by Dixie Cash
Jason’s eyes rolled toward the ceiling. Nick could tell he hadn’t intended for Sandi to know that fact either. “That’s not what’s happening here. Mr. Conway, er, Nick and I knowing each other doesn’t keep me from trying to be an honest broker in this deal.”
Sandi planted her fists on her slim hips and gave Jason the squint-eye. Uh-oh. Nick hadn’t anticipated this.
“Sharing definitely doesn’t do it for me, Deputy. Didn’t you hear what he just said? He’s a dog enslaver and an abuser. Since you know him, you must know that about him.”
Dog enslaver? Abuser? Nick grunted a loud gasp.
“Ma’am, using a dog to help with cattle isn’t enslaving the animal and it isn’t abuse either,” Jason said. “The dog probably likes it.”
Sandi crossed her arms over her breasts. “Hah. That’s what you say. Are you a dog mind-reader, too?”
“Wait just a minute.” Enough was enough. Nick cocked his head and raised his palms. “I’ve had just about enough here. I’ve never abused an animal in my life.”
He turned to Jason. “You know that, Jason. I love animals. I’ve always loved animals. Don’t I take care of a broken-down horse that’s not good for much except eating up feed? Don’t I feed every stray cat that comes along and let them sleep in my barn? Didn’t I take those llamas to keep them from being put down? I damn sure didn’t do it because I needed two glorified goats in my life.”
“Oh, really,” Sandi said, fire in her eye and her arms crossed under her very attractive breasts. She turned to Jason. “Mr. Conway takes care of cattle that are set to be slaughtered because he loves animals? Y’all must think I just fell off a turnip truck.”
“That’s different,” Nick said firmly.
“How is it different?”
Nick growled and threw up his hands. “What are you, nuts? You wanna go through your life without beef to eat?”
“Of course not. And I’m not —”
“Just hold on.” Jason plopped his cap back on his head and stabbed the air with his finger. “Listen, you two. Y’all aren’t trying.”
Sandi flipped a palm in the air. “There’s no point. You’re already prejudiced against me. Even if that weren’t true, Mr. Conway”—Sandy pointed a finger at Nick—“lives down in Salt Lick and I live here. Sharing will not work.”
Jason pushed the bill of his cap back. “Sure, it will, ma’am. Look, Nick’s place is just out of town a short distance from here.” He leaned forward and opened his palms, his eyes holding hers. “I’m sure he’d let you go out there and look around. You can see for yourself it’s a good place for a dog to live.” Jason turned toward Nick. “You’d do that, wouldn’t you, Nick?”
Sandi didn’t relent, maintaining her pinched-mouth expression. She wasn’t buying Jason’s conciliatory tone or gestures. Mental eyeroll. Nick wished he had never called the deputy. “Uh, sure. I guess so.”
Jason’s’s face broke into a toothy grin. “See? A little talk always solves problems. Look, I need to get home, so I’m going to leave you two to work this out.”
With that, the deputy readjusted his cap. “See ya, Nick.” He walked out of the store, leaving Nick speechless.
Buster whined, but Sandi hung onto his leash.
Seconds of silence crept by. As much as he hated to do it, Nick caved. “Did you want to go out to my place now?”
“I thought you worked in Salt Lick. Why are you in Midland on a weekday?”
Nick’s mind flew back to the supper at Hogg’s and how he had prompted her several times to place an order for food. “Ma’am, you’ve got a way of not answering a question and taking a conversation off in a direction it wasn’t intended to go. I’m not going through this again. Just a simple yes or no. Do you want to take a ride out to my house?”
She ducked her chin and glared at him from beneath her brow. “For the record, I do not consider this a satisfactory resolution to this problem. If you hadn’t gotten the law involved, I wouldn’t even consider it. Even if I go to your house and inspect it, Waffle is staying here with my two employees.”
“Okay, fine. My place is about ten miles out one-fifty-eight.”
“Where, pray tell, is that?
Nick couldn’t stop the are-you-stupid expression he felt overtaking his face. “It’s the highway going north out of town. You take one-ninety-one, then turn right on seventeen-eighty-eight. When you get to the four-way stop, turn left on twenty-four twenty-five. My place is on the left side of the highway before you get to one seventy-six going to Andrews. Do you want to follow me? Or would you rather ride with me?”
