“Maybe they were playing some kind of game with one another,” Evan said. “Who could bad-mouth their former boss the worst, or something like that.”
“But why?”
“No idea.” But Evan did think again about seeing Orrin walk around the ranch late at night—supposedly to make sure all was well. Was there more to it than that?
The three young dogs had run around the enclosure several times and were now panting in the cool May air. Time to take them back in, Evan figured.
And maybe start a friendly but inquisitive conversation with Orrin and Percy.
He had a feeling that, if he didn’t do it, Amber would.
Chapter 18
Amber hurried back to the kitchen, the dogs she’d taken charge of now behind her. So were Evan and Hal.
She needed answers, damn it, not more questions.
Should she confront the two men who’d been criticizing her poor, dead father? Fire Orrin and let Percy know she would look for different tech help?
But as she reached the door, she stopped and sighed.
Both men were useful at what they did around here.
And Evan was right. They could have had a hidden agenda for that conversation—to impress one another, or a different reason they’d never reveal. After all, they’d thought they were alone, that no one could hear them.
She wished she hadn’t—maybe. Was it better to know their attitudes?
To believe one of them could have killed her dad?
Well, she didn’t know that. And in earlier conversations with them, they’d both seemed somewhat sad and sympathetic, in their own way. So, she’d just keep things as they were.
For now.
But she would try somehow to bring out anything either of them knew about what had happened to her father.
She entered the kitchen with Rex and Lucy still leashed. Bear and Lola maneuvered around a bunch of human legs to greet them, and Hal joined the other dogs from behind her.
“Hi, guys,” said one of the students, Grady, who looked a little lost without his Dobie, Mambo. The young guy kneeled and began playing with one dog after another, teasing them as if he had treats, then gently pushing them away.
Amber was interested to see that both Orrin and Percy were with her mother. The guests remaining at this impromptu party—the other pet trainees and Nathan—were near the sink chattering and drinking.
Since those two men were closest to her mom, she suspected they were trying to make sure they were on her good side, in case Amber had heard what she actually had heard.
Or was she just imagining it all?
She glanced around and saw Evan supervising Grady’s doggy games. She had an urge to join them. To silently take in Evan’s support. But she decided instead that this was a good time for another cup of coffee.
She maneuvered around Stewart, Julie and Aaron until she was closer to Nathan, who was pouring the coffee.
“Would you like some?” He picked up the pot from its brewer on the counter.
“Please.” Amber didn’t like the hint of desperation in her voice, but maybe no one else would notice.
She had an idea then, not a good one but at least it would potentially confirm to Percy and Orrin that they’d better behave.
If either had killed her dad, it surely hadn’t been both of them.
When Nathan handed her the cup of coffee she lifted it and raised her voice as she said to the group, “I really liked Evan’s toast to my dad before, when the cops were still here. I annoyed them when I suggested they’d done a poor job trying to learn what happened to my dad, but I apologized. They, of course, made it clear they wanted me to stay out of it. Well, don’t tell them, but until they succeed I’ll keep trying to figure things out. How about the rest of you—anything new you can tell me, or the police, about who hurt my father?”
She purposely looked sympathetically toward her clearly shocked mom and not toward Percy or Orrin, but from the corner of her eye she saw at least one of them move.
If nothing else, she had probably made them uneasy. Good.
“Hey.” Evan stepped up beside her. “We’re all together here to celebrate your dad. And we all feel bad about what happened to him. But we know what a good trainer he was, so let’s celebrate dogs, too.” He made a motion and Bear, beside him, stood and started circling the feet of everyone close by.
“That’s so cute,” Sonya said.
“I agree,” Amber responded. And smart. Without telling her off, Evan nevertheless had gotten her attention and everyone else’s, as well. He’d reminded them of why they’d come: the resumption and demonstration of the Chance K-9 Ranch’s dog-training expertise.
Thanks, Evan, she thought and looked straight at him, half wishing it was appropriate, with these other people around, for her to hug him.
As if he understood, he nodded slightly and sent her a brief but sexy grin. “Now,” he said, looking down toward the dogs, “let’s all go outside for one final demo today. Those pups—” he gestured toward the young shepherds “—will look great on a video for the ranch website, too, even though they’re not far along in their training. Percy, would you do the honor of filming that, too?”
“Sure,” the tech guy said. “As long as you do as good a job of getting them to show off what they do know.”
Percy aimed a glance toward Amber that she couldn’t quite interpret. A request for her approval?
An apology?
“Sounds great,” she said. “Let’s all go back outside.”
*
Despite the pleasant way he’d reacted outwardly to Amber’s latest comments, Evan was peeved inside. She knew better. But the best thing he could do for her at this moment was move everyone’s attention away from her words…again.
Without looking at Amber, he grabbed the leashes of all three young dogs and headed for the kitchen door, then out of the house, careful not to choke them despite his need to hurry. At least they didn’t have any control collars on since he hadn’t intended to work with them now.
He made sure Bear was following. So was Lola.
