Chapter Eight
Garrett had a plan, as he did for every problem he faced.
His plan for the problem of Jessie Curtis was simple: spend as little time as possible alone with her and talk only about things that didn’t really matter.
He was going to be gone all afternoon today, but one walk wouldn’t hurt. She could ask a few questions, but the distraction of Lola would give her no chance for her to grill him and take notes. Then he’d be out for the rest of the day. Very busy tomorrow and Wednesday, too. Every day this week, for sure.
By then, she’d be crunched for time and couldn’t dig too deeply. He hoped. And when he was with her, he’d keep it light. Casual. Even fun.
He might even flirt a little with her, because…he actually liked her. Well, he was attracted to her. Big difference.
“Oh, I love this part of Waterford Farm.” Jessie paused at the top of a hill that started the two-mile trail Garrett planned to take them on today. Not the whole two miles, of course, but it was his favorite path that ultimately led to the nicest part of the creek.
“Molly and I used to ride our bikes down here and stick our bare feet in the creek,” she said.
Garrett put his hand lightly on her back to lead her forward. “Shane and I used to ride our bikes down here and swim butt-naked in the creek.”
“Happily, those two events didn’t happen at the same time.”
“Happily for who?” he teased. “’Specially after that game of Manhunt.”
She slowed her step and, no surprise, so did Lola, who stayed glued to Jessie’s side. “Every day? More than once a day? Every hour? Just how often will we take that particular stroll down memory lane?”
“Isn’t that the whole reason you’re here? To delve into my past? You happen to be part of it.”
“For about ten minutes.”
“I bet it was more like twenty, and as minutes go, they were good.”
She looked skyward. “I can’t even imagine the number of women you’ve kissed in the years that have passed since then. Got a body-count estimation?”
And so the interview began. “So you can put that in your profile? Not a chance.”
“Maybe I’m curious. As, you know, part of that count.”
“I thought a body count meant sex, not heavy petting.”
“Heavy petting? Does anyone say that anymore?”
“When you live with dogs.”
She chuckled lightly, then turned to watch her step on the trail, following the sunlight speckles over the packed dirt path. For a moment or two, they didn’t talk, the only sounds a few birds and the barking of dogs they’d left behind. They kept their pace slow, both of them sensing Lola preferred that. He kept one eye on the dog, since this was her first real walk in a while and he didn’t want to go too far.
He doubted Lola would bolt—she’d likely not go ten feet from Jessie—but he’d stuck a leash in his back pocket in case she got spooked by a sound or a squirrel.
“I always loved it here,” Jessie said, the admission breaking the near silence. “Always thought you Kilcannons had the dreamiest life, while the rest of us lived in soulless developments on the outskirts of town. You lived in paradise.”
Her words reminded him of something he’d overheard her say to Lola.
They left you somewhere you were supposed to be safe, but you were so alone. You know, that happened to me. I was sixteen.
“Why did you leave Bitter Bark?” he asked.
“Had to,” she replied. “My sister, Stephanie, got a job with the Rockettes when she turned eighteen, and I went to Minnesota.”
“The dancers in New York? The leg-kickers?”
“The very ones.”
He had a vague recollection of her sister. He and Stephanie were the same age, but she’d never been in school after maybe ninth grade. He’d heard she was tutored and traveled a lot, since, obviously, she was serious about a dance career.
“But why did her job in New York mean you had to move to Minnesota?”
“The question I never stopped asking at that age.” Lola slowed for a second, and Jessie did, too, showing a natural instinct with dogs he bet she didn’t even know she had. She waited while the dog sniffed at a tree trunk, left her calling card, and continued on.
“Man, that makes me happy,” he said.
She gave him a quizzical look. “That Lola peed?”
“The very, I don’t know, normalcy of that is a huge improvement. I give you all the credit.”
“Weird that she responds to me that way, isn’t it?” Jessie mused.
“Not really,” he said. “It kind of proves my theory about her, actually.”
“Which is?”
He considered whether to tell her, since he hadn’t shared his thoughts with anyone, not even Shane, who had a full plate these days. “You remind her of someone who is important to her.”
“But I’m no different than anyone else around here. If it’s a gender thing, there are plenty of female trainers and, actually, Molly and I talked about her last night, and she said she had a hard time reaching Lola, too.”
“Well, something about you smells, looks, or moves like someone she loved,” he said, glancing at her. “Guess she has good taste.”
