Riding Tall (7 page)

“Yeah, for sure,” Joe said. “She can take my truck, anytime. I mean, I might need it for the farm, but if she gives me warning I can work around it.”

“Excellent,” Jean said with a smile. “And there’s one more thing. I wouldn’t normally ask, but given where you live… I know you care about animals….” She stopped and looked at him as if he was supposed to guess what she was hinting at.

“I’m going to need more words on this one.”

“Jasper,” she said. “Their dog, from before. Apparently he was living at the vet’s for a while, then taken to the shelter when their aunt wouldn’t take him. He hasn’t been adopted yet, and they’re worried about him.”

“The dog?” Joe remembered the animal. He’d grabbed it while he was carrying Kami out of the fire. If he hadn’t taken that second, maybe she would have inhaled less smoke or gotten oxygen sooner. But that was Joe’s fault, not the dog’s. “Yeah, of course. He can live here.” He tried to remember the animal’s size, but the adrenaline that had been coursing through his body at that stage of the fire had made everything seem light and small. “Is he healthy?”

Jean grinned. “Apparently they were a bit concerned about brain damage, and he was acting a bit goofy, but the girls tell me he’s always been like that.”

“Why wouldn’t they have told me this themselves? We’ve got four dogs on the place already. A fifth isn’t going to be a big deal, as long as we can convince Red to let him live. They could have just asked.”

“They’re pretty aware of everything you’re already doing for them,” Jean said carefully. “I think they’re a little worried about asking for any more favors.”

Shit. Another failure on Joe’s part. “I need to make them more comfortable. They can talk to me about stuff. They can ask for things!”

“I think they know that, intellectually. They just aren’t quite ready for it yet, not with things that feel like luxuries. If you and I keep talking, we can keep each other in the loop. You can tell me if they’re having troubles, I can tell you if they need something and are worried about asking. It’ll be a good system.”

“And you’re sticking around? You’re going to be on the job for a while?”

“The girls are provincial wards. You’re their legal guardian, but the province still has final say. I’ll phase myself out once they get established here, but unless you go through the formal adoption process, they’ll remain the responsibility of the government and we’ll keep checking in on them.”

“And if I did adopt them?” It wasn’t something Joe had given a lot of thought to, but maybe it was time he started. Lacey was almost an adult, but Savannah was only nine. She deserved a real family, somewhere she knew she belonged.

But Jean didn’t look enthusiastic. “I wouldn’t advise that you rush that. See how things work for you and the family. Financially, for sure, it makes sense to keep them as foster care. Even for Lacey, the government will pay for her education costs if you can manage to get her into some sort of postsecondary program. We wouldn’t do that if she was adopted.”

“I’m working hard just to get her to stay in high school,” Joe said. It was true. The girl was turning eighteen in a couple months, and once that happened she’d be legally able to drop out and get a full-time job. Joe was pretty sure she was working on her résumé more than her homework.

“I’ll try to help with that,” Jean said. She pushed her wooden chair back from the table and heaved herself to her feet. “I’m glad the girls are here, Joe. It’s the best place for them. And if you can find space for the dog, that’d be even better. Lend the truck to Lacey for visits to Kami, and you qualify for full herohood.”

“Let’s not get carried away,” Joe said.

“You’re a good man, Joe Sutton. Sorry if you don’t want to hear it, but I’m afraid it’s true.”

“I’ll call the girls,” he said, and he headed for the base of the stairs.

Ally and Austin came down with the girls, and after they left with the social worker, Ally stayed in the kitchen, looking at Joe expectantly. He ignored her on principle, saying only, “Can you watch Austin for a couple hours?”

She said, “Oh, are you going out?”

“Thought I might.” He considered it. “Actually, Austin can come. You want to go for a car ride, buddy?”

Much to Ally’s obvious annoyance, Austin didn’t ask where Joe was going, just trotted to the mudroom to start putting his boots on. Joe followed and bent to help him, aware of Ally hovering in the background. Austin was completely ready and Joe was reaching for his own jacket when Ally finally said, “If you happen to be going to the animal shelter… I could come. Make sure you get the right one.”

