Don’t Close Your Eyes

by Ali Parker

  “That’s good to know,” I said, still surprised at his insight. I made the appropriate changes on the board. “Anything else?”

  “Nah,” Tanner said, shrugging easily. “I think we did a good job today, though. You get that supply list all drawn up?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Do you want to look it over?”

  “Only if you want me to,” Tanner said. “But to be honest, you probably have a better idea of what you need than I would. It’s still only my first day, and every place is different.”

  “Did Uncle Billy have you guys do this type of work on his farm?” I asked curiously.

  “Yeah. You know we’re from down in Texas, near Amarillo,” Tanner said. “Dad still has his farm, and we help there, but a lot of it is automated now. He figured we would be more help to you guys for a little while. Plus, my adopted sister moved up this way, so we’re all keeping an eyes on her too.” ”

  “Makes sense,” I said, nodding. It was such a silly thing, but I immediately liked him better knowing that he had been helping Uncle Billy and didn’t mind helping us. That, and the guy had an adopted sister that he kept dibs on. It showed me that family was important to him, and that meant a lot to me, especially given how fucked up my own familial situation was at the moment.

  Besides, he had worked hard today, and he had done a good job from what I’d heard, of making sure that a bunch of the different tasks were done, even though I hadn’t had to spell that out for him. I really appreciated that.

  I was starting to think that maybe Daddy had done a good job in hiring him. Maybe it wouldn’t be so terrible having him around on the farm, family or not.

  “You know, I was thinking today that it’s been a while since I went duck hunting,” Tanner said, suddenly. “Maybe you and I should go sometime. You could bring that pup of yours and see if we could get her to be our little retriever.”

  I snorted and looked over at Duck, who was currently gnawing on a bone in the corner. She was still dirty from her afternoon’s romp which had apparently ended in a mud bath. She had come back to the office leaving a trail of paw prints through the stable. I’d given her a precursory hose-down just to keep her from being too nasty, but she’d need a proper bath tonight, now that it was too dark to get anything else done on the farm.

  “I don’t think Duck is quite ready for hunting just yet,” I sighed, even though I wished she were. Not for the first time, I wished that I’d just gotten a hunting dog that someone had already trained. But I had expected to have more time to devote to this project, and anyway, everyone knew that hunting dogs responded better if you got them as puppies and they had time to really get loyal to you.

  Duck had no problems with loyalty, it was everything else we were still struggling with.

  “That’s fair,” Tanner said, nodding. “But maybe at some point.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure when that would ever happen. Was there ever going to be a day when the farm could spare both of us? Probably not. I did appreciate him asking though.

  “Do you want to head into town and grab a beer?” Tanner suggested. “It would be good to get to know one another a little better. If we're going to be working together, it helps to know how the other guy thinks. Plus, you seem like a cool guy, especially when you’re a bit more relaxed. We could catch up on the years we never had.”

  “Like all of them?” I chuckled. “Wish I could, but I have an early morning tomorrow,” I told him.

  Tanner frowned at the board. “You don’t have that many things to get done tomorrow,” he said, and I could tell he thought I was just blowing him off.

  “There’s something else, non-farm business I guess. Or I don’t know. Some meeting that my dad set up for tomorrow morning. Gotta be awake for it.” I’d found the ‘details’ of that second surprise gift on a Post-it note stuck to the fridge, Brea – 7 a.m. Tuesday.

  I didn’t know who Brea was, but I assumed it was some sort of delivery that I’d need to be awake for. I was still just hoping it wouldn’t be another animal, although I’d started to realize that one more animal really wasn’t going to complicate things anymore. Unless it was a horse that needed training. But I didn’t honestly think Dad would give me a horse to train right now. He knew I was having enough problems housebreaking Duck, so he would never trust me with a horse, too.

  Although apparently he’d trusted me with the whole damned farm.

  “Ah, I get it,” Tanner said. He shrugged, “Maybe some other time, then.”

  “Yeah, definitely some other time,” I promised, because that was the least that I could do. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d gone out for a beer with friends, but I didn’t want to make him rethink working there with us. A guy with his talents was most likely missed on his Dad’s farm.

  As reluctant as I’d been to have him come on to work there, I realized after only one day that I really did need his skills around the place.

  6

  Brea

  I got to the Dawson family farm at only about ten minutes after seven on Tuesday morning, and I was pretty proud of myself. It was nearly as long of a drive as getting to Dad’s place, so for me to be there less than twenty minutes late was pretty good for me.

  The farm was nice, too. It was way bigger than the one I’d grown up on, and everything was in pristine condition. The house had clearly been painted recently, and the barn looked brand new. There were plenty of pastures for the horses, plus a couple of barren fields that would probably hold crops come spring.

  But the place was huge. It must take an army to maintain it. Curiously enough, there was no one around right now. Then again, it was still pretty early. Maybe people would start getting there soon. Or maybe they were all hiding in that massive barn.