The compliment tipped her lips up. “Careful, Garrett. You’re getting comfortable with me. Next thing you know, the Barbara Walters tears.”
Not a chance. “I brought tissues just in case. Finish telling me why you had to move to Minnesota when your sister moved to New York.”
“I’m interviewing you, remember?”
“Not now.” Plus, he still remembered the jolt of her tear-stained face when Lola caught up with her at the car. She wasn’t the only curious one. “Plus, it will make me more comfortable telling you about my past if you tell me about yours.”
She slid him a side-eye. “I know every trick, Kilcannon.”
“Then humor me.”
She conceded with a shrug. “My sister was only eighteen, which made her one of the youngest Rockettes. She didn’t know a soul in New York, and my mother had to live with her. I couldn’t stay in Bitter Bark alone at sixteen.”
“Your parents were divorced, right?”
“Yeah. They split up a few years before I moved. Dad remarried, relocated his business to Raleigh, which wouldn’t have been too bad or too far, but…” She shook her head. “He traveled constantly and his wife was really not thrilled about a teenager moving in. So my parents decided that my best option was moving to Duluth with my mother’s parents. They were kind but boring and lived in the sticks.”
“Why not go to New York with your mom and sister?”
“My mom didn’t want me to go to high school in a big city. She thought it might be too difficult for me.” She sounded like she hated that decision, too. “Trust me, what was difficult was moving to a town with a population of nine and a high school where friendships had been formed in kindergarten and I was not welcome.”
“You should have stayed with us to finish high school,” he said, the solution so obvious, he couldn’t believe they hadn’t thought about it then. “By then, Liam and Shane were gone, and I was on my way out. We had plenty of room.”
Her step slowed. “Yeah, that was what I wanted, too. And Molly. Your parents were fine with the idea.”
How had he not known about these discussions? He’d been wrapped up in his senior year, getting ready for college, and his ever-growing interest in programming and the Internet, that’s how. Jessie was never much more than an extra kid around the house—until that one night. Then she was gone and, honestly, he’d forgotten about her.
“So why didn’t that happen?” he asked.
“My mother wanted me with family…such as it was. I guess it made her feel less guilty for pouring everything into one kid and essentially ditching the other.”
He felt his lip curl. That would suck.
“Waterford would have been…” She sighed, looking through the trees at an open field and gentle swells of hills and beyond, to the mountains on the horizon. “Heaven.”
“It is that,” he agreed. “I was so happy to come back here.” As soon as he said it, he realized he inadvertently opened a door for her.
“From Seattle?” she asked. “How long were you out there?”
“Long enough.” He walked a little faster. “Let’s see if Lola was trained to fetch.” Scooping up a small, sturdy twig, he waved it in front of Lola’s face, then handed it to Jessie. “Toss it.”
“Why me?”
“Because she won’t budge if I throw it, but if you do it, she’ll fetch and want to play again.” At the dubious look in her green eyes, he knew he had to prove his point. “Watch.”
He tossed the stick, and Lola stayed true to his prediction. Jessie was the one who retrieved it, brought the stick back to Lola, showed it, and tossed it, and…off Lola went.
“Told ya.”
“That is so weird,” she said, but the smile told him the “dog connection” was already working its magic on her. Lola brought the stick back and offered it to Jessie, who repeated the game. “But what are you going to do when I’m gone?”
He heard the hitch in her voice as that reality—one he’d already thought of—hit her.
“One of the things I hope you’ll do, even starting today if possible, is help socialize her with other dogs and trainers. Just stay with her until she’s comfortable. Will you?”
She looked up at him, one brow lifting in a slight question. “You know I will. But you have to do this interview, Garrett.”
“I will. This week. I swear.”
“How about today?”
He sighed. “Busy.”
Lola stopped playing and slowed as they came to a wide, grassy area that offered a view of the mountains in the distance. She found a spot in a few seconds, curled up, and lay down.
Jessie sat next to her, placing a loving hand on Lola’s back. “Tired, girl?”
Although a long rest in the sun wasn’t what he’d had in mind, he didn’t want to push Lola, and he didn’t exactly hate hanging out and talking to Jessie.
He folded onto the soft spring grass and stretched his legs out next to Lola. “She’s not up to full strength yet,” he said, stroking the dog between them.
“You sound worried.”
