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CHAPTER SEVEN
SHERIFF MIKE O’HARA loved being sheriff nearly as much as he loved his fine herd of Red Brahman cattle. He liked to tell everyone who would listen, he either had to run cows or take bribes to keep his kid in private school. “So far I prefer cows,” he’d say. “Nobody’s offered me a good enough bribe yet.”
He looked like one of the bulls he raised. He was only about five foot ten, but red hair covered his head, arms, knuckles and probably his back. Nancy had never seen his back and didn’t want to. He was built like his bulls as well. Big neck, big shoulders, thick chest, which was only beginning its inevitable slide south of his beltline, the thighs of a football lineman and huge feet in highly polished ostrich boots. Since today was Saturday, he wore a tan polo shirt stretched tight across his chest and cowboy cut jeans worn extra long and crumpled over the ankles of his boots.
Nancy caught Tim’s dismay when Mike walked into her cottage. The heels of his boots cracked against her hardwood floors. Even though he was shorter than Tim, he looked formidable. Tim was no doubt afraid that the sight of this wide man with a gun on his belt would terrify his fragile son.
“Hey, Dr. Wainwright,” Mike said as he extended his hand. “Glad to have you in Williamston.”
Nancy grinned at Tim’s surprise. Mike O’Hara’s voice was a sweet, gentle light baritone that made listening to the choir at the Williamston Baptist Church on Sunday a real pleasure. Still, to be on the safe side, she warned him again about Eddy. She did not, however, mention the death of Tim’s wife. That was up to Tim.
Tim started to follow him as he went toward Nancy’s bedroom, but Mike shook his head. “Don’t worry, Doc. I won’t scare him.”
They watched him hunker down beside the child, who was already stirring from his nap. When Mike spoke to him, he rubbed his eyes, then sat up quickly the moment he glimpsed the sheriff looming over him. Nancy saw Eddy’s startled expression, watched him shrink closer to the bundled puppy, then relax as Mike’s voice flowed over him. Mike scratched behind Lancelot’s ears as he talked.
Five minutes later, Mike came back with his arm draped across Eddy’s shoulders. “Boy here’s a real hero, Doc. Got yourself a good young’un. He’s gonna show me right where he found the pup.”
“I’ll come with you, if you don’t mind,” Tim said. Nancy could tell he didn’t give a damn whether Mike minded or not.
“Me, too,” she said. “Soon as I get some shoes on. Eddy, how’s your pup doing?”
“He was whimpering a little, but I calmed him down.” He nodded. “He’s breathing real good.”
“I’ll check on him first,” Nancy said. “By the time we’re finished he’ll probably need another bottle. You game?”
“He’s my puppy.”
Eddy was right. He was breathing well. She sprayed some more pain killer on the gauze that covered his burns, stroked his small, brown velvet head, pulled on a pair of deck shoes and ran across the street to find the men.
Mike was saying, “Probably some teenage idiot and his drunken buddies.” He turned to her. “Nancy, looks like the pup may have been tossed out of a car.” He shook his head. “Somebody’s idea of a Roman candle. Rolling in the grass probably saved his life, and the high grass and those soft baby bones probably kept him from breaking up when he hit.”
“You can’t find any others?”
Mike shrugged. “Let’s hope he’s all there were.” He glanced at Eddy, then at Nancy and raised an eyebrow. She got the message.
“Eddy, you know where the puppy formula is,” Nancy said. “Wash out the bottle really well and rinse it a lot before you mix up the formula. You okay with that?”
“Uh-huh.” He started to run across the lane, but his father grabbed him.
“Eddy, this may not be Chicago, but cars do drive this road. You know better. Look both ways and don’t run.”
“Yes, sir.” Eddy looked both ways, then dashed full tilt across the street and into Nancy’s house.
“Is it all right for him to be in your house by himself?” Tim asked.
“Unless he’s a budding burglar. Not that I have much to steal.”
“I wanted to look some more, Doc,” Mike explained. “If we do find something bad, I didn’t want the boy around.”
“Thanks. What do we do? Quarter the area?”
“You got it. Work front to back. Nancy, you and Doc take the yard on the north side. We’ll meet in the back.”
Fifteen minutes later they had worked their way to the edge of the woods at the back of Tim’s property without finding anything.
“I’ll fill out a report and tell my boys to keep a lookout on patrol,” Mike said. “Probably kids from town drunk on beer and stupid. You hear any hoo-rawing outside last night?”
Both Nancy and Tim shook their heads.
“Well, let’s hope it’s an isolated incident. Nice to meet you, Doc. Bye, Nancy. Come see us.” He walked across the street to where his squad car sat behind Nancy’s car. He gave no indication that he noticed Nancy’s flat tire and dented bumper, although he must have seen the damage.
