Chapter 8

 

Sam had been waiting and watching, hoping to see Wyatt. It started the second he stepped out the door of his room above the hardware store, and his watchfulness continued at work.

Eyes straying to the windows, scanning the street all the time, Sam was kicking himself for being so stuck on Wyatt already. It was an improvement. He used to be watchful like that because of Brian. That fear still remained, but his yearning to see Wyatt was overtaking the fear.

He was in the kitchen of the café, helping Hannah get together the order she was delivering to Mr. Jasper. He had to have surgery on his leg and was stuck in bed for now.

Hannah stepped out to make the delivery when Sam noticed that she forgot the small salad that came with the order. He went out and found Hannah talking with her brother, Shawn, who was ten, plus the whole Hayes crowd.

"We're making a delivery," her brother was telling DJ and Riley while acting all important until his big sister cut him down to size.

"I'm making the delivery. You're just tagging along," Hannah said. She was in high school and only worked at the café part time. "Old Jasper isn't feeling good. I'm delivering roast chicken dumpling soup to him and some other stuff."

"And this salad too," Sam told her as he went over. He put the container with salad in the takeout bag she was carrying then he greeted everyone. "Hi, guys."

"Hi, Sam," DJ said and gave him a smile.

"Hi, Sam!" Riley said and gave him an even bigger smile. He then turned to Hannah. "Mr. Jasper likes Barney."

"If you all are friends with Mr. Jasper, you wanna come with and bring the dog to cheer him up?" she asked Riley and DJ. "I'm already letting Shawn tag along. The rest of you might as well do it too."

"Can we?" Riley asked his uncle as both boys looked up at him eagerly.

"You don't need to come," Hannah said to Wyatt bluntly. "Just the kids and the dog."

Instead of answering, Wyatt looked over at Sam like he wanted his input. He didn't say yes until Sam gave him a nod and said, "It would be nice if they went to visit him."

"OK. Then they can go. Be good," Wyatt told them and kissed them each on top of the head. As he and Sam watched the group leave, Wyatt sighed. "I have been deemed of no therapeutic value."

"Are you in town to have lunch?" Sam asked him. He hoped that Wyatt and the boys would come to the café.

"I'm on my way to the post office, but since I have you here, I'll put in an order for lunch and pick it up when I get back," Wyatt said, and Sam was disappointed they wouldn't be eating in. Of course with Barney coming along everywhere they went, that wasn't easy to arrange.

Sam got out the order pad from his back pocket. "What would you like?"

"Sandwiches, whatever you think is good," Wyatt said. Sam was about to try and get him to be more specific, but then Wyatt distracted him with a question. "Any chance you can join us? The boys told me about some big stump where we can sit and eat." Wyatt gave him a hopeful look, and Sam's breath caught in his throat. It was just an offer to have lunch. He didn't need to make a big deal out of it.

"I haven't taken my lunch break yet," Sam said. Here he was jumping at the chance to spend more time with Wyatt. He had already been too eager with him, and now he was doing it again.

"Perfect. I'll probably be back before the boys, so I'll see you soon." With a wave, Wyatt went toward the post office.

Sam watched him leave and then realized he never got a proper order from him. Everything at the café was good, so it wasn't like he could go wrong whatever he ordered.

 

Just like he said, Wyatt was back before they saw any sign of Hannah and the boys. He took a seat at the counter, and Sam was about to tell him what he ordered for him, but Wyatt gave him a smile that made him forget what he was going to say.

"Should I get you something to drink?" Sam asked so he could cover how Wyatt made him feel.

"Mineral water or club soda with lime," Wyatt said. "And let me pay for the lunch order now. You're definitely coming with us, right?" He gave Sam a searching look.

"Yes. I already told you I was a fan of outdoor eating," Sam said.

"Great. I was sure I'd be lonely here. And before I even arrive properly, I meet you," Wyatt said and gave him another one of those smiles that undid him.

"Glad to be of service," Sam said trying to sound casual, but how could he when Wyatt was right there, and his blue eyes teased and tried to seduce him.

Over his shoulder, Sam spotted Hannah and the kids in front. He pointed them out to Wyatt.

"I guess they're back, but they don't look happy," Wyatt said.

It did seem that DJ and Riley looked agitated, so Wyatt went right out there and Sam followed. At the last second, he remembered to grab the takeout bag.

"We'll ask Uncle Wyatt. He'll help us," Riley said as soon as Wyatt and Sam stepped outside the café doors.

