Chapter 6Rafe
Chapter 6
Rafe
I sat in Rose’s driveway and stared at the house to my right. Princess stood up from her pile of blankets and gave a good shake, her ID tag jingling on her collar. She shoved her head on my right shoulder, and we stared together.
“Quite a place, huh, baby girl?” I grunted.
With its colorful paint job, wide front porch and lush rose gardens, the bungalow called to me. Flat-out appealing…as appealing as the woman living inside.
The places where I grew up in Oakland had been nothing like this. They’d been shabby apartments or falling-down tract houses with no yards or flowers or brightness at all. Army quarters had been even uglier—old barracks stateside or flimsy tents in the sandbox.
Yeah. If this place were my home, I’d do everything in my power to protect and take care of it—and the family living there. And I’d be thankful every day for the privilege.
Rose had called last night, said her name and apologized for the late hour. Funny on both counts—she was already in my phone’s contact list, and I’d been up because I couldn’t get her out of my mind. She said I was welcome to park in her driveway when I was working since she lived right behind the Chocolate Lab.
She assured me, Rafe, it’ll be safer for Princess. You can pop over during the day to check on her, take her for walks, feed her—things like that. I won’t take no for an answer.
Rose had a knack for making an offer sound like an order, but I’d yielded to her this time around.
We’d arrived at zero five forty, earlier than scheduled so I could scope things out. I didn’t like to be caught by surprise. Rose wanted to meet Princess, and then we’d walk to work together.
I scrubbed my hand down my face and leaned my head against the driver’s door. My eyelids drifted shut—not sleeping, just…resting while we waited.
After I’d left the café yesterday, I hadn’t been able to let it rest. I’d had questions.
Why did Rose’s eyes, as beautiful as they were, look so tired, with smudgy circles underneath? Was she married after all? She had a son—although, apparently, not the boy who tied the old dog to the statue. Where was her husband—I hadn’t clocked a ring—or son or other family, and why weren’t they helping her with all those Post-it things?
I’d also wanted to kick myself in the ass. Why did I care? I’d be moving on soon enough.
On my way back to Pete’s house, I’d picked up groceries for dinner. He wouldn’t let me pay rent while we stayed with him, so I helped with food, home repairs, fixing meals, those sorts of things. Since Pete was the one who’d called me to help out his old family friends, he’d be sure to have the answers to my Rose questions. And he wouldn’t give me crap about my curiosity.
I could always count on Pete. He’d taken a chance on me a few years back when I’d retired from the army. At thirty-eight, I’d been the oldest student in his roaster training program. Afterward, he’d put me in touch with his network of roaster buddies for short-time gigs.
So yeah, whenever Pete called me for a favor, I came running.
A sharp rap - rap sounded on the passenger side window at the same time that Princess gave a short woof . Caught off guard, I jumped a mile. I’d been chewing on the info I got from him last night and must have spaced out.
Rose peered in and started giggling. She gave a little wave, stepped back and held up a large brown paper bag. Today she had all that wild streaked-blond hair bunched up in a knot on the back of her head. Her smile stretched all the way to her gorgeous green eyes. Tight jeans wrapped her long legs down to her pink sneakers, and her pink T-shirt proclaimed her a Hot Dog Mom in fancy script.
Oh, fuck me. Am I going to start dreaming in pink tonight?
I told Princess to chill for a minute. She was eager to get out and investigate—and by investigate, I meant sniff —the stranger. I jumped down from the driver’s side and swung around the front to come up close to Rose.
“Looked like you were asleep at the wheel there,” she pointed out. “Now I’m sorry I kept you up late with my call.”
I didn’t let her know I’d stayed up even later thinking about her and what Pete had shared.
“Here are your shirts, nice and clean and blood-free.” Rose thrust the bag at me.
I stood frozen for a second before grabbing it. And another second before I pushed out “thanks” from my too-tight throat.
Why was I so surprised? Rose was a woman of her word, and she’d done something nice for me. When you’re on your own, you get used to taking care of yourself, taking care of everything yourself.
So this one time, I should enjoy it . Just don’t get used to it.
“Oh, and I stashed one of our private-label chocolate bars in there too,” she went on. “A new local shop makes them for us. I went pretty vanilla with our rich milk chocolate version since I don’t know what you like. Hope you’re not allergic or anything.”
I opened the bag and looked in. I saw a big-ass chocolate bar sitting on top of my folded—and ironed?—tee and flannel button-down.
What was the woman trying to do here—give me a heart attack? I rubbed the center of my chest where it’d started to ache. Calm down, man. Obviously, it wasn’t a big deal to her, but it was a big fucking deal to me.
This was my first gift since…well, since I was little, real little. So, a big fucking deal.
“Yeah, I’m okay with chocolate. Thanks,” I mumbled, turning to tuck the bag under a tarp in the pickup bed so that rain and the baby girl couldn’t get to it.
Rose smiled at me for a few seconds before she clapped her hands. “Before we get our days started, can you introduce me to your pup?”
