Authors: Karen Ball
“Well—” the vet turned—“you were in the paper. Not just our paper, mind you, but the
Oregonian
and LA
Times
. Big stuff, Annie. That makes you a bit of a celebrity.”
“Goody gumdrops.”
Dr. Harding chuckled. “Look at it this way, it’s good PR for your search and rescue group.”
That it was. And for that reason alone, Annie had tried not to get frustrated with all the attention the last few days—her phone ringing day and night with people wanting interviews.
Annie wasn’t sure why this particular rescue had caught the media’s attention—though she suspected it was Bertha coming to give her “wolf” a hug that did it. Two pictures had run with the story in the papers: one of Bertha delivering a kiss to Kodi’s snout and one of Annie and Kodi. Annie loved the first, tolerated the second—and could only hope interest waned sooner rather than later. “So did our girl here girl pass her six-month checkup?”
“With flying colors, as usual.” Dr. Harding fished a doggy treat out of the jar on the counter, then held it out to Kodi, who
lady that she was, took it with gentle care—then snarfed it down. They both laughed.
Kodi padding along beside her, Annie headed out to the reception area to pay for the visit. “Hey, Bree.”
Brianna Heller, one of Annie’s closest friends, looked up, her blue eyes twinkling. “Hey there, Miss Celebrity.”
Annie groaned. “Please, not you too.”
“Are you kidding? We put the article up on the wall!”
Annie followed Bree’s pointing finger, and there it was. Tacked to the corkboard, where pictures of staff members’ family shared space with shots of the clinic’s four-legged patients.
“I understand you’re leaving Kodi with us for a grooming session?”
“Shh!” Annie covered Kodi’s ears. “She doesn’t know she’s staying.”
Bree knew as well as Annie how Kodi carried on when she was left at the clinic. Annie had yet to hand the dog off without Kodi leaning against her, whining as though she were being tortured. Not because they treated her badly. Quite the contrary, they loved Kodi and treated her like royalty. But, as with most German shepherds, Kodi was, plain and simple, a big baby.
Annie handed her debit card to Bree, then stepped closer to the pictures on the corkboard. Most of the pictures were typical photos, but there were two—stunning shots of a beautiful towheaded girl—that Annie recognized right away as quality photography.
“You’re getting better with that camera all the time.”
Bree ran Annie’s payment, then held out a pen for her signature on the receipt. “High praise coming from a real artist.”
Annie took the pen. “Hmm. Of course, you have a beautiful subject. I swear, Amberly just keeps getting prettier.” She scrawled her name, then tucked the receipt in her pocket.
“She was just asking me this morning when she gets to see Kodi again.”
Annie’s lips twitched. “Kodi, huh? Not Auntie Annie?”
“What can I say? My daughter loves animals more than
people.” She waggled her brows. “Takes after her mother.”
Annie leaned her elbows on the desk. “So did you talk with Mark about taking a break?”
She and Bree had gone to lunch last week, and after listening to Bree relate all she’d been dealing with at the clinic lately, Annie told the woman to run, not walk, home and tell her husband she needed a vacation.
“Actually, I did. We’re going camping for a week with the Conrads up around Diamond Lake.”
“Oh, you’ll all have a blast.”
Bree grinned. “I’ll get my exercise keeping up with the kid, that’s for sure. By the way, how’s the window for that sweet old lady coming?”
Annie grimaced. “Don’t ask. That’s why I was lost in my gardening when you called. I was trying to find some kind of inspiration.”
“Tell you what, I’m taking my camera with me. How about I take some shots for you? I’ve been playing with perspective and depth of field, and it would be fun to watch for shots that are something … different.”
Annie tipped her head. “You mean, something where you see things in a new way?”
“Exactly”
A tinge of excitement stirred in Annie’s chest. “That’d be great, Bree. You sure you don’t mind?”
“Hey, you know me. I’m happiest when I’m with my family and I’ve got my camera in my hands.”
“Well, you’ll get both! And take some shots of Amberly for me too. You’ve got a real little beauty there.”
“And so have you.” Bree leaned over the counter and offered Kodi a doggy biscuit.
“She’s already had—”
Too late. Casting her mistress a triumphant sideways glance, Kodi plucked the cookie from Bree’s fingers and all but inhaled it.