The boys looked up at both of them with pleading expressions. "We lost our dog," DJ claimed.

Sam and Wyatt both looked from DJ to Barney right there at the end of the leash he was holding, then back at DJ.

"Not him, that's Barney," Riley said. "Our other dog."

"I didn't know you had one," Wyatt said, obviously confused.

"We have to find Brownie," DJ said.

"Sorry. Who is Brownie?" Wyatt asked.

"Our dog," DJ said, explaining nothing. "He ran away."

"I didn't know you had another dog," Sam told them to try and get more information.

"He isn't their dog," Shawn said. "He's just a stray."

Hannah explained. "The kids saw this little dog wandering by the side of the road then he ran off. It's a stray that's been spotted around here these last few weeks. He sometimes hangs out in those fields around your house."

"He's our dog. We have to find him," Riley insisted then he got down and hugged Barney for consolation.

"Mr. Miller's truck scared him," DJ said. "That's why he ran away."

Sam knew which truck they were talking about. It was an old one and it rattled like a monster. "If he got scared, maybe he went to hide somewhere," Sam said.

"OK. We'll find him," Wyatt decided. "What does Brownie look like?"

"He's a dog. And he looks like a dog," Riley told him.

"He's brown," DJ said, being a tiny, little bit more helpful. "That's why we call him Brownie."

"OK, where do we look?" Wyatt asked.

Since the boys were about as good at giving directions as they were with descriptions, Hannah told them where to go. She and her brother went into the café, and Sam joined the search for the lost dog.

"I promised you lunch, and now we're recruiting you for our search party," Wyatt said. "Sorry, and thanks for coming along."

"It's no problem," Sam told him.

They started out by walking toward the river cottages then they turned off the path. Now they were walking through the brush between the river and the road. That's where the dog had been seen last.

"Should we walk and eat?" Sam asked and held up the takeout bag with their lunch.

"Sure. Those sandwiches smell good. They might bring that dog running," Wyatt said.

"Dogs like sandwiches?" Riley asked.

"I gonna give him mine," DJ decided on the spot as Sam started getting out the sandwiches.

"No, you eat yours. When we find Brownie, I'll share some of my sandwich with him," Wyatt said and helped Sam hand them out.

"I thought the boys might like these sweet and sour chicken sandwiches. And this is a meatloaf sandwich for you. I thought you should have something purely American after all your time in Europe. It comes on a potato roll. I got the same thing for me," Sam told him.

"It all looks good. Thanks," Wyatt said and took a big bite.

"Did you make the sandwiches, Sam?" DJ asked him.

"No. Magda made them," Sam told them.

"But I bet Sam could make these sandwiches if he wanted to," Wyatt said and grinned at him.

"Maybe," Sam admitted and the boys looked impressed.

After taking a few bites of their sandwiches, the boys then started calling the dog's name again. Sam wasn't sure if a stray dog would answer to a name he had been given, but he didn't want to discourage the boys.

The field out here was overgrown with brush and dotted with small trees here and there. It would give a small dog plenty of places to hide. Sam didn't expect the dog to come out, but as they called out to him, he thought he heard a low whimper nearby.

"Let's be quiet for a minute. I thought I heard something," Sam said.

"Was it Brownie?" Riley asked in a whisper, and Sam heard the whimper once again.

He went toward the sound and pointed out the likely hiding place. A fallen tree with its trunk hollowed out was mostly hidden by the brush. As they went closer, they could see the little brown dog looking up at them through a small hole. The big hole that the dog must have used to climb inside was partially blocked by a bush.

"I guess he feels safe in there," Sam said seeing that nothing bigger than him could get inside.

"I'll go and get him," DJ said and started to get down.

He was ready to reach for the dog, but Wyatt stopped him. "No, no, no. It might not be safe. I'll do it. Hold my sandwich," he said to Sam. "I'll just take a piece of this meatloaf to help me make friends with him. You keep these guys out of trouble."

"I will," Sam told him then he addressed the boys. "We are going to stay back here with Barney. We don't want to crowd around and scare Brownie. Your uncle will take care of everything. He knows what to do, OK?"

"Uncle Wyatt knows how to make friends with dogs," DJ said to Riley reassuringly. Both boys crouched down next to Barney and put their arms around him. Their eyes were wide as they watched what Wyatt was doing.

First Wyatt cleared the ground of loose rocks so he could lie down, then he looked inside the hollowed out log. "There you are. The boys told me your name is Brownie. Nice to meet you. Look what I have for you." Wyatt reached in and offered the dog some of the meatloaf.

