Single Dad To The Rescue

“I have errands to run.” Dan’s gaze searched her face as if he was searching for the right words. For something else to say. Maybe a promise that everything would be all right. Or an encouraging line his grandfather had always told him. An uplifting quote.

She’d seen that particular look too many times on her neighbors’ and coworkers’ faces after the accident. Dan was proof that people didn’t want to know you were hurting inside. So, she did what she always did. She reassured him. She reassured him that she could go it alone.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE NEXT MORNING, Dan backed his truck out of the driveway and gaped. A familiar red-haired man and a dog walked side by side two houses down. Dan pressed on the gas. His lips pressed into a grimace.

He pulled the truck over to the edge of the sidewalk and rolled down Ben’s window. “Dad? What are you doing?”

Dan knew exactly what the old man was doing. Dan always had the same routine on his day off. Always. Because knowing what to expect prevented unwelcome surprises and unnecessary hurt.

Today he’d drop off Ben at school, run errands and return phone calls, including Valerie’s. The last was only a onetime blip in what Dan determined would be a normal day. He narrowed his eyes at his dad.

Dog walking wasn’t normal for the Sawyer men. Dog walking wasn’t on the schedule. After all, Dan planned to avoid his new tenant and her four-legged family.

“Brooke doesn’t have a coat or hat. Refused to borrow mine so I took Luna instead.” Rick pointed at the German shepherd sitting next to him. Luna’s tongue rolled out the side of her mouth, giving her a lopsided, endearing grin. “Told Brooke to get some sleep. Poor girl looked wrung out.”

Dan had noticed Brooke’s red-rimmed eyes and pale skin yesterday. Not even that or her compact size could mask the strength Dan had sensed inside her. Something about Brooke compelled Dan to both take care of her and stand beside her. “I thought you were heading back up north again.”

“Figured a walk wouldn’t hurt.” Rick rolled his shoulders. “My old joints could use a stretch.”

“You don’t walk, Dad.” Now Ben would want to walk, too—perhaps even tonight. Soon Dan would be offering to pet sit or walk the dog himself. No doubt, Ava would be delighted to know he was getting more exercise. And he could use the exercise. Still, dog walking wasn’t exactly what Dan had in mind.

Besides, his tenant had promised Dan wouldn’t even know she or her pets were there. Now he was staring at her dog and thinking about her.

“Never too old to change things.” Rick reached into his pocket and pulled out a doughnut, his eyebrows lifting up and down. “Besides, I’ve got treats for Luna and me.”

“Dad.” Dan stretched the word into a warning. Doughnuts were not in his father’s restricted diet. Nor were pastries part of Dan’s diet, if he intended to prove Ava wrong and show her that he did, in fact, take care of himself. And prove he wasn’t going to be another statistic.

“The way I see it, the walk offsets the calories and sugar.” Rick zipped the pastry inside his pocket as if afraid Dan would demand he hand it over. “I’m sharing with Luna. Ben, don’t tell Brooke.”

“I can’t tell Brooke anything because Dad won’t even let me meet her.” Ben’s mulish tone deepened the scowl he aimed at Dan.

“I didn’t want to bother her last night. The lights weren’t even on in the apartment.” Although Dan had checked on Brooke. Saw the bedroom light on after he took out the trash. Saw it was still on after midnight when he’d walked out to his truck to get his phone charger.

Ben leaned out the window toward his grandfather. “Did you know Dad told Brooke that Luna can’t use the grass?”

The horror in Ben’s voice made it sound like Dan had ordered the dog to be chained inside its crate indefinitely.

“There’s nothing saying that your father can’t change his mind,” Rick said.

Not happening. Dan had come up with that rule after Brooke had failed to invite him into his own apartment. After he’d brought her groceries. Every single day strangers let Dan inside their houses. Granted, those strangers were usually in medical distress. But Brooke had been distressed, too. He’d seen that much in her tight grip on the door handle and heard it in her breathless voice. The woman needed help, even if she didn’t recognize it.

His response to being shut out of his own rental unit was childish, of course. But he stood by his new rule. And his plan to avoid her.

“Dad also claimed that Luna would scare me. But I’ve played with bigger dogs at Sophie’s doggy day care.” Ben rolled his eyes. “Grandpa, you have to make Dad change his mind.”

Dan wanted to change Brooke’s mind about him. He wanted Brooke to trust him.

