Читать книгу The Perfect Match - Kimberly Cates - Страница 8

ROWENA TRIED TO REMEMBER how to breathe as her nemesis stalked toward them, six foot two inches of angry male. The child in his arms was swathed from hood to shoes in a purple unicorn raincoat, but Cash Lawless looked as if he’d stepped out of his morning shower fully dressed. His dark hair plastered to his head, the angles of his face even more forbidding gleaming wet.

His jacket, caught back by one of the little girl’s legs, had left the front of his body exposed to the elements. His wet shirt stuck to the rippling muscles of a chest so broad he could probably bench press Rowena’s weight without breaking a sweat.

And at the moment, he looked as if he’d like to toss her out of his way, Hulk style, to get to the little girl trembling in the curve of Rowena’s arm.

Cash Lawless was Charlie’s daddy?

Rowena’s mind reeled as she tried to grasp the undeniable truth. This lost, lonely child who had already won Rowena’s heart belonged to the hard-nosed deputy. The man who had a personal vendetta against the dog Charlie loved.

Rowena’s ill-advised words of moments before played mercilessly in her head. She’d built the child’s hopes up, so sure she could make Charlie’s dream come true.

She’d have a better chance of turning Clancy into a cat.

“Charlotte Rose Lawless,” the deputy snapped, “what do you think you’re doing sneaking off like—”

Rowena could tell the instant he recognized Clancy.

“Charlie, get away from that dog!” Lawless ordered. “It’s dangerous!”

“He is not!” Rowena exclaimed, as the deputy’s long stride ate up the space between himself and his daughter.

“He gave me this black eye!”

Charlie nibbled on her lip, a little doubtful. Obviously the black eye had made an impression.

“It was an accident!” Rowena rushed to explain to the little girl. “Clancy just got overly excited and banged a door into your dad.”

“Charlie, get over here right now,” the deputy roared, flinging open the playroom gate.

“Yeah,” the child in the deputy’s arms piped up. “You are in big trouble, little girl.” The mite thrust her hood back from a face straight out of the fairy book Auntie Maeve had sent Rowena from Ireland.

“Do you have any idea what could have happened to you, running off like that, Charlie?” Lawless demanded.

To give the man credit, he looked plenty shaken up. And Rowena tried to remember that, as a cop, he would have seen plenty of examples of bad things happening to children running wild. He had that if-you’re-not-dead-in-a-ditch-I’m-going-tokill-you-myself-for-scaring-me-spitless parental expression Rowena had seen on her mother’s face a time or two.

Rowena searched for something to say, anything to defuse the situation. “We have to quit meeting like this, Deputy,” she said, fighting a ridiculous urge to fold her arms over her breasts. “I’m happy to say, your eye is looking a whole lot less swollen than last time I saw you.”

“Last time we met, you swore I’d never have to see you again.” He slashed Rowena a filthy look above the yellowish bruise shadowing his eye.

Rowena forced a smile for Charlie’s sake. “Funny how life goes. God’s sense of humor, you know. Tell him your plans and—” She sounded like an idiot, but deflecting Lawless’ anger from Charlie to herself seemed like the only option.

Cash reached for Charlie’s arm, but the child shrank back behind the mountain of Newfoundland, evading his grasp. Clancy shifted to block the deputy’s path even more solidly and made a sound low in his throat.

Rowena gaped, as stunned as if the dog had just launched into a chorus of “Who Let The Dogs Out.” That vein in the deputy’s temple throbbed.

“Is that dog growling at me?” Lawless shot Clancy the Stare Of Death.

Oh, lord! Rowena thought, her nerves knotting. That’s just what she needed. Lawless tallying up even more “incidents” to condemn Clancy as a vicious dog.

“You’re upsetting the poor animal, stomping in here the way you did!” Rowena defended. “He thinks you might hurt Charlie!”

“Hurt my own daughter?” Dark eyes narrowed. “The last thing I need is parenting lessons from that juvenile delinquent of a dog!”

“If you’d just quit yelling—”

“I’m not…” Lawless seemed to start suddenly. His voice dropped to something a shade quieter, but no less emphatic. “Yelling,” he finished, his cheekbones darkening.