  I hopped up the stairs onto the front porch and knocked on the door, waiting for a moment before someone answered. When the guy finally did, he looked surprised to see me. He was shirtless and tanned, tall with lean muscle, and his hair was rumpled as if he had just gotten out of bed. He was carrying a dog under one arm. A puppy, really. A cute one.

  But I barely had eyes for the dog. Instead, I couldn’t seem to draw my gaze away from the guy’s sculpted abs. God, he was attractive. I suddenly remembered Dad’s reminder to be careful, and I wondered if he knew more than he had let on about the Dawson family.

  The guy cleared his throat, and I realized I was blocking his way out. I took a step back and to the side. Something hit into the backs of my knees, and I fell backward, landing hard on the porch. “There’s a chair there,” the man said, raising an eyebrow at me as he walked out to the yard and set the pooch down. The dog immediately ran off, bounding across the fields, and the guy reached out to give me a hand up.

  I was still staring at him, I realized. But I couldn’t seem to help it. He looked amused, in any case.

  “You must be Brea?” he asked, his voice rich and silky-smooth. Even his voice was sexy? I was such a goner. “I’m Luke Dawson.”

  “Yeah,” I said breathlessly. “Brea. That’s me.”

  Luke folded his arms across his chest. “What are you doing here?” he asked bluntly. “If it’s for some sort of delivery, I can sign or whatever. But let’s get this over with; I have other stuff to do today.”

  I blinked at him. Wow, crabby. Okay. I hoped it was just that he wasn’t a morning person, not that I had screwed something up already. “Uh, I’m here to train the two dogs,” I told him. “I thought you knew that.” I frowned, trying to remember what Nina had told me. “Two hunting dogs?”

  Luke stared at me for a moment like he thought I was kidding. “We don’t even have two hunting dogs,” he finally said. “Just Duck.” He gestured toward the dog, which was currently sniffing at some hedges along the edge of the driveway.

  I shrugged. “Then I guess I’m here to train Duck,” I said.

  “Train her how?” Luke asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowed at me.

  “I don’t know,” I said slow
ly. “The guy who set up the appointment, which I’m guessing wasn’t you, said something about house training and then hunting training, but he didn’t break down what Duck can already do or anything like that. Does she come when you call?”

  Luke turned toward the dog, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Hey! Duck! Get over here!” He whistled, and the dog turned to stare at him, her ears perking up and her head tilting quizzically to the side. But then she went right back to sniffing around. Luke looked pissed at that. “Hey!” he hollered again. This time, Duck didn’t even acknowledge him.

  “I don’t need your help,” Luke said, though, as he turned back toward me. “Especially not with training her around the house. I don’t know why my dad hired you.”

  Raising an eyebrow at him, and folding my arms across my chest as well, I said, “From the sounds of it, you could probably use me,” I said. “I can at least teach her to come when she hears her name. You’re never going to get her to retrieve ducks for you if you can’t get her to come back to you.”

  “Fuck that,” Luke snapped. “She’s just a puppy. They don’t always listen.”

  I stared at him, wondering what Nina would do in this situation. But Nina wasn’t here, and it was up to me to handle it. I wanted to just stalk off, but I knew Nina would be frustrated if I did that. Instead, I tried to reason with him.

  “She might just be a puppy, but a well-trained puppy will usually listen,” I insisted. “And with a hunting dog, you can’t start them too early. You know the saying, can’t teach an old dog new tricks. If you want her to learn how to be a proper hunting dog, you’ve got to get her going now.”

  “We’re still working on things,” Luke said defensively. “But I’ve got it all under control. Like I said, I don’t need your help.”

  Finally, I shrugged. “Well, your father already paid for these lessons, so I can’t just leave,” I told him. “And if you’ve got other things to do today anyway, why don’t you go do that and I’ll hang out with Duck while you work? Puppies need quite a bit of attention, and if you’re busy elsewhere, maybe she’d appreciate some company.”

  Luke looked at me like I was crazy. “She’s got the run of the farm,” he said. “And she comes to hang out with me whenever I’m in the office. She plays with all the other animals, too.”

  I shook my head. “No wonder she doesn’t behave,” I muttered under my breath.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Luke snarled, the asshole not someone I would put up with.

  “It means that she’s probably acting out because she’s not getting the attention she needs,” I told him, putting my chin up and challenging the dick. Why was it the hot ones that were always assholes? “I bet she chews things around the house, too? And probably piddles on the floor sometimes? And I can tell she’s one who needs a good bath every single day, right?” I could see Luke’s guilty look, and knew I had hit the nail on the head. “Let me fix that,” I told him. “Or at least try to.”

  Luke started to say something else, probably to tell me again that he didn’t need my help, but I cut him off. “You know, taking a beautiful hunting dog like that and failing to get it the proper training it needs is just as bad as animal cruelty.”

  That shut him up. Again, Luke looked guilty. And then, just resigned. “Fine,” he said, putting his hands in the air. “For one day, and only because your company has already been paid. But only because you seem like you really care about this job and I wouldn’t want you to lose it.”