Sam couldn't tell what was going on inside, but he then heard Wyatt praising the dog. "Good boy. That's some tasty meatloaf, isn't it?" he fed him the rest of it too.

"Want more?" Sam asked him.

Wyatt reached back for it, and Sam handed a piece to DJ to give to his uncle.

"See, we have good food," Wyatt said as he gave the dog more meatloaf, but it looked like he wasn't reaching in as far as before. "Let's be friends and go home together."

Sam gave Riley the next piece to hand over to Wyatt. This time Wyatt held out the meatloaf just at the entrance of the hollow log. "Come and get it," he said to the dog, who stepped right to the opening but no further.

"Let's all sit here and finish our sandwiches and see if Brownie will want to come over to us," Sam said and pointed to a clear spot in the field.

Wyatt drew back too and offered the dog another small piece of meatloaf. Slowly they got the dog to sit with them and eat some of Sam's sandwich too. The spring grass was fresh and fragrant around them, and it wasn't a bad picnic after all.

"Can he really come home with us?" DJ asked his uncle.

"For now, but we have to put up flyers to find out if this is a dog someone lost," Wyatt told him while the dog sat next to him.

"He's ours," Riley insisted.

"But before he was yours, he might have belonged to someone else," Wyatt explained. "And his owners might miss him. If no one answers the fliers, we can keep him. He'll have to go to the vet to get checked over. I already picked out a vet for Barney. I'll take Brownie over there too."

At the mention of the vet, Riley made a worried noise.

"There is nothing to be scared of. Going to the vet isn't like going to the dentist," Wyatt assured him.

"A veterinarian is a doggy doctor," DJ told his little brother.

"No shots, right?" Riley asked and both boys looked up at Wyatt worriedly.

That was a tricky one. Not wanting to lie to them, Wyatt had to admit, "Sorry, Ry. There might be some shots."

"Oh no, Brownie," Riley said and hugged the little dog protectively.

"It will be over quick," Sam reassured him.

"You're gonna come with us?" DJ asked him.

Wyatt turned to Sam too. "You don't have to get back to work, do you?"

As Wyatt and the boys looked at him pleadingly, Sam thought about it. Magda was saving up for a down payment on a car. She wanted to pick up more hours. She would be happy to take his shift.

"I'll have to text a coworker to make sure, but I think I can go with you if you like," Sam said.

"You're going on a drive to Ashbury with two kids and two dogs? You are quite a man," Wyatt told him. He looked so pleased that Sam was going, and the boys were already telling the dogs the good news.

 

They set off for the Hayes' house to get Wyatt's car. Wyatt carried Brownie so she wouldn't run away again. Brownie turned out to be a girl, which made the boys wonder if they had to change her name.

"Brownie works either way," Wyatt told them.

As they walked to the Hayes' house, she was snug in Wyatt's arms. She seemed to have really taken to him, but she also let Sam scratch her little head. Barney had insisted on sniffing something and the boys were a few steps ahead with him.

"So you're just going to adopt this dog," Sam said while Brownie looked over at what the other dog was doing.

"I have no say. They already did," Wyatt said and nodded toward the boys.

"That's really nice of you," Sam told him. He was such a caring guy. It was clear that he would do anything for those boys.

Wyatt didn't seem to think he was doing anything special. "I need all the allies I can get to keep those boys in good spirits. That's where you come in too. Plus you're good in a crisis." Wyatt turned to him and there was a gleam in his eyes that left Sam breathless.

But then he realized what Wyatt just said. "I'm good in a crisis?"

"Is that a shocking thing to say or something?" Wyatt wondered since Sam reacted so oddly.

"If you knew me better, you would know it was," Sam told him. It was so far from the truth.

"Oh. What don't I know?" Wyatt asked and sidled closer to him. "I want to know everything."

"It's not exciting." Feeling embarrassed, Sam frowned and looked down at the ground. He hated to tell him this, but he wasn't going to hide it. "I have panic attacks," he said in a whisper.

"Thanks for telling me," Wyatt whispered back. "Here, Brownie needs some petting." He handed her over to Sam, who smiled at him. "And if she has fleas, now you have them too."

"Thanks," Sam said and he laughed. It was still nice to hold Brownie and to spend all this time with Wyatt. Sam didn't know what it meant, but it filled him with warmth and an almost painful happy feeling.