It wasn’t always that way. Once the two men had been close as brothers, having come up in the business together. But while Kyle was putting his money away to start his own circus, Rick had been spending his on horse and dog races and looking for one big payoff.
Despite his bad habit, Kyle never said anything about it one way or the other. But all that changed about twenty years ago in Tulsa, when the two men went out drinking together and Rick’s past caught up to both of them.
A local bookie he owed some money to wanted to send a message and he did. Three broken ribs, and a busted knee cap. Rick never walked the same again. The problem was the bookie in question was not very discriminating and Kyle had taken a fair share of the beating, as well, just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
It took several weeks for both of them to heal and after that things were never the same between them. But to Kyle’s credit, a few years later when Rick had needed a job, Kyle had given him one and he’d been with the Warren circus ever since.
He remembered that he did have a legitimate reason to talk to Kyle about Dusty. He knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Kyle called out.
Rick stuck his head around the door and smiled. “Got a minute?”
Kyle looked up from the book he was reading and Rick saw a wariness come into his eyes. “Sure, Rick. What can I do for you?”
Rick came into the trailer, closed the door behind him and leaned against it. “I just saw Dusty leaving.”
Kyle smiled. “Yeah, I’m sorry our poor finances brought us here, but I am happy to spend some time with my son again.”
Rick nodded in what he thought was a sympathetic manner. “Pretty girl with him.”
Kyle’s wary expression deepened. “Yes, she is.”
Rick came farther into the trailer and leaned against the countertop. “Look, Kyle, I’m in a bit of trouble, and—”
Kyle held up his hands. “I’m broke, Rick—you know that.”
“Not you,” he said too quickly.
Kyle’s eyes narrowed on him.
“I was just thinking, Dusty is doing so well, he wouldn’t miss a few thousand.”
“A few thousand!” He shook his head. “Damn, Rick, how much do you owe?”
“I’m not saying I want him to pay the whole amount.” Rick tried to avoid answering the question. “I’m just saying anything he could spare. If you could talk to him—”
“Hell, no.” Kyle turned his attention back to his book.
“He won’t miss it. I mean, he’s got money. A beautiful girl like Tan—like the one he was with doesn’t come cheap.”
“You leave Mikayla out of this!” Kyle pointed a finger at him.
Mikayla. Rick said the name again to himself, trying to memorize it.
“And she doesn’t need Rick’s money. She has enough of her own from her book sales.”
Books. Rick bookmarked that bit of information, as well.
Kyle shook his head hard. “No, not this time, Rick. This time you are going to have to clean up your own mess.”
Rick could see Kyle was getting upset, so he decided to back off for now. After all, they would be here for at least several weeks, plenty of time to approach him again. As for his fishing expedition, he had enough to start with. Her name was Mikayla, which was a somewhat uncommon name, and she wrote books.
He wondered if maybe all that was just a front for Dusty. If he was lucky, maybe she was still dancing at a club in the area. After all, stripper one day and author the next was unlikely. Still, as he left the trailer, he headed to his car. Time to find the local library and do a little research. He would find out one way or the other if Dusty’s Mikayla was his Tangie.
Chapter 13
As Dusty approached the training building in his little golf cart, Sam came running toward him. “She’s out again,” he said, out of breath. Before Dusty could ask any questions, the other man shook his head. “Not sure when. Not sure how.”
“Where is she now?” Dusty asked, looking in every direction for the reddish-gold dog that had become the bane of his existence.
“Not sure.” Sam glanced at Dusty. “But I’m pretty certain I saw Athos and Porthos hanging around the fence earlier.”
Dusty sighed. If they kept this up, he would have to start locking up his own dogs. “Okay, you check the stable. Given her penchant for trouble, I have an idea of where they might be headed.”
He turned toward the new circus campsite. Taking Mikayla’s advice, he’d moved the group to a better portion of land, closer to the stream. Although no one had openly complained about the previous location, they were all visibly happier to be in the new one.
