Love at First Bark Read online

  “I’m a little rattled, to be honest,” Sophie said. “He’s not like anyone I’ve ever met before.”

  “No,” Lila agreed. “Some men are just like that, I’m afraid.”

  It was on the tip of Sophie’s tongue to ask what Lila meant, but she stopped herself just in time. She already knew what Lila was thinking, because it was the same thing she’d thought when Harrison Parks had first knocked on the door.

  This is a man who doesn’t like to be told what to do. This is a man to be wary of.

  But Lila hadn’t seen that smile. Lila hadn’t been there when he’d quaked at the mere thought of touching such a precious, golden-haired lump as Bubbles. Lila hadn’t felt the surge of exhilaration that had come from confronting him…and winning.

  “And he wasn’t necessarily wrong,” Lila added. Her hand touched Sophie’s shoulder. “I did warn you that Bubbles might not make a good service dog, sweetie. Not every puppy is cut out for this kind of work.”

  Sophie glanced down at the animal under consideration, a pang of mingled frustration and disappointment filling her gut. Okay, so Bubbles wasn’t the most impressive puppy to come under their care—she was small and soft and had lingering issues from the trauma of the puppy mill—but that didn’t make her useless.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Lila continued softly. “There will be other cases. One unhappy customer won’t make or break us. I’ll call Oscar and get everything straightened out.”

  “No, don’t.” Sophie spoke sharply, using the same tone that had snapped out when Harrison had initially refused Bubbles. At her sister’s raised brow, she hastily amended it with, “I’ll talk to him. It’s my responsibility. I’m the one who mishandled the situation.”

  Lila’s brow didn’t come down, but she accepted Sophie’s decree with a nod. “Sure thing, Soph. Take the rest of the day off. Go see Oscar. He always makes you feel better.”

  Sophie offered her a tight smile but didn’t say anything. Oscar did always make her feel better, but that wasn’t what she meant. She didn’t want a day off. She didn’t want someone to hug her and placate her and tell her everything would be all right.

  What she wanted—no, what she needed—was to get her client back.

  Glancing down at the Pomeranian, who was staring at the back door as if she too expected Harrison to come waltzing back through it at any moment, Sophie decided that was exactly what she’d do too.

  Even if it was only so she could feel that sudden spark of battle coming alive inside her again.

  Chapter 2

  You said he was going to be tricky.”

  Sophie walked through Oscar’s door at the Deer Park Department of Natural Resources without knocking. His office was a small, one-room affair used mostly for administrative purposes, but he could be found there almost around the clock during the wildfire off-season. The May weather was still damp enough to stave off most forest fires, so she knew he’d be in.

  “Did I?” Oscar didn’t bother to look up from the stack of papers he was sorting on his desk. “I must have been in a good mood.”

  “You said he had a tendency toward stubbornness.”

  “From your tone, I’m guessing you disagree.”

  “You said I should tread warily.”

  “Actually, I believe my exact words were, you should wear a hazmat suit underneath a flak jacket, but you’ve always had more tact than I do.”

  She clamped her lips and crossed her arms, stopping short of tapping her foot on the floor. It took a full twenty seconds for Oscar to give in and glance at her, but Sophie was nothing if not patient. It was the one virtue all good dog trainers needed.

  When he did finally look up, it was with a wry twist to his smile. The heavy lines of the older man’s face were both familiar and friendly, but she knew better than to take the wire-rimmed glasses perched on the end of his nose and the bushy gray mustache as signs of a jolly, grandfatherly type. Oscar was as tough as they came.

  He sighed and pulled the glasses off. “Oh dear. What did he do?”

  Sophie lowered herself into the lone chair that was squeezed in the room with him. The DNR, as it was more affectionately known, was at least accommodating enough to give him one extra seat.

  She could be accommodating where this man was concerned too. After all, she owed him her life.

  “Let’s just say he decided to dispense with our services,” she said.

  Oscar sighed again, this time with world-weary resignation, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “He stormed out the second he saw the dog, didn’t he?”