As he pulled away, a bright red tow truck turned the corner from the village common and pulled up in front of Nancy’s house.
“Nuts,” she whispered. “I haven’t even brushed my teeth, much less taken a shower. Can you see to getting the car onto the tow truck?” She started across the street. Tim followed.
“My bad. My responsibility. I talked to my insurance agent last night. He should have made arrangements with your dealer to have it fixed by now. He said they’d furnish a loaner.”
“Fast work.”
“He’s an old friend.” He grimaced. “Actually I told him the accident occurred on private property, and that I intended to pay the tab personally. I’m not making a claim.”
Nancy’s eyebrows went up.
“Cheaper than skyrocketing insurance rates.”
“It’s going to cost you.”
“It’s going to cost Jason in the long run,” Tim said grimly. “By the time he finishes paying me back, he’ll be the safest driver in Tennessee.”
BECAUSE EDDY REFUSED to leave his puppy to go with Nancy and Tim to get her car fixed and pick up a rental, Nancy suggested they take the pup and Eddy with them.
“We can stop by the clinic,” she said. “If you’re going to keep him, then you really need a doctor to check him out. I’m good, but I’m a vet tech, not a veterinarian.” She turned to Tim. “A dog, even a healthy one, is a big responsibility. He needs shots, heart worm tests and medication, the right sort of food, vitamins, toys and when he’s better he’ll need exercise and a safe place to play. Dogs run loose around here, but it’s a bad idea, especially for a small one.” She didn’t want to add that despite her best efforts, the puppy might not make it.
Tim put his hand on Eddy’s fair hair. “We can afford a little dog like this, can’t we, son? He’ll be mostly your responsibility, you know.”
“I’ll take good care of him,” Eddy said, his pale eyes gleaming. He went into Nancy’s bedroom and came back a moment later with the pup in his arms. After she settled child and dog in the back seat of Tim’s SUV, she turned to Tim. “He’s too little to take full responsibility for a pet, Dr. Wainwright. The responsibility will be yours. Are you willing to accept that?”
Tim grinned and shrugged. “My mission, should I choose to accept it? Yeah, I choose.”
As they drove the twenty miles to Collierville, Tim said, “Jason and Angie are old enough to stay alone in the daytime. Frankly I doubt they’ll wake up before we get home, but I left a note for them. On weekends they can sleep around the clock. They have my cell phone number. At your clinic last night, I found Jason staring at a ewe and a couple of lambs. He actually seemed interested. That young man—Kevin, I think he said his name was—took him to see a horse under treatment.”
“It’s Kenny. He’s our very own rescue project,” Nancy said. “He’s a rich kid from the neighborhood. We caught him in the act of vandalizing and put him to work after school. Complete turnaround.”
“Hmm.”
At the car dealership, Nancy was horrified to learn the cost of her repairs. She was glad she wasn’t paying for them. She had little enough extra money, and she was already culling some of her old growth trees to pay for a kitchen update on her cottage.
The good news was that the car didn’t require as much work as she’d feared. She suspected the cost would be a shock to Tim as well. He couldn’t be making much as a high school teacher at Maybree. She almost considered splitting the cost, but gave up the idea. Let Jason pay his father back.
“Should be done by Tuesday afternoon, Nancy,” said Ralph Simmons, the service manager, who’d looked after her last three cars. “Here.” He handed her a set of keys. “It’s not what you’re used to, but it’s the only loaner they could get today. They brought it over first thing this morning.” He pointed to a small, black two-door sedan. It looked as though it might hold two bags of groceries tops. Still, it was transportation. She wouldn’t have to rely on Tim and his brood to get her around anymore.
“Follow me to Creature Comfort,” she said to Tim. “One of the good things about being on staff is that we can go in the back door and not have to wait. Dr. Hazard’s on duty this morning. He doesn’t generally work Saturdays.”
Later, as he went over the pup, Dr. Hazard said, “Nice job, Nancy.”
“Can you stitch up his wound?” Tim asked.
Hazard shook his head. “Needs to heal from the inside out slowly. We’ll treat it with antibiotic ointment, painkiller and, after it starts to heal, hydrocortisone ointment. I’d like to keep him here until Monday in our intensive care. The biggest threat at the moment is infection. And pups his age can simply fade.” He glanced down at Eddy.
So did Nancy. From Eddy’s narrow eyes and set jaw, she could tell he had no intention of relinquishing his charge without a fight.
“I can look after him,” Eddy said. “He’s my dog.”
“Obviously you can,” Dr. Hazard said. “He wouldn’t have gotten this far without you. You can visit him tomorrow. By then he may actually feel like moving around a little. But doing the best for our animals is not always the happiest thing for us humans.”