He didn’t look at her, annoyed that she knew him so well. And annoyed that she’d known Jean was going to tell him about the abandoned animal but hadn’t thought to give him a heads-up herself. “How many dogs named Jasper do you think they have?”

“I don’t know. Sure would be funny if there were two.”

He stepped to the side, making room for her in the doorway, and she practically sprinted toward him, then skidded to a stop in front of the coatrack. “This is so cool,” she said as she tugged the boots on. “It’s going to be such an excellent surprise!”

“You know my not so excellent surprise today?” Joe asked, trying to keep his voice mild. “I found out that two kids who’ve been through a lot wanted to put a bit of their family back together, and I didn’t make it happen because I didn’t know about it.” He stepped around so Ally couldn’t get past him and tried to look her in the eye. It wasn’t easy when she refused to turn in his direction. Finally, he gave up and spoke to the side of her head. “Why didn’t I know about it?”

She pulled her jacket on. “It’s not easy, Joe. If they say they don’t want me to tell you something, I’m supposed to respect that, aren’t I?”

Good point. “As long as it’s not about something that could get someone hurt, yeah, you should respect it. But, damn, Ally, couldn’t you have dropped a hint or something? Or couldn’t you have convinced them it would be good to tell me themselves?”

“I was
trying
to do that!” Ally grinned at him. “But I knew Jean would tell you, once she got you alone. And this is going to be a good lesson for Lacey and Savannah, probably. They need to start getting trained in how to get you to do what they want. It’s not nearly as hard as most of my friends have it.
They
want something, they have to manipulate and connive. Me? I want something? I have to
ask for it
.”

“You’re not that spoiled,” Joe protested.

“Only because I don’t want to be,” Ally said gleefully. Then she saw his expression. “Oh my God, Joe, are you going to worry about this now? You’re not a pushover! We have more chores than almost any of my friends, if that makes you feel better. And our rules are good. I mean, they’re a bit vague, maybe, but….”

“What
are
our rules?”

“I don’t know. Like… tell people where you’re going to be. That’s a good one. Help out with the little guys, clean up your own stuff. It’s not like it’s all written down somewhere….” She raised her head with the sideways tilt it got when she had an idea she really liked. “Some houses are like Canada, or the States, with a written constitution that they all think is really important. And some are like the UK. They don’t have a written constitution… did you know that? Not, like, one big document that has all the big rules in it. Just a lot of scraps here and there, and a lot of tradition. That’s what we’re like. Our rules are mostly tradition, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t real.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to be a lawyer?” Joe asked as he stepped aside and let the young ones precede him out of the house. “This whole vet thing might not be your future after all.”

“Help us, Ally!” she said in a squeaky, distant voice. “We’re waiting! Help us!” She skipped down the walkway, holding Austin’s hand. Over her shoulder she said, “That was the animals.”

“I thought it might be.”

“They still need me.”

“I wonder how many of our current animals will still be alive by the time you get out of vet school.”

She gave him a dirty look. “The horses still should be, at least.”

“I’d say there’s a 10 percent chance of me putting a bullet in Misery’s head on any given day. The odds of her making it that much longer….”

“There’s a zero percent chance of you ever doing that.” Ally corrected. She let go of Austin’s hand, and he stopped walking as if his off switch had been tripped. Ally stepped back and punched Joe in the shoulder. “You love that horse, and we all know it.”

“The feeling is not reciprocal,” he said gloomily, and he tried not to let his mind jump to another relationship where Joe’s affections may not be returned. Mackenzie was back in the city for another shoot, being reminded of all the things he was missing up in the country. After their previous conversation, Joe’s brain seemed to have stopped torturing him with images of cheating, but it still liked to remind him that Mackenzie could call anytime he wanted and say he’d changed his mind and wasn’t coming back. That could happen, and Joe wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it. So he shouldn’t think about it, not if there was any way to avoid it.

