Chapter 3
LYLE WAS stunned. “Corky asked me to take care of the dogs if anything happened to her.” The three of them on his lap seemed to press closer to him.
“Do you have any idea how valuable these animals are? They are all registered with the AKC, and they came from a superior bloodline. I have people who are interested in taking each of the dogs, and they’ll pay a lot.
Mom didn’t have much, but she had them.” She came closer, and all four dogs began to growl.
Lyle managed to find his voice. “Your mother was more concerned that they would have a happy home. They were the one thing that seemed to make Corky happy.” He knew Debbie didn’t visit all that often, and from what he heard, when she did, they fought a lot.
“And since she asked me to look after them and she told her vet, Mitchell, that same thing, I’ll keep doing that, if you don’t mind. ”
“Did Corky leave a will?” James asked. Clearly, Debbie hadn’t even seen him from the way her attention snapped around.
“And you are…?” Debbie asked haughtily. Jesus, he was almost instantly coming to hate this woman.
Who did she think she was anyway? Still, she answered the question.
“The will is with the lawyer, and he said he had some people he needed to notify. I have an appointment with him on Thursday to go over everything with him. But until then….”
“The dogs will stay here with me. Corky asked me to look after them, and until you can prove that you should have them, I’ll take care of them.” Lyle petted the increasingly agitated animals in his lap.
“I’m her daughter, and I’ll—” She charged over, reaching for Daisy, who snapped at her as soon as she got close enough.
She jumped back, and Lyle resisted the urge to praise Daisy, but he did make a note to give her an extra treat.
The thought of Debbie getting her hands on the dogs made his anger rise.
“It seems they don’t like you,” James said with a slight smile.
“Now, I suggest you wait until the lawyer tells you what you own and what you don’t before you barge into someone else’s home.
” He gently set Dover in the chair before standing, crossing his arms over his chest. “If and when you can prove that you own the dogs, then Lyle will give them to you. But until then, we’re following Corky’s wishes.
” Damn, he was intimidating as all hell, and if Lyle were honest, totally sex on a stick.
The way he stood up for him, and for the dogs, was impressive, and Debbie took a step back, nearly tripping at the door frame.
“We’ll see about all that,” she spat.
“Yes, we will,” Lyle told her as gently as he could.
“On Thursday, you find out everything you need to know, and if you truly are supposed to get the dogs, then I don’t have grounds to fight you, but Corky asked me more than once to look after these dogs, and I will.
Your mom was a good friend to me, and I intend to honor her wishes.
” God, he really was going to miss her. He lowered his gaze to the dogs in his lap and gently crooned to them, giving them attention and pretty much ignoring Debbie.
“It’s okay. The grouchy lady is leaving. ”
“I could call the police,” she threatened.
“And possession is nine-tenths of the law. You would have to prove that these dogs are yours, and you can’t without the will,” James added. “So go on home and wait to see what your mother wanted. It’s just a few days, and by then everything will be clear.”
Lyle was glad he had James on his side. Debbie turned and left, the dogs jumping down to return to the play yard, probably to make sure she was actually leaving.
“She seems like a real piece of work,” James said once she was gone.
“Debbie and Corky fought all the time. She wanted to put her mother into an assisted living space, and Corky wanted to stay in her home. I swear that sometimes she made things harder on Corky so she could try to get her own way. I don’t know for sure, but I do know that they didn’t see things that same way.
Debbie was always about money, and Corky felt that at her stage in life, money was not important.
I’m sure she knew that her dogs were valuable, but I think to Corky, they were a lot more than that.
” Not that he cared all that much what the dogs were worth monetarily.
He liked them, and they were good company.
“What will you do on Thursday if Corky didn’t specify in her will about the dogs and they go to Debbie?” James asked.
“Then I’m not going to have a choice. She’ll sell them to breeders, and I’ll have to say goodbye.
I mean, there isn’t anything that I can do.