Good. He would spend a little time working with the dogs. They listened to him or they didn’t get rewarded. It was as simple—and sometimes as challenging—as that.
Then there was Amber…who didn’t appear to be listening to him.
Evan didn’t check to see if she or any other people followed as he herded his canine pack into the fenced area, where he felt comfortable letting the younger ones loose with the older ones.
Instead of working with the dogs, at this moment Evan’s preference would have been to shake some sense into Amber. But despite his irritation, he had already reacted in the way most likely to stay on her good side.
For now.
He understood her reaction to overhearing Percy and Orrin that way, ramping up yet again her need to learn who’d killed her dad. But to deal with Corbin’s murder, reach a resolution and some kind of closure, she kept putting herself in potential danger. Didn’t she understand that?
Or maybe she did—and figured that somehow, since she anticipated something, from someone, she’d be able to protect herself.
He organized the three young dogs in a row on the lawn. As he turned, he saw that Amber and the others had followed him and now stood behind the fence. Good.
He had an idea.
He beckoned toward her. “Hey, boss,” he called. “Everyone has already seen me in action with Bear today. It’s your turn to give it a try with the ranch’s puppies. No agitator, though. Just a training session.”
Would it be a good thing if she tried and the dogs didn’t obey her? Embarrassed her?
No, but at least it would hopefully do as Evan wanted and get the subject changed.
The look Amber leveled on him was both quizzical and defiant. “You’re right,” she called, and eased herself through the gate.
Heading toward him, she patted Lola and Bear as they trotted at her side. It appeared like one determined canin
e pack approaching another, and the idea almost amused Evan.
He glanced toward the rest of the people remaining behind the fence—Sonya, Nathan and the four students. It was the same audience as his demonstration this morning, minus the cops.
A good thing?
Well, it might at least provide the distraction he wanted.
“Choose one of our student dogs to be first,” he instructed Amber as she and the adult dogs reached him.
He wasn’t surprised she chose Lucy. Most police K-9s were males because they tended to be easiest to train, but that wasn’t so with Rex. Hal? Sure, she could have picked him, but she might identify more with the female puppy.
“Now,” he said, keeping the leashes of the two males in his hands, “let her loose and see how many of the exercises I demonstrated earlier that you can accomplish with her.” He spoke loud so the other people could hear. “Understand, though, that these young dogs have had only a small fraction of the training and experience Bear’s had.”
“Of course.” Amber grinned ironically at him as if he was a teacher who hadn’t yet figured out how smart his student was.
Her, not the dog.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded, then called, “Lucy, come.” She made the gesture Evan had taught her and, of course, Lucy came.
For the next ten minutes, Amber put Lucy through the initial training paces that Evan had demonstrated and worked with her on during her prior lessons.
She did great with it. Even their observers must have thought so, since they all seemed to watch intently and clapped when Amber had Lucy do something particularly challenging, like heeling while she walked in strange configurations, almost as if this young dog was a fully trained K-9.
What she did, how she performed with the dogs, shouldn’t seem sexy—but it did. Evan wanted to hug her, as much in admiration as because watching her turned him on. But he stayed still, cheering her.
His mood had changed, and it appeared hers had, too.
She performed similarly with Hal, then Rex, and all of them did a credibly good job, even the most energetic of the male puppies.
When her demonstration was over, he walked with her and the dogs back toward the gate.
He’d noticed from the first that Percy had his camera out filming Amber’s demonstration.
“How’d it look, Percy?” Amber said as she neared the crowd.
“Really good.” The guy looked pretty proud of himself as he waved his camera toward her. “It’ll be great on the website.”
“Thanks so much!” Amber sounded happy.
Maybe some of that happiness resulted from the fact she wasn’t accusing anyone—now—of murdering her father. He knew she hadn’t forgotten her worries.
Had these people?
Not if either guy was guilty, or any onlooker, since the cops considered at least some of Corbin’s students as suspects.
“This has been a fantastic day,” Julie said, bending to pat Lucy’s head. “Such wonderful demonstrations. And you can be sure I’ll be back with Squeegie.”
“When you do, I’ll have a new command for you to use,” Evan said, recalling their earlier discussion.
“This has been so much fun,” said Aaron. Was he, with his attitude, on the cops’ list? “I really appreciate watching Amber go through the paces the way we should be. I’m learning a lot here at the K-9 Ranch.”
Evan hoped so—for his dog’s sake. “That’s great,” Evan said. “We’ll soon post more information about upcoming classes on the website, so be sure to keep in touch.” There. He sounded like a dedicated teacher—and was pleased to see Amber smile at him in recognition. He smiled back.
“Gotta go now.” Aaron motioned to the others he’d come with. They said goodbye and headed toward their cars.
“Hey, come over here,” called Nathan, who still stood beside Sonya near the fence. With the dogs following, Evan strode at Amber’s side in their direction.
He noted that Orrin had headed back toward his house, while Percy stood at the edge of the driveway apparently reviewing the videos he had shot that day.
