Doggone Ugly Creek

by Cheryel Hutton

  I wrapped my arms around her as she cried. My heart bled at the thought of how horrible that had to be.

  Ace stood between the kitchen and living room, his phone in his hand, and concern in his eyes. “The vet had already notified wildlife control about the attack. Of course, he didn’t know what species did the attacking.”

  Terri had straightened up and wiped her eyes. “Did you tell them it was a bobcat?”

  Ace nodded. “I told them you witnessed the attack out your window and we saw enough to confirm what you said.”

  “All I saw was a brownish-orange and black streak,” I said, “but it was the right size and shape. I suppose Miz Carlisle got the best look at the critter.”

  Terri rolled her eyes. “God only knows what she’ll say.”

  Ace put a hand on Terri’s shoulder. “Unlike our local dog pound jerks, the wildlife people are exceptional. They’ll find the cat in no time.”

  “I hope they don’t hurt him.”

  “They won’t. I made a point of telling them he ran from Miz Carlisle.”

  A car pulled up outside, and I went to the window. A rough-looking pickup was parked on the side of the road in front of our house.

  “That didn’t take him long.”

  Ace looked at me.

  “I asked Keith to bring Hugh over here. Hugh hates being in the kennel, but if I let him in the house alone he’d destroy it. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Awesome!” Terri all but squealed.

  “You can’t play outside,” Ace reminded her.

  “Or destroy Aunt Ruth’s house,” I added.

  “Oh great Mom and Dad.” She bounded off to a window to watch for her playmate.

  “Come out with me, and you can bring in Dusty.”

  “Dusty?”

  He gave me a little smile as he shrugged. “She wanted to see you.”

  I laughed. “So you’re psychically connected with a dog now?”

  He wrapped an arm around me as we headed to Keith’s truck.

  “You don’t have to read minds to know she’s crazy about you.”

  “I sort of like her too.”

  We got Hugh and Dusty from Keith. He pulled out and we had started toward the house, when a brown BMW pulled in where the truck had been.

  “Get Dusty in the house, I’ll be there in a minute.”

  “Hurry up.” I glanced around, but saw no sign of any animals, wild or otherwise. Yes, Terri had said the animal wasn’t dangerous, but I didn’t want to take any chances. Dusty wiggled, and I was glad to be at the porch. If the dog jumped out of my arms it’d be hard to catch her.

  As I opened the door, I caught a glimpse of Ace hustling Steve and Hugh across the lawn. They were seconds behind me entering the living room, where Trixie met her friend. The big dogs took off through Aunt Ruth’s house, and Dusty tore off after them.

  “Steve, would you like some sweet tea?”

  “I’d love some.”

  “Ace?”

  “I’ll help you.” Ace stood.

  “I can help too.”

  “No” I said. “You’re exhausted, just sit there and relax. It’ll only take us a minute.”

  Steve sat back, relief obvious in his features.

  It only took a couple of minutes to get the tea and some store-bought cookies.

  “No homemade?” Ace’s disappointment almost made him look like a little kid. Except for that sexy all male body, of course.

  “I’ll make some tomorrow.”

  “Thanks, gorgeous.”

  He kissed me and we took the drinks and cookies back into the living room.

  Steve took a healthy sip of the tea before he asked, “So there’s a bobcat loose around here?”

  “There is,” Ace told him. “It attacked the housecat next door.”

  “Scary.”

  “Woof!”

  I turned to see Trixie giving me the collie version of her glare. Not nearly as effective, in my opinion, as the human kind. “Terri saw the attack out the window, and she said it looked more like the bobcat was just trying to play.”

  “Sounds plausible,” Steve said. “Still scary, though.”

  “How’re you and Liza doing?”

  “Better, now that it looks like this crap might be over soon. By the way, Liza said to tell you that she would have come, but she’s on a video chat with her best friend. She and Madison haven’t had a lot of time to talk lately.”

  The name sounded familiar. “The serious journalist?”

  Steve chuckled. “Not so much since she hooked up with Mac and took off to make documentaries.”

  “I wasn’t sure if she and that McFain guy were going to kill each other or admit they were crazy in love.”

  That name was familiar. “McFain? The guy who screwed up that senator’s life?”

  “That’s the one,” Steve said.

  “He seems like an okay guy,” Ace said.

  “I always felt bad for him,” I said. “He just discovered the cover-up; he didn’t cause it.” I turned my gaze on Steve. “Unfortunately, I don’t think you came here just to chit-chat.”

  He smiled. “I wish. After all this break-in stuff is over, I would like nothing better than to get together to chit-chat and enjoy the company of friends.”

  “I’ll grill the steaks,” Ace said.

  “Sounds great.” Steve’s expression grew serious as he turned to me and leaned forward in his seat.

  “I actually came to thank you, Shay. You were right about Ronnie Wilkins. He was the perpetrator of the break-in and theft. Ronnie swears he would never have sold the materials or data to anybody and what they’ve found so far backs him up. He took the stuff then put it in a safe deposit box. He’s trying to take all the blame, and refuses to implicate Lily. She, on the other hand, all but fell over herself blaming him. The feds will be sorting it out for a while, but apparently there is plenty of evidence that implicates both of them.”