“That’s the thing with Sawyer men.” Rick rubbed his chin. “Once we make up our minds, we get set in our ways.”

“But you started walking, Grandpa,” Ben argued.

“Okay. We’re going to be late.” Dan ended the conversation before his son and father teamed up and tried to outmaneuver him. He had to be sharp with this pair. His tenant had distracted him. That would need to stop. Brooke didn’t want his help. Fine. Dan wasn’t all that concerned if she trusted him or not. “Dad, keep it to one doughnut.”

Rick nodded. Yet his hand landed on his other pocket, giving him away.

Dan rolled up Ben’s window and glanced at his son. “If you reconsider your stance on not eating vegetables besides broccoli, then I’ll reconsider my grass rule.”

“Brussel sprouts aren’t worth a maybe, Dad.” Ben adjusted his seat belt. His voice lifted with curiosity. “But if you promise to let Luna in the backyard, I’ll try cauliflower.”

“A dog ruining the grass isn’t worth you only trying a new vegetable.” Dan slid a dose of encouragement into his tone. “If you promise to eat cauliflower every week for the rest of the school year, then we might have a deal.”

“Dad, you don’t even eat cauliflower every week.” Ben laughed.

Dan stopped in the drop-off lane at Ben’s school. “Does that mean we don’t have a deal?”

Ben opened the door, grabbed his backpack and shook his head. “Guess Grandpa was right. Us Sawyer men are just stuck in our ways.”

Ben hurried to catch up with his best friend, Wesley. The pair scooted to the side of the entrance and waited. A blond-haired girl with her walking stick extended joined them. Laughter ensued before the trio disappeared inside the school. Ben and Wesley met Ella every morning outside the school—the same place at the same time. One of the boys would be there to help Ella if she needed it throughout the day. That was their daily routine. Dan pulled away from the school, waving to the principal and several teachers in the car line. The same as every morning. Dan wasn’t stuck in his ways.

He just liked his routine. Every time he’d ever detoured, bad things happened. World-tilting, life-altering things. Things that curdled his stomach, crumpled his knees and damaged brotherly bonds.

One Saturday, he’d rearranged his work shift to join Valerie and three-year-old Ben for an impromptu visit to the redwood forest. Inside the national park, Dan had walked to the bathrooms. Valerie and Ben played hide-and-seek. He’d been gone five minutes and Valerie screamed Dan’s name. Ben had wandered into the forest. Valerie had lost their son. And Dan had lost years off his life. If he’d gone to work that day as scheduled, Ben and Valerie would’ve gone to their playdate as planned. And Dan wouldn’t know how to describe mind-numbing terror or full-body panic.

Sure, they’d found Ben pretty quickly. But the outcome could have been so much more tragic. Dan had a mental list of such events. Following a schedule kept life predictable like he preferred. Like he relied on to keep Ben safe. Why would he want to change things and risk disrupting the life he’d built? The life he liked.

One stop at the drugstore to replenish the Band-Aid stock for the school nurse, Dan ran through his schedule and pulled into his driveway. He had time to return those phone calls, take a nap, then finish his errands.

The dark-haired woman rushing toward him had him slamming the truck into Park. The blood staining her light blue sweatshirt had him jumping out of the truck. Brooke.

A quick assessment of Brooke from head to toe confirmed the source of the blood was the bundle she cradled. Dan moved toward her. “What happened?”

“It’s Archie.” She adjusted the towel around the cat and revealed a bandage saturated with blood on the animal’s stomach. “Can you help us?”

Blood matted Archie’s entire belly. Dan suddenly noticed the cat’s eye had been stitched closed and his left ear was missing completely. How was this cat going to survive the drive to the vet’s office? Dan clamped his teeth together to keep his negativity to himself.

Brooke covered the cat, the resolve in her voice strong. “Archie has survived worse than this.”

Perhaps. Still, Dan wondered how many lives Archie had left. He glanced at Brooke. Fear paled her skin, but a determination crackled in her deep brown eyes. What, beyond the wildfire, had Brooke survived? He pulled his keys from his pocket and hurried to open the passenger door. “I know where to go.”

“Is it close?” Concern rattled through her words, shifting her voice into a breathless wheeze. “Is the vet’s office near Bayview and State?”

