Angel's Rest(23)
“Watch out for the mouth,” said a pretty redhead whom Gabe didn’t know. “He’s been drooling on me all the way up from town.” She extended her hand adding, “I’m Sage Anderson, Mr. Callahan. Hope you don’t mind my tagging along on Nic’s errand. I’m a painter, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to take pictures of the peaks from this perspective for my work.”
“Sure. That’s fine.” As Sage grabbed a professional-quality camera from the truck cab and headed out across the lawn, he looked at Nic and asked, “What errand?”
“Tiger, get down!” Nic said, ignoring his question to scold the dog. She shook her head and sighed. “He does have more than his share of bad habits. You’ll need to give him extra attention for a while in order to break him of them.”
Gabe opened his mouth to protest, but she forged ahead. “Wow, just look at this house. I admit I was happy to have the excuse to come up here. I’ve always wanted to see it. I hope you’ll give me the grand tour.”
“Whoa. Wait one minute. What do you mean, I’ll need to give the dog extra attention?”
She smiled sheepishly but didn’t respond.
“Explain something to me, Dr. Sullivan. What is it you don’t understand about the sentence ‘He is not my dog’?”
“I’m not the person you need to convince,” Nic shot back. She gave a significant look toward the boxer, who had plopped down beside Gabe. Actually, plopped down on top of his right foot.
Gabe glared down at the dog. “He’s not a person.”
“True, but apparently he considers you his person.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Actually, it’s not uncommon at all. I see it all the time in my practice.”
“Well, then, he’ll just have to reconsider.” Watching the boxer, he remembered another pair of big, brown puppy-dog eyes. Please, Daddy? Please? I’ll take care of him. I promise. Gruffly Gabe declared, “I’m not keeping that dog.”
When Nic Sullivan simply stared at him, waiting, he raked his fingers through his hair. “Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do. He’s a good dog. Goofy, but I guess that adds to his appeal. I agree with you that he needs a good home, but that home isn’t with me. Be reasonable. I’m a guest here. I can’t move a dog into Eagle’s Way.”
“Why not? Does Jack Davenport hate dogs?”
“No. He has dogs of his own. But they are well trained and well behaved, everything this dog is not. Besides, I don’t want a dog. Period. Now, can I offer you and your friend something to drink before you head back? The coffee is fresh, or I think there’s some packets of instant hot chocolate if you like that stuff.”
“Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?” Nic responded in a dry tone. “I’d love a cup of coffee if that’s an invitation to go inside. I really do want to see Eagle’s Way, and I have another reason for coming up here today.”
“You brought my jacket back?”
She snapped her fingers. “Well, shoot. I forgot. I noticed it hanging on the coatrack, but I walked right past it.”
“So what does bring you here?”
She grinned and suggested, “Coffee? And brownies. You didn’t have the chance to sample the Bristlecone Café’s brownies last night, so I brought them along.”
Sighing, he said, “Shall we call your friend?”
“No, she truly did tag along to take pictures, and besides, she has a personal bias against caffeine. She’s an artist.”
Gabe almost asked what one had to do with the other, but instead he focused on the dog and frowned. “Do you have a leash?”
“Yes.”
“Then bring him in. It’s not like he hasn’t been through the place before.” After she grabbed a round dessert tin from her truck and fished a pink-and-purple nylon rope from her pocket and clipped it to the boxer’s collar, Gabe turned toward the house and said, “Follow me.”
He led her around to the side entrance, and their path took them past the pool area. “Oh, wow,” she murmured. “A waterfall into a hot tub? How cool is that? So romantic.”
Gabe felt a stirring of professional pride. He’d done a particularly fine job with the landscape design here, and he found Nic’s enthusiastic reaction gratifying. It had been a long time since he’d taken any pleasure in his work.