  I snorted. “Don’t do me any favors,” I said. Nina wouldn’t fire me if I couldn’t make this work out, not if I explained what an ass Luke Dawson was, and that he didn’t want me to train his dog. Still, I was glad that I’d convinced him to let me stay for at least the one day. Duck deserved better. I hoped I could at least get her to behave a little better inside the house.

  And maybe if Luke saw the difference in her, he’d want us to continue training her. When I looked at the schedule this morning, I realized it wasn’t just a one-off. Luke’s dad had bought a whole training package. But I wasn’t going to kill myself trying to make this work, especially if Luke continued his bad attitude.

  Luke went back inside, probably to put a shirt on or whatever, and I went after Duck. It took a little coaxing before she would slow down enough for me to even catch her, and then I had to get her to go inside. Yeah, we were definitely going to need to work on getting her to sit, stay, and come when called. Fortunately, those tasks could all be worked on inside, so I didn’t have to worry about losing her somewhere on the farm.

  Unfortunately, she seemed just as unfocused inside as she had when she was outside. It was like her mind was on everything else except what she was being told to do. I could tell that she was smart, and I had a feeling she understood exactly what I wanted her to do each time I gave her a command. But whether she listened or not was totally up to her. She didn’t even seem overly interested in the treats I had brought with me, or in the prospect of getting extra pats for each thing she did right.

  Instead, she just wanted to sniff everything. And to pee on the rug, apparently, because I could see the stains.

  I worked with her for most of the morning and finally got her to sit whenever I asked her to. But she wouldn’t stay there; instead, she would sit for about two seconds, until something else caught her attention. But even though it was frustrating that she was proving so difficult to train, I had to admit, I liked working with her. She had a lot of personality, if nothing else.

  The trouble was, I wanted her to learn everything today, just to prove something to Luke. That wasn’t realistic, though, and it wouldn’t be fair to Duck to push her that hard just because her owner was so rude to me.

  Shaking my head, I took her outside, figuring that she probably needed to go pee again. And maybe the change of scenery would do her some good. We’d need to work on sitting outside as well, not just inside. In fact, outside would probably be even more useful for Luke, with the way that she liked to run.

  Duck immediately took off toward the barn, and I hurried after her. I should have asked Luke if she had a leash, but she wasn’t even wearing a collar at the moment. That was something else I should talk to him about. She should at least have something to keep fleas and ticks at bay, especially if she was going to be running around with the horses all the time.

  Duck ran right over to one of the tractors, bouncing around it and barking her head off. The tractor came to a stop, and Luke jumped out. He got down on his knees, scratching Duck behind her ears, and I could hear him tell her to sit. Surprisingly enough, Duck did just what he asked. Not only that, but she stayed seated while he rubbed her ears.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your work,” I apologized, as I made it over to them. “But hey, she’s learned to sit at least.”

  Luke scowled and got to his feet, ignoring the second part of that statement. “We’re too busy around here for you to let her run all over the place and interrupt me like that,” he said. “Next time, be more careful.”

  I frowned at him, wanting to point out that if she had a leash and a collar, it would be a lot easier to control her when she was out in the yard. But he was already back in the tractor, slamming the door shut. Duck whined, and I picked her up before she could get in the way of the wheels again. I headed back toward the house, realizing we were going to have to stay inside until she was better trained. Which was a pity since the weather was so nice today.

  Shaking my head, I rubbed Duck’s silky head. “If only your owner weren’t such a dick,” I muttered under my breath, feeling frustrated at the whole situation. I had to grin as Duck yipped in response.

  7

  Luke

  To say I was frustrated that Daddy had hired this girl to train Duck didn’t even begin to cover it. Yet again, it was like he was trying to undermine my authority around the place. Make it seem like I wasn’t capable of doing anything right. I still knew that Duck and I would be having no problems if I just
had a little more time to focus on her.

  Hearing that same thing from Brea didn’t help matters either. She could tell that I wasn’t giving Duck enough attention, and she knew that was why the pup was acting out. It was embarrassing to hear her say it because I knew that it was true.

  I didn’t want her there. I didn’t want her taking my dog away from me. But it didn’t seem like I had a choice, at least not for today. What’s more, as much as I wanted Duck to be trained, I wanted Brea to fail at training her, if I was being honest. But when Duck came bounding over to the tractor and I’d told her to sit, she’d immediately dropped her hindquarters down, the model dog.

  That pissed me off even more.

  When I came in for a late lunch, Brea was still there, but I could tell she was struggling. “Let’s go outside,” she said, walking toward the door. But Duck just looked at her and then continued sniffing around the couch.

  “You’re not going to get her to listen to that,” I said. “She goes outside when she wants to, and she stays in here when she wants to.”

  “Sure,” Brea said. “But if you could tell her ‘let’s go outside’ and start doing that when you know she has to go to the bathroom, maybe she’d quit peeing all over that rug over there.”

  “No shit,” I said. “But she’s still not going to listen.”

  “How about this,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “If I can train her to go outside when I suggest it, then you let me keep training her.”