Читать книгу Second Chance Soldier - Linda O. Johnston - Страница 16

Chapter 4

But this evening came first. He wanted to get through it in a manner that could only help his future career here. In a way that would hopefully impress Amber.

That resulted in Evan surprising himself. Tonight, he was the one to start conversations.

It almost appeared as if Amber and he had traded personalities. She wouldn’t look at him as she ate her salad. She didn’t seem interested in talking to him.

Not at first. Not until he stopped attempting banalities, like how good his food was and how nice the crowded restaurant was with its homey decor, its tables filled with talkative patrons...and that police presence in the far corner.

Not until he jumped into a subject he knew would be difficult, but would at least grab her interest.

“So tell me.” To keep himself going, he picked up another wheat roll from the basket in the center of the table and started to butter it. “How did your father get into dog training? Knowing that will help me figure out the best way to follow in his footsteps—or paw prints, so to speak.”

She actually looked up from watching the fork she twisted in her salad greens and shot him a brief smile. “So to speak,” she repeated, “or so to bark?” Her tone was lighter now, and he felt damn good about it as her expression grew pensive. “Interesting enough, there are a lot of similarities, I think, between your background and my dad’s. He was career military, though. He stayed in the army for twenty years, so that defined my early life, too. I’m not sure how or when he became a K-9 handler, but he did.”

A look he couldn’t interpret passed over her face, but it seemed awfully sad. He wanted to reach out and hold her hand but didn’t. “Hey, he had to have been one smart, amazing, wonderful soldier, like all K-9 handlers,” he said instead, hoping his joke would cheer her a bit.

“Of course.” She shot him a look that suggested she was irritated, yet somehow appreciative of his attempted humor.

“Okay, continue,” he said. “Tell me more.”

“Well, when he got out, he decided to come to this area, near where he grew up in San Luis Obispo, but that’s a larger town than Chance. With my mother’s okay, he bought this ranch, which was vacant then, to train dogs here. Away from most people, except for us and minimal contact with others. I wonder now that I’ve met you...well, maybe he had some form of PTSD, too. His decisions after his military retirement may have been before PTSD was as recognized as it is now. Or maybe I’m wrong. But he seemed to have decided he’d spent enough time surrounded by people.”

“Yeah, I can identify with that.” He looked her straight in the face for a few seconds. Then he decided he needed some water and glanced toward his glass as he grabbed it. “So you lived with them at the ranch for...well, how long?”

“I was in my late teens when we moved here. I went off to college at San Diego State after about a year, though I always came back for holidays and the summer. But when I graduated with my business degree I stayed in San Diego and got a job with the home office of a big retail manufacturer—Ever Fitting.”

Evan had definitely heard of Ever Fitting. In fact, everyone who ever wore jeans and casual clothes probably had.

“Impressive. Do you think you’ll go back there?” He didn’t want to ask if she had quit or been fired or anything like that.

“I have a K-9 ranch to run now.” He couldn’t tell from her tone if she was unhappy or thrilled with the idea. He hoped it was the latter, but in any event how happy she was with this area might wind up depending on him.

That kind of pressure wasn’t what he was after. But working well with dogs and their training was. He could handle it. He would handle it.

For now, he needed to keep this conversation going. “So how did your dad start his training classes here?”

For the next few minutes, he listened as Amber, a pensive smile on her face, described their move here from her father’s last military assignment, which had been in Fort Leonard Wood, in Missouri, not far from St. Louis.

“I’m not sure how he found the ranch property, but my dad was always very goal-directed. He knew what he wanted to do and the general area where he wanted to do it.”

When they moved to the ranch, Corbin had apparently also found ways of getting word out about his K-9 training background and the kinds of classes he intended to begin, such as teaching others, in small classes or one-on-one, and how to train dogs, including their own pets. Plus, he’d contacted breeders of German shepherds and Belgian Malinois to acquire his first puppies to teach as potential police K-9s.