“Pig dog,” Annie muttered under her breath as she handed
Kodi’s leash to Bree. “You’re gonna weigh a ton if you keep this up.”
Kodi’s tail wagged in happy agreement.
“I get to go for my own checkup today, Bree, so Killian’s assistant, Ryan, is going to pick up the beast for me. I tried to get Killian to do it, but you know what he thinks of Kodi.”
“Let’s see, what was it he said last time? A walking fur ball?”
“Besides, he does have an excuse. Kind of. He’s just getting back to town from Hollywood.”
“You mean Hollyweird, right?”
Annie grinned. “He was off doing another consultation with some home makeover show.”
“Must be nice to be so popular.” Bree held another cookie in front of Kodi’s suddenly attentive nose. “Now quick, slip out the door while I distract her.”
Annie did as she was told, opening the door and slipping out. Nary a whine nor whimper followed.
No wonder she liked bringing Kodi here. Even the receptionists were geniuses!
The sun was just starting to dip behind the mountains when Annie finally made it home. She’d waited more than an hour and a half for her doctor’s appointment. By the time she’d seen the doctor, her normally low blood pressure was nowhere to be found.
Robin, the nurse, who knew Annie’s blood pressure history as well as anyone, angled a look at Annie as she removed the cuff. “Still hate waiting, huh, Annie?”
Fortunately, the rest of the checkup went well. But then Annie had a number of errands to run, so by the time she got home, she was tired and frazzled and ready to collapse on the couch. Arms loaded with grocery bags, she’d just slipped the key into the front door when she heard the phone ringing.
“Great. Just great.”
Juggling the keys and the bags of groceries, she shoved the door open—and was accosted by an even more exuberant than
usual Kodi. Nothing got her worked up like a grooming session.
“Yes, yes, you’re beautiful.”
But Kodi was not to be placated. The dog circled around Annie’s legs, wagging that massive black head back and forth and talking up a storm with that throaty, deep-chested rumble of hers: “Aroww-row-
row!”
Translation: “How
could you leave me! And how could you let that awful man pick me up!”
Annie knew even without the shepherd’s accusatory glare that she’d committed a canine cardinal sin: she’d left Kodi at the vet. And she’d almost compounded the sin by asking Killian to pick the dog up to bring her home.
Kodi did not—emphasis on
not
—like Killian. Nothing Annie did or said made a difference. Killian showed up, and Kodi immediately went into sulk mode. Which, when it came down to it, was only fair, because Killian was about as fond of Kodi as the dog was of him.
Annie didn’t understand—or like—the mutual abhorrence. Fortunately, Kodi didn’t frequent art galleries, so it wasn’t hard to keep the two far apart. And equally fortunate, Killian had Ryan to turn to when Annie asked him to come anywhere near the dog.
“Kodi, come on, girl. Give me a break … ” Annie tried to dodge the dog and succeeded in nearly taking a header when Kodi zigged back in front of her and nudged her snout at Annie’s elbow.
“I
can’t
pet you right now! I’m trying to answer the phone. Move, you big moose!” Annie angled a hip into Kodi, shoving her out of the way, then plopped the grocery bags on the counter and snatched the receiver, gasping out a hello.
There was a pause, then, “Miss Justice?”
Annie frowned. She didn’t recognize the voice. “Yes?”
“This is E J Curry. I’m with
Everyday Heroes
, the reality show on television?”
Great. She’d almost taken a nosedive over her dog for a sales call. “I’m sorry, I don’t watch much TV, so I’m not interested. Bye.”
She set the phone back in the base, then turned to more
important matters. Such as getting her ice cream into the freezer before it melted.
The phone rang again.
“What is this today? Grand Central Station?” She tossed the ice cream into the freezer, pushed the door shut, and reached for the phone. “Hello?”
“Miss Justice, it’s E. J. Curry again.”
Ooooh. A pushy one. Annie leaned back against the counter, lips pursed. Okay, fine. She had a little time to play. “So what does that stand for?”
“I’m sorry?”
She nudged Kodi out of the way The dog was practically standing on top of her for some reason. “E. J. I assume it stands for something?”
He paused. “Ernest Jediah.”
Oh my. Talk about a perfect setup. “Don’t you find it a bit of a disconnect?” She allowed herself a smile at the silence that met her question.
Perfect. Objective accomplished. Maybe he’d give up and go away.
