Chapter 6
“All right. Tell me what you think of this.” Carol plucked the first treat she’d made off the cooling rack and handed it to Barney.
He pushed his nose forward, sniffing it carefully.
“It’s going to make all the girl-dogs in the neighborhood go crazy for you,” she assured him. “No one will have better breath than you. You’ll be a hunky hound, for sure.”
Barney’s scruffy fur hung slightly over his eyes. Carol had trimmed it back a bit to ensure he could see, but it made him look like he had bushy eyebrows. These twitched uncertainly, and he backed away from the offered treat.
“Guess I’ll have to work on that one. These can be the freebies for the day.
” Carol felt the breeze on her back as she put the latest treats into a bowl.
The autumn day was crisp and cool, and it was nice to be able to leave the back door open so the heat from the oven could escape.
She’d propped a baby gate across the opening to keep Barney from going out unsupervised.
She was enjoying herself despite the failed recipe, but it was impossible to forget what she’d seen through that back door the previous night.
In fact, she could still see it. Yellow police tape fluttered in the breeze, making a bright ring around the charred remains of the logs that’d nearly taken Lorelei’s life.
It was so strange. She understood why Rick was concerned, even if some of that concern was a bit misplaced.
No one was after her; Carol was convinced of that.
But why would they do such a thing to that poor girl? Who had such a twisted mind?
The bell over the front door rang, and Barney was the first to move. He’d already learned this sound was the cue for new people and their dogs.
Carol followed him through the swinging door and set the bowl on the counter. “Welcome to The Biscuit Box. Can I help you?”
“Well, maybe.” The woman with long hair and glasses on the other side of the counter had a pug mix on the end of a leash.
He wore a harness instead of a collar and strained against it as he tried to sniff everything in the bakery.
“Wendy over at Read the Room recommended your shop to me because of your natural ingredients, but Pugsley is really picky.”
Pleased that a fellow business owner was looking out for her, Carol leaned over the counter.
The dog looked up at her with his buggy eyes, and his loose lips fell back to reveal crooked teeth.
Judging by the ‘Best Friend’ Velcro patch on Pugsley’s vest, he certainly was loved.
“I’m happy to give a free sample of anything we have in stock.
I wouldn’t want you going home with a bunch of treats that wouldn’t be eaten. ”
“Hm.” The woman tapped her teeth with one finger as she looked through the case. “Maybe the bacon? He doesn’t see very well these days, but his nose works just fine.”
“Let’s try that, then.” Carol retrieved one of the bacon biscuits from the display and handed it to the woman.
“Oh, thank you.” She knelt down to offer it to Pugsley. “He won’t take anything from strangers, no matter how good it is. They always try to give him treats, and he flat-out refuses. He’ll only take them from me later.”
“He knows where his bread is buttered!” Carol laughed.
The dog wasn’t a show winner, but his little pig-like grunts as he sniffed the treat certainly made his owner happy.
The whites of his eyes showed as he got excited.
He took the treat from her hand and crunched down on it, sending crumbs scattering over the floor.
“I’d say that’s a success,” the woman said with a smile. “Can I have a bag of those?”
“Absolutely.” She paused to look at Barney.
There was a small gate that separated the area behind the counter from the customer area.
He had his front paws propped on top of it, and his nose was going wild as he learned what he could about their latest visitor.
Every time she brought him to work, she worried he’d get loose.
So far, though, he wasn’t doing anything more than sniffing the air.
“Would Pugsley like to try one of these?” Carol asked, gesturing toward the bowl of breath treats that Barney had rejected. “They’re a new recipe, and so far, my only test subject has turned his nose up at them.”
The pudgy little dog was busy snorting all the crumbs he’d spilled off the floor, but he looked up as soon as his owner tried to offer him the next treat. He backed off a bit once he realized it wasn’t bacon but then crunched down on it with just as much enthusiasm as he had before.
“See, Barney. You’re getting too spoiled around here.” Carol added a couple of the breath treats to the bag. “These are Pugsley’s payment for helping me out.”
She watched the woman go as they left. Pugsley trotted along beside his owner, his curly tail bobbing. The relationship between a dog and their owner was simple but could be so beautiful.
