Reunion Pass: An Eternity Springs novel (23 page)

“Okay, Timberlake,” she said. “I’m here. With your dog.”

“My
foster
dog,” he corrected, accepting the leash from Lori. “Thank you for coming. And for running by my parents’ house to pick up Captain.”

“Want to fill me in on what this is all about? Your phone call last night was too cryptic.”

“Not intentionally cryptic. The battery was dying on the cell phone. I didn’t have time to explain.”

“What important task have you assigned to a three-month-old puppy?”

“Afraid I’m mistreating my charge, Glitterbug?”

His use of the name caught them both by surprise. Color stained Lori’s cheeks, but before she framed a response, the reason for Captain’s presence at the Rocking L that afternoon came skipping out of the trees.

Little Ava’s gaze settled on Captain and her eyes went round as saucers. “A puppy!”

She rushed forward, her expression alight with joy. “I love puppies!”

“Yes, so you said about a million times yesterday,” Chase said with a grin. “He’s my dog. He’s only about three months old, and I don’t think he’s been in the water before. I thought he could take swim lessons with us.”

Ava’s eyes went round. “But he could drown! Aren’t you afraid he’ll drown?”

“No. Dogs—golden retrievers in particular—are natural swimmers. But they do need to grow accustomed to the water, and this little guy needs practice.”

“Oh.”

Chase reached out and gently tugged Ava’s ponytail. “Here’s the deal, Little Bit. Think if Captain gets in the water then you can, too?”

Ava clasped her fingers together prayerfully. She sucked in a deep breath, then slowly nodded. “I’ll try.”

Chase grinned and his gaze slid past Ava to the two boys. Trevor went down on the ground beside the dog. His expression was almost as interested as Ava’s.

Nicholas hung back. The little man had returned, his brow furrowed above his thick lenses, his lips pursed in a frown.

“He is so precious!” Ava went down on her knees in front of Captain and hugged and giggled as the pup licked her face and yipped and yapped. Trevor began peppering Chase with questions. “Is he a golden retriever? His name is Captain? Why did you name him Captain? Does he have fleas? Does he like bones? Does he play ball? Does he shed? My mom’s cat sheds all over the house. And hawks up hair balls. Does Captain hawk up hairballs?”

Chase answered Trevor, but his attention focused in on Nicholas. The boy hadn’t moved a muscle forward.
He’s afraid. Great. Just great. Why hadn’t his file mentioned that he was afraid of dogs?

One afraid of water, one afraid of dogs. One afraid of nothing. This little project had just got a whole lot more challenging.

Chapter Thirteen

Lori’s heart melted at the sight of Chase with the children. The man standing in front of her now reminded her of the Chase she’d first met, the young man who had been so great with the children he’d led on horseback rides as part of his summer job at a local ranch. He used to tell her he worked hard to make each trip an adventure for the kids, one they would always remember. She’d thought at the time that he’d make a great father. It was good to see that aspect of his personality reassert itself.

“Nicholas? Everything okay?”

The casual concern she identified in Chase’s voice had her looking sharply at the boy wearing the dark-rimmed glasses.

“Y-y-yes.”

He doesn’t look like everything is okay,
Lori thought.

Chase shot a “help me” look toward Lori. “Maybe Captain isn’t ready for swimming lessons.”

“No!” the other little boy protested. “He’s ready. I can tell.”

“He’s right, Mr. Chase.” The girl wrapped her arms around the squirming puppy and begged. “Please let him stay. Please, please. Pretty please?”

Chase met Nicholas’s gaze and arched a questioning brow.

“It’s okay,” the boy replied after a moment of thought. Bravely squaring his shoulders, he added, “He’s just a dog. I’m not afraid of dogs.”

He’s had a bad experience with a dog,
Lori thought. Poor little guy. He was the kind that stirred every woman’s maternal instincts.

“You sure?” Chase asked.

“Yes.”

“Okay, then. Everybody go sit in your spots,” Chase told the children. The redheaded boy darted toward the bench at the side of the pool near the shallow end. Nicholas and the girl followed more slowly—and more warily. The girl’s gaze shifted back and forth between the dog and the water. Nicholas’s stare never left Captain.

“You have a bit of a mountain to climb, I think,” she murmured as she handed Captain’s leash over to Chase.

“Yep.” He shook his head and grumbled, “Me and my great ideas. I trust you’ll hang around for the fun, Dr. Murphy. Bail me out if necessary?”

