Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
“I thought we were going to get Snoopy checked out,” Frankie said. “Are you sure there’s a vet up this way?” She absently petted Snoopy’s head as they turned onto a road winding up a foothill a few miles outside of Lyons.
They’d waited at the hospital for a couple of hours. Stephanie was lucky—the break was a clean one as Anna had suspected, and she didn’t have any other injuries besides a few scrapes and bruises. Once she got the all-clear and was released, Waylon drove them all in the van back to the rec center. Gabe had been beside himself over Stephanie. The Buddies left the two of them arguing over the fate of the Adventure Buddy Club, but it wasn’t looking good.
“We are getting him checked out, just not at a vet hospital,” Waylon answered. “We’re taking him to some friends of mine who know dogs. Snoopy deserves the best.” He reached over and scratched the scruffy dog’s head. His fingers brushed Frankie’s, and he fought the impulse to take her hand in his. The same impulse he’d been fighting all day, ever since their confrontation in the meeting room.
I’ll be cheering you on. And I’ll be the one catching you on the other side every time.
His words had surprised him even as he’d said them. No, not his words—his feelings. For her. His Pixie.
No, your Buddy and that’s all .
She’d been great during Stephanie’s rescue. Calm, cool-headed, resourceful. Brave enough to offer to rescue her, and she didn’t push the issue when he’d explained why she couldn’t. Waylon wondered what she’d been like before the cancer—probably unstoppable. As it was, he usually forgot she’d even been sick.
He absently pictured her with long hair and a few more curves, something he’d been doing all day—oh, hell, be honest—since after the moose. He stopped and focused on the road. But there was something about his mental image of pre-cancer Frankie that tickled his memory. Was it possible that he’d seen her at the hospital in passing? That felt almost right. But he wasn’t even sure where she’d been treated. Waylon didn’t know how to bring it up without making her think that he only saw her as a cancer patient. And besides, what was he going to say—maybe you had bigger things on your mind, but do you remember ever seeing me in passing at the hospital, before you lost all your hair and a ton of weight? God, how messed up did that sound?
“How do you think Snoopy got up there?” Frankie asked. “He’s just a puppy, and El Dorado Springs is too far away for him to have run away, don’t you think?”
“He doesn’t have a collar, either.” Waylon sighed. “Most likely, he was dumped in the woods.”
Frankie flinched. “I hate that thought. I was hoping you’d tell me something different.” She leaned forward and kissed the top of Snoopy’s head. “Someone dumped a litter of puppies at the ranch gate when I was little. Thank God my dad saw movement in the tall grass and stopped to see what it was. He was driving his truck, and I hate to think he could have run one over. Anyway, there were four of them. We kept one and gave the others to a couple neighbors. When they got older, they all used to find each other and run together like a pack.” She smiled at the memory. “I hate to think Snoopy has brothers and sisters out there.”
“Belle and Spike,” Waylon said.
Frankie looked at him. “Exactly. If we found them, that’s what we’d name them.”
We.
Let it go .
“So, who are these friends of yours who are better than a vet?”
Waylon was relieved at the change of subject. “Actually, one of them is a vet, or would have been if she’d stayed in vet school. I grew up with her. She’s the little sister of one of my oldest friends. Arden Volker McGuire. Her husband runs a security company. Watchdog. They have a kennel and train guard and service dogs.”
“Oh, cool. Do they know we’re coming?”
“Yeah. I called my friend, Shane. He’s one of Watchdog’s bodyguards, but he also works with the kennel. He, Kyle, and Arden will meet us there.”
They pulled up to a gate with a gatehouse. Waylon rolled down his window, told the gatekeeper who he was, and drove on after the gate opened. Frankie’s attention turned from Snoopy to their surroundings.
“Does this all belong to Watchdog?”
“Sure does. They bought damn near the whole mountain a few years back.”
“Seems like more than just a security company.” She side-eyed Waylon.
The corner of his mouth turned up. “Might be.”
They passed the front offices and followed a sign to the kennels. They parked in the lot in front. Frankie waited for Waylon to come around and open her door. He liked that she did that. She handed him Snoopy, then he held out his hand for her to step out—which was the reason he liked that she waited; it was an excuse to touch her. She gave him a faint smile once she was out of the truck that made his heart thump against his chest.
Waylon held the door open for her and they went inside. Shane was waiting for them beside the receptionist’s desk. He grinned when he saw the pup. Waylon was pretty sure Shane liked dogs better than he liked people, with the possible exception of April, a barista in Lyons.
“Hey, Ram. Who do we have here?” Shane only had eyes for the puppy as he reached out for him.
“This is Snoopy.”
