by Jane Graves
She jammed her truck in park and killed the engine. “Have a word with that guy.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“He clearly couldn’t care less about the dog. He’ll probably just let me take him.”
Maybe. But Luke still had a bad feeling about this. “No kidding, Shannon. He’s a big man. Don’t get in his face.”
But he’d messed with a dog, which flipped Shannon’s switch, which meant a confrontation of some kind was coming whether it was good for her or not. She got out of her truck and marched right up to the guy, who seemed to grow bigger and broader by the minute. Luke stepped out of the truck, getting ready to make right whatever was getting ready to go wrong.
“Is that your dog?” Shannon said.
“Who else’s would it be?”
“When’s the last time you fed him?”
“He gets plenty to eat.”
“Doesn’t look like it to me. You can’t just keep a dog on the end of a rope and not take care of him.”
“Says who?”
“Says the law.”
“He chewed up my sofa. What am I supposed to do? Let him loose in the house again?”
“Do you know the penalty for animal abuse? You could go to prison.”
“Good. I’ll be able to say hi to all my old buddies.”
Shannon must not have heard the guy’s mention of a prior stint in the Big House, because she moved even closer to him than before and raised her voice. Luke could tell she was only seconds from poking him in the chest with her forefinger. That kind of thing went over great with men whose self-images were tied up in lording their strength over weaker people. Women in particular.
Crap.
With a huff of irritation, Luke came up next to Shannon, who was going on about the advisability of messing with her, even though the guy was a head taller than she was, weighed twice as much, and had singlehandedly kept some lucky tattoo parlor in business. And he had plenty to say right back at her.
“Hey!” Luke shouted.
They both fell silent.
“Nice dog,” Luke said to the guy, nodding back over his shoulder. “I’ll give you forty bucks for him.”
The man blinked with surprise. “What?”
“You heard me. Forty bucks.”
The guy flicked his eyes over to the dog, who had settled down onto the ground and was panting like crazy. “Eighty.”
“Fifty,” Luke said.
“Seventy.”
Luke looked at the dog, then back again. “Sixty. Final offer.”
“Done.”
Luke reached into his wallet and pulled out three twenties. The guy snatched the money, went back into the house, and closed the door behind him.
Shannon’s mouth fell open. “What the hell did you just do?”
“Bought myself a dog.”
“Don’t you ever do that again,” Shannon said hotly.
“Do what?” Luke said, walking toward the dog. “Save you from getting knocked around by a very large, very angry man?”
She hurried along beside him. “I can take care of myself.”
“No, Shannon, you can’t. Not when he has a hundred pounds on you and picked up his attitude in prison.”
“Exactly. That guy should be in jail.”
“I agree.”
“He’ll only abuse another animal.”
“So report him. But right now, we need to get this dog out of here before the Incredible Hulk changes his mind.”
Luke knelt beside the dog, who stood up and whimpered, his ribs looking like corrugated tin. Luke pulled out his pocket knife and slashed the rope that held him, making it short enough to double as a leash. “Come on, Fluffy.”
“Wait a minute,” Shannon said as she walked beside them toward the truck. “Fluffy? Seriously?”
“My money. I get to name him.”
“Names generally roll right past me, but come on, Luke. That dog’s about as far from a Fluffy as a dog gets. He’s not even a long-haired dog.”
“His name’s Fluffy. Case closed.”
“You’re naming him that just to make me crazy, aren’t you?”
“Yes. I’m naming him that just to make you crazy.”
Luke grabbed a bottle of water out of the truck and poured it into his hand for the dog to drink from. Then he opened the passenger door of the truck. The dog didn’t have to be asked twice to jump in. Dogs had a pretty good survival instinct, and this one had undoubtedly decided his chances were better inside the truck than out.
Shannon yanked the truck into gear. “You’re out sixty bucks.”
“It’s only money.”
“Which you’re short on. The shelter will reimburse you.”
“Not necessary. I doubt you have a line item in the budget for animal purchase. You generally get them for nothing.”
Shannon shook her head with disbelief. “You bought a pit bull and named him Fluffy. You are so weird.”
Luke just smiled and gave the non-fluffy dog a pat on the shoulder. To his surprise, the dog lay down on the seat and rested his chin on Luke’s thigh. Nobody had ever accused Luke of being sappy or overemotional, but when those grateful doggy eyes turned up to meet his, he felt a funny twinge somewhere in the area of his heart.
Suddenly he knew. This was it. This was why Shannon had a look of determination permanently stamped on her face. Why she took on angry men twice her size. Why she rescued more animals than she had money to feed.
Because they looked at her like this.
He smiled to himself. Way to go, sweetheart. Keep up the good work.
Later as Shannon left the office, she looked toward the barn and saw Luke standing at the gate leading to the back pasture, staring across the field. Fluffy sat beside him. Luke had given him food and water while Shannon filled out the intake paperwork. They’d keep him in a quarantine cage tonight, then take him to the vet tomorrow to get him checked out. Shannon hoped there was nothing wrong with him that a lot of love couldn’t cure.