“Less than six blocks away from that area.” Dan set his hand on her lower back to guide her into the truck. He added, “I know how to get around the city quickly and avoid people-congested areas like that one.”

Brooke dropped into the passenger seat, her gaze fixed on Archie. A tremor curled through her hands before she buried her fingers in the towel around the cat.

Dan reached for the extra towel he kept on the back seat. “It’s clean. My son, however, isn’t always clean and has a habit of spilling whatever he’s drinking.”

Brooke lifted Archie. The tremor returned. Somehow, she looked even more fragile and even more lost inside his truck.

Dan worked faster, spreading the towel across her lap. He opened his well-stocked first-aid kit and pressed a stack of extra large gauze pads onto Archie’s stomach. “Don’t let up on the pressure. Sophie’s place isn’t too far.”

Dan rushed around to the driver’s side and started the truck.

“Archie wouldn’t get into the crate with his cone on when the evacuation order came. I took it off.” Brooke adjusted Archie on her lap, drawing out a pathetic meow that matched the anguish in her voice. “We had to leave.”

She wouldn’t have left her pets behind—that much he knew. Only the rhythmic click of the turn signal disrupted the somber silence.

“I should’ve put the cone back on yesterday. I made him a recovery area. Figured he’d leave his stiches alone,” she added.

The misery in her voice settled on Dan’s shoulders. He accepted the weight, accelerated around a car and reminded himself Brooke needed him for transport, nothing else.

“Your dad brought Luna back after their walk.” Brooke’s words continued to spill out as if there was solace in the confession. “I jumped into the shower and came out to find Luna in the recovery area and blood all over. I’ll clean up the apartment.”

“Let’s get Archie help, then worry about that,” Dan said.

“I don’t know what we would’ve done without your dad bringing us here,” she said. “Or now you.”

The wisp of gratitude in her voice tangled in his gut, making his own breath catch. He wanted her out of his place as soon as possible, didn’t he? He reached over, touched Archie’s small head rather than holding Brooke’s hand to offer her reassurance.

And recalculated the fastest route to Sophie’s store and his misplaced feelings for his tenant.

He never considered he’d ever transport a seriously injured animal. But he was trained to help those in need. He’d rescued animals from the wildfires with his father over the years, but he’d only ever reunited those animals with their owners and walked away to continue fighting the fire. He looked over at Brooke.

She wouldn’t be easy to walk away from. That thought he trampled into a dark corner, somewhere back behind his routine, and concentrated on driving.

* * *

BROOKE CONCENTRATED ON Archie and avoided looking out the truck windows. This time she was inside the vehicle, she reminded herself, not watching a large van barrel toward her. She had to stay focused, be in the moment. Archie was her priority.

“Sophie’s place is up here, just around this corner.” Dan parked the truck in a loading zone and jumped out onto the street. He helped Brooke onto the sidewalk, swung open the front door to The Pampered Pooch and shouted, “Sophie, it’s an emergency. We need you now.”

Dan guided Brooke ahead of him, shielding her from the busy sidewalk and gaping storefront windows. And then she was inside, Dan and her fears bracketing her on either side. The city loomed outside. Archie was lying limp in her arms.

A woman, her blond hair tied back in a ponytail, sprinted down the center aisle. “Dan, what’s wrong?”

Dan pointed at the bundled cat. “Archie needs your expertise.”

The woman skidded to a halt and gasped at the injured cat. “Upstairs. Follow me.”

She led them outside to a wide staircase. On the second-floor landing, she pulled out a set of keys from her back pocket, pushed open the old wooden door and motioned them inside.

A deep male voice echoed down the hallway. “Sophie Callahan, that’s an emergency exit, not your private entrance. There are landlord-lessee rules and a code of conduct, you know.”

“Iain, we don’t have time for that. You have an emergency patient,” Sophie called back.

She led them into an examination room, complete with a stainless-steel exam table, white industrial cabinets and a carpeted cat tower in the corner. Only the cushioned seat built under the bay window revealed the room’s former use as a bedroom. Not all the Victorian charm had been renovated out of the old building, softening the commercial space.

“I have no more kennel space, Sophie. We went through this last night.” The man’s deep voice continued to blast from somewhere inside the flat. “I won’t be able to get into my supply room if we add another kennel in this place.”