“Yes, you were, Daddy,” the child with Christmas tree angel curls corrected. “You got to use your indoor voice unless you’re out for recess. Teacher says.”

“Mac, I…”

Rowena raised a brow. What was it with this guy and names? The five-or-so-year-old who looked as if she should be sleeping under a buttercup was named Mac?

Lawless hesitated for a moment, obviously grappling with his temper. “I’ll try to keep that in mind,” he told Mac. Rowena could see just how much effort it cost him to keep his voice below a roar.

He turned back to Charlie, who was clinging to Clancy’s neck as if she really were afraid. Of her father? Rowena wondered. Or of being dragged away from the dog she already loved? The man didn’t look particularly warm and fuzzy at the moment. No wonder Charlie figured Clancy was a better bet.

Rowena could see Lawless suck in a steadying breath. “Charlie, I thought we agreed this place was off-limits.”

“Deputy Lawless,” Rowena said, trying to catch hold of Clancy’s collar before the dog assaulted the officer a second time. “Charlie just wanted to—”

“Sneak away from the car while I was talking to her sister’s teacher? Cross the busiest street in town without the benefit of a crossing guard? Run off to a place I specifically told her not to go? If Mac hadn’t noticed Charlie’s umbrella by the store window I’d still be looking!”

Okay, Rowena admitted to herself. So it did sound like a pretty daunting rap sheet when he put it that way. “Let me explain,” she said. “See, the problem is that the kids at school were saying I had a bear in here. Charlie’s a smart girl and knew that wasn’t possible. So she got this gigantic book of dog breeds to prove she was right, and…well, I’m the one who asked her into the shop. What harm is there in letting her get a closer look?”

That might have been fine, a voice in her head condemned, but you took the child way past “getting a look” and deep into the realm of impossible dreams.

“You know damned well what harm that could do to a lonely little-” Lawless accused, then cut himself off. But not before she saw a flash of self-recrimination in his eyes.

So Lawless knew Charlie was lonely. But why? The child obviously had a father, a little sister and the dog-dumping mother waiting at home. Or was there a mother in the picture after all? Rowena glanced down at the deputy’s ring finger. No glint of gold or telltale white line marked his skin where the ring would have been. Of course, there were plenty of married men who chose not to wear their wedding rings at all. And as for being lonely even in a crowd, Rowena knew from her own childhood how isolated a child could feel, even in a house full of people.

“Isn’t this exactly the reason you opened your shop across from the playground?” Lawless challenged, gesturing to his daughter. “To prey on children and their parents? Con them into—”

“I’m hardly a criminal for wanting to help children find pets! A pet can be the most important relationship in a child’s life!”

“Funny.” Lawless looked her up and down with a glance so scathing it burned her. “I thought that was the parents’ job.”

“Dogs can teach children things they can never learn any other way! How to take care of a creature smaller than they are—”

“Smaller?” Lawless snorted, pointing at the Newfoundland.

“Well, a living being who depends on them, then. Someone they can take care of, tell their secrets to.”

“Someone who tears up the yard, rips up the house and ends up making a hell of a lot of work for the parents? Kids get tired of pets just as soon as the Christmas shine rubs off. So don’t give me the party line, Ms. Brown. I’m not about to fall for it.”

“But, Daddy, if you’d let me have this puppy I’d do everything,” Charlie pleaded. “He’s been waiting for me his whole life!”

“Charlie—” Cash began.

“It’s true!” Charlie burst out. “Rowena talks to animals, and they tell her who they want to love them and, oh, Daddy—” Awe filled the little girl’s voice. “This dog loves me!”

“What the—?”

The deputy’s eyes widened, his mouth twisting in outrage.

Charlie tightened her arms around Clancy’s neck. The dog licked her face.

Lawless looked from Charlie to Rowena, his fury boiling over. “Oh, no, you don’t, Ms. Brown. You tell her the truth, and I mean now! You aren’t some wacko Doctor Doolittle who talks to animals. And that dog should have been—”

Rowena had to give the deputy some credit. Even angry as he was, he managed to stop himself cold before he told Charlie the dog would have been put down months ago if he’d had his way.

