Chapter 7
Maisie’s ankle was killing her. Though she had her leg elevated on top of Robert’s lap as Grant MacQuarrie drove to her inn, her ankle was just throbbing. That’s when she remembered what she was supposed to do tomorrow. “Oh, Lachlan, I guess I’ll have to cancel the transitional training tomorrow with Conan. I’ll have to wait until my ankle feels better in a couple of days. But I still want to have lunch at the castle.”
“Yeah, that will be fine. I figured that could be the case once we learned you had sprained your ankle,” Lachlan said. “That will give us more time to work with Conan before you start transitional training. We normally wouldn’t start that until next week anyway.”
“I’ll pick you up from your inn and take you to the castle for lunch.” Robert moved around to try and help Maisie feel more comfortable. Then he gently massaged her ankle to help reduce the pain and swelling, and she smiled at him.
She swore his touch was sensuous, his small smile telling her he was enjoying taking care of her as much as she was enjoying the intimacy between them.
“Thanks. Then I guess I’ll sit and watch you in weapons training instead,” she said.
She swore she heard Robert groan a little bit under his breath.
When they arrived at the inn, the Abercrombys came out of their room and Anne hurried to greet the MacQuarries, Robert, and Maisie. Bruce and Mary were smiling broadly.
Lady’s owners and Lady were so excited to see each other, though they still looked astounded to see she’d delivered three healthy pups. They were so grateful to everyone for bringing her back.
“I told you she was pregnant,” the wife said, frowning at her mate.
Maisie wanted to laugh. She was sitting on the back seat of the truck with her legs hanging out, the door open, glad to watch the heartwarming reunion. Anne came over to check on Maisie and squeezed her hand. “Sprained ankle, not a break,” Maisie assured her sister.
“I’m so glad for that,” Anne said.
“I know, I know. I thought she was just overeating,” Bruce said to his wife. “We couldn’t be more grateful to all of you. Now that we know wolves own the inn, we’ll be staying here every time we want to visit the area. But the next time, we’ll make sure Lady stays home with friends. And if she begins gaining weight again like this, we’re taking her straight to see the vet.”
Everyone laughed.
“You must have been walking her daily and that’s how she managed to cover that much distance even so close to giving birth,” Robert said.
“We have been. We walk or run five miles a day,” Bruce said. “She loves her walks. We thought she needed them too.”
“That was good for her. It probably made it easier for her to deliver. I need to clean the puppies up a bit and retie their umbilical cords. Lady will need to relieve herself also, but she’s not going to want to leave them for long,” Robert said. “We might as well try and let her out of the box now to do it.”
Even though Maisie and her sister did not normally allow a pet in a room, they allowed it for Lady and her pups this time.
Bruce said to the dog, “You, young lady, need a bath.”
“That will have to be a little later. If you can carry the whelping box after Lady relieves herself, I’ll carry Maisie inside. She sprained her ankle when she was chasing down Lady.”
“Oh no, I’m so sorry for all the trouble our dog caused you,” Mary said to Maisie.
“It was my fault. I should have heeded how slippery the rocks could be. I was just glad Lady finally stopped running and she hadn’t been injured,” Maisie said.
Robert lifted Lady out onto the grass. She sniffed a little grassy area, hurried to relieve herself, probably the fastest she had ever done, and wanted right back into the box.
“She’s a really good momma dog.” Robert helped her into the box. “Not all dogs are. She hasn’t had a litter before, has she?”
Bruce and Mary shook their heads. Bruce lifted the whelping box.
“Sometimes first deliveries are confusing for a new momma dog, but she did really well.” Robert leaned over and lifted Maisie out of the truck and into his arms.
“If you are all set, we’ll head home,” Grant said, as he, Lachlan, and Enrick waited to make sure they weren’t needed for anything further.
“We’re good. And thanks for coming to our rescue. We’ll see you tomorrow,” Robert said, and then carried Maisie into the inn.
She hated that she needed to be helped like that.
Anne followed them inside. “I’ve got everything Maisie said you needed to take care of the pups. Where do you want to do it?”
“In the living room if you have good lighting in there. I’ll take care of them and then Bruce can take them to their room. The plastic container and my shirt are my gifts to you.” Robert set Maisie on a couch.
Bruce and Mary laughed as Bruce set the whelping box on the floor next to the coffee table.
Anne turned on all the lights in the private living room and brought in the supplies and set them on the coffee table.
In the living room, Robert removed a tie off one of the males, disinfected his belly with iodine, then retied the cord with dental floss. With each puppy, he did the same procedure and placed them back with their mom. “Do you have some human nail clippers?”
“Yes, I’ll go get them.” Anne hurried off and returned with them and handed them to Robert. He clipped the tips off the puppies’ sharp, little nails with the clippers so they didn’t scratch Lady while she nursed them. “If you see their nails are getting too long, just clip them like that.” Once he was done, he went over dietary requirements for a nursing mother and said, “Watch that all the pups are staying warm and nursing. They’ll gravitate toward the heat of their mother’s body, so if you have extra heat on them to keep them warm, it can confuse them about where the food is coming from, so keep that in mind. Don’t handle them unnecessarily for the first couple of weeks. Between two and three weeks, deworming can be done. Paper training and chew toys can be introduced at three weeks. By three to four weeks, weaning can be started. They’ll open their eyes between ten to fourteen days, and they’ll open their ears between ten and twenty days after birth.”
