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“That’s a cute kid.” When he finally spoke, it was about Danny.
“Yes, he is.” Her gaze softened as she watched the boy’s mother settle him into her van and fold his wheelchair with the ease of long practice.
“What’s wrong with him?”
Lady nuzzled Gabe’s leg, curious about the stranger, and he scratched her ears absently.
Good. At least he related to a dog without tension or fear. “Danny has multiple birth defects. He may always have to depend on the chair, but he and Lady are going to be a good team.”
He glanced down at Lady. “Why didn’t the dog go home with him?”
“They have a lot of training to do with me before that happens. But Danny’s a hard worker. He’ll make it.” What about you, Gabe? Will you give me a chance to help you?
“Meaning you think I’m not.” He shot the words at her.
She couldn’t argue with everything he said, or they’d never get anything done. “I guess we’ll see, won’t we?”
She gestured around the expanse of concrete, with its hurdles, barricades, ramps and stairs. “This is our training area. Clients and animals learn to work together here.”
“Don’t you mean dogs?”
At least something interested him. “Mostly dogs, but not always. I’ve trained monkeys to help people who have limited use of their hands. Different animals meet different needs.” She stroked Lady. “Lady will help Danny learn to maneuver in his chair, keep him safe and protect him if he falls.”
“That’s a big job for an animal.” He was still frowning, but at least he wasn’t walking away.
“Lady can handle it. She loves to work. I’m hoping that eventually she’ll be able to alert him.” She hesitated, and then deliberately added, “Danny has a seizure disorder, too. Maybe you ought to talk with him about it.”
“No.” The word snapped out at her, sharp as a slap.
“It could help both of you.”
His hands clenched, as if he didn’t know what to do with his stress. “Look, I did tell the chief I’d cooperate, so I’m here. But don’t try putting me in a box with your other patients. I won’t fit.”
Patience, Nolie, patience.
“So where does the cooperating part come in?”
He didn’t smile, but some of the tension went out of his face. “Like I said, I’m here. I’m ready to be convinced that what you do is legitimate.”
He wasn’t ready to be convinced of anything at all, but at least he’d come. Maybe she could still salvage this project once he saw what she actually did here.
“Let’s see the rest of the operation,” Nolie said. She led the way outside, blinking as she stepped into the bright May sunshine.
Gabe’s sister, Terry, sat in a dusty van pulled up under the oak tree next to the drive. She waved in their direction, but didn’t get out.
“Your sister’s welcome to come look around.”
He shook his head. “She’s prepping for some paramedic test she has coming up. I told her she could use the time for studying.”
He clearly hated depending on other people to take him places. Maybe he also resented the fact that other people’s careers moved on while his stagnated.
“There’s my house.” She gestured toward the white frame building with its black shutters, a typical Pennsylvania farmhouse nestled into the lush green fields that had drawn Pennsylvania Dutch farmers to the area a century earlier. “And the outbuildings.”
Gabe glanced at the cottage that was tucked into the grove of hemlocks behind the main house. “Space for visiting relatives?”
“Not exactly.” Gabe, with his huge, supportive clan, couldn’t possibly imagine the isolation of having no one. “I fixed up the guest cottage for clients to use during the final phase of training.”
He sent her a wary look. “Final phase? That sounds ominous.”
“In the early stages of training, I work with the client and the service animal several times a week. The last two weeks are intensive training, and the client lives in the cottage with the animal.”
Somehow she thought Gabe would balk at that, even if he agreed to the rest of the program. Well, she’d handle that when the time came. The important thing now was simply to gain his agreement.
“How long does all this take?”
“Usually a couple of months, at least. But since Mr. Henley put a month limit on us, we’ll have to accelerate the process for you.”
She waited for him to reiterate that he didn’t need the program, but he merely nodded toward the white-rail-fenced paddock as they approached it. “More trained animals, or just color?”
She leaned on the top rail, clicking her fingers. The gray donkey ambled over to have his floppy ears scratched. “This is Toby. The humane society took him from an abusive owner and asked me to give him a home. As you say, he adds a little color. The children like him, and he’s certified as a therapeutic pet.”
Gabe reached across the railing to rub Toby’s muzzle. Toby stared back with mournful brown eyes. “A therapeutic pet,” he repeated.
“Sorry.” She smiled. “You don’t know the lingo yet. A therapeutic pet is an animal that’s trained to go into places like nursing homes to relate to the patients.”
“You take a donkey into a nursing home?” He clearly didn’t believe that was possible.
“Hey, he’s a big hit, especially with the ladies.”
Gabe stared at the next animal that wandered up to the fence for her share of attention. “What on earth is that?”
Nolie patted Dixie. “Dixie’s a miniature horse. Haven’t you ever seen one before?”
He shook his head, his gaze moving between Dixie and the German shepherd. They were about the same size. “Just part of the menagerie?”
“Dixie’s training as a service animal. She’s going to be a guide animal for a client who is blind.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
At least she’d captured his interest, even if the gaze he turned on her continued to be disbelieving.
“Miniature horses are good at that. They’re intelligent, loyal and they have a longer working lifespan than a dog. It’s devastating to a blind person to lose a service dog.”
His shoulders moved, as if he didn’t want to think about that. “I guess it would be. I can’t imagine depending on an animal that way.”
“That’s what we’re all about here. Animals and clients learn to depend on each other.”
She couldn’t miss his response to that. He didn’t say a word, but his whole body rejected it. Gabe clearly didn’t plan to depend on anyone or anything.
“Shall we get on with the grand tour?” His voice had cooled even more.