“Daddy, Clancy—”

“The dog’s name isn’t even Clancy.”

“Oh, Lord, not that again.” Rowena groaned.

“Its real name is Destroyer, Charlie. And there’s a good reason for that. He chewed the tires off Jeff Jones’s racing bike. He dug up every flower the Volunteer Garden Brigade planted in the park. He just wrecked up that tea shop where your sister had her last birthday party and broke all of that nice old lady’s china.”

“Not my kitty pot that spit tea out his tail!” Mac gasped.

Even Charlie’s eyes widened at the list of Clancy’s transgressions.

Rowena dove in to explain. “Clancy only did those naughty things because he was lonely and bored and wanted attention,” she assured the girls. “He needed a job to do.”

She turned to Lawless, praying she could somehow make him understand. “Working is in a Newfoundland’s blood, and now he’s finally found his life’s work. His…destiny, if you will.” Heat stole into her cheeks at the danger of exposing so many of her vulnerabilities to a man she knew scorned her. “Look in his eyes, Officer,” she pleaded. “When he looks at Charlie, he…”

How could Rowena even begin to describe what she saw in the dog’s expression? Something new, something wonderful, the budding of the nobility of spirit she’d sensed would grow in Clancy once he began taking care of the human he was meant to love.

Once he found Charlie Lawless.

Rowena tried to put it into words the child’s father would understand, feared it was a hopeless endeavor. “Deputy, do you believe in love at first sight?”

“No,” he snapped back so quickly it startled Rowena. Something hard, bleak, tightened the deputy’s face. Then it turned to blistering scorn so quickly anyone but Rowena would have doubted it had been there at all. “Why is it, Ms. Brown, that I’m dead certain you do? Exactly how many times have you done it?”

“Fallen in love at first sight?” Rowena’s cheeks burned even hotter. “Actually, never.”

In fact, she was beginning to think she never would fall in love at all—at least not with anything that walked on two legs instead of four. How many times had her mother warned her that she was so wrapped up in saving everyone else, she’d end up with no life of her own?

Rowena fought back her own doubts and looked straight in Lawless’ eyes. “Just because I’ve never done it myself, doesn’t mean I don’t know it when I see it.”

“Know what?”

“Love, Deputy,” she said, running her hand down Charlie’s ponytail. “Look at your daughter. Before you came barging in here, her eyes were shining. She was absolutely glowing. So happy—”

The officer’s jaw clenched.

“I may not ever have fallen in love at first sight myself,” Rowena asserted, “but give me a little credit. I know soul mates when I see them. Charlie and Clancy were meant for each other. Take him home and I promise you won’t be sorry.”

“Please, Daddy,” Charlie begged softly.

Lawless ran his hand over his close cropped dark hair. “Charlie, you know what I’m up against! I barely have time to take care of you and your sister, let alone a dog.”

Rowena hoped for some defiance, some fight to flare in the little girl. Instead, any spark in Charlie was snuffed out. Charlie was surrendering. Rowena could see it in the child’s eyes. Anger surged through her. “If you’ve got too many things inked into your precious schedule to give Charlie what she needs, then maybe you’d better reconsider your priorities, Deputy!”

“No!” Charlie exclaimed, looking from Rowena to her father in dismay. “No, it’s okay, Rowena. Daddy’s right.”

“No, he’s not!” Rowena exclaimed, feeling the little girl’s desperate need. Knowing in her bones that Clancy could heal her.

Cash Lawless’ lip curled. “Let’s get this straight once and for all, Dr. Doolittle. The day I take that dog into my home is the day they haul me off to the insane asylum and lock me up. What the hell?” He gave a bitter laugh. “Maybe I should let them. Sometimes a quiet cell might be a relief.”

“No!” Mac cried, suddenly tearful, her clinging arms all but cutting off the deputy’s windpipe. “Daddy, no! Don’t go to the ’sane asylum! You promised you’d never go ’way!”

Lawless flinched as if the girl had slapped him. Even Charlie looked ice-white, stricken, though she didn’t say a word.