Nancy thought Eddy would keep fighting. Instead he deflated. Her heart went out to him. One look at the concern in Tim’s face and her heart went out to him as well. “Tell you what. You and I will go settle him down in intensive care. I’ll introduce you to the people who’ll be looking after him. Your dad has to go fill out some papers anyway, so we can sit with him until he meets us. Okay?”
Eddy shrugged and turned away, all the fight gone out of him.
“Hey, you’re forgetting somebody.” Nancy pointed to the pup, who was scrabbling around on the slick table like a small brown seal.
Eddy looked at her. “Can I carry him?”
“Your dog, remember? Just because he’s here doesn’t mean you can let other people take over completely.” She handed him a clean towel. “Pick him up with this.”
Eddy lifted the pup to his shoulder. He leaned his cheek against the little dog’s silky head while the pup snuggled tight under his chin.
Nancy left Tim with Dr. Hazard as they walked down the hall toward the ICU area. “He’s got to have a name. We can’t just keep calling him pup.”
At that moment Big Little opened the door to the ICU and stepped out into the hall. Eddy stopped so quickly that Nancy ran into him. He must also have gripped the pup, because the little dog let out a tiny yelp.
“Hey, Miss Nancy,” Big said, flashing her and Eddy his brilliant smile. “Hey, young’un.”
Eddy’s gulp was audible.
“Hey, Big,” Nancy said. “Eddy, Big here is our nursemaid. He’ll take really good care of your pup.”
“But…” Eddy looked back at Nancy over his shoulder. She could see the fear and consternation in his face.
“Y’all just come on in here,” Big said. “Y’all can help ole—what’s his name, boy?”
“Just Pup,” Eddy whispered.
“Okay, now you give me JustPup here and we’ll fix him up a nice soft bed.”
“Can I pet him some?”
“Lordy, yes.” Big opened the door to the ICU area and ushered Eddy, JustPup and Nancy through.
“He’s shy,” she whispered.
Big nodded. “Yes’m.” He looked down at his gigantic feet a little sadly. “Guess he’s sceert ’cause I’m so big.”
Nancy patted his arm. “He won’t be once he gets to know you.”
Big set up the ICU cage, sat on the air mattress in the center of the room and invited Eddy and the pup to sit beside him. Big held the little dog as though it were a baby bird while Eddy stroked it. With each stroke he inched closer to Big until he was leaning against his massive thigh.
Nancy checked the large cages first. Wonder of wonders, the mastiff was sitting up on his own. In the small cages, the Jack Russell was already standing, wagging his tail and yapping. Bless Mac Thorn! He truly could work miracles.
“What say we put JustPup here in his house and let him have a nap?” Big asked Eddy. “I got to let out my dog, Daisy, for a little run. Can you throw a ball? Ole Daisy, she does love to chase her ball.” He looked at Nancy and winked.
She backed out. “I’ll come get you in a few minutes, Eddy.”
He didn’t raise his head.
She checked the charts for both the mastiff and terrier, saw that neither had a temperature and that they were receiving their antibiotics. She’d change dressings after she sent Eddy and Tim away.
She met Tim in the reception area where he was still filling out forms.
“Where’s Eddy?” he asked.
“He’s fine. Big’s looking after him. If you’d like to get back to Williamston, I can bring Eddy home in a little while.”
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“It’s hardly out of my way.”
He handed the papers to Alva Jean, the day receptionist and Big’s current girlfriend, then followed Nancy through the door to the examining rooms and down the hall toward the cavernous large animal area and the staff parking.
In the pasture behind the building, Nancy saw Big with his back to them and his hands on his hips. She realized that Eddy stood in front of him only when she saw his thin arm lob a yellow tennis ball down the pasture. A sturdy beige dog caught it in midair and trotted toward the pair in triumph. Eddy clapped as Daisy dropped the ball at his feet and sat waiting for him to throw it again.
“My God,” Tim breathed. “Who’s that? And isn’t that a pit bull?”
“That’s Mr. Bigelow Little, kennel man, security guard and general associate, and his dog, Daisy. Yes, she’s a pit bull. She adores children. Don’t worry, she won’t attack Eddy.”
“I—they have such a bad reputation.”
“Any dog that’s abused and not properly trained can get a bad reputation.”
At that moment Eddy spotted his father and called to him, “Daddy! Watch, Daddy!” He threw the ball. Daisy chased it, retrieved it and deposited it once more at Eddy’s feet. He dropped to his knees and cradled her head in his arms, then buried his face in her neck.
Nancy heard Tim catch his breath, but all he said was, “Great, son.”
“Eddy looks like he’s set for a while,” Nancy said to him before calling out again. “Eddy, you want to ride home with me? You can feed your pup again before you leave.”
“Can I, Big?” Eddy looked up at the big man with the same trust Nancy had seen in the eyes of everything from wild deer to newborn kittens.
“Sure. How ’bout we put Daisy back in my house and go do that little thing?”