  “Um.”

  “Sophie?”

  “Not exactly?” She frowned and picked at a hangnail. “I mean, he wasn’t happy about Bubbles, but that wasn’t what ruined things. I, um, may have spoken to him in baby talk for a large portion of the time.”

  Oscar’s entire body stilled. “I’m sorry?”

  “It made sense at the time, I swear. He liked it.”

  “He liked it? Harrison Parks—my Harrison Parks—let you whisper sweet nothings to him?”

  “They weren’t sweet nothings,” she protested, hoping she didn’t sound nearly as foolish as she felt. “I was only trying to get him to relax a little. And I did too—he was smiling and everything. But then Lila came in and misunderstood, and, well…” She let her voice trail off.

  Oscar was familiar enough with her sister to fill in the blanks. Sophie was afraid that he’d do that thing where he pinched his nose in dismay again, but all he did was fall into a crack of laughter. Well, that and reach into his desk drawer to extract a bottle of Wild Turkey and two mismatched glasses. He poured out a finger for each of them and pushed one across the crowded desktop.

  She stared at it. “I don’t understand. What’s this for?”

  “Because, my dear, you’ve earned it.”

  She lifted the glass but didn’t sip. “I have? But I told you—he left. Without a puppy.”

  “You also told me that he smiled. That’s half the battle right there. Drink up.”

  Sophie wasn’t much of a day drinker, but the memory of Harrison’s smile seemed deserving of a good toast. Following Oscar’s lead, she clinked her glass against his and took a generous sip. It burned and not in a good way, but she managed to swallow.

  “Now.” Oscar leaned back in his chair, which creaked as his full weight sank in. “Why don’t you tell me exactly what happened? I should have been clearer about how difficult Harrison can be to work with. He’s a hell of a firefighter, but he’s not what you’d call a people person.”

  “Oh, don’t worry—you were plenty up-front about that. What I don’t understand is why you didn’t tell me how nervous he is.”

  Oscar sat up. “Nervous?”

  She nodded and took another sip of the bourbon. It burned just as much as the first time, but it gave her the courage she needed to keep going. “I think he was afraid that he’d, um, squish Bubbles. That was the impression I got anyway. He wanted the biggest, baddest dog we had, and when I told him that wasn’t an option, he sort of got this panicked look in his eye.”

  “You saw all that?”

  Sophie shrugged. It sounded ridiculous, she knew, but how else could she explain it? “From the way he reacted, it was like I’d asked him to carry around a cracked egg for the rest of his life.”

  “No, he wouldn’t like that.” Oscar chuckled. “He wouldn’t like that at all.”

  “That was where the baby talk came in. Just some cute names I have for Bubbles, you know? I was trying to get him to say a few of them, which was when he started yelling. It wasn’t real yelling, but Lila walked in right in the middle of it and couldn’t tell the difference. Do you know no one has ever yelled at me before?”

  Oscar tugged one end of his mustache. “Is that so?”

  “Not once. Not even a little.” She sighed, remember
ing. “It was nice.”

  “Nice?”

  “I think you should yell at me for screwing everything up. It might help. Go ahead. I don’t mind.”

  Oscar only shook his head, which just went to show how right she was. In the entirety of her childhood and adult memories, she couldn’t even remember anyone sitting her down and giving her a stern talking-to.

  “Anyway, that’s why I’d like to try again,” she said. “If you can convince him to work with me, that is. I’m, um, not sure he’ll want to.”

  For the first time since she’d walked into this office, Oscar allowed a frown to appear. “Oh, he’ll work with you, all right. I don’t care what tactics you have to resort to—baby talk, speaking in tongues, making him carry a dozen cracked eggs. After what happened last week…”

  Sophie didn’t say anything, content to let Oscar lapse into thought for as long as he needed. From the report she’d read, it sounded as though Harrison Parks was lucky to be alive. He’d slipped into a diabetic coma after his continuous glucose monitor malfunctioned during a routine wildfire training exercise. Had he been out on a call somewhere remote or inaccessible by road—both common during the height of the wildfire season—they may not have been able to get him to a hospital in time.