She returned a sour look. “I am not in the habit of riding into rural areas with men with whom I’m not acquainted.”
She was the most exasperating woman he had ever met. He set his jaw and summoned his patience. “Fine, then. I’m leaving now. If you intend to follow, you’d better get it in gear.”
He plopped his cap onto his head and stamped out of the store.
***
Sandi had no intention of making a ten-mile trip over a bunch of confusing roads with only numbers for names to look at Nick’s house when Waffle was never going to live there. Besides, she could get lost forever in that maze of highways and connections going north. Good grief! She could end up in Wyoming!
The minute Nick cleared the door, she yanked off her apron and turned to her two employees. “Girls, I’m going to be out for the rest of the day and tomorrow. If anyone calls for me, just say you don’t know where I am.”
She was already pressing in the number of Juanita, her animal shelter friend who soon connected with a “Hey, Sandi.”
“Hi, Juanita. How are you today?”
“Busier than that well known cranberry merchant. What’s up?”
“Listen, I have to make an unexpected trip out of town. I’ll be gone overnight. Can you arrange for someone to go to my house and feed the animals tomorrow morning?”
“Sure can. What about tonight?”
“I’ll take care of tonight. I have to run by my house and pick up a few things before I leave, so I might as well feed everyone while I’m there.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll do it myself. It’s the least I can do for somebody who’s as friendly to unfortunate animals as you are.”
“You know where everything is. You know I’ve found a home for Jake, so you won’t have to worry about feeding him. He was the one who took up so much time. Thank you so much, Juanita.”
The minute Sandi disconnected, she looked up and saw Betty Ann’s brow tented with concern. “You aren’t going to look at his house?”
“I am not.”
“But he’s so good-looking.”
“Which has what to do with the price of tea in China? Remember this, Betty Ann. Looks are only skin-deep. Ted Bundy was good-looking, but that doesn’t mean I would want to go visit him.”
“Where are you going now?” Jessica asked, her eyes wide and questioning.
“Waffle and I are going to my aunt’s house in Salt Lick. I’ll be back tomorrow. You girls will have to close the store tonight and open it tomorrow. You have my cell number if you need me.”
They could manage without her until tomorrow. Sandy had confidence in Betty Ann, her go-to employee who had a key to the store.
“Remember, if he calls, you don’t know where I am.”
“But you said Mr. Conway lives in Salt Lick,” Jessica said. “If you’re down there, too, won’t it be easier for him to find you?”
“But he’s not in Salt Lick now. I don’t want him to come back and catch Waffle and me here in Midland. He might go to my house. Even if he goes back to Salt Lick today, he won’t figure out that Waffle and I are there. Besides that, my aunt’s husband is a retired Navy SEAL. He’s six-feet-five and weighs over two hundred pounds. Aunt Ed says he knows three hundred ways to kill you quietly and he liberated Kuwait. We’ll just see if Mr. Nick Conway wants a confrontation with him.”
“Wow,” Betty Ann said.
&n
bsp; “Holy cow. I hope no one gets hurt.” Jessica bit down on her lower lip.
Sandi rushed home. Adolph barked and stalked around as she gathered Waffle’s bed and a couple of his toys. Then she picked up Pablo and Adolph’s beds and toys. She put the two miniature dogs into the oversize pet carrier and was on her way to Salt Lick.
Chapter 13
Sandi arrived in Salt Lick soon after noon. The Styling Station was closed, but circling the block, she saw Edwina’s blue classic Mustang and Debbie Sue’s red pickup in the back parking lot. She parked beside it, picked Pablo and Adolph’s carrier off the passenger seat and set it on the ground, then let Waffle out of the SUV’s backseat. After they all did their business, she picked up Pablo and Adolph’s carrying case and walked around the building to the front door. Waffle followed like the well-trained dog that he was.
She tapped lightly on the front door. “Aunt Ed? Debbie Sue?”
“We’re closed. Who’s there?”
She recognized her aunt’s voice. “It’s me, Sandi. Can I come in?”