  “Poor Ken.” My heart ached for the nice man.

  Steve nodded. “I feel really bad for him, but I’m glad this crazy thing is almost over.”

  “I’m glad I could help. Even if I did manage to hurt another friend in the process.”

  “It’s not your fault, honey.”

  Ace took my hand in his and squeezed gently.

  “Gotta agree with your guy there. Lily got herself in trouble because of some stupid, decade-old high school crush on me. Who does that? Somehow I think Ken will be better off without her.”

  “She seemed so nice,” I said.

  “So did Ted Bundy,” Steve pointed out.

  I nodded. “True, along with Phillip Markoff, Albert Fish, Jeffery Dahmer, Dorthea Puente, and quite a few others.” I realized the men were staring at me, so I smiled innocently.

  “How does a sweet woman like you know all those names? Right off the top of your head, no less.”

  It was hard to hold back my amusement at Steve’s wide-eyed expression.

  Ace laughed. “That’s my Shay. You never know what to expect.”

  Those words might have irritated me, except for the warm, caring look in his eyes and the way he’d said, “My Shay.” Like his to love and care for. So I smiled like the smitten woman I was.

  Steve’s laughter caught our attention.

  “So the mighty Ace has fallen under a woman’s spell. Congratulations.”

  He grinned at me.

  “Condolences to the lady.”

  “Asswipe,” Ace muttered.

  Steve just laughed again as he stood. “I’d better get back home. There’s still a gazillion things to do to get the business back in operation.”

  “Gazillion? Technical term?” I teased.

  “Yep.”

  I laughed as I hugged him, and he walked out with Ace, the two of them quickly sliding into a testosterone-fueled insult-fest. I smiled as I watched them walk toward Steve’s car. Men complain that we’re complicated, but they’re just as complicated and difficult to understand as wome
n. Except for when they’re insulting each other like little boys.

  My thoughts slipped from the show outside, and I considered what would happen now. Guilt still welled up in me with the slightest provocation, but the relief I saw on Steve’s face made me feel better. I’d done what I had to do. I couldn’t hold myself responsible for the bad choices of two people I barely knew.

  “Steve looks much better.”

  I squealed, which had Terri shaking with laughter. I glared. “Nice how you get amusement from startling your cousin.”

  “Sorry.”

  She didn’t look at all sorry. On the other hand, “At least you’re dressed.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Hugh doesn’t want to see me naked.”

  The door opened and Ace walked in as he said “Thank you” into his cell before turning it off. “A friend of mine in wildlife management just called. They found the cat, and about an hour later they also discovered his mother and sister. The mom has an injured leg, but they don’t think it’s serious. Just enough for the little guy to get away from her and create havoc. They’re going to fix her up and make sure there’s nothing else to be concerned about. When they’re all three cleared, they’ll be released into the wild somewhere where humans won’t bother them.”

  I let out a breath and leaned into Ace’s waiting arms. “Thank God.”

  Terri did a little jumping dance. “I’m so glad the little kitty is all right. And his mommy and sister.”

  She danced toward the kitchen, and I turned back to Ace. He glanced toward the dancing shapeshifter. “Never a boring moment around here.”

  There was the sound of the doggie door. Twice.

  “That’s for sure.”

  Just then, Dusty leaped off the couch and shot like a rocket toward the kitchen. A moment later, we heard the sound of the doggie door a third time.

  “Good.”

  Ace pulled me against him.

  “I hate boring.”

  His lips captured mine and heat rushed through me. For a moment all I could do was enjoy the feeling, then I pushed back enough to say, “You know she can see and smell things we can’t. There is no privacy around her.”

  “Maybe she’ll just have to get used to us,” he whispered against my lips before he recaptured them.

  ****

  Sometime during the night, Dusty woke me up whining. I found her standing beside the bed, looking up at me with the cutest little face I’d ever seen. I couldn’t just ignore her, so I picked her up and put her on my chest. She licked my face, and I laughed quietly.

  “Keep spoiling her like that, and I’ll never find a forever home for her.”

  My breath caught at the idea of Dusty giving sweet lick-kisses to somebody else. “Don’t even think about it.”

  Ace scratched the top of Dusty’s soft little head. She immediately hopped off my chest and wiggled her way into the almost nonexistent space between Ace and me.

  “I think maybe she’s already found a new home,” he said.

  “You might be right.” I told him then looked at Dusty. “But you and I need to have a talk about your preferred sleeping spot.”

  She raised her head and looked at me with big, innocent brown eyes, then turned to snuggle back into the warmth between the human bodies.

  “I’m thinking crates for each of our bedrooms might be in order.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, but he just chuckled.

  “I love her too, but there are times when I don’t want anything between us.” He ran the tip of his index finger over one breast, making a point to linger at the nipple.

  I gasped.

  “Absolutely nothing between us,” he whispered.

