Tail of Two Hearts

He chose to break off their relationship.

Because he was never going to take a chance on being a father himself. With the genes he carried, those terrible traits handed down by his own abusive alcoholic father, he knew that was a deal breaker. For the woman.

And for any child he might father.

* * *

Not long after Chase opened the pet store, Elwood Dill, the owner of The Everything store and Chase’s contact with the Save Our Streets committee, showed up.

The moment Elwood stepped in the shop, his scraggly beard showing touches of gray and his tie-dyed T-shirt sporting what looked like ketchup stains, Pepper had a fit.

“Bad Birdie! Bad Birdie! Polly’s not here! Polly’s not here!”

Laughing, Chase told the bird to hush up.

“Hey, Elwood. What’s up?” he asked.

“What’s up? What’s up?” Using his beak, Pepper jingled like crazy the string of tiny silver bells in his cage.

Boyo trotted over to see what was going on.

“Stop showing off, Pepper.” Chase waved Elwood toward the back of the store. “Let’s get away from that crazy bird. Unless I can talk you into buying him?” Although, given Pepper’s vocabulary, he had to be pretty smart. A real prize for someone.

“He sure would liven up my store, but I think I’ll pass. Thanks anyway.”

“Pity. I think Pepper would fit right in with your customers.”

Elwood shot him scathing look. “Nothing’s wrong with my customers.”

“Of course not.” Chase gave him an affectionate slap on the back.

They strolled out of Pepper’s sight behind a display that featured leashes, collars and assorted doggie toys.

“I have to admit, Pepper isn’t the fastest moving item I’ve got in stock,” Chase said. “I may be stuck with him for a long time.” Which, when he thought about it, didn’t seem like a terrible idea.

“I’ve got some stuff at The Everything that Velma and I picked up before we were married, and I still haven’t been able to move it.”

Since Elwood and his wife were both in their fifties, Chase figured if Elwood didn’t get that merchandise sold soon, it would turn into antiques and be worth a small fortune.

Elwood examined a dog collar studded with fake gemstones. “You know what, Chase? Your displays are too neat. It’s a fine line, but you need just a touch of clutter.” He waved his hand back and forth across the items for sale. “Folks like to think people have been pawing through things ’cause the stuff is such a good buy. If you keep your merchandise too neat and tidy, people are afraid to mess things up. So they don’t even take a look.”

Chase suppressed a smile. “That’s an interesting marketing philosophy.”

“Yep. I’ve been in business here in Bygones a long time and know what works. You might want to give it a try.”

“I’ll think about it.” For less than a second. Clutter wasn’t Chase’s style.

“Anyway...” Elwood hung the collar back on the display peg. “I came by to see how you’re doing, and to remind you we are not going to have an SOS meeting until next week. A couple of folks have other commitments they couldn’t break.”

The Save Our Streets meeting was a way for the new shopkeepers to make any problems, or successes, known to the others. “That makes sense. She’d want to keep up with whatever went on while she was gone.”

“Yep. That’s what we all figured.” He headed for the front door, Chase and Boyo right behind him.

“By the way,” Chase said. “I stumbled across what might be the latest case of vandalism.” He explained about Amos’s fence being pulled down and the cows escaping.

Scratching his long beard, Elwood nodded. “I sure wish Chief Sheridan hadn’t had to let so many police officers go. We need somebody out there tracking this vandal down before something awful happens.”

“You’ve got that right.” Chase picked up one of the flyers from the counter. “I’ve got my monthly animal adoption day coming up this Saturday, and Happy Endings has a special Doggie Daze going on, too.”

Taking the flyer, Elwood scanned it quickly. “Vivian brought a bunch of flyers by yesterday for Doggie Daze. I’ve got ’em posted.”

“Good birdie,” Pepper crooned.

“You sure you don’t want a parrot? Pepper seems quite taken with you.”

Laughing in a deep baritone voice, Elwood shook his head. “And I don’t want you trying to talk Velma into buying that bird, either. She does enough talking all by herself. I don’t need any more chatter going on in the shop.”

Smiling, Chase held open the door as Elwood left. One of these days somebody would come along who wouldn’t be able to resist Pepper. Soon, he hoped.

* * *

That evening, still upbeat from lunch with Chase, Vivian baked a chicken breast for dinner and tossed a small salad. She ate her meal while watching the news, then sat on her couch to read.

She had borrowed Mystery at Mercer Point from the bookshop a couple of days ago and was eager to finish the story. The author, Marilee Davis, lived in Arkansas and had become one of Vivian’s favorite writers. So far Davis had authored three books, but she hadn’t moved up on the lists to bestsellerdom as yet. Vivian thought Marilee was due.