The door swung open. “Well, great day in the morning. Where did you come from?”
“Why are you closed?”
“Mondays are light days. Sometimes we just close and catch up. What are you doing all the way down here today, girl?”
“Oh, I just thought I’d visit Jake.”
“On a Monday? Who’s taking care of your store?”
“My two employees are there. I’ll bet you don’t want my dogs inside—”
“We can’t let them into the salon, hon, but they can go into the back room. Take them around to the back door.”
Sandi trudged around the building again. Her aunt met her at the back door. She secured the three dogs in the back storeroom, then walked into the salon. She didn’t spot Jake in his corner home. “I don’t see Jake.”
“My honey’s home today, so he and Jake are having a boys’ day. Vic’s teaching him about patriotism.”
“He’s okay then. He’s still healthy and—”
“Oh, hell, hon, he’s already gotten acquainted with the vet. We know the vet and his wife, Paige, personally. When she spotted him, she had a fit and dragged Spur all way out of his office to come and see that Jake do his thing. The whole town is talking about him. We could sell tickets.”
“It’ll be interesting to hear what the state inspector says when he comes around the next time,” Debbie Sue said.
Sandi frowned. “Oh, my gosh, I hadn’t thought of that. I guess I didn’t realize he’d be living in the salon.”
“Well, we aren’t worrying about it yet,” Aunt Ed said. “Salt Lick is so far off the beaten path those Austin folks might not know this town’s got a beauty shop. Hell, they might not even know we’re anything but a ghost town.” A thoughtful frown creased her brow. “I wonder if they’d notice if we stopped sending them sales tax.”
“You wouldn’t believe how our business has picked up since he’s been here,” Debbie Sue said. “We’ve got customers who want to come in just to talk to him. But since his cage is near the manicure and pedicure corner, we don’t let them unless they get manicures or pedicures. That way, they’re happy and we’re making money. And a crowd doesn’t gather. Also, the smell of the nail products masks the odor coming from Jake’s cage.”
Sandi gave Debbie Sue a look. “You’re making money off of Jake?”
“That bird is a real ham. He craves attention. Some of the customers ask him to pick a color for their nails. He’s learned colors and he’s learned to say red and pink and even blue. If they choose a color he doesn’t like, he’ll make noises and say ‘not that one, not that one.’ And some ask his advice on other things, which, by the way, he gives freely.”
“Oh, I know he has opinions on everything.” She turned to her aunt. “You haven’t had any trouble with his diet then?”
“Oh, hell no. My honey’s on top of it. I suspect Jake eats even fancier than he did at your house. Vic drives all the way up to Odessa to buy him stuff. I passed around the recipe for parrot muffins so that the customers can bake them for him.”
“Oh, my gosh. Sounds like Jake has never had it so good. I hope their homemade muffins don’t have sugar. He gets enough sugar in the raw fruits and vegetables he likes.”
“Listen, I told them, ‘If it ain’t in the recipe, don’t put it in there. And that includes sugar.’”
But Sandi was skeptical. Well-meaning cooks might think a cup of sugar would make the muffins better.
Stop it, Sandi, she told herself. Jake was no longer her responsibility. Only after she got over parting with him had she realized just how much of her time and attention he had consumed. Not having to take care of his daily needs or cope with his personality or clean up after him was almost like being on vacation.
***
Four o’clock. After cooling his heels for six hours waiting for Miz Sandi Walker to appear, Nick’s temper stewed at a simmer. He had about a million chores he could have been doing down at the Flying C instead of waiting for her up here in Midland. He had called her shop several times, but her employees said she wasn’t there and refused to give him her cell number. He had found her name in the phone book and called her house several times, left messages each time.
Now he had run out of time. He had to get on the road back to Salt Lick. One day was all he was willing to take off work to try to reason with Sandi and rescue Buster.
An hour and a half later, he drove into the Salt Lick city limits. He had to follow the highway through the middle of town and pass by the Styling Station on his way out to the Flying C. Parked in front of it was a silver SUV that looked way too familiar.
Dammit, that’s her!