“All that’s left is the barn.” Lady pressed against her leg, whining a little. “Go on, girl. You’ve earned a play time.” Lady ducked under the rail, and danced toward the donkey.
Nolie moved quickly toward the open doors of the red barn. She ought to press the subject that burned in her mind, but she wasn’t sure how to go about it.
Should she just introduce him to the dog she’d chosen for him? Assume he intended to go through with the program and risk his walking away?
Gabe paused as she waded through a cluster of hens fighting over a kernel of corn. His eyebrow quirked. “Guide chickens?”
“I keep them for the eggs.” Was he laughing at her? Probably. Well, she didn’t care what he thought of her, as long as he didn’t keep her from getting her grant.
She stepped into the barn, inhaling its mingled scents of animals, straw and hay. Sunlight, filtering through a few gaps in the siding she’d have to fix before next winter, set dust motes dancing.
Peace. That was what she always felt here. It was more peaceful to her than any church could possibly be. It had been her sanctuary more than once, both in the sense of a place to worship and also of a place to hide.
“Looks as if no one is in residence.” Gabe’s voice, echoing closer behind her than she’d thought, seemed to make the dust motes shimmer.
“There’s someone here.” She clicked her fingers, and the yellow Lab rose from the mound of straw that was his favorite napping spot. “You missed him because he’s the same color as his bed.”
Max came toward them with the natural dignity that was the first thing she’d noticed about the dog when she’d seen him in the shelter. She stroked the warm, golden fur.
“This is Max. He’s the dog I’ve picked out for you.”
Gabe’s tension level shot up so high that she could feel it prick her skin through the inches that separated them. Max’s ears went up, and he moved protectively closer to Nolie’s side.
“I’ve already told you—”
“You’ve told me you don’t need a dog. But obviously your chief thinks you do.”
“He doesn’t think any such thing. He’s just trying to stay on the good side of the Henley Foundation.”
“Either way, he said you’d cooperate. You said you’d cooperate.” She couldn’t let him off the hook. The future of her program depended on him.
“You’d be wasting your time with me. Spend it on someone like Danny.”
“Your cooperation means the money that will let me help a lot of Dannys.” It could mean the survival of the program, but she didn’t think she wanted to trust him with that information.
His harassed look said he didn’t know how to respond to that. “All you have to do is go to Henley and tell him I’m not a good candidate for your program. You’ll get us both out.”
“I’ve already tried that.” She was ashamed to admit it. “I saw Henley again this morning.”
“What did he say?” He looked like a man who saw his last hope disappearing.
“That I should prove I could work with a difficult case. Like you.”
She held her breath. She’d laid it all on the line with Gabe. If he walked away—
For a long moment he stared at her, his eyes bleak. “So we’re both stuck.” He bit off the words.
Relief flooded through her, but she didn’t dare let him see it. “Yes, I guess we are.”
A tiny muscle twitched in his jaw. “All right.” He spat out the words. “It’s going to be a disaster. But I’ll try.”
Chapter Three
Gabe couldn’t believe he was agreeing to this crazy idea. He also couldn’t believe he was responding to the happiness he saw shimmering in Nolie’s blue eyes. Or that he wanted to go on seeing it there.
He found himself leaning toward her, as if compelled to be closer. She smelled like soap and sunshine. “Nolie—”
“Am I interrupting something?” The clear, high voice from the barn entrance brought him abruptly to his senses.
A good thing.
“Claire. What are you doing here today?” Nolie’s voice had warmed in a way he hadn’t heard before. Apparently she only used her coolest tones on him.
The woman who strolled slowly toward them was Nolie’s opposite in every conceivable way. Hair a rich, deep auburn, mahogany-colored eyes that were expertly made up, clothes she probably thought of as country that were a far cry from Nolie’s shabby jeans and T-shirt.
She held out a perfectly manicured hand to him. “I’m Claire Delany. And you are?”
“This is one of my clients,” Nolie said quickly.
He thought her cheeks were slightly pinker than they’d been earlier. Because she’d recognized that insane moment when he’d leaned toward her? He hoped not.
“Does this client have a name?”
“Gabriel Flanagan.” He could speak for himself. As for whatever that moment had been—well, not attraction. Definitely not.
He shifted his gaze to the dog, finding it easier to look at Max than to meet Nolie’s cornflower gaze. “I’d better be on my way.”
“I thought we’d spend some time working with Max.”
“Your friend is here.” And besides, he didn’t want to. He wanted to be alone to figure out how he was going to handle this situation.
“Claire will wait.” She shot a look at her friend, who nodded.
A relationship between two such different women had to be an unusual one. He pushed the thought aside. He didn’t need to know anything about Nolie beyond the obstacle she represented.
“Tomorrow will do as well, won’t it? My sister needs to get back.”
Nolie nodded reluctantly, probably fearing that if he once got away from her, he wouldn’t be back. “All right, tomorrow. Is two o’clock all right?”
“Two it is.” He was already moving toward the door. He’d agree to just about anything right now that would get him out of there. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
When he saw Nolie tomorrow, he’d have figured out how to turn this into a stepping stone. Nolie thought they were stuck with each other, and maybe that was true. But if he had to do this, there had to be a way he could use the situation to get himself on active duty again, the sooner the better.
It took a half hour to drive home, and by the time they arrived, the pep talk Terry seemed compelled to give was wearing thin. She meant well, they all did, but nobody seemed to understand that he had to deal with this situation in his own way.
Seth and Ryan were playing one-on-one in the driveway, so Terry stopped at the curb.