As he drew closer, Dusty could see all types of commotion as the performers went about their routine. From the distance, nothing looked out of place.
He pulled to a stop at the end of the trailers and climbed out of the cart. He looked in the back and found a spare leash to take with him. He walked through the trailers, looking under each. He listened for the sound of dogs barking, but heard nothing.
As he came upon where the elephants were being hosed down, he stopped to question their trainer. “Hey, Troy, have you seen a group of unfamiliar dogs come through here?”
Troy nodded. “Matter of fact, I did. I just assumed Walt had found a couple of new dogs for his show.” He gestured over his left shoulder. “They went that way.”
“Thanks.” Dusty followed the path and ended up right back where he started at the trailers, but this time he was at the opposite end. As he approached his father’s trailer, he heard Kyle’s voice coming from around the corner.
When he rounded the corner he was stunned to see Kyle standing before a row of four obedient dogs sitting on their haunches. Apparently, Sam had missed little Aramis.
The dogs watched the actions of Kyle’s hands so intently, they never noticed Dusty. Kyle was watching them just as intently as he gave a command in a stern voice. “Up!” He gestured again and Dusty watched in amazement as all four dogs stood to their feet.
Kyle crossed and tucked a dog treat in each of the mouths. The dogs gobbled it and stood, tails wagging, waiting for more.
Dusty came forward, clapping his hands. “Bravo! I had forgotten what a great animal trainer you are.”
Kyle was not appeased by the compliment. He turned to his son. “Dusty, what the hell are you doing letting these dogs run wild? We could’ve had a mess this morning when they came running through the camp. They got D’Angelo in an uproar. It took Arturo twenty minutes to settle him down again.”
“Sorry,” he said, feeling like a disobedient child. “This is Angel, Mikayla’s dog. I’m training her.”
Kyle laughed. “Training her to what? Get someone killed?”
Dusty, feeling more than a little defensive, crossed and placed the leash on Angel’s collar before she realized what was happening. “Calm down. She’s not dangerous. Just high-strung.”
“That high-strung nature almost made her tiger bait this morning,” Kyle continued to rant. “These animals may be tamed, but they are still animals with free will and unpredictable natures.”
Dusty realized this was a losing argument either way so he said nothing.
“That’s Mikayla’s dog?” Kyle asked with a strange expression.
“Yes.” Dusty guided Angel away from his father and the other dogs, but she tugged at the leash until Dusty dropped it. Then she sauntered back over to Kyle.
“Humph.” Kyle shrugged. “You’d think a pretty little thing like her would have one of those little purse dogs, not this old girl.” He patted Angel’s head and she lifted her ears clearly enjoying it.
Dusty gave Angel a questioning look. “Yeah, well, Mikayla loves the mutt so I am determined to train her.”
“Son, son, son.” Kyle shook his head. “I thought I taught you better than that.”
Dusty just looked at his father in confusion.
“Don’t you think she senses your aggression?” H
e chuckled. “Hell, I can feel it from over here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Animals are intuitive. They have to be. And she knows you don’t like her. Of course she is going to resist.”
Dusty’s confused expression turned wary. “Um, Pop…she’s a dog.”
“Exactly why you should be a little smarter in how you deal with her. She only sees you when you are in trainer mode.” Kyle patted his leg and the dogs trotted over to him.
Kyle knelt among the dogs, patting their heads and rubbing under their chins. “You have to be more than just a disciplinarian. Spend some time with her, let her know you are her friend.”
Dusty looked at the dog who was staring up at his father in the same adoring manner in which she watched Mikayla. Maybe Kyle was onto something, Dusty thought. Maybe Angel did sense his frustration and anger when he dealt with her.
Later, instead of taking Angel back to the training facility, he took her home with him, along with Athos, Porthos and Aramis. He needed to find a way to bond with her.