  Dusty had to go back to the floor for a while, and she whined about it. I felt bad for her, until Ace made me forget everything but what I was feeling.

  ****

  Ace left early to check on his dogs, and Terri was hard at work on her next masterpiece. I sat at the kitchen table, computer in front of me, Dusty on my lap, and my fingers slowly typing their way through one of the last scenes of my contracted book. Almost there, and then I would be free to work on my romantic suspense. My agent was interested in the two chapters and rough synopsis I’d thrown together and sent her right after I’d called to admit I wanted to change my subgenre, although we agreed it would be best to wait until the manuscript was finished before she approached any editor about it. The important thing was she hadn’t freaked out about my desire to take my writing career in a different direction.

  “Bumpkins is home!”

  I put Dusty on the floor and we headed to the living room where Terri performed another little bouncy dance.

  “Will you go over there with me?”

  “Sure.” I leaned down to pet my furry sidekick’s head. “You stay in the house. I’ll be right back.”

  I stood and started toward the front, not totally surprised that Trixie had taken Terri’s place. I opened the door, glanced back toward the unhappy puppy staring at me. “Be right back.” I headed out with Trixie right beside me.

  Ms. Carlisle carried Bumpkins, wrapped in a blanket like a human baby, in her arms

  I got as close to the fence as I could so I could see better. “How is he?”

  She cast a suspicious look toward Trixie before she answered me. “He’s doing much better, aren’t you, my little sweetie?” She made kissy noises toward the cat, who graced her with a moment of consideration before turning his gaze back to Trixie.

  “Would you hold him down a bit so she can see he’s all right?”

  She looked at me like I’d suggested feeding Bumpkins to Trixie. It took a couple of tense minutes for her to think about it, but she gave a surrendering nod and leaned down so Trixie could reach her long nose out and touch Bumpkins. The cat was still for a moment before he stretched out a paw.

  I held my breath, but he only patted her nose. They were being nice to each other. Amazing? Yes, but there it was.

  Miz C waited until Bumpkins pulled his paw back before hugging the cat closer. She muttered, “Thank you for saving him,” in Trixie’s general direction then hurried toward her house.

  I watched until woman and cat were inside, then held my hand out to Trixie, palm up. She high-fived me, and we turned toward our front door.

  Chapter 24

  A week later, we gathered in Ace’s backyard to relax and catch up with our friends.

  “Only in Ugly Creek.” Steve shook his head. “First a dog napping FBI agent then my most trusted security person gets tangled up with a friend’s wife who manipulates him into stealing secret government materials to get back at me for some sort of leftover high school jealousy thing.”

  Terri leaned back in the deck chair and stretched her legs out in front of her. Her newly adopted white-and-yellow kitten named Scrappy slept curled in her lap. “Sounds like the plot of a novel.”

  I laughed. “You’re not wrong.”

  The breeze was cool, or at least to my thin Florida blood it was, but it was wonderful to be outside in the company of good friends. Dusty ran over, but instead of climbing into my lap as usual, she curled up under Terri’s chair. I’d be jealous if the little critter wasn’t so damn cute.

  “It does sound like the plot for a novel, but I like the books I read to have happy endings.” Stephie smiled at Jake.

  “Me too,” Liza said.

  “I’m hoping for a happy ending tonight,” Ace said, then whistled.

  I was wondering what he was talking about, when Hugh trotted around the corner of the house and sat in front of me. Behind his head, attached to his collar, was a small, square box.

  I stared at Ace, who looked a little pale.

  He smiled, though. “Open it.”

  I opened the box, and inside was a little blue velvet case designed to hold a ring. I worked hard at not hyperventilating, but my hand still shook as I opened it. The diamond ring was simple but beautiful, and tears filled my eyes. Then Ace was on one knee and both he and Hugh gave
me big puppy eyes. “Would you consider marrying a rogue photojournalist who rescues dogs and regularly loses his cell phone?”

  It was tempting to give him a hard time, but I figured we’d all been through enough. “Yes.”

  Ace reached out, but Hugh knocked him on his butt getting to me to lick my face. Ace shoved the huge dog out of the way and kissed me until I forgot everything except how much I loved this man.

  Around us cheers, laughter, and barks filled the air. Doggone it, Ugly Creek really was the perfect place to start over.

  A word about the author…

  Cheryel Hutton is a Southern girl to the core. She was born in Tennessee and has spent most of her life there. Among the hills and valleys she found abundant inspiration for the stories she writes.

  Recently she and her husband moved near Jacksonville, Florida, where they enjoy the sunshine, warm weather, and nearness to the ocean. Here Cheryel is discovering new inspiration and spends her time transcribing stories told to her by a muse who happens to be a dragon.

  Cheryel has two other stories in her Ugly Creek series: The Ugly Truth and Secrets of Ugly Creek. She is also the author of Blood of the Innocent and Keepers of Legend.

  You can find out more about Cheryel and Quill here:

  www.cheryelhutton.com

  www.dragonwhisperer.me

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