“Hey, Snoop. You’ve had quite an adventure, huh?” Shane took the puppy and cradled him. He finally looked up from the dog and acknowledged the two humans in front of him.
“This is Frankie,” Waylon said. “My?—”
“Adventure Buddy, yeah. Nice to meet you. Elias mentioned you.”
Great .
“Oh, are you friends, too?” Frankie asked.
“More like brothers. Him and this guy here.” Shane pointed his chin at Waylon. “She met Bear and Ben yet?”
Yet? Waylon watched Frankie’s eyebrows rise ever so slightly as she glanced at him.
“Nope, just Elias and Gabe, and now you. Arden here? Should we check out Snoopy now?”
Waylon didn’t miss Shane’s smirk. “Yeah, she and Kyle are in the exam room.” He turned and they followed him down the hall.
“So,” Frankie said. “Which animal are you, Shane?”
Shane almost dropped Snoopy. He laughed. “You know about that, huh?” He gave Waylon a look that said just buddies, huh? “I’m Elk. Ben is Moose, Bear is obviously Bear, and Badger and his wife should be back in town here soon.”
“Got it.” Then with a wink, Frankie bumped her hip into Waylon’s thigh, which did all sorts of things to his chest and sent a message to his cock to stand by .
Shane opened a door with a sign reading EXAM ROOM. “Whoa, sorry.” He chuckled as Kyle and Arden sprang away from each other, Arden’s face flushed.
“Well, the door does say exam room, so we were doing some examining,” Arden joked. Her gaze went straight to Frankie and she held out her hand. “Hi! You must be Frankie, and God knows what your first impression of us and Watchdog is.”
Frankie burst out laughing. “Pretty awesome. Nice to meet you.” She shook Arden’s hand, while Waylon bathed in the sound of her laughter. He loved how she never held back when she laughed.
He almost…remembered? What? It was maddening, the déjà vu that hit him sometimes when she laughed.
Kyle clapped a hand on his shoulder, interrupting his thoughts. “Good to see you, brother.”
Frankie looked at Kyle. “Brother? Oh, are you an animal, too?”
They all laughed and Shane answered for him. “Actually, yeah, he’s The Pup.”
“So you grew up with these guys, too?”
“Negative.” Kyle put his arm around Arden’s waist. “I married into the group.”
“After I nearly shot him,” Arden added.
“Ha! Now there’s a meet-cute.”
“Yay! A romance fan.” Arden high-fived Frankie. “You need to join my book club.”
“Fun! Count me in.”
Waylon thought it was amazing, the way Frankie fit right in with every one of his friends, like she already belonged. Amazing, and a bit unsettling. It made him want things he wasn’t supposed to want.
In the meantime, Shane had put Snoopy on a blanket draped across an examination table. Kyle and Arden turned their attention to the little dog.
“So, this is Snoopy,” Kyle said, putting his hand out, palm up, under the dog’s muzzle. “Hey, little buddy.”
Snoopy wagged his tail and licked Kyle’s hand .
“Has he eaten?” Arden asked.
“Yeah,” Frankie answered. “Food and water. I went and picked up some kibble while we were all waiting for Stephanie. I didn’t give him too much just in case, but he’s kept it down. And he’s gone number one and number two. I scooped up the poo and put it in a plastic bag if you need to check it.”
Arden nodded. “Excellent, that answers my next question, thank you. He’s definitely malnourished,” she said as she felt along the puppy’s sides, then cupped his tummy. “But if he’s keeping food and water down and having bowel movements, that’s a good sign. No obvious injuries, either. And no fleas or ticks.” She examined the puppy’s mouth, then looked at Shane and Kyle. “What do you think? Shots, dewormer, heartworm medicine, and a bath?”
“Sounds good to me,” Kyle said as Shane nodded. “Do you want us to keep him overnight or long-term, or is one of you taking him?” He looked back and forth between Frankie and Waylon.
“Um.” Frankie looked at Waylon, uncertainty in her eyes. “We hadn’t really discussed that yet. My landlord is strict on no dogs or cats. Does your apartment allow pets?”
To Waylon’s alarm, everyone gave Frankie a funny look, then side-eyed him.
“Well, yeah, it does. Because I say it does.”
Frankie looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“I own the building.”
Her confusion only grew. “You…do?” She looked at the others, who nodded.
“He didn’t tell you?” Shane asked.
“Nope.” Now she looked amused. “Ram’s apparently full of secrets.”
“It never came up,” Waylon said in his defense. “So, yeah, I can take Snoopy home. If you don’t think he needs to spend the night, Arden.”