Essie hopped up into Vivian’s lap, stomped down a nest and settled in for the duration.

“Do make yourself comfortable.” Vivian stroked Essie, smoothing her soft fur, then opened the book.

“You know, sometimes I think heartland authors get short shrift from New York’s opinion makers. It’s like the whole center of the country is ignored by the literati.”

Holding the book in one hand and petting the cat with the other, she read several pages, loving Davis’s wordsmithing and the clever way she dropped in the clues, leading to the culprit who had stolen the antique brass andirons from Mrs. Murphy, the wealthiest woman in the town of Mercer Point.

Frowning, an idea teasing at her brain, Vivian marked her place and slowly closed the book.

“You know what this author needs? More publicity, that’s what. She’s writing for such a small publisher, she needs to find a way to get more recognition. More buzz about her books.”

She eased Essie out of her lap and went to her laptop, which sat on the kitchen table. As she booted it up, she wondered if it would be possible for her to earn some extra money writing a regular blog about the books she loved.

Would it be enough money to make her more acceptable as a single parent to an adoption agency?

* * *

By Saturday morning, Vivian had researched blogs, how they attracted advertising and had a title for her book blog: Heartland Musings, Heartland Authors and Their Books. She even had created a design for her home page. She’d concentrate on small regional publishers and their books. She couldn’t take money from publishers to review their books. That wouldn’t be ethical. But she could search out other businesses that had an interest in Midwestern markets.

It might take time to build a following, and the income that went with it, but she didn’t want to simply wait around until every agency had turned down her application to adopt a child because she didn’t earn enough money to support one.

Getting the ball rolling, she’d at least be able to show that she had a plan for herself and her baby’s financial future.

But for now, she needed to put aside thoughts of her blog and focus on Doggie Daze.

Before they had left work last night, she and Allison had rearranged the Kids’ Korner to make more room to display dog-related books and show off Lady and Tikey, the stars of the event.

First thing this morning, Vivian had set out a plate of cookies she’d picked up from Sweet Dreams Bakery next door.

“I sure wish we knew how many people were coming today,” she said to Allison.

Carrying a pitcher of punch, Allison came out of the back room. “I have plenty of extra punch if we need it.” She placed the pitcher on the counter next to the cookies.

“So if no one comes, we can drown our sorrows in cookies and punch,” Vivian joked.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” Allison checked her watch. “What time do you think Chase will be here with the dogs?”

“Any minute now.” At the mention of Chase’s name, Vivian’s heart did a little flip. She hadn’t seen him since their trip to the shelter. But she hadn’t stopped thinking about him, either.

Under usual circumstances, a trip to an animal shelter plus a lunch together wouldn’t add up to much. But something about Chase drew her. Made her want a connection with him. Gave her hope.

As predicted, within a few minutes Chase knocked on the door. Slightly breathless, Vivian opened it for him.

Lady nearly bowled her over, she was so eager to get inside. With her tail wagging at the speed of light, so fast it was little more than a blur, the retriever pulled hard on the leash Chase was holding. Her tongue lolled out the side of her mouth.

“Lady, heel!” Chase ordered.

It did no good.

Vivian dropped onto her knees to hug the dog, and scratch her around her ears and shoulders. “Didn’t Annabelle tell you that you had to be well behaved today?”

Lady licked her face.

“I don’t think Lady got the memo,” Chase said, still clinging to Lady’s leash. Meanwhile, Tikey, also on a leash, had poked her head in the doorway, looking around cautiously.

Standing, Vivian said, “Just as well this isn’t a china and glass shop. Lady’s tail alone would cost the owner a fortune in broken merchandise.”

A frown tugged a V between Chase’s brows. “Do you think you can handle her?”

“Hopefully she’ll calm down before any kids and their parents show up.” She took the leash and tugged on Lady’s harness. “Lady, sit.” She gestured with her hand, showing the dog what she wanted.

Lady sat, although her tail and tongue kept up their perpetual motion. She looked ready to leap up and race around the room with the least little encouragement.

“Impressive.” Chase’s eyes sparked with admiration as he smiled at Vivian. “At least you got her to sit. She was all over my SUV on the way back to town.”

Allison joined them at the entry. “These are our two charmers?”

“Meet Lady and Tikey,” Vivian said. “Lady is pretty excited right now.”

“I would be, too, if I’d been kept at an animal shelter for days and had finally gotten out.” Kneeling, Allison greeted Tikey. “Now, she’s a shy one, isn’t she?” She took Tikey’s leash from Chase.

“She’s shy for now, anyway,” Chase said. “I hope they both behave themselves.”

“They’ll be fine,” Vivian reassured both Chase and Allison. “How ’bout your dogs for adoption day?”

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