“She’s pretty wary of new people so don’t be disappointed….” I trailed off when Rose looked over my shoulder and started laughing again. I turned to find Princess ramming her muzzle against the passenger window and wagging her tail like crazy.
“Oh, what a darling girl you are!” Rose crooned, backing up a few steps and sinking gracefully to her knees. “Rafe, would you please let Princess out? I’ll stay still while we get acquainted. Is it okay if I give her a treat—a piece of dental dog food?”
She plucked a big kibble from her jeans pocket and showed it to me. The woman walked around with dog treats on her person.
Why did this not surprise me?
I nodded, and Rose fisted the treat. I opened the passenger door, and Princess leaped down, prancing over to her.
Yeah, pranced. Despite—or maybe because of—being a camp dog of definitely mixed heritage, Princess was forty pounds of pure elegance. Creamy white fur with honey-colored spots covered her from graceful long legs to delicate pricked ears. One look into her amber eyes when she’d danced into camp that day, and I’d fallen hard.
Rose held perfectly still, smiling without showing her teeth. Smart woman. She murmured, “What a sweetie, what a pretty pup, what a good baby girl.”
Princess barked one sharp demand. Rose turned her hand and opened it flat. After hoovering up the treat, Princess dropped and rolled over on her back.
“Belly rubs are the best, aren’t they, sweetheart?”
Ahhh…she had a soft touch when she wanted.
“Guess I was worried for nothing,” I muttered.
“Whaaat?” Rose protested. “You were worried? I’m an old dog wrangler from way back.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “You mean whisperer, right? Dog whisperer, like that guy on TV?”
“Well, both, if you get right down to it. I need to be for a dog the size of our current chocolate Lab. Pirate weighs in at 103 pounds, even more soaking wet. And believe me, he’s wet most of the time, what with our Portland rain or swimming in his pool or diving in the river down at the park. He’s also never met a mud puddle he doesn’t like.”
“Wait, wait…he has his own pool?”
“Well, sure, one of those round kiddie ones. Does Princess like to swim?”
“Yep. Sometimes I take her camping between gigs, and she likes to dip her toes in a lake or stream.”
Rose continued to stroke Princess’s belly. The easy girl’s eyes were closed in bliss.
“Maybe we can introduce these two a bit later,” she suggested.
On cue, a deep “woof” sounded from behind the backyard gate, and sniffing started at the base of the fence. Princess rolled to her front and sat up on her haunches, looking first at Rose, then at me.
“Or maybe a bit sooner than later,” whispered Rose. “Oops, sorry, I was going to leave Pirate in the house for the morning. How do you feel about a meet-and-greet right now?”
“Depends. How does your behemoth get along with other dogs?” I grumbled before I could curb myself. I didn’t want Princess steamrolled by some dog three times her size.
Rose stood slowly and narrowed her eyes at me. “Behemoth? Really? You’re judging him for his size without knowing anything else about him? Like idiots who claim all pit bulls are aggressive just because some were bred for fighting?”
Oh, fuck. I should’ve trusted Rose to know her own dog. The contempt in her voice struck me square in the chest.
Luckily, Princess ignored us both. She trotted to the fence and stuck her muzzle at ground level where there was a gap. Once her nose met Pirate’s, she did the play bow thing. Next, she yipped twice and sat down facing the gate.
I couldn’t have gotten the message more clearly if she’d suddenly spouted English.
Rose looked at me and smirked. “I guess Her Royal Highness has spoken.”
Yep, I was clearly outmatched. When both Princess and Rose ganged up against me, they were impossible to resist.
Rose pulled me to the fence gate and puckered her lips to make a kissing sound. Directed at me or Pirate—I wasn’t sure .
“Hey, Pi-Pi, meet Rafe.” The behemoth looked up at me and snorted, not impressed. I’d have to earn his trust.
I picked up Princess and motioned with my head to open the gate. Rose caught the cue and unlatched the gate to slowly push in first, backing Pirate up as she went. She got him to sit down—a treat bribe may have been involved—and I followed with my girl in my arms. The minute we were all in, Rose shut the gate behind us.
I sat Princess on her feet and stepped back. Rose said, “Okay, Pirate,” and he scrambled to his feet. The two circled each other and then took turns sniffing each other’s butts. I slid a glance toward Rose but she didn’t seem put off by typical dog shit.
And just like that, they were off.
Pirate burst out running across the yard with Princess on his heels. They reversed direction at the back, and Pirate chased Princess around the perimeter. After a few minutes of this, they collapsed back at our feet. Panting, puffing, grinning. Yes, grinning at each other.
Rose turned to me, and she grinned. “If you’re okay with it, let’s leave them here together for an hour or so while we get started at the café. The yard’s fully fenced, and I just filled Pi’s water dish.”
I hesitated for a second, and she picked up on it.
“Oh, right, you might be smack-dab in the middle of a roast. If you trust me, I could come back and check on them?”
I jerked my chin up in a yes .
We left Princess and Pirate stretched out on the grass, tongues lolling from their mouths. We were, clearly, surplus to requirements.
Don’t let the gate hit your asses on the way out.