Chapter 3 #4
He glanced down at the dogs and said, “I guess we should probably walk back, but we can come back here another day.”
She agreed, checking the sky. “The sun is starting to set, and it will get dark quickly with all these big trees up here,” she noted. “So we should head back.”
But reluctance filled her tone, and that made him smile. “We can always come back for a picnic in a couple days—if you’re not working seven days a week.”
She beamed at him. “I really try not to work seven days a week, but, since my business partner bailed, and I had to buy him out, I’ve had to work more hours than I’d hoped to.”
He nodded. “If there’s anything I can do to help out at the clinic,” he shared, “you let me know. And, if you find time to get free, and a picnic sounds like a good idea, give me a heads-up, and I can make it happen. All you have to do is just show up.”
She burst out laughing. “You have no idea how great that sounds, so why don’t we just go ahead and say it’s a date. You just tell me which day we’re talking about, and we’ll go from there.”
“Whichever day is better for you,” he replied, with a shrug. “And, while I might need to bring the dogs, I won’t bring Grandma.”
“But you could, you know?” she said. “If you think she would enjoy it, although I don’t know how she would handle the walk up here.”
“I don’t know either,” he noted, checking around them. “I wouldn’t even have to ask her if she wanted to do this because she’s always loved it up here.” He shook his head. “I don’t imagine she’s even been up here since the last time I brought her,” he muttered.
“Probably not,” Vivian said, with a nod. “So, if you could make that happen, it would be great too.”
He laughed. “Nothing like creating a few miracles.”
“No kidding,” she agreed. “Be careful, or we’ll all start calling you the miracle man.”
“Oh, don’t do that,” he protested. “It’s all I can do half the time to even make my own life happen, much less help anybody else’s.”
“If you’re even making any of it happen, you’re doing well, because, man, some days it’s damn hard just to get through to the next day.”
“It is,” he stated. “It absolutely is, but it’s not impossible. So that’s what we must hang on to.”
On that note, they walked back in earnest, until he stopped about two minutes in and tilted his head. Both dogs, now back on leashes, also stopped. Sarge let loose a growl deep from the back of his throat.
Dagger had his hackles up and was growling too, as he looked off into the distance.
“What is it?” Vivian asked, stepping closer, her hand going protectively atop Dagger’s back.
“I am not sure,” Wilden began. “That was not a normal growl from Sarge and not a normal reaction, even in the military world.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure what normal would be in this situation,” she replied.
“This isn’t a normal reaction to something expected, like wildlife.”
She froze and stared at him expectantly.
He continued. “Most animals are happy to live and let live. If a bear was out there and coming our way, they might send out a warning, but most of the time they would wait until you could see if it would be an issue before—”
“But they’re not waiting now,” she pointed out.
“Exactly,” he said, “so my take is that it’s more likely to be two-legged than four-legged, and they really don’t like something about them, which also isn’t normal.”
She caught on too late, frowning at him with narrowed eyes. “Are you telling me something is out here that we won’t like?” she asked plainly.
He smiled. “Maybe, but we’re just walking back to the vehicle with a nonchalant attitude right now. So, if somebody is watching us,” he added, his voice low, “we won’t give them something to be pissed off about.”
She blinked but nodded slowly and continued to walk at his side.
She did walk a little closer, and her grip on Dagger’s leash was something he wouldn’t easily get away from.
That was probably a good thing, considering he was still young, untrained, and likely to jump faster than most people expected him to.
Back at Wilden’s vehicle, without anything else to set off the dogs, Vivian released a long breath. Wilden smiled, and inside her was a knot that she wished would unwind.
Wilden noted, “It’s always a good idea to take a deep breath in those situations.”
She nodded. “I agree, but it’s still a bit hairy not knowing what set off the dogs.”
“Yet something did,” he declared.
“That’s the kicker. Something out there the dogs really didn’t like.”
“Yep, you’re right about that,” he agreed, “but, so far, we haven’t seen anything.”
“Not sure I want to either,” she stated in a tart tone. He chuckled. She looked over at him and smiled. “If I were alone, I wouldn’t be laughing.”
“Let’s hope nothing happens if you’re alone,” he noted. “I’m not against considering that it could have been a bear or something else, but it wouldn’t be common here.”
She nodded and added, “I would take four-legged over two-legged any day.”
He smiled. “That is a common theme among women.”
“It makes sense,” she pointed out.
“Most men would say it doesn’t make any sense at all.”
“That’s because you’re male,” she quipped, “and you’re already at the top of the food chain, while women know perfectly well that they aren’t.”
He pondered her comment for a long moment and then relented, “I hadn’t considered that.”
“No, and that’s okay,” she conceded, “because we wouldn’t really want that to be the basis of relationships.”
