Come Home, Cowboy

by Julie Benson

  “With that face? Good luck.”

  “That’s mean, Uncle Reed,” Jess said as she patted the dog. “Looks aren’t everything.”

  He nodded toward the animal. “He’d better hope someone else thinks that, too.”

  “He’ll be a loyal companion to whoever earns his trust.” Avery glared at Reed as if he’d said her baby was ugly. Then she glanced at her watch. “I’ve got to go. I have to make that call.”

  After Avery left, Reed turned to Jess. “Since you’re the one with experience, you’re in charge.”

  Reed crossed the room and looked down at the mutt standing beside his niece. Instead of growling like Thor, Baxter looked up, wagged his rat tail and then yawned. “You’re not fooling me with the tame routine, buddy. I’ve been warned about you.”

  “I agree with Avery.” Jess scratched the dog behind his floppy big ears. “There’s something about him. How could they give up on him after only a week?”

  Reed slipped his arm under the dog’s belly and lifted him into the metal tub. “He’s got a street-smart look to him. He’ll be fine.”

  “What if no one else wants him?”

  Reed didn’t have to be a trained therapist to realize there was more going on here than Jess worrying about this stray. But that didn’t mean he knew what to do about it. “You’ve got more than this mutt on your mind. Want to talk about it?”

  Jess reached for the leash attached to the tub, hooked it to the dog’s collar and then turned on the water. “I heard on the news that some soldiers were killed in Afghanistan.” When her voice cracked, she bit her lip and paused.

  “I’m worried about him, too. That’s why every time I talk to him I remind him to be careful.”

  Jess’s lip quivered. “Sometimes that’s not enough. People get hurt over there every day.”

  He put his arm around her shoulder. “We’ll just have to pray that he stays safe.”

  “What if Dad doesn’t come home? I won’t have anyone.”

  Her pain reached inside him and squeezed the heart he hadn’t been sure he still possessed. He and Jess were so alike. Both alone and determined to hide the fact. “You’ll have me.”

  Jess eyed him as if she wasn’t sure if she believed him but couldn’t bring herself to voice the words. Not that he blamed her. What had he done to earn her trust?

  “I mean it. You can count on me. You and your dad are the only family I have. Being the older brother, he saw me through some tough times when I was a kid.” How many times had Colt hauled him away when things got too heated between him and his father? If it hadn’t been for his brother, Reed probably would’ve beaten the hell out of his father much sooner, or his father would’ve killed him for trying. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him, and the same is true for you.”

  The rush of water on metal and the chug as it swirled down the drain filled the awkward silence between them. As what he’d said hung between them, Reed realized he meant every word. Then the dog nudged Jess.

  “Okay, boss, what do we need to do first?” Reed asked.

  Jess waved her hand under the water and used the sprayer to douse the animal. The unmistakable smell of wet dog wafted through the air. “Quick, hand me the shampoo.”

  After Reed handed her the squirt bottle with shampoo written on it in purple marker. Jess poured a generous amount of liquid into her palm and scrubbed the dog.

  Reed’s phone dinged, indicating a text, but remembering what Avery had said about remaining focused on shelter business, he ignored the message. Two more pings came in quick succession, followed by his phone ringing. “Since you’ve got things under control, do you mind if I check my phone?”

  “I don’t know.” Jess dumped more shampoo into her palm. “Avery said we shouldn’t take any calls unless it’s an emergency.”

  “I won’t know if it’s important until I check my messages.”

  “Okay, but if we get in trouble, you’re on your own.”

  Reed pulled up the message. The dog shifted, and Reed guessed the mutt was about to shower them by shaking. Not wanting to get sprayed, he stepped a few feet away.

  “Uncle Reed, I need your help.”

  He glanced at Jess as he shoved his phone into his pocket. The dog twisted and turned, trying to squirm out of his collar. Jess reached for the dog, trying to yank the collar back down and get the dog under control. Before Reed reached them, Baxter wiggled free. Jess lunged for the dog, but he ducked under her arms and jumped out of the tub. “Catch him, Uncle Reed!”

  Reed raced forward, putting himself between the door and the dog. Baxter stopped. As he reached for the dog, the animal shook itself, spraying shampoo-laced water everywhere, including in Reed’s face. Eyes stinging from the soap, he managed to wrap his arms around the dog.

  The mutt licked his face and squirmed against him. “Great. This dog likes me.” As Jess rushed toward him, he called out, “Slow down. The floor’s wet.”

  Before he finished his warning, she started slipping and sliding. He reached for her, and the dog bolted out the door.

  After regaining their balance, he and Jess raced out after the escapee, but all Reed could think about was how Avery would think he was a complete ass. That was, if she didn’t kill him.

  * * *

  THOUGH AVERY WOULDN’T ADMIT the truth under any form of torture, what Reed had said about soliciting donations made sense, and she decided to implement his suggestion with the network executive Griffin had told her to contact. After a minute of small talk, mostly centered on Griffin and Maggie’s daughter, Michaela, Avery asked the man to commit to a five-thousand-dollar donation.

