Tail of Two Hearts

“Or Mayor Langston could issue an edict that every resident of Bygones had to attend Doggie Daze plus adopt a dog at Fluff & Stuff.”

They bantered back and forth, each of them coming up with more ridiculous ideas to get people to attend the event. When they pulled up in front of Happy Havens, they were both laughing so hard they could barely get out of the car.

Vivian wiped the tears from her eyes and drew a deep breath. “It’s just as well we’re here. I was running out of ideas.”

Chase patted her hand. “I’m sure you’d be able to come up with more ideas if you had to. You’re one smart lady.”

She grinned at him even as the touch of his hand shot a current of warmth up her arm. “Likewise, Mr. Rollins. You’re pretty smart yourself.”

The shelter offices were in an old two-story farmhouse that had been revamped and repainted a bright yellow with white trim. The adjacent red barn held most of the animals, with cats kept well separated inside the main house. Except for a small parking lot, open land and a wire fence surrounded the property. Originally funded by the Bronson family, the shelter had since been repaired and restored mostly by volunteers. Now it was entirely operated by many of those same devoted people.

In front of the house, a large sign carved in a plank of redwood read Happy Havens Animal Shelter.

Chase held open the gate, and they walked up the three steps to the porch. A note on the door invited guests to come in.

Annabelle Goodrich, wearing a navy blue windbreaker over her official shelter volunteer T-shirt, was sitting at a desk behind the counter.

“Hey, Chase, good to see you.” She looked quizzically at Vivian over the top of her half-glasses. “You, too, Viv. What brings you here?”

“Viv and Allison at the bookstore are planning an event called Doggie Daze this Saturday,” Chase said. “The idea is to sell books about dogs and how to train them, and hopefully get people interested in adopting dogs.”

“Chase is helping us,” Vivian added. “He suggested we might be able to borrow a couple of dogs from you for show-and-tell.”

“And I’ll need a couple for Saturday’s adoption day, too,” Chase added.

Lean and athletic for a woman in her fifties, Annabelle popped to her feet. “Sounds terrific. We need all the publicity we can get so our animal buddies can find new homes. Follow me.” She strode toward the back of the house and on to the barn at a fast clip.

Vivian hurried to catch up with her. As she passed what must have once been the dining room, she caught a quick glimpse of a dozen or more cages containing cats. For an instant, she wanted to step inside to pick out a homeless cat and give her a new home. But she was pretty sure Essie wouldn’t appreciate Vivian’s generosity of spirit. Essie’s nose was already out of sorts with the addition of Roger in their household.

In the barn they were greeted with a cacophony of barks and yips, and dogs jumping against their enclosure gates. Vivian could almost hear them shouting Pick me! Pick me! Poor fellows sure didn’t like being locked up.

“Settle down, guys,” Annabelle yelled over the racket. “Be nice. You need to impress these people with how well you behave.” She walked down the aisle of kennels, reaching in to pet this dog and that, calling them by name and cooing over them.

Vivian caught Chase’s eye. “They’re her babies, aren’t they?” she said quietly.

“I’d say so. Before she’ll let any of them go to a new home, she checks out the family and makes it clear that if she hears about any abuse, she’ll have the chief of police at their door in minutes.”

“Sort of like the way they check out families when someone applies to adopt a baby,” Vivian mused aloud. She had certainly filled out a lot of forms and been interviewed at length.

He shot her a troubled look. “I suppose it’s the same.”

Wondering why Chase would react negatively to the mention of adoption, Vivian frowned then shrugged off her concern.

Annabelle finished her tour of the kenneled dogs and returned to them. “So what kind of dogs do you want for your event?”

“Chase suggested something like a golden retriever because they’re good with children,” Vivian said.

Closing her eyes, Annabelle nodded. “I think I’ve got just the dog for you. Lady is the sweetest thing.” She began walking down the aisle again. “Good family pet. Loves children. She’s actually a mix of retriever and shepherd so she has a little longer nose than a pure retriever, but she’s got that lovely golden fur and disposition.”

She stopped at a kennel and opened the gate. “Hey, Lady. I’ve got someone you need to meet.” She gestured for Vivian to step inside.

Vivian walked into the kennel. Immediately, Lady sat and looked up at her with intelligent brown eyes and cocked her head to the side as if waiting for Vivian to explain her presence. Vivian’s heart melted.