“I’m sorry, button,” Lawless soothed, obviously appalled at his children’s distress. He tamped down his anger at Rowena to comfort his little ones instead. He stroked a curl back from his daughter’s cheek with a tenderness that surprised Rowena, confused her. “I’m not going anywhere, Mac. It was just a—a figure of speech. A grownup way of saying no.”

“Well, it’s a really bad way!” Mac plumped out a quivering bottom lip.

“It sure is, if it makes you cry. I won’t do it again.”

“Pinkie swear?” Mac demanded, holding out her tiny finger.

Lawless hooked his long, strong masculine finger with his daughter’s. “Pinkie swear,” he repeated, a sheepish flush spreading up his throat as he slanted a glance at Rowena. She didn’t want to feel touched by his gesture. Didn’t want to like him even a little.

Tears welled up in Charlie’s eyes, rolled down the silent little girl’s cheeks to plop on Clancy’s fur. There was something horrible in the resignation on the child’s face. Rowena fought back tears of her own. The child’s heart was breaking. Rowena could see it.

Lawless held out his other hand to Charlie. “Come on, cupcake. Better get a move on or we’ll be late.”

“Late? Again?” Rowena grumbled. “If being late is more important than taking a little time with your daughter, to—to—”

“To what?”

“To soften this for her. To explain…”

Charlie was losing Clancy once and for all and the little girl knew it.

Fury bubbled up in Rowena. “Is your precious appointment schedule more important than taking time to pay attention to your daughter’s needs?”

The deputy’s jaw hardened, his eyes black ice. “Don’t you dare tell me how to run my family! Look at you. Telling impressionable kids you can talk to animals when anyone with a brain knows that’s a bald-faced lie. If that’s how you get your kicks, lady, there’s nothing I can do about it. But tell your bullshit fairy tales to someone else’s kids. Not mine. Got it, Ms. Brown?”

Rowena stared at him, stunned at the rage in his face, the bitterness, an almost…hopeless edge.

Clancy’s worried gaze flickered between the two grownups. He whined piteously.

“Don’t yell!” Charlie cried. “You’re scaring him!”

Cash fell silent. Rowena’s throat closed, aching for the little girl as Charlie turned back to the Newfoundland, stroked him lovingly.

“Don’t be sad,” Charlie pleaded, giving the Newfie one last hug. Clancy looked up at the little girl, his eyes mournful as if he understood her every word. “Maybe Rowena was wrong,” she tried to reassure him. “Maybe you’ve been waiting your whole life for some other girl to love. Maybe you’ll be so happy you won’t even remember me. Maybe…” Her voice choked. Lawless stepped forward, took her hand.

“We’ve got to go, Charlie.” He drew her gently away. Then he leveled Rowena a glare filled with loathing and blame. “Looks like you and that dog have exactly the same M.O., Ms. Brown, bashing around in places you don’t belong. Maybe next time you’ll think about the damage you could do before you go interfering in a child’s life. Unless you like breaking kids’ hearts as much as Destroyer likes breaking china.”

“I didn’t…I mean I don’t…” Rowena stammered, unable to shake the sick feeling the deputy was right. Why hadn’t she listened to the warning in her head? Why hadn’t she been more careful? Waited until she could be sure Charlie’s father would welcome the dog into his home?

Because she’d been so certain this time. She would have wagered her shop, her last dime, her own life that Charlie Lawless and the Newfoundland were a match made in heaven. But now the little girl looked as if she’d been through hell. What use was this “gift” Auntie Maeve had given Rowena if it could make such a painful mistake?

“How could I have been so wrong?” she murmured to herself as she watched Cash Lawless and his daughters disappear beyond the pet shop door.

The Newfie tugged at his collar, looking up at Rowena as if he were sure she would chase after them. As if she could fix things. Make things right.

But she couldn’t mend the damage she’d done to Charlie Lawless anymore than she could make Miss Marigold’s teapots whole. This must be some kind of record, even for you, Rowena chastened herself grimly. Two mistakes impossible to mend. Two broken hearts in a matter of days.

Maybe more, a voice inside her whispered. She couldn’t help but wonder if Charlie had been the only Lawless she’d hurt moments ago. Had she bruised Cash Lawless’s heart, as well?

