The Soldier's Valentine

As if knowing she were the topic of conversation, Wilma barked. Gary glanced down at his list, found the word for quiet and loudly said, “Ruhig.”

Bianca Flores raised an eyebrow, Wilma barked louder.

“I’m sorry,” Gary said but Aunt Bianca held up her hand.

“Don’t worry about it. The husband is the kind who’d complain about a crack in the sidewalk even if he’d been the one to put it there.”

“I’m working with her. She’ll learn. She’s smart.” He checked the paper in his hand and tried again. “Ruhig!” This time, the dog listened. She turned and headed for the door to the backyard, lay on her back and began chewing her own paw while a giant bone lay unloved right next to her.

At least she wasn’t barking.

“The second call,” Bianca continued, “was from one of our local police officers wanting to know if I had a thirty-something male with a dog staying here at the bed-and-breakfast.”

To his aunt Bianca’s credit, she didn’t show any more concern about the call from the police than she had about the noise complaint. She’d always been the aunt to step in when the Guzman brood needed a soft place to land. That didn’t mean, though, that she was blind to their faults.

Gary grinned. “Let me guess. It was an Officer Leann Bailey.”

Bianca nodded. “You were out late last night. Something happen?”

“Quite a bit.” He handed her the list of commands he’d just printed off. “Thanks to Officer Bailey I found out the dog understands and obeys—well, sometimes obeys—German. Who would have thought it?”

Bianca gave Wilma an appreciative look. “Leann lived in Germany for quite a while, I remember. So, how do you say, ‘Quit chewing the table leg’?”

Gary laughed. “Those words aren’t on the list.”

Bianca took the paper out of his hand, studied it and handed it back. “What happened last night that had you figuring out Wilma understands German?”

“How well do you know Officer Leann Bailey?”

“Her father used to be my financial adviser, so I know the family quite well.”

“Last night, Wilma and I had a little run-in with her at the park.”

“What—?”

This time it was Gary who held up a hand. “Nothing to worry about. Wilma took a liking to her, tried jumping into her squad car, but had to settle for giving her a hug.”

“Wilma probably smelled Peaches,” Bianca offered, heading for the kitchen, probably knowing Gary would follow. Gary followed.

“I didn’t notice the smell of peaches.” Gary thought back. He hadn’t noticed any smell except for the ripe grass and strong pine scent coming from the trees.

Bianca laughed as she started making lunch. “I’m talking about Leann’s dog. Peaches. She’s a big mutt, tough looking, like a bear, but gentle as a kitten.”

“And to think she made fun of Wilma’s name.” Gary sat at the table. It felt odd, not having anything to do, but he’d been out of the military only a month, and his mind hadn’t wrapped itself around the term civilian.

Bianca raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you had a whole conversation with Leann?”

“Just enough to figure out she can control Wilma better than I can.”

“How did the training go?”

“Not so good. I can’t believe Max neglected to tell me Wilma only understands German! I spent a whole hour ordering Wilma to sit and offering treats. She sat, but not when I asked her to, and she still expected the treats. She jumped on me a least a dozen times and almost dragged me down a small hill when she spotted a cat.”

“Now that you know about the German, it will help. What was Leann doing at the park?”

“Husband-and-wife dispute.”

“Ah,” Bianca said, “by the swings.”

“How did you know?”

“That would be Gail and Ray Goode. They argue at least twice a month and usually do so in the park. Gail doesn’t want her parents to hear. They’re the disapproving kind, not the helping kind.”

“Officer Bailey handled it differently than I would have, but she handled it well. She separated them, sent the husband to his brother’s and sent Gail to the main house and someone named Clarissa.”

“That would be the Crabtrees’ housekeeper.”

“Crabtree?”

“Gail’s parents, her maiden name.”

“They have a live-in housekeeper?”

Aunt Bianca nodded. “And a full-time groundskeeper.”

“So, they get special consideration from the cops?” Gary didn’t think his brother Oscar, who was also a part of the Sarasota Falls police department, would go for such behavior, but maybe Leann was different? Yet that hadn’t been the sense of her he had last night. He’d been impressed with the police woman and how she’d handled the scene with her sister.