Shrugging, he conceded that truth with a nod. “I am, a little. She’s a tough one. We get them once in a while. A dog that can’t break through whatever its special circumstances are.”
“And what happens to those dogs?” The subtle tone of horror made him reach out and put his hand over Jessie’s, momentarily hit by how soft her skin was.
“You do not have to worry about that. We find them a home, even if we have to get them across the country. I have a network of people, thousands, really, who save dogs. My biggest challenge is transportation, but I’m working on that right now.”
She petted the dog with slow, rhythmic strokes. “Poor Lola. I wonder what your story is. That’s one I’d like to tell.”
“Hey, you’re the expert at getting people to reveal their truths.”
“People, not dogs.” She patted Lola’s back and whispered, “I wish I could take you home.” She leaned over to plant one of her kisses on Lola’s head. Immediately, the dog rolled over and spread out, offering her spotted belly for a rub and making Jessie laugh with delight. “Oh, you wish that, too?”
“See? She’s already communicating with you. She’s telling you in no uncertain terms that she trusts you.”
“Wow, that’s amazing,” she said on a sigh, rubbing Lola’s belly. As she leaned over, Jessie’s hair fell from behind one ear, covering her face, making him reach out and tuck that lock back so he could see her eyes when he told her what he was thinking.
She looked up at him, a little surprise in her eyes at the intimate touch.
“Remember I said you remind Lola of someone important?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“I honestly don’t believe she was abandoned,” he said softly.
“Then what do you think happened?”
“I don’t know, but this dog was loved,” he said. “Unfortunately, she wasn’t chipped, which would give us an owner’s name in a minute. But she responds to love, which tells me someone showered her with it.”
Jessie frowned, inching her head up. “And then left her at a shelter? That’s weird, isn’t it?”
“Maybe her owner had to leave her for some reason, because that does happen. But a dog this loved is usually given to a friend or a really top-notch, no-kill shelter.”
She made a face of horror. “And the one where she was…wasn’t one of those shelters?” She dropped her head against Lola’s again. “My poor darling. So she could be lost and her owner is searching for her. Did they put out notices at that shelter?”
“They did, but Greensboro is not a small town, and the shelter is less than a few miles from two major interstates. There’s any number of ways she could have gotten lost by someone who’s not even from the area, and someone else took her to the shelter.”
“Then wouldn’t they go back and look for her where they lost her?”
“That’s what I think,” he said. “I left a few flyers around and checked out the surrounding area of the shelter. I’m going back to check things out in a few days. Maybe we’ll find out more about Lola’s life that way.”
“Oh, poor baby.” Jessie let out a little moan of sympathy, reaching out with both arms to hug the dog.
Garrett watched the move, his gaze drifting over Jessie’s long limbs and sweet curves, all pressed against Lola. Lucky dog.
She turned her head to smile at him, some strands of her hair back on her face, making him want to brush them away. “Take me with you,” she said softly.
Anywhere, he thought in a moment of abject insanity and garden-variety lust.
“Take me to Greensboro when you go to try to find her owner.”
“We’ll see.” A few hours on the road together would not be avoiding Jessie Curtis.
“We can bring Lola,” she added, upping the ante. “Think how much that could help. People could see her instead of a picture.”
She was right about that. He’d wanted to take Lola the first time he went, but hadn’t been able to get her to budge from her kennel. With Jessie, that problem would be solved.
And other problems would arise, like a few hours in the Jeep together.
Slowly, she lifted her head and narrowed her eyes in a challenge. “Are you that scared of me, Garrett Kilcannon?”
Yes. “Of course not.”
“Then why would there be even a moment’s hesitation to take me with you when you go?”
He rooted for a reason. “The more time you spend with Lola, the more attached you’ll get, and then it will be harder for her to let you go.”
“And yet you want me to help socialize her with trainers.”
Damn, she had him there.
A slow smile crept up, lifting one side of her mouth, sly and teasing. “You know what I think?”
He had a feeling he was about to find out.
“I think you’re worried that the more time you spend with me, the harder it will be to keep all that ‘feely crap’ locked up.”
She might be right. He pushed up and brushed the grass off. “I guess Lola and I will both have to find out,” he said.
Jessie stayed sitting, which meant Lola did, too.
“I have to go deliver a dog, Jessie.”
“Can I come?”
God, he wanted her to. Wanted her wit and company and charm next to him all day. Bad, bad idea.
“No, Lola needs you more than I do.” He hoped.