Bare feet slapped on the wooden floor. A tall man moved into the room, slipped on his Crocs and stepped into the adjoining bathroom to wash his hands. “My landlord is very bossy. Hello, everyone. I’m Dr. Porter and who do we have here?”

“This is Archie.” Brooke stepped to the table and unwrapped the towel. “He had abdominal surgery after being dropped out of a moving car on the interstate. I think he and my dog, Luna, took out all his stitches.”

Iain zeroed in on the cat and took over for Brooke, his touch gentle, his voice mild. “When was the surgery?”

“Four days ago.” Her fingers dug into the clean section of the towel, but the tremor inside Brooke refused to surrender. She couldn’t lose Archie. She’d lost most of her family already. Brooke pushed her words past her panic and filled in Iain on the rest of the details.

“The shelters were full. My dad brought Brooke and her pets to the city the night before last.” Dan’s hand landed on Brooke’s shoulder.

His simple touch—steady and composed—held her together. But he was a stranger. And she couldn’t rely on his touch.

Iain looked at Sophie, his gaze intent and his voice urgent. “Can you find Gwen? Tell her to prep for surgery now.”

Sophie sprinted out of the exam room.

“This will take some time.” Iain lifted Archie into his arms and moved to the doorway. “You’re welcome to wait. There’s fresh coffee in the kitchen.”

Iain offered nothing more. No false platitudes or false hope. She stood in a strange veterinarian’s office, relying on an unknown veterinarian to save a part of her family. Leaned into a stranger’s touch on her shoulder for comfort. She was surrounded by strangers. Yet the loneliness forgot to claim her. Rather, these strangers offered reassurance. But surely that was only their jobs. Only their training. After all, she was every bit a stranger to them.

Voices bounced against the hallway walls outside the exam room. A door opened and shut.

Sophie stepped into the room. “Iain Porter is the best veterinarian I’ve worked with. He’ll do everything he can for Archie.”

Dan’s hand dropped away from Brooke’s shoulder. She missed his touch before she could caution herself not to. “What now?”

“We wait.” Compassion radiated from Sophie. In her positive voice. In her soft grip. “I don’t know about you, but if I can stay busy in moments like these, it stops the worry from consuming me.”

“Sophie owns the pet store downstairs.” Dan’s small smile offered silent encouragement. “If you want to stay busy, I’m sure she can help.”

“I accept only willing helpers,” Sophie corrected. “As it happens, I have new guests downstairs. They’re also fire evacuees. Several foster families couldn’t take the animals into the shelters with them, so I brought the animals here.”

“How many animals did you take in?” Dan asked.

“Eight last night.” Sophie rubbed her cheek. The visor of her Pampered Pooch baseball cap failed to hide the dark circles under her puffy eyes. “We had to move the cats up here with Iain to make room for the dogs. Then three more dogs arrived before sunrise.”

The pet shop owner looked exhausted, yet she hadn’t stumbled once with Archie and Brooke. She’d jumped in and helped. The same way Brooke had never ignored a call for help from one of the overcrowded animal shelters up north. She tossed the towel in the trash can and faced Sophie. “What can I do?”

“I plan to work on rearranging the storage room in case I need to add more kennels.” Sophie paused in the doorway. “I could use someone to feed and walk the dogs, if you’re up for it.”

Walking meant sidewalks. Shop windows. Six blocks away, the site of the accident loomed. But in what direction? Panic pinched the back of her neck. There had to be something else. Something inside. Brooke pointed at her bloodstained sweatshirt. “I’m not sure this is appropriate dog-walking attire.”

“I’ve got you covered.” Sophie motioned into the hallway as if she was a tour guide. “We have extra Pampered Pooch clothing in the stockroom. Someone usually needs to change during the day.”

“I’m not very good with city streets and directions.” She wasn’t very good with the city. Dread streamed through Brooke, alarm rushed her words. “Are there small dogs that need a bath or exercise in the play yard?”

She bit into her lip. She’d seen a play yard in the back, hadn’t she? Everything had blurred after she’d discovered Archie bloody and limp on the apartment floor. Everything except Dan’s presence.

“Good point.” Sophie poured herself a cup of coffee in Iain’s kitchen. “Laura can walk outside. Yes, there are several small dogs requiring baths and even more who need playtime.”

Brooke exhaled. She could handle this. She’d avoid the shop windows, keep to the back rooms and concentrate on the animals, not her worries.