“Let’s go find a dog,” he said, swooping Austin up and giving him an airplane ride to the truck.

Three hours later, they were back at the house with Jasper
and
a young ferret. Joe should have known better. Ally and him in an animal shelter? It was a wonder they hadn’t come back with
all
the residents. As it was, they’d both resolutely maintained their focus on the task at hand until Austin had seen a volunteer playing with the rodent and fallen in love.

“It’s time he had a pet of his own,” Joe rationalized as he unloaded the wire cage they’d bought on the way home.

“It’ll help him learn responsibility!” Ally said brightly. She grabbed the tote bag full of ferret supplies, Jasper’s leash in her other hand.

“Might be good for the girls too,” Joe said. “It’ll show them it’s not a big deal that they get a pet. We’re casual about that around here.”

“Excellent point,” Ally agreed. She really was a good coconspirator. “It would have been irresponsible to come home
without
a ferret.”

“Absolutely,” Joe said. “We probably should have gotten two.”

“Do you have a plan for introductions to the other dogs?”

“To the ferret? I was planning on keeping them away from each other.”

“No, to Jasper. Although I think we could probably introduce them to the ferret too, eventually….”

“Let’s focus on Jasper for now.” Joe looked down at the scruffy creature. “They’ve probably already met, in the forest or something. And Jasper’s smaller than Red, doesn’t seem like he’ll want to be dominant. Maybe it’ll go just as well as it did with Griffin.”

“If Red kills him, we have to tell Lacey and Savannah that he was already adopted when we got to the pound.”

“Red’s not going to kill him.”

“He’d better not,” Ally said glumly.

“Let’s put the ferret upstairs so the poor thing doesn’t have a heart attack, then introduce the dogs outside. Fair?”

Ally nodded.

The farm dogs were still penned up, as they had been since the social worker’s visit, and they weren’t used to being contained for so long. Joe reconsidered the plan. “Actually, let’s take Jasper in with us for a bit, and I’ll let the dogs out to run some steam off. Then we can do the introductions one at a time.”

“Everything gets complicated, doesn’t it?” Ally asked sympathetically.

She was right. Nothing was ever as a simple as Joe wanted it to be. But he was doing the right thing. Finding a way for the girls to have their dog was important. It was worth the hassle. The ferret, on the other hand…. But then he thought of Austin’s glee as the little creature had investigated his ears and neck. It was time there was something in the house smaller than Austin, something he could be in charge of. Joe would just have to make sure the creature was cared for properly.

One more responsibility. But it was okay. It was what people needed, so Joe would take care of it. That was what he was there for.

Chapter 6

O
NCE
AGAIN
,
Mackenzie’s life seemed to be spinning in strange directions. He was pretty sure there was a connection between the feeling of being out of control and the consumption of massive quantities of alcohol, but he was going to have to wait until he sobered up to really puzzle that relationship out. For now, he was just letting things happen.

It had sounded like a good idea when Anton had called to suggest it. A friend had opened a bar and was trying to drum up business; he was offering free drinks to a select group of gorgeous people if they came and had an obvious good time, and Mackenzie and Kristen were good-looking enough to qualify. Mackenzie hadn’t seen Anton since the party at the church, but the guy always seemed to have good connections. Good drugs, too, but Mackenzie had resolutely stayed away from those on this occasion. Alcohol was controllable, at least in theory.

Mackenzie leaned back against the leather couch and looked out at the bar. He was pretty sure he still
looked
sober enough. He wasn’t tipping over or anything. That was important. And the bartenders seemed to have cut him off, or at least started putting so much mix in the free drinks that there wasn’t much chance of getting any drunker, so that was good too. He could manage this night. Another hour or two, maybe, then he’d drag Kristen back to her place and they’d get some sleep. Mackenzie had worked all day, but the next was just bureaucracy—a meeting with his agent, a fitting—nothing he couldn’t do hungover. Everything was fine. He wasn’t being irresponsible. He missed Joe, but he was coping with it.