“Yet I think protection has always been the basis of relationships, at least for some,” he stated. “Like your sister, some women still pick partners based on who can provide for them while they raise the family. It’s as old as time, and I don’t think that mind-set will go away anytime soon.”
“No, probably not,” she muttered, then laughed as both Dagger and Sarge jumped into the back seat. “We didn’t walk them long enough to get rid of all that water.”
“No, but I’m not sure that was even possible,” he shared, with a headshake. “These guys are drenched clear through their undercoats, but I’ll grab some towels when we get back and take them out to the backyard to finish drying them.”
She rolled her eyes. “Instead of towels, grab a ball or something, if they still have energy to play.”
He glanced over at her with appreciation. “That is a better answer, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely. You’ll get a ton of water off them quickly if they run around and shake,” she explained. “So I would do that first, before you attempt anything with a towel. And, when I say a towel, you’ll probably need at least three or four … per dog.”
He burst out laughing. “Right, that makes sense too.”
The drive back was faster than she expected. When they got back to his grandmother’s house, she hopped out and asked, “Are you sure you’re okay to keep both of them here?”
“Absolutely, not a problem. … You want to come in?”
She smiled politely and shook her head. “No, I’ve got to get back to my two as well.”
He nodded. “Okay. Maybe on the weekend we can bring yours with us as well.”
“Oh, that would be great. But four dogs to look after? Won’t it be too much?”
“If they accept each other as a pack, they’ll be fine,” he noted. “It’s just a matter of getting them used to each other and understanding that there’ll be some pecking order no matter what. Yet animals tend to deal with that fairly quickly.”
“Saturday?” she asked. He looked at her, one eyebrow raised. “How about Sunday instead?”
“Sunday it is,” he confirmed. “Do you want me to come to your place with the dogs?”
“Sure, if you haven’t figured out what is going on with Mr. Russell in the meantime.”
“Yeah, that’s definitely back on my agenda again,” he stated. “Did you—”
“What?” she asked. “Did I what?”
“When we heard that noise out there, did you hear anything else?”
She looked at him and then frowned. “I wondered if I heard a yell, but it was so far and so faint that I just assumed it was a bird.”
He nodded. “I wasn’t sure if I heard something or not,” he acknowledged, “but now I’m not convinced that I didn’t.” He looked at the vehicle and muttered, “I think I’ll head back out there.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Why didn’t you say something earlier?”
He smiled and shrugged. “Because I wanted to get you back to safety.”
“Oh no, no way,” she declared. “You can’t go out there alone.”
He smiled and added, “I pretty well have to.”
She frowned at that. “That can’t be a good thing, especially in the dark.”
“It may or may not be a good thing, until I check it out further,” he replied.
“But if I heard something, it could have just been a bird,” she pointed out.
“At least that’s what I put it down to—or, as much as I hate to say it, a bird caught by a predator or something.
Those are the facts of life when it comes to the nature-based world we live in.
Sometimes, in order for something to live, something else must die. ”
He stared at her and then nodded. “It is a challenge, isn’t it?”
“It can be, yes,” she agreed, “and that’s one of the reasons I’m doing what I do because, if I can help some of them, I do, and, if I can’t, then I don’t,” she explained. “It’s a matter of which on any given day.” She walked to her car but turned back to him. “Are you really going back out there?”
“I’ll check on Nan and confirm that she’s okay and get her something to eat if she hasn’t already. Then I’ll leave again. She seems to be a little nervous about being alone at nighttime.”
She frowned at the house. “In a way, I can see that. I mean, I don’t know what friends your father may have had, but it might have left her uneasy about people in general and especially any of his associates.”
He stared at her for a long moment, and, by the look on his face, she knew he had already considered that possibility, and he wasn’t too happy about it. “That’s not helping me feel better.”
She smiled. “I’m not trying to cause trouble, but your nan is a tiny older lady, so not a whole lot of security in that, particularly if your father was very threatening, which he absolutely was.”
He sighed. “It’ll take a long time for people to forget about my father, won’t it? That’s a lot to live down.”
“Nope,” she countered, “because you are not your father. By the time anybody remembers John, they’ll just remember that he’s gone, so I wouldn’t let it worry you.”
She hopped into her vehicle and called out, “But I do have to go take care of my animals, and I need food. I wish you wouldn’t go back out there tonight, but I know that nothing I say will stop you.”
He just smiled at that.
“At least text me and let me know in case you run into trouble and need help of some kind. Definitely tell me when you get back home tonight.”
“I can do that.”
She smiled, ear to ear. “In that case, go say hi to your grandmother and then reconsider if this is something you feel you must do. If so, then do it. Preferably before it gets way-the-hell too late.”
When he smiled, she lifted her hand and headed home.