“For them, he went to a bunch of breeders who already had pups available and chose three at a time that he thought would have the best potential of being wonderful K-9s. All three were eventually acquired by smaller police units when they were older and trained. Their new handlers would come to the ranch for training, too, and to decide which to choose. My dad always acknowledged this was a small ranch in a remote location, but said it was definitely worth visiting by anyone with, or wanting, a dog.”

“Your father sounds like one smart and determined man,” Evan responded, then wished he hadn’t. His comment apparently reminded her of what had happened, not that it was likely to be far from her consciousness.

“Yes,” she said simply, “he was.” Her voice was gravelly and when he glanced at her he saw tears in her eyes.

Damn whoever had killed the man! Evan had already imagined trying to solve the crime while working for this lovely woman who was his boss. Now he was determined to dedicate himself to investigating in his spare time.

When he wasn’t busy training the dogs and handlers Amber had hired him to teach.

* * *

She hadn’t intended to do anything at this dinner besides answer Evan’s questions about how his new position should start and evolve. But after their conversation with Kara, Amber had let her emotions run away with her.

Especially now.

“Okay,” she said, gathering all shreds of bravery within her that she could find, “enough of this. Here’s what I want to do tomorrow. The first class you’ll teach will be in the afternoon. In the morning, I want us to go out on the lawn with Bear so you can run him through what he knows as a demonstration and a lesson to me on how you’ll be instructing those and other students. Does that work for you?”

She was amused that Evan not only glanced toward her, but also met her gaze, appearing surprised she’d gotten her guts back, or at least that’s what she figured.

“It sure does,” he responded.

They didn’t discuss her dad for the rest of the meal, a good thing. She missed him. She loved him. And she couldn’t replace him, but she had to get the K-9 ranch up and running again, return it to its former state, minus him.

Would they ever figure out what had happened to him? Who’d killed him and why?

She hoped so, but whether or not that occurred she still had her life to live, her mother to help and the Chance K-9 Ranch to run to benefit a lot of people, and dogs, too.

At least for the moment she believed she had found the right person to take over the training now that her dad couldn’t do it.

She’d find out for sure soon.

* * *

It was a business dinner, Amber had tried to convince Evan. And it was, but it had been his idea.

He didn’t have a lot of money as a partially disabled veteran, but he had been working in LA at random jobs at dog-training schools and even sometimes with police K-9 units.

He certainly had enough to spring for this dinner—but his new boss had made it clear she was in charge and she was going to pay. Period.

Which both annoyed and amused him, especially now that they were back in her car, with her driving back to the ranch she owned and ran.

Good thing he had no romantic interest in her, or her asserting her position like this, no matter how appropriate, would have destroyed it.

Yet now, as he sat beside her in her car, he found himself glancing at her often, admiring how pretty she was, how sexy despite her insistence about being top person around here.

Or maybe there was something about her being in charge that he oddly found sexy...

“What time do you want to start working with me in the morning?” she asked while driving along the narrow road up the mountain leading to her ranch.

He had no food at his place for breakfast and needed to factor that in. But before he suggested a time, she added, “Of course, you’ll eat with us first. I haven’t given you time to buy groceries. I know you have food for Bear, though, in the back of my SUV.”

“Of course. I know who’s important in my household.”

She laughed. “Dogs always come first. Anyway, why don’t you join my mom and me at about eight o’clock? We can decide then if we’ll start working together right after that or if you’ll want a break first.”

“Sounds good, as long as Sonya doesn’t mind.”

“My mom’s a lot easier to get along with than I am,” Amber said. “She’ll be fine with it.”

They soon pulled up the same driveway that had taken Evan to what was about to become a new chapter in his life. Another car was parked there, and Amber drew in her breath.

“Looks like my mom still has company.” She didn’t sound thrilled about it.

“Her dinner date?”