Bianca deftly set bread on the cutting board—lunch meat to the left of it; cheese and tomato—and started making their lunch. “What I should have said just now was that Crabtree happens to be both Gail’s and Leann’s maiden name.”

“Sisters?” Gary sucked in his breath and relaxed a little. “That explains a lot.”

“I wonder why Leann called here instead of asking Oscar about you.”

“She was so busy with her sister, I think she forgot to ask my name so doesn’t know Oscar’s my brother. Not very cop-like.” Gary had been military police among other things.

“She’s a good cop, dedicated and—”

The bell over the front door rang. Bianca set down her knife, glanced out the window checking the dog’s whereabouts, quickly washed her hands and headed up front. Yesterday, she’d done the same thing and Wilma had snatched the bread.

Gary recognized the voice that said, “Hey, Bianca, good to see you.”

Leann Bailey in the flesh. Gary grinned. So, the lady had decided to follow up her phone call with a visit. He sometimes had an effect on women. Usually, though, it was when he was in uniform.

He followed his aunt to the foyer and studied the cop in question. He’d liked her better standing with the moon to her back. She was equal in height to his aunt, but where Bianca was soft and dark, Leann was toned and fair. He noted how well she wore her blue uniform.

“You looking for me?” he asked.

Bianca, a half frown on her face, told him. “I guess I didn’t take their complaint seriously enough. Officer Bailey’s here, something about a noise ordinance.”

Leann nodded. “Right now, I’m just issuing a warning, but—”

“I’m Gary Guzman. You met me last night.”

“Guzman,” Leann muttered before turning to Bianca. “I can’t believe I missed it. Oscar’s brother?”

“And my nephew. Younger than Oscar by two years,” Bianca supplied.

“Better-looking, too,” Gary put in.

He watched as a myriad of expressions crossed Leann’s face. There was surprise—probably a result of last night’s meeting or maybe his relationship to Oscar and Bianca. Annoyance—no doubt she didn’t like surprises. And detachment—she probably didn’t want to warm up to him while on duty.

“About Wilma,” Leann said. “You’re going to need to do something about her barking.”

“I’m working with her. Now that I know she understands German, I’ll be able to ratchet up the training.” He pulled the piece of paper from his back pocket and showed her.

Leann didn’t look impressed.

“It will just take a few days,” he promised. “She’s a good dog,” Gary inserted, “but I’ve only had her for a week.”

“Ah,” Leann said.

This time Gary could read her face. The smile reached her pretty green eyes, which suddenly registered a positive impression even as she said, “A rescue?”

“No,” Aunt Bianca said.

“More or less,” Gary put in.

Leann looked from one to the other.

“My friend Max has been in Germany the last three years, came stateside for a few months and was just deployed six days ago to a place he couldn’t take Wilma. It’s temporary.” Gary didn’t mention the arm-twisting from Max, or the adamant “No” consistently given by Gary, followed by Max finally showing up at the tiny apartment Gary was crashing at.

“Good of you to take in Wilma,” Leann said.

“No, good of me to take in Wilma.” Aunt Bianca shot Gary a look.

“I’ll let the neighbors know this is only temporary and that you’re working on the problem,” Leann said, suddenly back to being a cop. Gary liked the impressed lady better. He wanted that look back.

“We’ll think of something,” Aunt Bianca said.

Footsteps sounded on the porch. The bell over the door tinkled as a short man, definitely military, leading a midsize border collie, pushed his way in. Aunt Bianca immediately smiled and asked, “Do you need a room?”

“No, I’m looking for Gary Guzman.”

“That’s me,” Gary said, looking from the man to the dog. He didn’t recognize either and had the feeling he didn’t want to.

“I’m William Benedict, and I’m desperate,” the man began. “I got called up a week ago. I’m leaving in the morning and my sister just found out that she’s pregnant with triplets. She already has two kids not even in school. She can’t handle Goober now. I heard you took in Max Juergens’s dog.”

Aunt Bianca’s, Leann’s and Gary’s eyes all went to Goober, a beautiful black-and-white dog who didn’t look at all like a Goober.

“I’m staying with my aunt temporarily...” Gary said, noting the way Officer Leann Bailey watched him.

“Look,” William said, “my mother died six months ago. Goober was hers. I promised I’d take care of the mutt. I went online, and there’s places—families even—where I can board the dog, but, well—” his voice softened “—she was my mom’s, and Goober’s sensitive if not a little high-strung. She needs someone who will pay attention to her. I hear you have time.”