In the morning, he and Mikayla were flying up to Tallahassee for one of her seminars, so he knew she would be arriving early. If he could make some strides toward improving things with Angel before then, he thought, it would look good.
He spent the evening playing with the dogs in the yard and had to admit when she was not being a stubborn mule, Angel was really adorable. She was very smart and playful, and he was beginning to understand Mikayla’s affection for her.
That night, after he’d fed them he considered locking Angel up, but decided not to. He never locked his three dogs up and he was trying to win her trust. When he climbed the stairs to his bedroom, all the dogs, including Angel, were lying on the deck, enjoying the evening breeze.
The next morning, Dusty heard his doorbell ringing, and realized he’d overslept. He wondered why the alarm clock had not gone off as he stumbled half-asleep to the front door. He opened it to find a bright, fresh Mikayla holding a tray of coffee and a bag of bagels.
“Morning!” She placed a quick kiss on his lips before moving past him into the house. “I thought you might be a little out of it, getting up so early, so I brought breakfast.”
Dusty closed the door and started to follow her into the kitchen, but she had stopped just outside the living room doors. Her whole body went rigid and when Dusty came up beside her he could see why.
He was instantly awake as his eyes widened in horror. “What the hell!”
He walked into what looked like a war zone. His brown leather couch had been ripped to shreds, the puffy white stuffing was scattered throughout the room. His throw pillows had met the same fate. His favorite crystal vase lay in fragments on the tufted carpet that had also been shredded. The coffee table was tipped over and the ceramic centerpiece that sat on it had been shattered.
Dusty was shell-shocked. Everywhere he looked there were pieces of his possessions, and lying smack dab in the center of the ruined couch sat Angel. Her tongue lolling to the side, her eyes shining and not a inch of remorse in her whole body. Her tail wagged to see Mikayla, and what really pissed Dusty off was the damn dog looked as if she were smiling. Smiling!
On the other side of the room, his three dogs were all cowering under the only piece of standing furniture—a marble-top side table. They watched him with anxious eyes, but Dusty knew they were not responsible for this mess. His narrowed gaze returned to Angel. He knew who had done this, and he was going to kill her.
As if reading his thoughts, Mikayla stepped in front of him to block his view of the dog. “Now, Dusty, I know you’re angry, but she’s just a dog. I’ll pay for any damages, just give me an estimate of the cost—”
“Hannah was right—she is a hellhound.”
“Dusty…” Mikayla watched him closely. “What are you thinking?”
He looked at Mikayla with a strange smile. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. When you euthanize a dog they don’t even feel it.”
Her eyes widened. “Euthanize!” She shook her head. “I don’t think so!”
His eyes narrowed on her face. “It’s either that or I kill her with my bare hands!”
“Sorry—neither of those are acceptable options.” She glanced around the room as if unable to look at it for long. “What was she doing here, anyway? I thought you locked her up at night.”
He nodded. “Normally we do, at the training facility, but I wanted some time to try to…to…” He sighed as if even confessing it hurt. “I was trying to bond with her.” He looked at Mikayla. “But you can’t bond with the devil.”
“She’s no devil.” Mikayla crossed the room to Angel. “She’s just high-strung.”
“Oh, give it up!” he snapped. “That’s the same lie I tried to tell my fath—” His expression took on a new look, one of dawning comprehension. “This is his fault,” he whispered.
“What? Whose fault?” Mikayla asked, sitting down beside Angel and putting her arm around the dog.
“My father. He’s the one who told me to be her friend. Ha! See how well that worked out!” He noticed how quiet Mikayla was, and when he looked at her she was watching him with a warm expression.
He frowned. “What?”
“You were trying to bond with her…for me, weren’t you?”
The gentle question in her eyes seemed to calm his temper a bit. “I haven’t been honest with you about her training so far. I’ve kinda led you to believe I’m making more progress than I am. Truth is, she’s fought me every step of the way, and as you can see…” He gestured to the sofa. “She’s no more disciplined today than she was four weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Instead of answering, he started collecting the pieces of the crystal vase from the floor, but he could feel Mikayla’s eyes on him.