“It wasn’t a date,” she retorted quickly. “That’s our neighbor Nathan’s car. He’s been kind to her since—since we lost my dad. He must have followed her back here after they ate dinner together, like we did.”

Which Evan knew had been far from a date...yet he now, in a way, wished otherwise. Except for the fact she was his new boss. Amber parked, got out and popped open the back door of her SUV to extract the stuff she had bought at the pet store. She then hurried toward the house, leaving Evan behind as if she’d forgotten he was there. No matter. He was a mere employee, and, again, this hadn’t been a date.

Still, to be a polite employee he wanted to say good-night, at least to Amber and perhaps to Sonya, too. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to meet a neighbor, since he hoped to live here for a long time. He took out Bear’s food and closed the rear door. Leaving the food on the porch, he followed Amber and pushed open the front door that she had left slightly ajar. Good. She apparently expected he’d follow.

He didn’t see her right away as he entered the front hall but heard voices that he believed came from the kitchen. He headed that way.

Sure enough, Amber stood there near the doorway, and Sonya sat at the wooden table where Evan had signed the paperwork to join the ranch as an employee. A man sat opposite her. He looked to be in his fifties, with a full head of silvery hair and a concerned frown on his long and lined face.

“So glad you two had a good time this evening,” Amber said. “We did, too—we discussed a lot about Evan’s dog training.”

“How fun,” Sonya said. “And appropriate. I’ll want to hear about it.”

“Sure, Mom. I’ll fill you in on everything soon.”

The guy, meantime, glanced toward Evan and nodded a greeting. Evan did what he figured was expected and approached, hand out, though he avoided looking the guy in the face. He didn’t feel entirely comfortable with this nice, kind neighbor who apparently wanted to help Sonya. What would he think of a former soldier with PTSD being their new employee?

It doesn’t matter what he thinks, Evan told himself. Amber was clearly in charge and she made her own decision. He simply had to make sure she continued to believe it was the right one.

“Hi, I’m Evan Colluro,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”

The guy stood, his hand now out, too. He was dressed nicely in a white shirt and black trousers. His clasp was firm but blessedly brief. “Nathan Treggory. Sonya told me they just hired a dog trainer.” Although his tone remained neutral, an expression of dubiousness passed across his face.

“That’s right. I’ve got a lot of military and other kinds of experience,” Evan said, then wanted to kick himself. He didn’t need to justify his being here to this neighbor.

“I’m sure you’re a fine trainer,” Nathan said, though he sounded as if he wouldn’t be particularly impressed even if Evan was the premier dog trainer in the world.

Which suggested he wasn’t really a dog person. So did the fact that Lola had been lying on the floor at Sonya’s feet, but now rose and came toward Evan, as if the sweet Lab was taking his side in the discussion.

He kneeled briefly to give her a quick pat, then rose again to see Amber smiling at him. He grinned back and looked away, to see that Sonya, too, looked pleased.

Good. He was on the right side of the people in this room who really mattered, and the dog, too.

Everything would be fine. He hoped.

* * *

Evan said good-night and left nearly as soon as he’d greeted her mom and Nathan. That was appropriate, Amber thought, although she wished he’d stayed a little longer—at least as long as Nathan was there.

Fortunately, Nathan soon followed Evan without her even having to hint about it. “Call me anytime,” he said to Sonya at the doorway where Amber also stood to see the men off. “Thanks for joining me for dinner tonight.”

“Oh, thank you.” Sonya’s smile was soft and almost sad. Amber wanted to hug her, especially as they closed the door and faced each other in the entryway.

“You okay, Mom?” Amber realized that was a stupid question. Of course her mother wasn’t okay and might not be for a long time.

But she was a sweet and caring lady. “I’m fine,” she insisted. “It helps to have friends like Nathan and others here in town. They’re just being kind, but their company does help me move forward. And your company, well—” Sonya reached out and the two women hugged tightly.