Time. Gary’s enemy right now because he just didn’t know what to do with it, how to spend it. One thing he could do was give good ole Max a call and a virtual kick in the butt.

“I’m not at a place where I can take care of...” Gary faltered as he noticed Aunt Bianca, who was shaking her head no. Unfortunately, standing next to Aunt Bianca was Leann, who was already bending down, stroking Goober’s ears and whispering, “Good girl. Such a good girl.” The dog—all bright-eyed with a ring of white around her nose, chest and both back feet—gave a polite woof and wagged her tail.

If Leann touched Gary that gently on the face, and if he’d had a tail, he’d be wagging it, too.

Leann switched her gaze from Goober to Gary, her eyes indicating disappointment. Great, she expected him to refuse to help.

He didn’t need, want, another dog, even temporarily, and especially not one “sensitive and a bit high-strung” and taken on just to impress a woman he barely knew. The way that William referred to Goober indicated he wasn’t attached to his mom’s dog. In the military, temporary could be years.

Gary made the mistake of looking at Goober, who was looking back at him as if she already knew and loved him. “Your mom named her Goober?” Gary asked.

Not a chance he could take the dog. Aunt Bianca was running out of coasters; Gary was already almost out of shoes.

“Actually, my mom let one of my sister’s kids named it.”

“She’s a great dog,” Leann said. She went to her knees in front of the dog, both hands streaming down the sides of Goober’s head.

William’s smile for Leann became a frown as he faced him. Gary quickly spoke up.

“I’m going to get a job. It’s just...” For some reason, Gary felt it important for Officer Leann Bailey to know he intended to be gainfully employed. For some reason, he didn’t see Leann as someone who would be impressed with a man taking a break to find himself.

Heck, he wasn’t always impressed with himself lately, either.

“It’s just that there are a few things Aunt Bianca wants to me do first,” he finished.

“Yes, and helping out at an inn really doesn’t give him much time to work with dogs.” Bianca focused on Leann and suggested, “Maybe you could take her?”

Leann stepped back from Goober and shook her head. “I’ve already got a dog, a turtle and hamster. All of which my sons promise to take care of, but I wind up doing most of it. Plus, when my boys go to stay with their grandparents while I’m on the job, they take Peaches. I doubt very much that they’d welcome a second dog.” With her hand still stroking the top of Goober’s head, she gave William a stern look. “Why on earth didn’t you call first and save yourself a trip?”

“I didn’t call,” William explained, looking solely at Gary, “because I was afraid you’d turn me down. I drove three hours to get here.”

As if cued, Goober gave a little bark and gazed adoringly up at Leann.

Gary rarely did anything rash. Being rash could put his team in danger, civilian lives in danger, but he wasn’t in Afghanistan or Syria now.

“What’s one more?” he said, reaching for the leash and bending down to pat Goober. “Come on over to the table—” Gary looked at the bag the man carried “—and let’s see what all you’ve brought with you.”

“Gary,” Aunt Bianca began. “I—”

“I promise I’ll make this good,” Gary said.

Benedict, clearly knowing when strategy was needed, jumped in with, “I’ve got her toys and favorite blanket in the car and enough food for a month.”

Gary led the way to the table. Behind him, Aunt Bianca coughed. She didn’t have a cold.

Without looking, Gary knew Officer Bailey was smiling. Still, he looked, and sure enough he’d managed to win her approval. Usually, his uniform or wit did the trick. This time, he’d needed Goober’s help.

No, more likely, Gary needed other types of help because he’d just taken on a dog he knew nothing about, from a person he knew nothing about, and all because he was trying to impress a woman he knew nothing about and who lived in a town Gary didn’t intend to make home.

He made the mistake of looking at her. She looked back and he was lost.

Man, she had beautiful eyes.

The cop, not Goober.

It’d be Gary’s luck, Goober probably obeyed commands issued in Chinese.

CHAPTER THREE

LEANN LEFT BIANCA’S Bed-and-Breakfast trying to wrap her mind around this newcomer. Gary Guzman was all hard edges and mystery. But, buried under all that baggage, he had heart. Otherwise, he’d not have taken Goober, or Wilma, for that matter.

