her close. The wolf nuzzled his neck, then licked his ear. Her tail thumped against the straw in the bottom of the cage. Davy giggled.

Hunter relaxed. Having studied the gray wolf, he knew that the wagging tail signaled a lack of aggression. For the moment, Davy was in no danger. Still, his whole body stayed on alert to spring. Then the wolf licked Davy’s face again. Hunter’s jaw opened in amazement. “Well, doesn’t that beat all? I guess the boy really is a Dr. Dolittle.” Hunter stood behind Rose and, grasping her shoulders, looked over her head at Davy. She leaned back against him, as if the peaceful scene between animal and child had somehow seeped into her. “I’ve read about this happening, but it’s usually with another animal or another wolf.” Rose turned her head toward Hunter, an expression of confusion on her face. “She’s adopted Davy as a replacement for her dead pups.”

“But he’s only been around her for a few days. How did he win her trust so quickly?” Rose whispered so only he could hear.

“Who knows? Some people just have a way with animals. I guess Davy’s mom was right. He can charm anything with fur on it.”

Rose nodded. “Too bad the townspeople can’t—” Suddenly, she spun to face him, her eyes glowing with excitement. “Hunter, that’s the answer.”

He grinned devilishly. “I’m sorry. I seemed to have missed the question?”

She frowned. “I’m serious. This could be the way to show the people of Carson that these animals don’t pose a threat to them.”

He shook his head. “I afraid you lost me.”

“They need to see this.” She pointed over her shoulder toward the boy and the wolf. “We need to show it to them. How can they argue that these animals will hurt them when a ten-year-old boy can safely sit in the same cage with an eighty-pound wild wolf?”

Mesmerized by the sparkle in her eyes and the excited expression on her face, Hunter leaned against the doorway, keeping Davy and the wolf in his line of vision, and crossed his arms over his chest. “And exactly how would you suggest we do that?”

“I don’t know. You’re the vet. Think of something.”

He
was
thinking of something, but it had nothing to do with the people of Carson or Davy or Sadie. It did, however, have everything to do with Rose Hamilton, and how tempting her lips were, and how much he wanted to hold her again and find out for himself if making love to her would be even close to the exquisite experience it had been in his dreams.

Then what she said began to penetrate the sensual haze surrounding his brain. Anger rose up in him, an old anger that had been brought to the surface in the last few days by his conversations with George Collins. “These people don’t want to be educated. They want to keep things exactly as they’ve always been while they sit in their safe little houses and worry about no one but themselves. What they do want is to get rid of the sanctuary.”

She stared at him in shock. “So your solution is to just sit back and let them force you to shut down? Is that it?”

“I’m not just sitting back.”

“What are you doing, besides dodging George Collins’ phone calls and, when you can’t do that, trading angry words with him that only makes the problem worse?”

Before he could retort, a car pulled into the parking lot. Sheriff Ben Ainsley stepped from the black and white car. He glanced at them, then came slowly toward them. Rose and Hunter met him half way.

“Ma’am. Hunter.” He tapped the brim of his Mountie-style gray hat.

“Ben, what brings you out this way?” Hunter had a sinking sensation that the visit had something to do with the animals and George Collins.

“I’m sorry, Doc, but the mayor sent me out here to collect his boy.”

Rose stepped to Hunter’s side, her face defiant. “Why?”

“Let me handle this,” Hunter said, taking her arm.

“Ma’am—”

She pulled free of Hunter’s grasp and took another step toward the sheriff. “I’m Rose Hamilton, Dr. Mackenzie’s assistant.” Rose raised her chin mutinously and faced off with the man towering above her, looking every bit like a wild animal about to do battle for her babies. “Why do you want Davy?”

“Ms. Hamilton.” The chief tapped his hat brim once more. “The
why
of it doesn’t matter. The fact is that Davy’s ten, and the mayor’s his daddy and my boss. His daddy wants him out of here, and he sent me to see to it.” He looked around the grounds. “Where’s the boy, Doc?”

Rose opened her mouth to say more, but Hunter stopped her with a shake of his head. No sense fighting it. He’d been expecting something like this ever since Davy had come to work for him.