“Aren’t you the prettiest girl?” Unable to resist, she let Lady sniff her hand. Kneeling Vivian held the dog’s head and gave her a good scratch behind her ears. “You are a sweetheart. You really are.”

Behind her, Chase said, “I told you to be careful or you’d fall in love.”

She looked up at him over her shoulder. A shimmer of awareness slid through her as she looked into his soft brown eyes filled with such a gentle spirit.

“You were...right.” Her voice quavered. “I need to be very careful.” And go slowly. He was talking about falling for a dog. Not him.

He helped her to her feet. “What do you think?”

Think? She didn’t dare think. Not about Chase in that way. Not with his hand warming her arm.

“About the dog,” he clarified.

“Oh, yes. Lady will be perfect for Doggie Daze.” She forced a smile that felt a little crooked and turned to Annabelle. “Can we match Lady with a smaller dog she’ll get along with?”

“We’ve got oodles of those. Let’s go see Tikey. She’s a sweetie.” She led them to another kennel that held two small dogs. “Tikey is a Welsh corgi. Her buddy there, Arnie, is a poodle mix.”

Vivian chuckled at the stumpy little dog. “It looks like Tikey didn’t get her fair share of legs. They look too short for her.”

“I haven’t heard her complain. As Abe Lincoln once said, his legs were just the right length to reach the ground.” Annabelle opened the door to let Vivian inside.

“Ol’ Abe was a pretty sharp cookie,” Chase commented.

It didn’t take Vivian long to decide that Lady and Tikey would be perfect for show-and-tell at Doggie Daze.

Chase decided he would take Nathan for his adoption day promotion and then selected a German shepherd named Buster.

“German shepherds are well behaved and make great guard dogs,” he commented. “A lot of farmers want a dog like Buster to keep an eye on their stock.”

“We had a German shepherd when I was growing up.” Vivian smiled at the memory. “Somewhere in the family scrapbook, there is a picture my mom took of me when I was about eighteen months old trying to ride on his back.”

“Now that would be worth seeing.” His dark eyes danced with mischief, and Vivian felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment.

If Chase ever met her family, she’d have to warn her mother of the dire consequences if she showed that scrapbook to him.

Unaware of Vivian’s chagrin, Chase arranged with Annabelle to pick up all four dogs early Saturday morning. She promised to have them bathed and ready to go by eight o’clock.

Annabelle walked with them to the barn’s entrance. “Mayor Langston dropped by a day or two ago. We got to talking about the shelter and how there simply aren’t enough funds to keep this place going for long.”

“Oh, I’m sorry hear that,” Vivian said. “Is there anything anyone can do to help?”

Wrinkles furrowed Annabelle’s forehead as she fussed with the zipper on her jacket. “The mayor and I were trying to come up with some sort of a fund-raiser that would keep us going. Nothing came to mind right offhand. But if you think of something...” She let the words drift off on the weight of her concern.

“We’ll give it some thought,” Chase promised, ushering Vivian out the door.

Walking slowly, Vivian considered the shelter’s financial problem. It would be such a shame to have to close it down. There had to be something....

Back in the SUV, Chase turned to her. “It’s almost noon. How about I drive us to Highway 135? We can have lunch at the Red Rooster diner.”

“That sounds good, but don’t you have to open up your shop? Or did you have your friend open for you?”

“Midweek isn’t a problem. I left a sign on my door that I’d be back by two o’clock. I don’t get much business in the mornings, especially during the middle of the week, so I’m not losing any sales to speak of.”

“Then it’s fine with me. Allison told me to take as much time as I needed at the shelter.” Although she hadn’t said anything about having lunch with Chase.

Buckling her seat belt, Vivian felt a tickle of pleasure that she’d be spending more time with him.

He started the car and shifted into Reverse to back out of the parking place. “Someday soon, if and when my business picks up a bit, I’m going to have to hire someone part-time so I can be away from the store when I need to leave. The Save Our Streets committee is putting together a list of local folks who are looking for work. They want us to hire from that list if we can. I’m thinking that as Christmas gets closer, I’ll take a look. I’m told there are some hard workers on the list.”