Judging from the way Fluffy hugged Luke’s side, Shannon had no doubt the dog knew who had saved him, and he’d instantly given Luke his devotion. Dogs usually knew good from bad at a single sniff. If Shannon hadn’t already discovered just how good Luke really was, she’d have taken Fluffy’s word for it without question.
She walked down the path. Fluffy met her, and she scratched him behind the ears before coming up beside Luke. Dusk had almost turned to darkness. Luke glanced at her, then turned his attention back to the horses congregated in the middle of the pasture. Manny was in their midst, looking like a toy version of the horses that towered over him. She rested her arms on the gate beside Luke. “A good meal perked him right up,” Luke said, reaching down to pat the dog. “I think he’s going to be just fine.”
“I think so, too. Thanks for calling me.”
“Hope I didn’t catch you in the middle of something tonight.”
She’d practically forgotten her evening with Russell already, making her realize once and for all how wrong a relationship with him would be.
“No,” she said. “Nothing important.”
Luke just nodded. After a few more seconds of restful silence, he said, “Want to see something?”
“Sure.”
“Manny,” he said softly, then made a clucking sound with his tongue. “Hey, Manny!”
In the distance, the little horse’s head flew up. He pricked up his ears and looked in Luke’s direction. As quietly as Luke spoke, it surprised Shannon the horse could even hear his voice. After a moment, he started walking toward them.
Shannon couldn’t believe it. “He comes when you call?”
“Yep. I have something he wants.”
“That would have to be oats. Alfalfa. Strawberry cheesecake. He’ll eat anything.”
“Nope. It’s not even food.”
“Can’t be. Manny likes something better than food?”
Manny stopped near the gate. Luke swung it open and approached him. To Shannon
’s surprise, he just stood there as Luke squatted down in front of him, rested his palm behind his ears, and began to scratch him there. Shannon held her breath, but to her surprise, Manny didn’t try to bite. He didn’t even flinch. Instead, his head dipped lower, then lower still, and his eyes slowly fell shut.
“I don’t believe it,” Shannon whispered.
Manny’s wariness had disappeared. He simply stood there peacefully, enjoying the touch of a human being instead of drawing away from it with apprehension. After a while Luke stopped rubbing behind his ears and stroked his face instead. Manny’s eyes opened, but instead of recoiling, he just stood there calmly, his ears in a neutral position.
Finally Luke stood up. Manny looked at him expectantly for a few moments, then turned around and walked back across the pasture toward the other horses. Luke came back through the gate and shut it behind him.
“I wouldn’t let anyone else try that just yet,” Luke said. “But it’s a start.”
Shannon shook her head with disbelief. “How did you do that?”
“You expect him to bite, and he bites. I just quit expecting him to.”
“I thought you didn’t have time to do any horse taming.”
He looked away, a tiny smile on his lips. “Turns out I was able to squeeze in a few minutes.”
The pasture was bathed in the faint light of dusk. It fell across Manny’s dappled coat in a way that masked his scars, and for a moment Shannon had a glimpse of what he might have been like if only he’d experienced from day one the kind of compassion Luke had shown him.
“He’s so calm,” she said, then fanned her gaze across the pasture. “This whole place is calm.”
“Well, that doesn’t happen very often,” Luke said.
Shannon laughed softly. Then her face faded into a gentle smile. They leaned on the fence for a long time, watching the horses. Evening became dusk, and fireflies danced in the fading light.
“What if that guy had demanded a hundred dollars?” Shannon said.
“What?”
“For Fluffy.”
“Then I’m afraid poor Fluff would have been out of luck.”
“No,” she said softly. “You’d have given it to him.”
“I didn’t have a hundred bucks on me.”
“You’d have gotten it.”
“Unlikely. I hear that ATM at the savings and loan is pretty unreliable.”
“Thank you for saving him,” Shannon said.
“You’ve saved a whole lot more of them than I have,” Luke said. “Or ever will.”
“But what if we find another Fluffy and we’re full up?”
“We’ve had a lot of adoptions lately. We’re not anywhere near full up.”
“Not now. But what about the future?” When you’re not here?
“You’ll find a way.”
“No. There’s a limit. We could reach it someday. Too many animals, not enough money. And even when everything’s done that absolutely has to be done, I start thinking, there are more out there. So there’s really no end to it, is there?”
“The more stressed out you get, the less effective you are. Take it easy, and things will turn out fine.”
She nodded, knowing he was right even though it was difficult for her. “I know you think I’m just a workaholic. That work is more important to me than a personal life. But it’s more than that. They haunt me, Luke. Seriously. Helpless animals I can’t save. I could put it in the back of my mind while I was in Houston, but the moment I came back here…” She sighed softly, looking off into the distance. “I had a dream one night the whole town was full of them. They were hurt and starving, looking at me with pleading eyes, and there was nothing I could do. There were just too many of them. And every time I blinked, I saw even more.”
“You can’t save them all,” Luke said quietly. “I know you think if you only do more, work another few hours, push harder than you’ve ever pushed before, you can finally right all the wrongs. But you can’t. You just can’t.”
“So I stop trying?”
“No. Never stop trying. Just give yourself a break. Sometimes you need to turn off your brain. Find a little peace and quiet. Just for a little while.”