“Excuse me? I’m not sure I understand.”
Or not. Okay, she’d keep at it a little while longer. “A disconnect, Mr. Curry Being earnest. In your chosen occupation. Actually, in a couple aspects, being a salesman
and
working in reality television.”
She wasn’t sure what response she expected. Maybe that he’d just hang up on her seeing as she was being such a brat. Still, she told him she wasn’t interested, and he called back, so really, who was to blame?
But he didn’t hang up. Instead, he gave a deep, rich chuckle.
And a whine. Not from the man, but from Kodi. She pawed at Annie, looking for all the world like she was trying to reach for the phone. Annie shooed the dog away.
“No,” the man finally responded, “not at all. Because try as I might, I can’t help but be Ernest in pretty much everything I do.”
Hmm. Clever guy. But then, he was a salesman.
She turned to upend the grocery bag on the kitchen island, then grabbed at a can of orange juice as it tried to roll off the island, nearly tripping over Kodi in the process. What was
wrong
with that dog? “That’s fine, Mr. Curry, but as I said, I’m really not int—”
“Miss Justice, I’m not a salesman.”
“Oh?” This was a new one. She settled the OJ into the freezer beside the ice cream. “So what do they call you guys nowadays?”
“The director.”
This time it was she who fell silent. “Excuse me?”
“I’m the director of
Everyday Heroes.
And I’m calling because I’d really love to feature you and your dog on the show.”
Kodi barked. Annie frowned. “Feature us?”
“Right. Are you familiar with the show at all?”
She shook her head, then grimaced.
Dummy. Head shakes don’t work over the phone.
“Let me guess, you’re shaking your head.”
Annie started. “How did you know that?”
“Well, I could say I heard the rattle, but I was just guessing.”
Before she could come up with a response caustic enough, he went on, explaining the show Annie had to admit it sounded interesting. She might even try to catch an episode to check it out. Still …
Another paw came to rest on her leg. Annie brushed it away “Will you knock it
off?”
“I’m sorry, I meant that as a joke.”
“No, not you, Mr. Curry. It’s my … oh, never mind. Look, what does your show have to do with me and Kodi?”
“Everything!”
Were all directors this dramatic?
“You and your dog are news, Miss Justice. Folks loved that story about the woman you found. I can send you dozens of letters to the editor from papers across the country I mean, the way you found that poor woman—”
“Kodi found her.”
At hearing her name, Kodi’s ears perked and she whined.
“Well, yes, of course, But you were part of the process, right?”
She turned her back to her precious pup. “Kodi does all the work. I’m pretty much along for the ride, Mr. Curry. Sorry. Nothing heroic in what I do.”
“I disagree, Miss Justice. Please, I’d really like to come film you for one of our episodes.”
Kodi slid her head under Annie’s hand, those brown eyes full of supplication. Annie scratched the dog’s ears. “Film us?”
“Right. I’d come in with the camera and follow you guys for a week or so.”
“Follow us where?”
“Everywhere. That’s the point. We’d see you at home and at work. See how you and the dog interact—”
“The dog has a name, Mr. Curry”
The chill in her reprimand must have startled him into silence. Good. It was about time he was on the receiving end of the discomfort in this conversation.
“Of course. I’m sorry. We’d like to see how you and Kovi—”
Annie gritted her teeth. “Kodi.”
“Sorry! Oh right, Kodi. How you and Kodi interact. And with any luck, you’d get called out on a search—”
Okay That did it. “Mr. Curry, I don’t exactly consider it lucky when we get a callout. After all, it
does
mean someone is lost.”
“Sure. Right. Sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“As for having you follow us around at home, I’m sorry, but that’s my private life.”
“Yes, but—”
“And on a search? You’d just get in my way. So while I’m flattered—”
“You mean in Kodi’s way, right?”
“—that you’d … you’d—” Annie frowned. “Excuse me?”
“You meant we’d get in Kodi’s way. Because she’s the one doing the work. You’re just along for the ride.”
Annie pursed her lips. Was he teasing her? Or just being a smart aleck? Either way, she didn’t think she liked it.
Or him.
“As I was saying, though I’m flattered that you’d want Kodi for your show—”
“And you.”
Would the man ever let her finish a sentence? “I … what?”
“I want you.”
Heat rushed into her face. Good thing there weren’t any cameras on her now!