“Yes, you should have someone to help, and it would be wonderful if you could hire someone local. With me helping at the bookshop, Allison has some flexibility she wouldn’t have otherwise.”

There weren’t many cars on the two-lane country road that led to the highway. Once Chase had to go around a slow-moving tractor, the farmer probably planning to disk his fields for the winter so they’d be ready for planting come spring. Vivian’s father, who grew wheat on his acreage near Duncan Springs, had already prepared the ground for winter.

“So why did you decide to be a librarian?” Chase asked as they were driving along.

“I love books,” she replied easily. “I grew up with my nose in a book since as early as I can remember. My older sister Lisa was very outgoing, but I’d hide in my room or in the loft of the barn and read. Guess I was just shy.”

He glanced in her direction. “You don’t seem very shy now. In fact, you’ve got a great personality.”

“Thanks.” Pleased that Chase saw her in such a positive light, she gave him an appreciative smile. “When I went off to college, I decided I had to become more extroverted. So I intentionally joined a bunch of clubs, volunteered for various activities. I didn’t want to be the stereotypical meek, bookish librarian.”

“I’d say you achieved your goal. You’re definitely not a stereotype at all. You’re one of a kind.”

“Careful, Chase. You’re going to have me blushing with all your compliments.” And falling for him harder and faster than she should.

“Not to worry. I like it when your cheeks turn pink. The color is good with your hair.”

She rolled her eyes. Blushing was the bane of every redhead she knew. She so hoped he wasn’t giving her a line just to make points with her. “I may have learned to be more outgoing, but I’m still a bookworm at heart.”

They arrived at the diner, which had a gigantic red rooster perched on top of the sloping roof. Several cars and trucks were parked in the lot, and Chase had to drive around to the back to find an open slot.

“Busy place,” she commented.

“As nearly as I can tell, it’s the only decent diner between Newton and Highway 40.”

“True. I’m afraid this part of Kansas isn’t exactly the gourmet capital of the state.”

They got out of the car and strolled around to the entrance. Inside the smell of sizzling meat on the grill was accompanied by a pleasant hum of conversation from the patrons who filled the red vinyl booths. Waitresses hurried back and forth carrying trays of burgers and fries, cold sandwiches and salads, plus glasses of soda and iced tea.

The hostess showed them to a booth toward the back of the restaurant.

Vivian opened the menu the hostess had placed in front of her. “So are you into gourmet food?” she asked Chase. “Or are you more a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy?”

“I’m a pretty basic guy. No frills. You get what you see.”

What Vivian saw in Chase was looking better and better. “I don’t mind going out to a fancy dinner now and then, but my mom taught me to cook. Chicken and biscuits is about as wild as we get in my family. But Mom’s biscuits are pretty good.”

He studied her from across the table. “I’m a serious connoisseur of biscuits. I like ’em real fluffy.”

“Well, good. In that case I’ll have to invite you to dinner at my folks’ house sometime so you can see if Mom’s biscuits live up to your high standards.”

He chuckled. “It’s a deal!”

When the waitress returned, Chase ordered a cheeseburger with coleslaw instead of fries. Vivian chose a chicken salad with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing on the side. She had iced tea; he ordered a soda.

As they chatted over lunch, Vivian learned Chase had grown up in Wichita, living in a half dozen different houses or apartments. And that he’d started work at a warehouse when he was seventeen years old.

“You didn’t want to go to college?” she asked.

“My grades weren’t good enough, and I had to earn some money to help out my mother.”

Vivian sensed he was plenty smart enough to get good grades and go to college, but maybe he hadn’t been tuned in to academics. Some of her classmates had been like that: smart but not interested in studying. Then again, given his family’s situation, maybe he hadn’t had any other choice.

She sipped her sweet tea. “What about your interests outside of animals? Any hobbies?”

Thinking, he carried a forkful of coleslaw to his mouth and chewed for a minute. “When I was younger, I used to enjoy target practice with some buddies. They sometimes went hunting, but I couldn’t see killing a deer or even a raccoon.”

“Neither can I.” Her father had a gun, which he used to run off coyotes who were trying to get into the chicken coup. But Vivian had never been interested in shooting anything, not even a target.

“Like most guys, I’ve tinkered a little with cars,” Chase said. “How about you? What do you do in your spare time?”