She quickly filled out an incident report and then radioed the station to see what was up. It was the only thing she could think of to take her mind off the dark-haired, dark-eyed soldier who’d wandered into her town.

“Nothing’s happening,” said Lucas Stillwater. On the Sarasota Falls police roster, he had seniority. He’d been an officer for more than twenty years. He’d started talking retirement three years ago, had started the paperwork even, but then didn’t file. A month ago, the paperwork resurfaced, was updated and now waited in Lucas’s outbox: not turned in. Lucas was having a hard time retiring.

When he did, though, Leann was going to be a squeaky wheel. She’d done her time and was ready for a promotion.

Leann started her patrol vehicle and headed down the familiar road, driving by the town’s busiest convenience store, where she once prevented a robbery, then on past the high school, where the coach was always leaving lights on, either the stadium’s or his vehicle’s, and then she started thinking about lunch.

Oscar drove by in his cruiser, giving a honk and waving. She waved back. Why couldn’t he have been hired after Lucas retired?

She loved her job. Loved that as Sarasota Fall’s first and only female officer she had obligations that she met and that she made Sarasota Falls a better place, a safer place. Something changed inside her when she dressed for work. It was like she shed all her insecurities and became someone strong, someone to be respected.

Not because of who her parents were but because of who she was.

She needed that promotion, deserved it, so she could stand on her own two feet. Not that she didn’t appreciate her ex-husband’s parents, who provided free child care and unconditional love for her kids. Leann was the force that kept them from spoiling her boys the way they had their own son. Sometimes she succeeded.

She’d always be grateful for the school clothes they purchased, the sport fees they paid and the holiday meals. She just didn’t have the money—even with her job and with child support.

Ryan Bailey was an absentee father because of his military duties, but in his place were his very attentive parents.

They were a huge help. Although, the reality was that they were getting older and she had to think of the future. The extra income from the promotion would be enough to make a difference financially and help offset the cost of child care, if it came to that.

Until then she’d have to make do on her own.

Meanwhile, there was something—or rather someone—in her way. Gary Guzman, dog lover extraordinaire, had a brother named Oscar, who didn’t have her insecurities and who had a resume that made her work experience look like she was a trainee.

Goober. What a name for a dog?

Darn, here she was contemplating her promotion and thoughts of Gary Guzman interfered. Good thing he was aimless. Not a chance she’d ever be interested in him. She had a mortgage and two sons. She didn’t trust men as a rule, thanks to her own father and her ex-husband. She saw nothing to trust in Gary. And she was annoyed that he dared invade her thoughts—again. She stopped a driver and gave him a citation for having expired tags. Then, she wrote another quick incident report, circled Main Street once and headed for the Station Diner. She’d grab a bowl of soup and cup of coffee before continuing on. Who knows how many more expired tags she’d be battling today.

She pushed the door open and walked into the familiar diner. She’d started coming here in junior high with her best friend, Patsy, and Patsy’s family. Her parents wouldn’t deign to frequent a “dive” like this. Leann loved the place. If one of her children spilled a glass of water, a waitress handed over a towel and no white linens were ruined. Here, a person could joke with the folks at the next table because the tables were so close. The laughter was muted at the places her parents liked, and children were seen but not heard.

She shrugged out of her jacket, aware of the Glock 17 tucked in its holster, and looked down the aisle toward her favorite booth in the back.

William Benedict nodded at her and went back to his pancakes. If she’d just turned Peaches over to new owners, she’d be drowning her sorrows with chocolate. She supposed pancakes could do the trick, and Benedict did look a bit distressed.

“Coffee,” she called to Joe as he peeked his head around the door frame. He responded with, “You know where it is.”

She helped herself and headed for her favorite booth and the man who occupied it. “Mind if I join you?”

“Go ahead,” Benedict answered.

She settled in, added two packets of sugar to her coffee and studied the soldier across from her. He wasn’t lean like Gary. Benedict was more the compact but stocky type. He’d be fast and furious, she figured. Not like Gary, who’d be fast and fluid. Benedict had a regulation buzz cut and she wondered if Gary’s hair had stood up that straight. Now it was short, but not military short.

She shook her head, trying to dismiss the image of Gary. She wanted to talk to Benedict.