“I didn’t exactly come dressed for the swimming pool,” she replied, gesturing toward her V-neck T-shirt and jeans.

“More’s the pity,” Chase murmured, earning a sharp look from Lori. He pasted an innocent look on his face before he added, “Let me officially introduce you to the three
amigos
here.”

“I thought we were Tadpoles!” the redhead exclaimed.

“
Amigos
means friends,” Nicholas said. “It’s Spanish.”

Chase frowned at his charges. “Zip your lips. Dr. Murphy, this is Ava, Trevor, and Nicholas. Kids, Dr. Murphy is a veterinarian.”

“A dog doctor,” Ava said, her brown eyes growing wide.

“Cats, too.” Lori smiled gently at the little girl. Ava had eyelashes to die for.
She’ll be a heartbreaker someday.

All these kids tugged at Lori’s heartstrings. As an Eternity Springs native, she knew the history behind the Rocking L summer camp and she wondered what losses had earned these three places at the camp mess table. She’d have to ask Chase later.

Now, she gave Ava a wink and added, “And sometimes big animals—cows, pigs, and horses—though they are not part of my usual practice.”

“Horses!” Ava clasped her hands in front of her. “I love horses, too!”

“I thought you might.” In Lori’s experience, most little girls did love horses.

“We get to go horseback riding every morning. My horse is spotted and her name is Rainbow.”

“That’s a stupid name for a horse,” Trevor piped up. “My horse is Chief.”

Nicholas remained silent, his cautious gaze still locked on Captain.

“How about you, Nicholas?” Lori asked gently. “What is your horse’s name?”

“Lightning.”

“Lightning is one of the Rocking L’s biggest horses,” Chase observed, watching Nicholas closely.

“He’s very gentle.”

But he looked at Captain as if he were a hound from hell. Wonder what the story was there?

“I am so in over my head here,” Chase muttered before motion at the edge of the pool caught both his and Lori’s notice. Trevor was up off the bench and chasing a butterfly. “Trevor, sit your butt in your spot and don’t budge an inch. If you move before I give you permission I’ll snatch you bald-headed. Dr. Murphy, would you tell the Tadpoles here about golden retrievers?”

“Snatch me bald-headed?” Trevor repeated. Then he giggled.

“I’m happy to tell you all about goldens,” Lori hastened to say. “Only, where should I start?” She looked at Nicholas when she added, “I could talk about them all day. My family had two goldens when I was growing up—Daisy and Duke. I know the breed well.”

“Do they like the water?” Chase asked.

“Oh, yes. As a rule, goldens love the water.”

“But can a golden be scared of the water?”

“Of course. Dogs are individuals just like people.”

“I’m not scared, Mr. Chase,” Ava said solemnly. “I’m terrified.” She blinked those heavenly eyelashes and explained to Lori. “My sister fell into the swimming pool at my granddad’s house and drowned. I found her. She was my twin.”

“Oh, Ava. I’m so sorry.”

“Me, too. I don’t like to be terrified. I want to be brave. It’s just so hard.”

“Being brave is terrifically hard,” Chase said, his tone as solemn as Ava’s and filled with moral authority.

Nicholas finally jerked his gaze off Captain long enough to ask, “Does something terrify you, Mr. Chase?”

Chase met the boy’s gaze. “Yes.”

“What?”

Chase knelt down and scratched Captain on the ruff of his neck. Lori unconsciously held her breath until he admitted, “I have terrifying nightmares. They make me afraid to go to sleep sometimes.”

“A person has to sleep,” Ava pointed out. “They don’t have to swim.”

“You take baths, don’t you?”

Slowly, she shook her head. “Only showers.”

Trevor turned toward her, his mouth agape. “What about bubble baths?”

“I don’t take bubble baths.”

“That’s lame.” Trevor inched his butt toward the water. “Bubble baths are the best. Last week when the babysitter was over I talked her into letting me take my bath in my mom’s tub and I dumped a ton of bubble stuff in the water and turned on the jets. The bubbles built and built and built and overflowed the tub and ran out onto the floor. It was like a volcano with white lava running down the mountain. It was so cool.”

Chase dragged his hand down his chin. “I think I need to add something else to my frightened-of list. You scare me, Trevor.”

The boy flashed a big grin and Lori laughed out loud.