“You mean besides reading?” She laughed. “I can do some crocheting and knitting, but I’m not all that good. My mother’s terrific, though. I’m pretty good at graphic arts on the computer. And I like decorating my little house.”

“On the computer, it’s all I can do to keep track of income, expenses and inventory. I bought a special program for that. Figured I’d need it come tax season.”

“Smart man.” She smiled at him across the table and felt herself falling further for this man.

When they’d finished eating, Vivian sat back. “That was a good salad. I’ll have to come here more often.”

“Good burger, too.” Using his napkin, Chase wiped his mouth. “We’ll have to do this again.”

Their waitress arrived. She was a woman in her forties with unnatural platinum hair pulled back into a ponytail. “Anything else for you folks? We’ve got some homemade apple pie. It’s really good à la mode.”

Vivian shook her head. “Not for me, thanks.”

“None for me, either.” The waitress put the check on the table, and Chase reached for his wallet.

“Why don’t we do this Dutch treat?” Vivian suggested.

“A gentleman never lets a lady pick up the check.” He put a twenty on the table. “I invited you, remember.”

“Well, I thank you very much.”

He winked. “You’re welcome.”

“Guess we’d better get back to work, huh?” Although Vivian would rather linger here with Chase, sipping another glass of iced tea, she really should go to the bookstore to give Allison a break.

Chase took a different road back to Bygones, although the landscape of small farms was much the same. They hadn’t gone far when he had to slow for a couple of brown-and-white milk cows that had wandered out onto the road.

“Looks like somebody left their gate open,” Vivian said.

“No, not their gate.” He pulled to the side of the road. “A whole big section of fencing is down.”

“How did that happen?” Two posts holding the wire fencing around a small pasture had been pulled to the ground. The cows had simply wandered out to eat the greener grass outside their pen.

Turning off the ignition, Chase said, “I’m going to try to herd the cows back where they belong. The farmer must not have missed them yet. Hang on.” He hopped out of the SUV and strolled slowly toward the cows.

Vivian climbed out, too. There was a small farmhouse and a barn on the property, both of which looked in need of a new roof and fresh paint. That wasn’t unusual in this part of Kansas. Small landholders had trouble making a profit.

“Come on, Bessie,” Chase said. “You and your sister need to go back where you came from.” Making clucking noises, he waved them toward the broken fence.

The cows started to move in the right direction.

Suddenly an old man half bent over at the waist came running out of the house. “Hey there, git away from my cows, or I’ll blow you away.” The man lifted a double-barrel shotgun to his shoulder.

Vivian gasped.

Chase threw his hands up. “Easy, mister. You’ve got a break in your fence. I was just trying to—”

The shotgun blasted into the air. “I tol’ you to git. Now git!” He cracked open the shotgun, reloaded and snapped it closed.

The cows lumbered out onto the road again.

Her heart in her throat, Vivian jumped back in the SUV, rolling down her window.

Chase, instead of getting into the truck and driving away, like any rational person would do, walked toward the farmer, his hands held out to his sides in a sign of peace.

“Be careful,” she whispered, appalled that he’d approach a man with a gun.

“I’d like to help you,” Chase told the farmer. “I live over in Bygones. I own the pet store. I know what it’s like to work hard and not have much to show for it.”

Slowly, the farmer lowered his shotgun an inch or two. “Kids are always messing with my cows. When hunting season started, one of ’em painted a red target on Marshmallow.”

“I’m sorry. I really am. Kids can do stupid things.”

Her heart in her throat, Vivian watched as Chase kept moving closer to the farmer. If the farmer lifted that shotgun again and pulled the trigger, Chase could be dead in minutes.

Please, God. Don’t let anything bad happen to him. She pulled out her cell phone, ready to call for help.

“How about I try to bring Marshmallow back where she belongs? Then you and I can brace that fence back up. What do you say, Mr....?”

“Mahnken. Amos Mahnken.”

“Good to meet you, Amos.” He extended his hand. “Chase Rollins.”

Switching the shotgun to his left hand, Amos took Chase’s hand. “You’ll need a switch. Marshmallow needs a little flick now and again to get her moving. Brownie usually follows along all right.”

Vivian exhaled the breath she’d been holding. Chase was either crazy or extremely brave. Maybe both, she thought, hysteria threatening.