She had lied to him again. She’d had no intention of following him out to his house and looking it over. Instead, she had run down here to her aunt’s place where she thought she could escape him. Except for his ex-wife, he couldn’t think of a woman he had known who had wanted to escape him.
Of all the human frailties Nick hated, the one he hated the most was lying. He hit the brake, slowed and circled the block, deciding how to handle the situation, his anger so close to the surface his skin burned. Finally, he decided to confront her.
He pulled into a parking slot beside the SUV. A CLOSED sign hung on the front door, but he knew she was in there. He stepped out of his truck and stalked to the door, gave a heavy rap-rap-rap with his knuckles on one of the glass panes in the upper part of the door. When no one responded, he knocked again.
“We’re closed,” a voice sang out.
“I need to speak to Sandi Walker.”
Silence. He knocked on the wood frame with his fist and rattled the door knob.
The door opened a three-inch crack. The older skinny hairdresser’s face and her lime green glasses showed through. “Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”
Dammit, she had known it was him before she opened the door. Another log added to the fire of his anger. “It’s personal. I’d like to speak to Miz Walker. I know she’s here.”
“I don’t think she wants to talk to you.”
“Ma’am, I know she’s your niece, but this doesn’t concern you. She’s got something of mine and I’d like to have it back. I’d really appreciate it if she’d come to the door and talk to me.”
The door closed. He thought he heard low voices on the other side. The door opened again and the skinny one stood in the doorway, blocking entrance. “Okay, you can come in. But only because you work for Harley and he’s a friend of ours. But mind you, we don’t want any trouble in here. If you start anything, you’ll have our local sheriff to deal with. And he’s our friend too.”
“And you might even have to deal with my husband,” the one named Debbie Sue added.
Nick had met the local sheriff, Billy Don Roberts, and he wasn’t worried. But getting crossways with Buddy Overstreet was a horse of a different color. “I don’t intend to start—”
Woof! Bwoof! Bwoof!
The de
ep barks came from behind a closed door, followed by staccato high-pitched barking, a humming snarling sound and frantic scratching on the floor and on the door. Dammit, they had Buster locked up. A new anger flew through him. “I know one of those sounds is my dog barking.” He looked around. “But I don’t see Miz Walker.”
“She isn’t here,” the aunt said.
“Why are we lying?” Debbie Sue said, her arms crossed over her chest. “She’s in the back room.” She yelled toward the closed door. “Sandi, come in here and take care of this.”
It was a good thing she had spoken up because he was out of patience. He just might call the sheriff himself, even if the guy was their friend.
The aunt walked over to the door to the back room and eased it open. Sandi stood there, holding a shivering, growling Chihuahua under one arm and with the other hand, hanging onto the leash of a little dog that yapped with such vehemence all four of his feet came off the floor with each bark. If she thought she was going to pawn some grouchy bald-headed Chihuahua or some yip-yapping thing that looked like a long-haired rat off on him instead of Buster, she had another think coming.
Buster scrambled to follow her, but she scolded them to “stay” and closed the door against him. He continued to scratch and whine and bark.
“You must’ve forgotten our appointment,” Nick said to Sandi.
“Of course I didn’t. I deliberately avoided it.” She heaved a shoulder-lifting sigh. “Mr. Conway, we might as well stop this nonsense. Your friend’s idea about sharing Waffle was dumb.”
Nick didn’t disagree.
Buster continued to create a commotion at the closed door. “Why don’t you open the door?” Nick snapped. “Afraid to let your allies see who Buster wants to be with?”
The Chihuahua bared its teeth and snarled. She ran her hand over his almost hairless head. “Pablo, be a sweet doggie.” The other little dog let out several loud barks. She yanked on his leash. “Hush, Adolph.” She slid a hand into her pants pocket, pulled out treats and fed one to the jittery Chihuahua, then one to the barker.
From out of the blue, the gentleness she showed to these two ugly dogs touched him. They were dogs with neurotic behavior and would never be claimed as pets. If not for her, no doubt they would have already been put to sleep. The woman was either the nut he had thought she was when he first met her or she had more heart than any one person's body could hold. The thought came to Nick that she would make a great mother. Whoa! Where had that notion come from?