Frankie looked crestfallen but quickly hid it. Something twisted in Waylon’s chest. He hated that look, knowing she was disappointed that she couldn’t be the one to keep the puppy.
“I don’t think he does,” Arden said. “He seems healthy, other than malnourished, poor little guy.” She ran her fingers over his coat. “We can immunize him, check his stool for parasites and treat him for that if necessary, give him a bath, then he’s all yours. You’ll bring him back in if he starts coughing or shows any signs of digestive issues.” The last was a statement, not a question.
“Of course.”
“What kind of breed do you think he is?” Frankie asked.
Arden smiled. “He looks to me like he’s a purebred mutt.” She ruffled the top of Snoopy’s head. “The best kind.” Then she grinned at Kyle. “Except of course for any well-trained Malinois and a certain black-and-gold Lab named Camo.”
“That’s my dog,” Kyle said, grinning back at Arden.
“He’s my dog,” she said, smiling sweetly back. “And I have the shotgun to back that up.”
“ What ?” Frankie asked, clearly amused and overjoyed. “Please tell me everything about your meet-cute.”
“Girl, we’ll talk. Now you definitely need to join the book club.” Arden laughed. “Just be careful when you’re fighting over a dog.” She gave Frankie a pointed look. “You never know where it might lead.”
“I’m spending the night at your apartment, fight me.” Frankie nuzzled Snoopy on her lap—who turned out to be a black-and- white dog once he’d had a bath. Snoopy also had a clean bill of health—no parasites. They were in Waylon’s truck headed back to the rec center where Frankie had left her car.
At Frankie’s declaration, Waylon’s heart felt like it flipped over. Yes, yes, please spend the night that flip said.
“Not gonna fight you,” he said. “I know I’d lose.”
“Yup, you sure would.” She beamed at him.
“I’m sleeping on the couch this time though.” He grinned at her. “Fight me.”
Her smile faded ever so slightly. “I’ll win that fight, too.”
And either way, I lose . God, he wanted Frankie with him in his bed again. Wanted to hold her close, breathe in her rosemary scent. He’d noticed his truck smelled like her now, which was going to drive him insane the next time he got in without her. Just like the pillowcase he hadn’t washed yet.
“So. You own the entire building?” she asked.
“All four buildings, actually. The whole complex.”
“Four? I only saw three buildings.”
“The fourth is across the street. Thirty-six units all together.”
“Oh.” She got quiet.
“What? Why’d you go quiet?” He grinned ruefully. “When you saw my apartment did you think I was dirt-poor?”
“ No . That’s not what I was thinking.”
“Because I’m not dirt-poor.”
“Pfft. Obviously. And for the record, I never thought so. You’ve got a good job and the military probably gives you something, too.” She looked frustrated as she shook her head. “I mean, it doesn’t matter either way.”
“It doesn’t?”
“No. Believe it or not, I’m not contemplating your net worth right now, Beefcake.”
“What are you thinking about then?”
He got nervous when she didn’t say anything for a moment. Then, “Why don’t you have any furniture, Waylon?”
Shit . “What do you mean? I have furniture.” He sped up. The rec center was only minutes away—maybe he could get there before this stupid conversation went any further.
“Only the barest of necessities.”
“That’s all I need.” He shifted in his seat. “Makes cleaning a breeze.”
Frankie sighed. She petted Snoopy, who had gone to sleep curled in a tight ball in his baby blanket on her lap. Kyle had given Waylon puppy supplies, including a crate and a small, soft-sided carrier, which lay at Frankie’s feet—she’d insisted on holding Snoopy.
“Have you ever lived with anyone?” Her voice had gone quiet. “I mean, besides in the barracks?”
He turned into the rec center and parked beside her car. “Here we are. You remember where I live, or do you need the address? I’m sure you want to go home and get some clothes and stuff first.”
She just looked at him. Disappointment filled her eyes. “I remember.”
Waylon nodded and got out of the truck. By the time he went around and opened Frankie’s door, she’d tucked Snoopy into the carrier with his baby blanket. She left the carrier on the passenger seat as she slipped out of the truck. She didn’t take Waylon’s offered hand, which felt like a gut punch. She walked the three steps to her car, unlocked it with her key fob, then she reached for the door handle. Maybe now she’d just go home and stay there, which was absolutely for the best. And no more Adventure Buddy Club, either. Exactly what he wanted. Perfect.
“You still coming over?” he heard himself ask quietly in the space between heartbeats.
Still gripping the door handle, Frankie turned, face expressionless.
The corner of her mouth quirked up. “Fight me, Beefcake?”
Waylon felt his heart beat again. “I’d lose.”
Her smile bloomed. “Yeah you would.”