Amber felt tears in her eyes and held on for a moment before releasing her mother and stepping back. “Your company helps me, too, Mom,” she said. Then, as Lola, who’d followed the crowd from the kitchen, nosed her side she bent and petted the dog’s head. “And yours.”

As her mother laughed, Amber’s mind inappropriately imagined Evan with them, too. And yours, she thought, picturing his handsome face. But instead, she asserted, “Almost time to go out, Lola. I’ll start with you soon.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to accompany you with one of the pups?” her mother asked. Amber had gotten into a routine of taking each outside individually, or two at a time every night, though they all were pretty much housebroken. The personalized walks would help with their ongoing training.

“No, I’ll be fine.”

Amber knew that the short walks outside with these canines were good for her as well as the dogs. But all the dogs had previously belonged to her dad and kept reminding her of him.

Well, the new regimen of Evan’s training sessions would start tomorrow. That should help Amber move on.

First, though, she went outside to pull her car into the garage. Then she returned to the kitchen, and her mom and she each had a small good-night glass of wine. Sonya briefly described her evening with Nathan—just a nice dinner where they talked about how things were going with Chance Resort, Nathan’s luxury hotel with corporate conference facilities on his nearby property. All sounded fine and successful, and he made it clear he’d be delighted to accommodate people who came to the ranch for their dog training—including their dogs, as long as they were well behaved.

Depending on who they were and how long they’d be hanging around, that was Amber’s idea, too, much as things were when her dad was around. Not everyone would stay in the small, nonluxury accommodations they had for visitors, or downtown.

They’d also talked about how Sonya was doing, and she’d said she was fine, especially now that the lessons her husband had started here were about to recommence.

“Sweet man that he is, Nathan wished us luck and said he hoped we’d hired the perfect person to back up what your dad did.” Sonya took her last sip of wine and looked into Amber’s face with her sad brown eyes. “I hope so, too.”

“I’m sure he’ll do great.” Amber wasn’t lying, though that might be an exaggeration. She definitely hoped Evan was the perfect choice. But tomorrow would hopefully do a lot more to convince her. “Anyway, we’ll find out soon. Now it’s time for me to walk the dogs—and for you to head to bed. ’Night, Mom.” She gave Sonya a kiss and told Lola to come as she headed toward the family room to grab her leash first.

She walked all four of the dogs one by one. Each outing took only five to ten minutes. Amber tried to prevent herself from looking toward Evan’s house. Even if he was outside walking Bear, so what? What did she want from him? A good-night kiss?

She grinned wryly at her silliness. She must be more tired than she realized. Evan was her employee. They had said good-night already. And she certainly didn’t miss the kisses she had gotten from her unreliable ex. No, she wanted no man in her life, for now at least, except as an employee or a friend.

She didn’t see Evan anyway, a good thing. Soon, Amber closed the three pups back in their room and got Lola to come upstairs with her. Her mom had apparently already gone to bed.

Amber showered quickly in the hallway bathroom, then closed the bedroom door behind her with Lola inside. And wondered...

She shut off the light behind her and, after glancing down to ensure her floral cotton pajamas were buttoned and nonsuggestive in the off chance she was spotted by anyone in the vicinity—Orrin or Evan—she opened the blinds at her window.

And saw in the distance, where the fourth house stood at the end of the row, an outside light, just as she had hoped.

As she had hoped even more, there were forms moving within the glow: Evan, tossing a ball or something else that Bear fetched and brought back. She simply hadn’t been outside late enough to see them...

They stopped, almost as if Evan sensed he was being watched and from where. He was far enough away that Amber couldn’t tell for certain, but he seemed to look toward her.

With no lights on near her, she doubted he could see her, but that didn’t prevent her from waving to him as she rested her other hand on Lola’s soft furry head beside her.

“Good night,” she whispered toward Evan. “And may we have a wonderful day tomorrow as an omen of even better ones to come.”