  His response—that he’d be happy to—combined with her excitement almost knocked her out of her chair. “That’s wonderful. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your generous donation.”

  Five thousand dollars was beyond generous, and more than doubled the amount any one sponsor had donated last year.

  Frenzied voices bounced through the shelter. Something was wrong. Avery knew the sound of chaos when she heard it. She wrapped up her call before whatever mess had developed descended on her. That was the last thing she wanted a man who’d agreed to donate five thousand dollars to hear.

  She’d no sooner ended her call when a soaking-wet Baxter charged past her office, a trail of bubbles floating behind him. As she headed for her door, she shouted, “Keep all the doors closed. Baxter’s loose.”

  Not good. What had gone wrong? She barreled out of her office and ran into something solid. Strong arms wrapped around her as she fell. Glancing upward, she recognized Reed a second before they hit the unyielding tile floor with him under her.

  “Guess bathing dogs was harder than you thought.” Instead of her voice sounding critical, the words came out in a husky rush. All she could think about was his hard body under hers. Her body tingled with excitement as she rolled off him.

  “That dog’s a menace.” Reed stood beside her, his shirt damp and clinging to his muscled frame.

  As she worked to keep her breathing even and regain control, she straightened her top, refusing to look at him. When he held her all she could think about was how right it felt to be in them.

  “Baxter’s like you. He wants things his way, doesn’t take direction well and is hard to teach.”

  “Touché. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

  “Yes, you can. It’s all a matter of giving him the right incentive and encouragement.”

  “That applies to males in general.”

  No way was she going there with him. Flipping a switch inside her head, Avery slipped back into director mode, hoping that would calm her raging hormones. “What happened? How did bathing a dog turn into a prison break?”

  “Avery, he’s headed your way,” Emma shouted from somewhere. Seconds later, B
axter bounded down the hallway.

  “Stop,” Reed commanded.

  Avery stared openmouthed as the dog skidded to a halt at Reed’s feet.

  “I’m sorry, Avery.” A breathless Jess materialized beside them, a leash and collar dangling from her fingertips, which she immediately slipped on the dog. “I thought I had Baxter under control, but by the time I realized I needed help and called out to Uncle Reed and he got off the phone—”

  “Jess, take Baxter back to the bathing room,” Avery said, her voice and her entire body tight.

  Her temper had reached its limit. She couldn’t take this. She couldn’t handle Reed being here at the shelter. So much weighed on her. She needed order at work right now, and Reed had thrown her entire life into a state of chaos.

  Once Jess and the dog were out of sight, Avery whirled around to face Reed. “I asked you to give your work here at the shelter your full attention. I told you how important it was that we get the animals and the shelter cleaned up for the visit tomorrow. What was it this time? What was so important that you were on the phone instead of concentrating on what you were doing here?”

  When he started to answer, she waved her hand in the air to halt him. “Never mind. I don’t want to hear it. I’m done. Jess can still volunteer here, but I don’t want you to come back. You may not take what we do here seriously, but we do. I can’t have someone screwing things up for us, especially now.” She knew she was overreacting, but she couldn’t help it. “Do you know what this would’ve looked like to the Pet Palace manager? It would look like I don’t have control of the situation.”

  Which she didn’t whenever Reed was within twenty feet of her.

  “You can’t tell me things always go according to plan,” he countered.

  The arrogance in his gaze only fueled her anger. “No, they don’t, but if you can’t put the shelter first, I don’t want you here.”

  Screw the shelter’s policy regarding student volunteers. She’d figure something out to help Jess continue volunteering and complete her community service, but she couldn’t take Reed invading her work environment any longer. She started to walk away.

  “Wait a minute, Avery. Let me explain.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at Reed. He stood there, his hands shoved into his jeans pockets, his gaze pleading, but she didn’t care. It was too little, too late. “Nothing you can say will change my mind. I’ll drop Jess off on my way home. Now leave. After all, that’s what you’re good at.”

  Chapter Eight

  After driving Jess home, Avery returned to the shelter and headed straight for Emma’s office. Thankful to find her friend still there, she sank into the corner armchair, but then jumped up again and started pacing. “Can you believe what Reed did today? He’s driving me crazy. How can everything he does push my buttons? And how dare he come in here and give me advice about soliciting donations, like he knows anything about working for a nonprofit agency?”

  “Calm down, because if you don’t, I’m going to make you hold a puppy in order to lower your blood pressure before you stroke out.”

  Avery laughed as she collapsed into the chair across from her friend. “Is that your way of saying I’ve gone off the deep end?”

  “I’ve never seen you like this before.”

  “I’ve never had an ex-boyfriend invade my work life before.”

  “You sure things are over with Reed? When you two were dancing at Halligan’s the other night, I almost ran for a fire extinguisher things got so hot. When was the last time you felt that kind of heat with a guy?”

  A couple of her past relationships had come close, at least in the beginning, but the chemistry never lasted with anyone. Except Reed.

  “Somewhere along the way you forgot about having a life.”