” He sighed and hoped it didn’t come to that.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you drawn into my little doggie drama.
Corky never showed me her will or explained what she had in it.
She just asked me to watch her dogs.” He really hoped that Corky had directives about the four dogs, but she may have forgotten, or she may have only meant for him to watch them until they got to her daughter.
He wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t going to give up on them without a fight.
All four of them were so good together, and it seemed unfair for them to be sent to different homes.
“At least they’re safe enough for now.” James looked around. “I should probably get going.”
“Okay.” James probably had a ton of things he needed to do, and as much as Lyle liked his company, he didn’t have a right to monopolize his time.
“I appreciate you coming over. It was a really big help.” Lyle swallowed hard, because the last thing he wanted James to do was leave, but he couldn’t think of a reason for him to stay.
“I should get my chores done. I only have the day, and then tomorrow I have more studying to do. There is always something to do, and if I can get a little ahead, that would be great.”
“Well, thanks again for everything. You didn’t need to do all this.
” Lyle thought fast. “Maybe if you have time during the week, you could come for dinner. I’m not a great cook, but it’s the least I can do for all your help.
I’m sure the dogs would like to see you as well.
” He was willing to pull out the big guns.
“Okay. That would be very nice.” He seemed unsure about what he should do, so Lyle hugged him and then stepped back. “Does Monday or Tuesday work?”
“Monday would be great. My classes end early that day, and I should be able to finish my work before dinner. What time do you want me?” He smiled.
“Six is great,” he said and led James to the door.
Then he said goodbye and closed the door after him.
The dogs all hurried in from downstairs.
He petted all of them and returned down there to close things up.
Lyle led the dogs all back upstairs, where he fed them.
He was also hungry and made himself something to eat, wishing he had just asked James to stay.
But he had plenty to do, and he might as well get on with it.
So he loaded the washing machine and spent the rest of the afternoon doing his work and thinking about James and those amazing eyes.
LYLE SPENT much of Sunday trying to figure out what to make when James came for dinner.
He’d asked a number of people at work and even got some recipes.
But he didn’t think it was a good idea to make something new for a guest. So he decided on a baked chicken dish.
It was simple, but something he knew was good.
With that decided, he spent Sunday evening cleaning the house again to make sure it all looked right for when James came to dinner.
“Should I use the good stuff on the table?” he asked.
The dogs seemed completely uninterested, and he decided that maybe they should eat in the kitchen.
The truth was that he wanted to impress James, and he wanted him to like him.
Not that he was all that interesting. He pulled out the vacuum and ran it through the rooms, the dogs hurrying to get out of its way.
At noon on Monday, he came home to find the dogs ecstatic that he was back.
Lyle fed them and took all of them for a short walk to poop and pee.
Then he ate his own lunch before returning to work.
He went through the same routine when he got home that evening and then set about some final cleaning before starting dinner.
The doorbell rang as he was putting the vacuum away, and he hurried to the door to find the mailman with a registered letter.
Lyle signed for it and thanked him before returning inside.
He ripped it open and found a letter printed on legal firm letterhead.
He read it and set it aside before getting ready for his visitor.
He cleaned the chicken and got it in the glass dish along with the rest of the ingredients.
The he put it in the oven and started on the salad.
He wasn’t sure if James ate carbs—so many people stayed away from them.
So instead of potatoes, he cooked the fresh green beans he’d gotten at the grocery store during his trip yesterday morning.
He’d spent more time in the store wondering what James would like.
He’d thought about ice cream for dessert, but then he wondered if James ate that sort of thing.
He was muscly and rather hunky, and that meant he took care of himself.
At one point, after his shower, he saw himself in the mirror and wondered what James could see in him.
He wasn’t built or anything, kind of skinny, and…
. Lyle had never thought of himself as anything special in the physical department.
Still, he put that out of his mind. He was rushing ahead anyway.
James was coming for dinner. This wasn’t a proposal, after all.