“I’m going to take Sophie up on her offer.” Brooke held her hand out toward Dan and struggled not to feel awkward. There was nothing to be awkward about. “Thanks for the ride. I’m sure you’d like to get on with your day. Sleep or something.”

“Dan is a machine.” Sophie laughed. “The only person I know who can function on less sleep is Ava, his best friend and former partner.”

Brooke studied Dan. “What happened to Ava?”

Dan took Brooke’s hand and looked into her eyes. “She fell in love.”

“You make it sound like a disease.” Sophie elbowed Dan in the side and glanced at Brooke. “Don’t listen to him.”

Brooke tried not to listen to that hum of awareness inside her. Tried to ignore the feel of his hand wrapped around hers. When had she last held a man’s hand? When had she last wanted to? “You don’t need to wait for me and disrupt your schedule.”

“You’ll need a ride back to my place.” Dan tilted his head and eyed her. A challenge in his green gaze, as if daring her to refuse his help.

She should. She managed just fine on her own. Always had. But Brooke said, “That would be nice.” She turned and followed Sophie onto the fire-escape landing.

Behind her, Dan asked, “How much rearranging in the storage room are you doing, Sophie?”

“I’ve got it handled.” Sophie skipped down several steps, her pace quickening along with her voice.

“Where’s Brad?” Dan persisted.

“Working a case.” Sophie opened the back door into the kennel area and eyed him. “Before you ask, Erin and Troy have the morning off after staying late last night. I’ve got this figured out.”

“Show me what we’re moving, Sophie.” Dan motioned the women inside.

“Rearranging my storage room is not on your list today, Dan.” Inside the back room, Sophie spun around and set her hands on her hips. “I know you have a list of your own things to do like you always do.”

“I could be wide-open, all day,” Dan countered.

His gaze bounced away from Sophie and Brooke. He had a list and driving Archie here hadn’t been on it.

“Not a chance.” Sophie narrowed her eyes. “You can’t fool me. We’re both overcommitters who really need to work on saying no.”

“Okay. I have a full schedule,” Dan admitted. “But I can give you a hand rearranging the storage area, too. Besides it’ll go faster with two of us.”

“I’m not asking.” Sophie sorted through a drawer of purple shirts and handed one to Brooke. “You already help me out so much that you should be put on payroll.”

“I don’t want your money, Sophie.” Dan held out his arms. “Now, are we going to stand here and waste more time arguing or just get to work?”

“We’re getting to work.” Sophie shut the drawer with more force than required. “And I’m going to figure out how to pay you back.”

“It’s really not necessary,” Dan said.

That had been the same answer he’d given to Brooke after she’d wanted to pay for the groceries. Brooke looked at Sophie. “Does he always help out without being asked?”

“Always,” Sophie said. “He’s the most reliable person I’ve ever known. Once he’s given his word, he doesn’t break it.”

He kept his commitments. That was something to admire. But he had limits. He’d told Brooke that Luna couldn’t use his perfectly good backyard. He’d doubted Archie would survive the drive to the pet store. That she’d seen in his shadowed gaze. And he hadn’t introduced Brooke to his son yesterday. She’d watched the pair return from school, stroll through the backyard and disappear inside their house. Their laughter had lingered in the afternoon breeze long after the back door had closed.

His heart might have limits. Brooke’s did, too.

She stepped into the bathroom to change into the Pampered Pooch shirt and retrace those boundaries around herself. Reminding herself that she preferred to be fine over heartbroken.

CHAPTER FIVE

DAN JOINED SOPHIE and Brooke on their tour of the pet store and mentally rearranged his schedule, building an hour at the pet store into his timeline. Iain would care for the cat. Archie was one of the lucky ones. As for Brooke, who would care for her?

The wildfires had displaced so many families, changed lives and taken lives. He wanted to be with his dad, helping as much as he could. But he had Ben, and his son came first. For now, he’d assist the rescues inside Sophie’s store and figure out later how to do more for the victims of the fires.

“This is the new calm, quiet area. Several of the rescues needed to be away from the day care.” Sophie opened a door with Cats Only swirled across the glass insert. “Obviously it’s a work in progress.”

Brooke stepped over to a floor-level kennel, knelt down and peered inside. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Are they sick?”

“Traumatized.” Sophie lowered her voice. “Rex is the worst case I’ve seen in a long time.”