“When can we wash her?” Mary asked.
“Two to five days from now. But don’t keep her away from her pups for too long. Do you know who the daddy might be?” Robert asked.
“A couple of friends of ours visited us from Glasgow, and one, Stuart Michaelson, brought his dog with him—also a Westie—and they all stayed for a few days. Gus and his twin brother, Ike, weren’t big on being around the rambunctious dogs, so we kept the two dogs outside a lot in the fenced-in backyard since the weather was so nice. The dogs ran in the yard, playing with each other,” Bruce said.
Robert smiled. “Well, it looks like they might have been doing something more than just playing with one another, if no other dog has been with Lady. The two of you might be the proud owners of a litter of purebred Westies.”
“That would be totally unexpected but happy news. What do we owe you for the emergency delivery, Doc?” Bruce asked.
“Nothing. It was my Good Samaritan deed for the day.”
“Let me at least give you a brand-new T-shirt that I picked up to replace yours.” Without waiting for a response, Bruce took Lady and her puppies to their guest room. Mary went with them and then returned, carrying a blue shirt with the imprint of the Scottish lion in white and gold.
“This is really nice. I can ship it back to you later,” Robert said.
“No way. It’s our small token of thanks.”
“Okay, thanks. Just another tip: if Lady normally wants to stay with the two of you—some dogs shadow their owners—keep her and her puppies nearby so she doesn’t leave her pups alone for long just to be close to you. They need to nurse, and they require her body heat to keep them warm.”
“Thanks so much, Dr. Campbell. We’ll have to let our friend, Stuart, know that his dog is a daddy. McKie is just as sweet as Lady. We’ll give Stuart one of the pups if he wants one. And you too. If you hadn’t found her and helped her with the delivery, she most likely would have lost her pups, and we might have lost her too,” Mary said.
Robert pulled on the shirt. “I would be happy to give one of the pups a home if you can’t find someone to take all of them in. Tell Bruce thanks for the shirt.”
“I will. It’s the least we can do after all the trouble you had to go through.” Then Mary returned to her room, and Robert checked on Maisie.
“Maisie and I had started a beef stew in the slow cooker earlier today, and it’s ready to eat. I already ate shortly before you and she returned, since I didn’t know when you would get in,” Anne said.
“I don’t blame you, and that sounds great. It smells delicious too.” Robert placed a decorative pillow from the couch on the coffee table, then elevated Maisie’s foot on top of it. “Do you have an ice pack I can use on Maisie’s ankle, Anne?”
“Yes, in the freezer.”
He walked into the kitchen to get the ice pack.
“Sorry I’m so much trouble,” Maisie said when he returned. She really wished she hadn’t sprained her ankle.
“Nonsense. It could have been me who sprained my ankle and then you would have had to carry me down those slippery rocks,” Robert said.
Anne and Maisie laughed.
“If you had to rely on me to do that, we wouldn’t have made it.” Maisie moved her leg a little to make it more comfortable. “We would have had to tell the MacQuarries to pick you up near where Castle Tioram was, and I would have had to do all that you did for Lady and her puppies while you guided me.”
“I have every faith in you that you would have taken care of Lady and her puppies just fine.” Robert placed the little felt pack of ice featuring a polar bear on her ankle.
“Thanks. I’m glad we didn’t have to put me to the test. I like your new shirt.” Maisie reached out to touch it.
“Yeah, a perfect gift for me. Otherwise, you poor lassies would have had to see me bare-chested through dinner.” Robert flexed his muscles.
“We weren’t about to complain,” Anne said, smiling.
Maisie agreed with her sister. “I can’t believe you told them that you would give one of the puppies a home only if no one wanted one of them. You should have said for sure you wanted one. They will all find homes otherwise.”
He chuckled.
“You should know this about Maisie: she’s always ready to take home all the puppies in the world and care for them,” Anne said.
“That sounds like Edeen. She wanted the little red Irish wolfhound puppy the MacQuarries had because they couldn’t find her a home right away, like they’d been able to for all the brindle males,” Robert said.
“Well, Ruby is adorable, and I bet she is cute with Edeen’s fox terriers,” Maisie said.
Anne began dishing up the stew for them, then brought in glasses of water. She’d set them on the dining room table, but then glanced at Maisie. “Do you both want to sit in the living room and eat so Maisie can keep her foot elevated?”
“Yeah, that works for me.” Maisie didn’t want to have to hop to the dining room table or have Robert carry her.
“Sure, that’s fine,” Robert said. “Whatever is easiest for Maisie.”
Anne carried their glasses of water into the living room while Robert moved their bowls of stew in there.
“I can leave you two alone, if you would like.” Anne smiled.
Maisie shook her head and spooned up some of her stew. “No. I’m sure you want to hear all about our nearly three hours on the island.” She didn’t want her sister to feel like she was being left out or had to leave.
“Aye. We’re glad for your company,” Robert said to Anne.