“Dusty, I love Angel, I do. But our relationship has nothing to do with whether or not you can train my dog.”
He stood and turned to her. “And what if it becomes more?”
“What if it becomes more? What do you mean?”
“What if this relationship develops into something more serious? Something…long lasting?”
Mikayla looked away. “We’ll deal with it when the time comes.”
Just then, a knock on the back door came before it was opened. Dusty never locked it and most of the staff knew that.
“Hello?” Sam called from the kitchen.
“In here, Sam,” Dusty called back.
As he came into the living room, Sam stopped suddenly just as they had earlier. “Damn! What happened in here?”
“Angel happened,” Dusty said.
Sam glanced at Dusty’s tense stance, and then over at the couch where Mikayla was huddled over Angel. “I guess it’s good I showed up when I did, huh?”
He patted his leg and called to Angel and she hopped off the couch and rushed to him like she was greeting an old friend. The other dogs followed, as well.
“Mind if I take her for her workout?” Sam asked.
Dusty gestured for him to take her.
After Sam and the dogs disappeared out the back, Dusty and Mikayla were left alone in the quiet house. After a while, Dusty looked at Mikayla. “You won’t give me anything, will you?”
Mikayla looked up with a confused expression. “Excuse me?”
“You won’t tell me anything about yourself, and you won’t even give me the comfort of believing we have something real here.”
“That’s not true. I’ve told you how I feel about you. I just don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.”
He stared at her for several seconds before shaking his head. “Whatever.” He tossed the shards of crystal on the side table. “I’m going to get a shower.” He turned and headed to the stairs.
Chapter 14
The one-and-a-half-hour flight to Tallahassee was tension personified. The pair barely spoke to one another, only exchanging words when absolutely necessary.
It wasn’t until they were in the rental c
ar that Mikayla spoke directly to him. “You know, you didn’t have to come up here with me today.”
“Don’t be ridiculous—I wanted to.”
After that exchange they drove in silence a while longer with Mikayla behind the wheel. “Just so you know, my seminars cater to women, so it may not be anything you would find useful.”
“I’m okay with it.”
They pulled into the hotel where the seminar was being held. She parked the car and turned in the seat to face him. “If you want to take the car and do a little sightseeing instead, I wouldn’t be offended.”
Looking into her eyes, Dusty realized the anxiety he was feeling coming off of her had nothing to do with what had happened that morning. For whatever reason, she was nervous about the seminar.
“Mikayla, if you did not want me here, why did you invite me?”
“I want you here,” she said. “Really, I do. I just don’t want you to feel obligated to stay if you don’t want to.”
She was conflicted, he thought. “No, I want to stay. Who knows, maybe I’ll learn something today.”
She forced a smile. “Okay, it’s your decision.”
Dusty had known Mikayla was a popular speaker, but it wasn’t until he saw her in this setting that he fully understood the extent of her popularity. The moment she walked through the door the women gathered around her as if they’d known each other for years, and spoke to her with a familiarity that Dusty found fascinating. And the most interesting factor of all was that Mikayla seemed to relish it. It was a different side of her, one he’d never imagined existed. Before his eyes she’d transformed from the somber, reserved woman he knew into an outgoing bubble of charisma and energy.
But once they were backstage and away from the crowd she reverted back to the Mikayla he was most familiar with. The one he felt he had to pry open with a crowbar.
An hour later, he left her backstage, waiting to be introduced, and took a seat in the back of a crowded banquet hall of about three hundred women and very few men.
The mistress of ceremonies came onto the stage and for the next several minutes, listed all of Mikayla’s accomplishments over the past five years, but Dusty’s attention was drawn to the fact that nothing was said about her childhood or her early life experiences. It was as if she’d been born with the release of her book.
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