  “I have one.” She had her family. A challenging job. Okay, right now it was too challenging, but it was a good job. She had friends. So she didn’t have a love life right now. A woman couldn’t have it all, all the time.

  But that didn’t keep her from wanting it all. She dreamed of finding a relationship like her parents had had. One where they were best friends and lovers. One where he made her laugh and stood by her during the tough times. With someone who would give her children. Something Reed would never do.

  “Let me amend that. You forgot about having a love life,” Emma shot back. “You need to find a guy you’re attracted to and sleep with him.”

  If only the problem could be solved that easily.

  “That’s not my style.” Avery picked a long white dog hair off her jeans. “I want more than that.”

  Her friend shook her head. “I know. You’re a soul-mate kind of gal. Personally, I don’t see what’s wrong with being happy with someone just for right now.”

  Avery refused to settle. If she did, she knew eventually she’d resent her decision, and that emotion would sour the relationship. Realizing those two things had been what had finally helped her move on after Reed. “You’re right. I should be happy right now.”

  Avery stared at her friend and took a deep breath. “I threw Reed out and told him not to come back. The question is how we keep people from finding out Jess is volunteering here without a parent or guardian supervising her.”

  Panic flared in Emma’s eyes. “We can’t. It’s impossible to keep a secret in this town, and we’ve got two of the biggest gossips for volunteers. You have to let Reed come back. If you don’t, I’ll be inundated with requests from other parents for us to make an exception for their kids.” Emma laughed. “I can see the headlines now. Volunteer Director of the Estes Park Animal Shelter Admitted to Psych Ward After Being Driven Insane by Unruly Preteen Volunteers.”

  “I can’t have him here.” Avery’s body ached from the pain having Reed back in town dredged up. While her family knew Reed had broken up with her via email, no one knew the whole story. She started telling Emma about her past with Reed, and soon everything tumbled out. Every agonizing detail she’d held on to for too long.

  Her hands clutched together in her lap, Avery peered at her friend. “I can’t see my life without someday having children.”

  “He’s been gone a long time. Maybe he’s changed his mind about kids.”

  “I can’t take the risk. I hurt so bad the last time. I can’t go through that again.” Tears stung Avery’s eyes.

  “Well, then, he’s out.” Emma’s matter-of-fact attitude eased Avery’s fears. “All we have to do is find someone other than a staff person to supervise Jess. If my mom wasn’t so allergic to animal dander, I’d ask her to help us out.”

  Avery smiled, latching on to the answer. “I’ve got the perfect solution. I’ll ask my mom.”

  The only problem was how to get her mother to agree without letting her know why she really didn’t want Reed around.

  * * *

  THE NEXT DAY, AS REED SAT at the desk in Colt’s office trying to focus on the spreadsheet in front of him, he still couldn’t believe he’d gotten fired from a volunteer job. He’d never been fired from anything before.

  Leave. After all, that’s what you’re good at.

  Maybe Avery throwing him out was for the best. Common sense insisted that was the case, but he’d still picked up his phone more than once to call her. Damn, he’d created more than a little chaos yesterday. He considered sending her flowers, but she wasn’t big on stuff like that. She valued actions. She’d tell him unless he changed his behavior, he’d wasted his money. He needed to make things up to her, wanted to prove she was wrong, that business wasn’t all that mattered to him.

  Making things right. That’s what counted with Avery, but how could he do that?

  The shelter. He could make a donation.

  He did a Google search and located the Estes Park animal shelter’s website. The first thing he noticed was that the site t
ook too long to load and looked amateurish. The colors were hard on the eyes. The pictures looked like stock photos. It was poorly organized and not very user friendly.

  He had trouble locating information on the Pet Walk, and when he did click on the link, there was no mention of the shelter’s precarious financial situation, but he did locate a donation link. However, once he got there, he had to navigate past numerous screens. With his finger resting on the mouse about to click Submit, he stopped. Making a donation wasn’t any different than sending flowers. It took no effort, no work. Lip service. That’s what Avery would say.

  Curious about how Avery’s site compared to others, he searched more animal-shelter sites. As he went, he bookmarked the ones he liked, and jotted down notes.

  He really had wanted to help yesterday, but he’d ended up doing the opposite. She’d been right. All he’d thought about was his business, feeling his problems trumped hers in importance. Looking back now, he recognized the strain that clouded her usually bright blue eyes. The shelter’s financial situation had to be wearing on her.

  The shelter was a business. Avery’s business. Logically he’d known that, but somewhere in practice, he’d forgotten the fact. He was a volunteer expected to do a job—whatever Avery, or any other staff member, decided needed to be done.

  He’d been an arrogant bastard, and as a result he’d caused problems for Avery.

  She’d been right to throw his sorry ass out.

  The alarm on his phone went off, reminding him to leave to pick up Jess from the shelter. As he drove through town and waited in the parking lot for his niece, a plan on how he could make amends with Avery started forming.

  “How did volunteering go today? Is Avery still mad at me?” he asked when Jess climbed into the truck.

  “I don’t know because we didn’t talk about you. You were really a jerk. How would you like it if someone came into your company and questioned everything you told them to do?”