He apparently wanted to talk to her. “Will Goober be all right with Guzman? I mean, why were you there?”

Leann immediately flashed on Gary and Wilma from last night. Gary might not be the most polished handler, but he’d been out with his dog, trying his best. In her book, that took heart. She blew a mist of steam from the top of her coffee, took a sip, still too hot, and said, “Someone complained about barking. It’s nothing. Goober will be fine, but I really think it’s strange you took a chance driving all this way to drop off a dog with a complete stranger. What if Gary said no?”

“My orders were not to take no for an answer,” Benedict said, wiping a smudge of syrup from his shirt.

“Orders?”

“Guzman’s commanding officer is worried about him. He told me to take the dog, leave it in Gary’s truck if I had to, and retreat.”

Leann almost spit out the coffee she’d just inhaled. “Retreat? What?”

“Gary’s having a bit of trouble adjusting to civilian life. We all do. When Max told the commander how much time Gary was spending with Wilma, Commander thought another dog would be just the thing.”

“That’s pretty presumptuous,” Leann noted.

“You’re telling me. And, just how the commander knew I had a dog I didn’t want is pretty amazing, too.”

“How could you not want Goober?”

Benedict merely shrugged. “I’m never home.”

“Was Goober really your mother’s?”

“Nah, she was my sister’s, who really is pregnant with triplets. Her youngest boy, turns out, has asthma, so I took the dog to help them out. Which,” he added, “I have done.”

“Do you even know Gary?” Leann asked.

“No, we’ve had different deployments. I hear he’s a decent guy.”

Leann couldn’t respond to that. She knew a few decent men, worked with them. She didn’t want to continue that thread because one of those decent guys might get her promotion.

Benedict rolled his eyes. “I was going to put Goober up on Craigslist. Last time Goober had puppies, that’s what my sister did. But, I could never disobey an order from the commander.”

Leann thought back to Bianca’s Bed-and-Breakfast this morning and wondered what demons were chasing Gary that had his former commanding officer sending him dogs to take care of.

* * *

GARY REREAD CHAPTER FOUR AGAIN. It had a checklist for training an adult dog. Unfortunately, the author of How to Train Your Dog in Three Days hadn’t taken into account a dog that only understood German. So far today, Gary had requested that Wilma come a dozen times. Wilma ignored him a dozen times.

Instead, she ran back and forth across his aunt Bianca’s backyard, skidding up dirt and leaving a gift in the garden that Gary quickly cleaned up.

“Any progress?” Bianca called as she stepped onto the back porch.

“No.”

“It will happen.”

“I’m not so sure.”

“I remember when your dad was about twelve, and he came home with some old mutt he’d found abandoned by the railroad tracks.”

Gary stopped. His aunt rarely mentioned his father. Sometimes he even forgot that his father was Aunt Bianca’s little brother. She seemed so much like everyone else, the good side, his mom’s side.

“The dog, oh, I don’t remember his name,” she continued, “but he’d obviously been on his own for a long time. He had no social graces.”

“Like Wilma?” Gary said, trying to bring the conversation back to now, these dogs, himself, not his dad.

“No, Wilma’s a good dog. She just misses her owner. Berto’s dog was missing half its fur and half an ear. It would run around in circles, jumping for hours.” Aunt Bianca laughed. “Drove our mother crazy. But, your father never gave up. By the time he got finished with that dog, you’d never have known he was a wild stray. Roberto was always trying to take care of animals and people.”

Gary almost pointed out how his father hadn’t taken much care of his own family. But, something in Aunt Bianca’s expression changed his mind, so instead he changed the subject and said, “Goober doesn’t act like Wilma.”

Aunt Bianca glanced over at Goober, who followed at Wilma’s heels, herding the other dog. “She’s older.”

He turned his attention back to Wilma, who’d given up trying to impress them with her running and turning skills and was now rolling on her back.

Gary patted his left leg and once again called for Wilma in German. The dog remained on its haunches. Goober, however, trotted obediently over and looked up at Gary.

“You so remind me of Berto,” Aunt Bianca said.

Gary felt a knot forming between his shoulder blades. He shook his head. “No, I’m not like him.”

“You are. More than any of the others—”

“Aunt Bianca, I’m not like him.”