“Easier said than done.”
“No, not really. Come with me.”
Luke put Fluffy into the quarantine cage, and then he led Shannon up the path to his truck. She started to ask where they were going, but he put his finger to his lips before she could even get the words out of her mouth. Finally she just put on her seat belt and went along for the ride.
Luke left the shelter property and turned onto the highway. After a few minutes, he made a left onto a dirt and gravel road that didn’t even look like a road. They wound through the trees, the truck’s headlights cutting through the night. Soon the road became just dirt. Then it was barely a road at all.
Finally they reached a point where the road ended and they could go no farther. As Luke grabbed a flashlight from his glove compartment, Shannon got out of the truck. It was official. They were definitely in the middle of nowhere.
Luke took her hand and they wove through the trees. Just when she was sure the overgrown brush was going to keep them from going farther, the trees parted, and Shannon couldn’t believe what she saw.
They were on the edge of a cliff. A full moon had risen, huge and yellow, floating over the valley. Shannon swept her gaze from left to right, taking in the most spectacular panorama of moonlit splendor she’d ever seen.
She put her hand to her chest. “My God. It’s beautiful.”
“Listen,” he said.
“I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly. Soft breeze in the trees. A few crickets. That’s about it.”
He took her to a nearby fallen log, and they sat down. Luke flipped off the flashlight, and then it was only the moonlight between them. Now she remembered. She remembered how it had felt when they were teenagers, to be inches from him and wanting to touch him so badly she trembled with the feeling.
“I used to come here when I was a kid,” he said. “I was the only one who knew about this place. Nobody bothered me here. Nobody waiting for me to screw up. No sheriff hanging over my shoulder. No father…” His voice trailed off.
Shannon nodded. “I wish I’d known about this place. It might have made things easier for me, too.”
“What things?”
“When I was a kid, everything came with an expectation. You had to give to get.”
“What do you mean?”
“I had a lot to live up to.”
Luke was silent, waiting for her to continue.
“I remember one semester my senior year, I got a B in a math class,” Shannon said. “First B I’d ever gotten. Do you know my hands actually shook when I showed my mother my grades? She got this terrible look of disappointment on her face, as if I’d betrayed the family or committed a crime. She never got angry or yelled. There was just this horrible silence.”
Shannon hadn’t thought about that in a long time, and she was surprised at how it still made her sick to think about it.
“I know it doesn’t seem like a big thing to you considering where you came from,” she went on, “and you’re right to feel that way. But things like that added up, little by little, until I felt as if I was drowning. No matter how hard I tried, I never quite measured up.”
“Which is why you’re just a little bit of a perfectionist?”
“You think?” She smiled briefly. Then her smile faded. “But you know, the day I showed my mother that grade, I went to the shelter. I walked from cage to cage, talking to the dogs. They didn’t care what I did, how I dressed, what grades I got. They loved me anyway. That’s why I’ll do anything for them. And they don’t ask for a damn thing in return except for me to feed them and treat them right.”
Luke reached over and took Shannon’s hand, and together they stared out at the valley.
“I’m glad Mildred insisted the valley stay untouched,” Shannon s
aid quietly, as if a louder voice would disturb the animal spirits dozing peacefully beneath the full moon. “On a night like tonight, it’s easy to believe the animals really are there.”
“So you believe the legend?”
She lifted one shoulder in a tiny shrug. “We’ve had all kinds of animals come through the shelter. Ones who’ve been horribly mistreated. Some who didn’t make it.” She paused, her eyes growing misty. “Sometimes I need to believe, you know?”
Luke nodded.
“On the hardest days,” she said, “sometimes I think about what it would be like if I were to die and go to the valley. If you believe the legend, every animal I’ve ever loved would be there.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, and Luke gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
“Any pain they’d felt in this life would be gone,” she said. “They’d have no memory of abuse or neglect or anything else they might have suffered. Finally they’d all be healthy and happy. Then…” Her voice faltered. “Then there would be that moment when they’d look up and recognize me. They’d come running across the valley to meet me. And then”—she ducked her head and put her hand against her mouth, her voice choking up—“then a rainbow would appear…”
She squeezed her eyes closed. Tears streamed down her face, and her shoulders shook with sobs. Luke slipped his arm around her. She fell against him, and he took her in his arms. He held her tightly, running his hand up and down her back in long, soothing strokes. For a long time he just held her like that, the warmth of his embrace countering the cool night breeze, the gentleness of his touch coaxing her tears to subside.
Nothing felt better than being with him. Nothing.
Luke was warm and solid and comforting in ways she’d never expected him to be. He’d shown up there and reminded her what it felt like for her skin to prickle with excitement, only to turn around and show her how to breathe deeply and let her troubles go. Whatever she needed at the time, Luke always seemed to be there to provide it.
“The Rainbow Valley Overlook is nice,” he said. “But that’s for everyone else. This place was mine before. Now I’m giving it to you.”
She looked up at him, her eyes glittering with tears. “Can you do that?”
“I just did. It can be yours forever, as long as you don’t tell anyone about it.”