“I’ll get her.” Reaching for a dry weed stalk, Chase broke it off. “You go find us some wood and a hammer and nails. This shouldn’t take long.”

Shaking, Vivian waited in the truck while Chase rounded up the cows, then helped Amos restore the fence to some order.

Finally, Chase told Amos goodbye. They shook hands like old friends, and Chase returned to the SUV.

“Sorry for the delay,” he said, climbing behind the wheel.

“Sorry?” She nearly choked. “You could’ve been killed!”

“Naw. Old Amos didn’t want to kill anybody. Just wanted to scare me off.”

“Well, he certainly scared me. Right out of ten years of my life.”

Looking at her, he cocked his head. A little smile played around his lips. “Thanks for worrying about me.”

He tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, then he shifted the SUV into gear and pulled back onto the road.

Her cheek tingled with the residual warmth of his fingertip. Her heart beating hard, all Vivian could do was gape at the man. Maybe she was the one who was crazy.

Because she was thinking about crazy, exciting possibilities and dreams that could come true.

Chapter Four

With Amos Mahnken’s farm well behind him in the rearview mirror, Chase glanced at Vivian. Sitting next to him, she had her hands clasped tightly in her lap, and she was staring out the windshield. Slight grooves creased her forehead.

“You all right?” he asked. Viv looked as tense as someone staring down a bull on a rampage, his big horns leveled right at her.

“I’m fine,” she said too brightly. “I think my heart rate ought to slow down by tomorrow afternoon or thereabouts.”

He grinned, wondering if her reaction had been to his impulsive touch of her hair. Or the fact that old Amos had fired his shotgun. Poor guy had probably scared himself as much as he had scared Chase.

“I have no idea how you had the nerve to face him down with a gun in his hands,” Viv said.

“I don’t know. I guess I figured the guy needed help, and it didn’t look like there was anyone around to bail him out of trouble. He’s too old to be digging postholes on his own. It seemed natural to try to give him a hand.”

“You’re a true gentleman, Chase Rollins. And very kind.”

He snorted, embarrassed by her compliment. “While we were fixing the fence, I spotted something that bothered me. There were tire tracks by the fence. Looked to me like someone had intentionally pulled that fence down.”

Viv’s head swiveled toward him. “Why would anyone want to do that?”

“I don’t know. But there’s been some vandalism going on around Bygones. I’m sure Allison told you about the last meeting of the new shopkeepers. Everyone was talking about an increase in someone breaking things and spray painting stuff. I think Amos could be the most recent victim.”

“Allison and I did talk after the meeting about how Elwood was quite upset about what happened at The Everything, with picnic tables being tossed around in the wee hours of the morning and a window broken.”

“Right. And Brian Montclair had some tools stolen, even though they were eventually found. Maybe it’s getting more serious. If a vandal pulled down Amos’s fence, and Marshmallow or Brownie got hit by a truck, it would’ve cost the old guy plenty.”

Chase turned at the intersection of Bronson, heading into town.

“Maybe your friend Amos could use a big dog like Buster to run off vandals and trespassers.”

His lips crept into a smile at her suggestion. “You’re right. Like I said, you’re one smart, clever lady.” Pretty, too, but he didn’t want to embarrass her more than he already had. “Maybe I’ll run out there after Saturday’s adoption day to see if I can talk him into that.”

“Finding a home for Buster would be great.”

Chase thought so, too, as he pulled up in front of Happy Endings Bookstore. “Back to the ol’ grind, I’m afraid.”

“Working in a bookstore would never be a grind for me.” She popped open her car door. “Thanks for taking me to the shelter and to lunch. I enjoyed it.”

“We’ll do it again sometime. I take all my dates to an animal shelter. It’s my favorite thing to do.” He nearly bit his tongue when he realized he’d referred to their outing as a date. He really didn’t want her to get the wrong idea.

“Oh, you...” Laughing, she got out of his SUV, waved goodbye and hurried into bookstore.

Chase drove slowly away, around the block to park in his enclosed backyard. He’d enjoyed Viv’s company a lot. Probably more than he should. As long as he kept thinking of her as a friend, there’d be no problems. He didn’t want to risk a deeper relationship.

For about a year in Wichita he’d been dating a woman he had liked a lot. But then she had laid down the law: either they get married and start a family or it’s over.