“Okay, we’ve played around long enough. Time to get busy. Who wants to go first today?”

“I do! I do!” Trevor shouted.

“Of course you do. You went first yesterday and the day before. Nicholas or Ava?”

“Why don’t you start with Captain?” Nicholas suggested. “You don’t want him getting tired and being bad.”

“All Captain does is be bad,” Chase said with a sigh.

Dr. Lori couldn’t let that one stand without comment. These children might be dog owners someday. “If that’s so, it’s your own fault, Mr. Chase. Captain is old enough to learn to follow simple commands. He’s certainly old enough to understand the word ‘no.’ You must teach him and be consistent with your efforts. It’s not fair to Captain if you’re not.”

“You’re right,” Chase admitted. To the children, he added, “She usually is right. I promise to do better from here on out. So, let’s introduce Captain to the water, shall we?”

“How do we do that?” Trevor asked.

“This pool has a beach entry. We’re going to take him there, remove the leash, and let him explore.” Chase shortened the dog’s retractable leash and held it out toward the little girl. “Ava, will you please take Captain to the pool?”

She didn’t move, but scowled up at Chase. “You’re making me go first.”

Lori said, “Have you met Miss Celeste yet, Ava?”

The girl nodded. “She’s wonderful. She leads story time—and she doesn’t use a book! Her stories are the best.”

“She’s very wise. She once told me that for a person to be very brave, it helps to be scared down to your toes.”

Lori felt the intensity of Nicholas’s stare and knew she’d caught both his and Ava’s interest. If Chase had been a little more forthcoming about today’s events when he’d phoned last night, she’d have been better prepared to help today! As it was, she was flying blind.

“I don’t get it,” Ava said.

“Because it takes exceptional bravery to overcome extraordinary fears.”

“Be exceptional, Ava,” Chase encouraged. “You can do it. You and Captain can do it together.”

The little girl stood, but the swim shoes she wore appeared to have glue on the soles. “I can’t.”

Chase knelt down and offered the leash handle once more. “Just to the edge of the pool, sweetheart. You can do it. I’ll go with you. Would that help? I’ll stay right by your side.”

“You won’t leave?”

“Nope, I’ll be right there.”

That encouraging purr in his voice gave Lori the shivers. She had a flashback of memory to the first time she’d let Chase use his tongue on her.

“You’ll like it, sweetheart,” he’d promised. “Just say the word and I’ll stop, but you won’t want me to stop. You’ll love it.”

“I’m still scared!” Ava cried, yearning in her voice. “I don’t want to be, but I can’t help it. My sister wasn’t scared and look what happened to her.”

“Chase won’t let anything happen to you,” Lori said. “I promise. He will take excellent care of you.”

Focused on the little girl, Lori was caught by surprise when little Nicholas squared his shoulders, stood, and marched toward Chase. He took hold of the leash’s grip. “I’ll help.”

Trembling like a stand of aspen in a gale wind, his complexion drained of color, Nicholas returned to the bench where Ava continued to stand frozen in place. He grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the pool’s entrance. “C’mon, Ava. Let’s get this done.”

Chase moved forward, his intent to interfere if necessary obvious. But Nicholas’s move appeared to be exactly what she’d needed because Ava allowed Nicholas to pull her along.

They stopped at the water’s edge. Then Nicholas sucked in a bracing breath, squatted down, and unhooked the leash from Captain’s collar.

What happened next was something Lori thought she’d remember the rest of her life.

As always, Captain’s tail whipped back and forth nonstop. He dipped his nose into the water and then a paw. He backed up. Yipped at the water. Approached again. Sniffed again. This time the tips of his ears got wet. He dipped a paw and again backed away.

Ava’s tremulous voice encouraged, “You can do it, Captain.”

The pup looked up at the little girl, tail wagging.

Ava took a single step into the water and Lori caught her breath. A second step, then a third. Chase shot a triumphant look toward Lori and she fired back a grin.

“C’mere, Captain. You can do it.”

The pup followed Ava, and moments later, he was swimming—and Ava stood thigh-deep in water. Lori didn’t try to hold back her cheer.

Not one to hold back, Trevor followed his fellow campers into the pool. Chase began moving the moment the boy did so he was already in the pool when Trevor, being Trevor, decided he was a natural swimmer like Captain and dove forward.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Chase said as he swept an arm around Trevor and deposited him on the side of the pool. “What did I say about keeping your butt planted?”