“And just how should I categorize my relationship with Rick?”
Barney slid down from the gate and looked up at her.
“Oh, that’s right. You missed all the drama.
We’ll have to catch up over drinks later.
” She knew she shouldn’t be thinking about this so hard right now.
Rick was a nice guy, which was more than could be said about plenty of others.
Even though there was no need for him to fuss over her the way he had last night, it made her feel warm and soft inside to know that he cared.
Why should she think about any of it? It’d been her mantra for a long time just to enjoy what she had and let it be.
No, she knew why. Because he was different. Not only because he was a wolf, though that had to be considered as well.
She was saved from any further ruminating when the front door opened again. The man who came in struggled to keep his dog under control. The strong, sleek animal was practically bouncing at the end of his leash. Barney scrambled to peer over the gate.
“Hello!” Carol called out over the scrabbling of the dog’s claws on the hard floor. “Welcome to The Biscuit Box!”
The dog charged forward and jumped up, slamming his front paws against the display case. He slobbered on the glass as he sniffed and explored.
“Get down, Ringo!” The man sighed as he put his dog on a shorter leash. “We might not be so welcome by the time you’re done with us. As you can see, Ringo here needs a lot of work. The trainer I talked to suggested I find a treat that he really likes as motivation for him.”
Carol put her finger in the air. “A challenge! Let’s see. Do you know if he prefers certain flavors or textures?”
“I honestly don’t know. So far, he’s eaten everything I’ve given him.”
Ringo surged forward as he spotted Barney. His owner struggled to hold him back. It might’ve all been fine except that Barney’s paw slipped right at that moment, flicking open the latch. The gate swung open, and Barney charged out.
“Barney, no!”
“Ringo, no!”
The two dogs headed straight for each other.
Ringo jumped and hopped. He jogged on his front paws, doing a little dance around the smaller dog while his ears flapped and his tongue lolled.
Barney barked a couple of times before he thrust his chest on the ground and stuck out his front paws. His tail wagged eagerly in the air.
“I’d say they want to be friends,” Carol said with relief. She’d been careful not to let Barney interact with their customers up until this point, worried that an encounter like this might go awry. “Still, I think I’ll have to change the latch on that gate.”
She ended up arranging a sampler platter for Ringo as well as a playdate for Barney before it was all over with.
Carol spent the rest of the day either helping customers or baking new treats.
While she couldn’t say business was booming, she was doing well enough to know she could stay open.
She smiled to herself at the end of the day as she turned off the oven and packaged up the last of the treats.
“A job well done today, Barney. There’s nothing better than knowing you did some good work. Now it’s time to get home.”
She was just about closed up when the notes of a song caught her ear.
She’d never heard such a beautiful voice!
Carol hadn’t left the radio on, but she knew almost instantly that this wasn’t a recording.
This was live. Even Barney had his ears perked up, and he didn’t give a damn about anything that came over the radio.
After a moment, she realized the voice was coming from the beach. She hesitated for a moment and then decided to clip Barney to his leash before she went exploring.
On a rocky promontory that stretched out over the water, a young woman sat with her legs dangling. She leaned back on her hands, the words bubbling up out of her mouth with ease. Her eyes were closed, and her blonde hair twisted in the breeze. The singed ends had been bluntly clipped away.
Carol approached her from the side and studied her profile. It was hard to believe, but she knew she couldn’t be wrong. “Lorelei?”
The young woman opened her eyes and smiled. “Oh, hello again! Carol, right?”
Barney took a few hesitant steps forward, sniffed the air in Lorelei’s direction, and then retreated behind Carol’s legs.
“Yes, but what on Earth are you doing here?” Carol was thrilled that the girl was well enough to sit back and relax next to the ocean, but it just didn’t make sense. “I wouldn’t think you’d want to have anything to do with this place after last night.”
Lorelei made a face in the general direction of the burned logs.
“I know. That’s not exactly an enjoyable memory, and I imagine it’s going to take me quite some time to get over it.
I’ve decided to focus on the good, though.
You came to help me, as did all those police officers and paramedics.
That gives this place a more pleasant vibration than you might imagine. ”