Absurd. The man didn’t have a heart if he could turn his back on the love in his daughter’s eyes when she looked at Clancy, her desperate need for everything the dog could bring into her life. The dog would always be there when the little girl needed him, would love her even if she made the mistakes Charlie was so afraid of.

Clancy nudged the door with his big head, bulldozed past Rowena to run after Charlie. But it was too late. Through the shop’s big front window Rowena could see Cash Lawless’s forest-green SUV pull away.

Clancy scratched at the door, whining. Did even the Newfoundland sense that he’d just lost his chance to be the magical dog she’d known from the first he could be?

She thought of Charlie Lawless with her tidal-wave-proof watch and little Mac in her sparkly raincoat with the unicorn on its front. And the deputy, their father, with his blasted appointments and his stubborn loathing of the dog that could bring his daughters such joy.

She wanted to hate him, and yet…he’d seemed so strong, so gentle, when he’d tried to soothe his daughters’ fears. Solid in a way that surprised Rowena.

She hadn’t expected that kind of tenderness. Not from Cash Lawless. Not when he was so angry, so harried, obviously so upset.

You promised you’d never go ’way… Mac’s cry echoed through Rowena, wringing her heart.

So somebody had left the little girls. Their mother? Rowena couldn’t help but wonder. But why? Death? Divorce? No, not divorce.

No woman would leave those beautiful girls by choice. If Miss Marigold was still speaking to Rowena, Rowena could just slip through the gate and ask her. Those bug eyes beneath the lenses of her cat’s eye glasses had a knack for ferreting out top secret information the CIA would envy. The old woman was a more reliable source than the library archives when it came to unearthing town gossip. But Miss Marigold would welcome Attila the Hun and his barbarian hordes into her beloved tea shop before she would Rowena.

Clancy scrabbled at the door and whined again.

So, now what are you going to do? Rowena asked herself. Sit down and cry? What good will that do Charlie and Clancy? You didn’t go into this business to give up. Just think of all the matches you’ve made over time. How many people refused to believe you knew what was best for them where a pet was concerned. What makes this time any different?

Cash Lawless.

There was something about the deputy that unnerved her. Irritated her. Confused her. Made her feel restless inside, the way she did when her intuition hit the ‘on’ switch, hard. But just because the man rattled her nerves was no reason to give up.

“Damned if Cash Lawless is going to make a quitter out of me!” she resolved aloud. “I have to make this happen. For Charlie. For Clancy.” She grimaced wryly. “So I can get some sleep.”

Because she wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon, now that she’d made that perfect match—it would churn inside her, keep her awake. Until she settled Clancy in that house it would make her half crazy—

Only half crazy? Deputy Lawless mocked in her mind. Lady, you’d rate certifiable in any psych test I can name.

Terrific, Rowena thought. Now I’ve got him talking in my head, as well. As if Bryony and Ariel and Mom and Auntie Maeve weren’t enough.

Don’t be fobbing me off, you cheeky lass, the old Irishwoman’s voice whispered in Rowena’s memory. It’s important work I’ve given you to do. Rowena’s palm tingled with cold, as if she could still feel the imprint of the tin whistle her godmother had pressed into her hand. No one else in the wide world but you can do the task you’ve been given. This pipe, Cuchullain’s own, holds the power to charm all broken creatures’ hearts.

“But what about my heart?” Rowena sank to her knees and hugged Clancy tight, sudden loneliness wrapping around her. She found so many ways for other people to give love. Had put so many pets in other people’s arms. She’d never once found one her gift told her was destined to fill her own.

Temptation nudged her. Maybe Clancy could stay. Be her dog to love and come home to and laugh over.

No. Much as she loved the Newfoundland, he’d never be as happy with her as he would with Charlie. He wouldn’t have a child to tend, to watch over, to guard. Never have the chance to wash away a little girl’s tears with swipes of his big pink tongue.

Clancy was Charlie’s miracle. Charlie’s chance. And somehow Rowena was going to make certain the child and the dog got to realize every bit of the magic she sensed would blossom between them.

No matter what Cash Lawless had to say about it.