Return to Virgin River (Virgin River #19)(36)

It was no longer necessary to sit beside Lady’s box and feed her by hand as Kaylee had done in the beginning. Her appetite had returned and she was enjoying a special kibble with a high calorie content. In no time at all she began to look more fit, healthier and, to Kaylee at least, beautiful. But Kaylee still spent a great deal of time sitting beside her, picking up a puppy to cuddle, then another, then another. Lady patiently allowed this. She would often show her approval by licking Kaylee’s hand.

“I wonder what happened that made her owner go to such cruel lengths?” she asked again and again. “She’s the sweetest thing in the world.”

“I think you’re pretty much over that fear of dogs you had,” Landry said.

“At least with these two, I am. Do you have new dogs coming anytime soon?” she asked.

“I didn’t schedule any training sessions for the fall because I’m visiting those fall festivals and I won’t be home to be sure they get out, get fed, get exercised. I’ll be too busy with pots.”

He called them pots but they were really masterful works of art, clay and ceramic and brightly colored designs in every imaginable shape. Since Lady had come to stay, Kaylee spent a little time just watching Landry in his shop. He’d sometimes wear protective headgear with goggles, especially when he was using a blowtorch on glass or metal designs. He had a kiln and a couple of ovens and long metal tables; when he refinished two bedrooms into a shop he left the floor cement, nailed metal and flame-resistant sheets to some parts of the walls and inserted a metal garage door in the back wall. When the weather permitted, he raised that door for a working outdoors effect. Sometimes the heat in his shop could become intense. The door into the shop from the hall was extra large and metal reinforced. He liked making decorative wind chimes of metal, ceramic, glass or clay.

Then there were the sculptures, shaped and molded with clay. He had just finished one that was a partial female torso with an obvious pregnant middle. It was armless and headless, like an old Greek statue. “Are you going to put a head on that woman?” Kaylee asked.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “I like the look for one thing. And if there’s a head and a face, it will be hard for another woman to look at it and imagine herself. Do you want to see some of my earlier work? I have pictures.”

She sat on his couch with albums and paged through photos of beautiful sculptures, pots and chimes. One that caught her eye was a bust of a woman with a man behind her, kissing the side of her neck. Her head was tilted to give him access to her neck and the look on her face was rapturous. The man’s eyes were closed. It was one of the most romantic things she’d ever seen.

His glass pieces were her favorite, all shapes and sizes and many colors in beautiful designs, especially the vases, which went from round to oval to square. There was a huge clear glass vase with a narrow slit on top with silver, black and gold stripes running through it—it was stunning.

She watched him blow designer glass a couple of times, keeping her distance and wearing dark protective glasses. He would create pieces that a gallery might get six hundred to twelve hundred dollars for. She was mightily impressed with his talent and his success.

Every day was a new adventure. She walked, usually with Otis if he wanted to come along, but with his “dad” at home working, he usually stayed close to Landry. She made it a point to go to town. She might stop at the corner store and grab a few items. She’d spend some time in the bar with her laptop open. If this were a coffee shop in Newport Beach the sight of that laptop would ward people off out of respect for her space as she was working. Not in Virgin River. It was common for everyone who passed through to talk to her, sometimes going so far as pulling up a chair at her table or right next to her at the bar. This, of course, was why she was really there.

“Tell me how those puppies are doing,” Jack said.

“They’re growing as I watch. Lady is a pretty good-looking dog and two of the pups take after her while the other two are black.”

“What are you going to do with them?”

“Landry is working on that. He talked to a friend from the shelter and he’s going to work with them. Landry will foster the puppies at his kennel and the shelter will interview any potential new owners. Landry will take care of the shots and neutering and he’ll throw in a complimentary obedience training class to make them a little more attractive.”

“What about mama dog?” he asked.

“She could be fostered and then adopted, too. But I can’t think about that yet. I’m thinking about keeping her. She’s very nice to Tux.”

“Be careful you don’t go home with a bunch of animals,” Jack said. “By the way, we’re having a town Halloween party on the thirty-first. Starting around two and ending when the fires go out. You don’t have to dress up unless you want to, but you have to bring something for the table. Preacher and I will turn some hot dogs and burgers on the grill. We also put out beer, wine and soft drinks and a donation jar.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“It’s fun when the weather holds. One year the temperature dropped and it snowed so we were all driven inside. That got a little crowded.”

“I can’t believe it’s already Halloween...” She’d arrived in August; she’d been in Virgin River for more than two months. She’d pretty much overcome her fear of dogs and had almost fallen in love in no time. She heard her mother’s voice ask, So, how’s that book coming, Kaylee?