“Okay. Oh, and I called Gus’s cell phone to tell him that we have his driver’s license but could only leave a message. I tried about four times, but I just kept getting his voicemail,” Anne said.
“I can call him later too, though if you left a message for him, that should be enough,” Maisie said.
“I agree.”
“Gus?” Robert said. “It’s probably a stretch, but Bruce was telling us that a man named Gus and his twin brother, Ike, were at his house and were from Glasgow.”
“This Gus is from Glasgow. Did Bruce tell you what his last name was?” Anne asked.
Robert took a spoonful of the stew. “No, it didn’t seem important at the time.”
“If it’s the same Gus, maybe Bruce and Mary know another way of getting in touch with him. I’ll call Bruce and ask what Gus’s last name was to make sure it wasn’t just a coincidence.” Maisie got on her phone. “Hi, Bruce, I hate to disturb you and Mary, but we found a driver’s license in the flower garden belonging to a Gus Anderson of Glasgow, and we wondered if he was the same person that you knew.” She put it on speakerphone so her sister and Robert could listen in. “We wanted to let him know we have it here. We haven’t been able to get in touch with him.”
“Yeah, that’s our friend, Gus. He lives near Stuart, the owner of the male Westie. We’ve known each other since we were kids. They both used to live in Edinburgh,” Bruce said, “and they’re wolves like us. But now Gus and Ike live in Glasgow.”
“Oh, great. Do you have another way to get in touch with him? Maybe his twin brother’s phone number?” Maisie asked. “We can just send his driver’s license to his address, but if he is still in this area, he probably would want to drop by and pick it up.”
“All I have is his cell phone number. If you have the same one, that’s all I can say. But I can give Ike, his twin brother, a call, and I can check with Stuart and see if he knows where Gus went to, but we don’t talk to each other all that much. We get together once a year is all,” Bruce said.
“Okay, thanks. We’ll continue to try and get in touch with him, but if you have any luck, just let us know,” Maisie said.
“I will. Thanks.”
Then they ended the call.
Maisie then told her sister about their experiences on the island. “Another thing. Robert said he would check to see if someone in the pack could unlock Jude’s phone and discover if there are any messages that indicate why he was at our inn.”
Anne frowned at Maisie. “Do you think he’s stalking you now? That he learned that you were here?”
“It’s possible, and that bothers me. We need to really watch for any sign of him.” Maisie finished her stew, and Anne took her bowl from her. “That’s why I would love to know why he was here.”
“Me too,” Anne said. “You know, I was wondering, if you had shifted into your wolves on the island, how poor Lady would have reacted to seeing you.”
Maisie drank some of her water. “She could have smelled we were the same people, but she might have been worried about her puppies around us. I forget about that because the family dog we had when we were young and Conan were both raised around wolves, but having puppies can change the whole dynamic between animals.”
Robert carried his bowl into the kitchen, and Anne quickly asked, “Would you like some more stew?”
“Uh…” He eyed the slow cooker still filled with bubbling stew.
“Yes, give him some more,” Maisie said. “He had all that extra work getting a fire started and carrying me around, then delivering pups.”
“Of course.” Anne served up some more stew for him.
“Thanks.” He took the bowl.
“I’ll be back in a minute. I’m just going to put the rest of the stew away for later,” Anne said and returned to the kitchen.
When he finished his stew, he took the bowl into the kitchen, then said to Maisie, “I need to get out of your hair and let you get some rest. Keep your foot elevated.” He paused. “Do you want me to carry you to your bed?”
Maisie blushed. His question was so innocent, but immediately she thought of him carrying her to her bedroom for other business. The look on her sister’s face said she was thinking the same thing.
Maisie smiled. “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll stay up a little while longer. Anne can help me get to bed later.” If push came to shove and she really couldn’t manage, which she could, she could sleep on the foldout sofa. Or she could remove her clothes and shift into her wolf and walk three-legged to her bedroom. That might be the best idea actually. Three legs were better than one.
Anne had returned to the kitchen to clean it up a little more.
Robert smiled at Maisie. “I’ll see you a little bit before eleven tomorrow.”
“That sounds good.”
When he leaned over and kissed her, Maisie was so glad. He didn’t give her just a peck on the mouth or the cheek. The kiss built up to the same passion they’d experienced on the island.
Maisie parted her lips for him, and he stroked her tongue with his and she did the same thing with him. Kissing him was like experiencing a slice of heaven.
When he pulled away from her, they saw her sister watching them from the kitchen, her mouth agape. Anne smiled.
“Thanks again,” Robert said, “uh, for dinner.”
“Thanks for staying with my sister and taking care of her on the island,” Anne said.
Robert glanced back at Maisie. “It was my pleasure.”
“Mine too,” Maisie said.
“I can tell,” Anne said, still smiling. “Oh, here’s Jude’s phone if you can find someone to access it.”
“I’ll sure try.” Then Robert left.
Anne eyed Maisie. “That didn’t look like it was your first kiss.”
Maisie felt her cheeks blushing profusely.
“And here you said he was just sweet. You neglected to tell me just how hot he is.”
Maisie smiled. Yeah, she did. On purpose.