Evan was glad to see Sonya also smiling when Amber and he joined Nathan and her. “I didn’t imagine how great the demonstrations would be here today,” she said. “Thanks to both of you.”
“You’re very welcome,” he replied, and realized he should thank them and all the other people who’d shown up. Any discomfort he’d felt that day was more involved with concern over Amber rather than being the center of attention of a whole group of people.
“I’ve had more fun today watching dog demonstrations than I’ve had for a long time,” Nathan added. “I’ve invited Sonya for dinner at my hotel and would love to have you two join us.”
That would mean more crowds.
He could do it.
But first he waited for Amber’s response. “That would be very nice,” she said a few seconds later, and Evan realized she had glanced at her mother to make sure it was okay with her.
“What time would you like us there?” Sonya asked.
“Six o’clock would be fine,” Nathan responded.
“I’ll drive us all there,” Amber said, then aimed a glance at Evan as if daring him to say no.
“Sounds fine to me.” And it did. Another good opportunity to hang out with Amber, even with her mother and Nathan along.
He wouldn’t be able to scold her then for her ongoing rants and reminders that she wasn’t resting until she found her father’s killer.
His job here was training dogs, but his avocation was turning into protecting Amber.
Fine with him—as long as she actually did stay safe.
Chapter 19
Amber enjoyed their dinner though she continued to worry about her mother’s relationship with Nathan.
He was an okay-looking guy, with his silvery head of hair and expensive-looking suit while on a date—and Amber had no doubt both he and her mother considered this a date. Sonya had dressed up, too, in a pale yellow dress and heels, and insisted that Amber wear a nice outfit, as well.
She’d chosen a white blouse and black skirt, hoping to look more like this was business than pleasure. But it was pleasure, as well—since she couldn’t help admiring how well Evan cleaned up. He, too, wore a suit—a black one with a dark gray shirt and deep green tie.
The Resort Restaurant, as it was called, was fairly crowded, especially considering how far from civilization this was. Or maybe that was the reason, since hotel patrons didn’t have much choice where to go unless they wanted to journey into town. It was a fairly formal place, complete with waitstaff wearing dark suits and white tablecloths on all the tables.
The prices reflected its elegance, and Amber was glad the resort’s owner had invited them—presumably intending to pay for their dinner.
They had already ordered, and, after Nathan had tested and tasted it, wine had been poured into their long-stemmed glasses, an expensive merlot. Amber had considered asking for one of the pricier meals on the menu, but had decided to be more prudent, so she had ordered chicken escalope, not the cheapest item but not at the top, either. Her mother and Evan chose in that price range, as well. Only Nathan had ordered the works, including steak.
“Now it’s my turn for a toast,” Nathan said. “To the K-9 Ranch.” He lifted his glass, and after everyone did the same he took a sip from it. “I’m not much of a dog person, but I admire what you’ve been doing there under such difficult circumstances.”
“Thanks.” Sonya looked happy, more or less, but there was a strain around her eyes. The toast, as nice as it had been, clearly reminded her of her lost husband.
It had caused Amber to think of him, too—not that she needed a reminder.
“Could I come and observe more demonstrations?” Nathan asked Evan, who looked him straight in the face yet appeared relieved to glance away as the server brought their meals.
When their food was in front of them Nathan again aimed his gaze at Evan, clea
rly wanting a response.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine with Evan if you’d like to come watch some of his classes,” Amber said. “But please coordinate with him first since some will require more privacy than others. Right, Evan?”
He appeared more amused at her taking over than upset by it. “Right.”
If Nathan wasn’t much of a dog person Amber wondered why he’d want to come watch. To criticize Evan’s performance again? Most likely it would be an excuse to visit her mother—which made her uneasy.
They all began eating, and after a few minutes of silence, except for the surrounding restaurant noise, Amber was a little surprised that Evan was the one to break it. “Did you ever watch any of Corbin’s classes?” he asked Nathan.
Amber glanced at her mother. Her eyes were wide, and she held a bite of pasta on her fork that hadn’t quite reached her mouth. “Oh, Evan, you probably aren’t aware of it but my husband didn’t like to have people who weren’t students watch his classes. Not any more than he wanted to have other trainers here as his employees.”
Amber figured Evan felt the same way, but a warmth gushed through her as he said, “No, I didn’t know that, but just like dogs are pack animals, I think it helps in their training to have other dogs, and people, around.”
Even though that could be taken as a criticism of her dad, Amber could have hugged Evan right now. Whatever his own internal issues, he was holding them at bay to do what she wanted her head trainer to do.
“Great,” Nathan said and continued eating.
So did the rest of them, and their conversation morphed into a discussion of the town of Chance, and why Nathan had chosen to open his resort here, and its clear success. He admitted that the rooms were nearly always filled, and there was a waiting list for certain busy times of the year.
When they were done eating, Nathan did insist on paying their bill. That part pleased Amber.
The fact that he said he’d drive her mother home in a little while, after they had a drink together in the bar, didn’t please her at all.
Second Chance Soldier Page 17