  As if following the exact thread of her thoughts, Oscar’s mouth firmed in a hard line. “If he wants to see any action on the ground this summer, he’ll do it. And he’ll like it, by God. I’m not putting him through that again without some kind of protection in place.”

  “No, of course not,” Sophie said meekly.

  “A puppy’s the only recourse I have left, short of putting him behind a desk.”

  “He doesn’t seem like the sort to appreciate that,” Sophie agreed.

  Oscar sighed and scrubbed a hand over his mouth. His glance, when it met hers, was pointed. “He won’t make this easy on you, Sophie, not for one minute. I’ve never known anyone so wrapped up in barbed wire. Are you sure you’re up for it?”

  “Absolutely,” she said the word automatically.

  It wasn’t automatic enough.

  “You’re saving my skin to take his case at the last minute like this, but I won’t hold it against you if you pass. Especially now that you’ve met him. And Lila wasn’t sure if this dog of yours would be up to the task, so…”

  At the mention of her sister’s name, Sophie’s chin lifted a good inch. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not like that. Bubbles had a rocky start in life, yes, but she can do the job. I know she can.” She hesitated before bringing her chin up even more. “And so can I.”

  His expression softened. “Of course you can, kiddo. Lila’s just looking out for you, that’s all. We both are.”

  Any desire she might have had to abandon this project died at once. It was the kiddo that did it, the reminder that the history she and Oscar shared was forged in blood a long time ago.

  Literally. Once upon a time, this man had leeched the marrow from his bones for her. Once upon a time, he’d undergone extreme pain and hospitalization so she could have another chance at life. It had been eleven years since the bone marrow transplant took successfully and her leukemia went into remission, but that didn’t mean Sophie had forgotten.

  She’d never forget. She couldn’t. No one in her life—family, friend, or foe—would let her.

  “Bubbles is a lot tougher than she looks,” she said as she raised her eyes to Oscar’s. “Please let me do this for you, Oscar. For you and for Harrison.”

  And, she didn’t need to add, for me.

  “I don’t know…” Oscar began.

  “I’ll find a way to make it work,” she said. “That’s a promise. Even if I have to beg him to come back on my knees. Even if I have to make him yell at me every day for six weeks to do it.”

  Oscar rolled his shoulders in a gesture of capitulation. With that one small move, Sophie knew she was getting another chance.

  Her life was filled with second chances. She sometimes wondered what she’d done to deserve so much.

  “He’s rough, but he’s not that rough. I doubt he’ll yell at you for the whole six weeks.” Oscar grinned and added, “Four at the very most.”

  Chapter 3

  Oscar must have worked fast.

  Sophie arrived home from Deer Park to find a house full of people. In addition to her two sisters, who were holding court over a pot of tea in the kitchen, Harrison sat hulking in one corner, looking like a man undergoing extreme torture.

  “You know it’s going to be a good date when the guy leads with something like that.” Dawn winked at Sophie as she stepped into the room. “We broke at least three laws that night. Four if you count some of the really prudish ones in Kentucky. Speaking of, look who’s finally returned to the fold. Hello, Soph. You have a visitor.”

  At the mention of her name, Harrison sprang to his feet, almost knocking over the wooden chair in the process. He was surprisingly swift for a man of his size, but that might have been because she’d never seen anyone look so delighted to see her.

  “Oh, thank God,” he said. “I’ve been here for forty-five minutes already.”

  Right. That wasn’t delight so much as it was a deep, profound relief. And who could blame him? Dawn and Lila together in one room were a lot for any man to handle, let alone one who clearly didn’t enjoy the social niceties.

  “Forty-five minutes?” Sophie asked with a quick check at the clock. “Oscar couldn’t have possibly had time to call you. I was still with him at that point.”

  “What the hell does this have to do with Oscar?” Harrison demanded. Then, as if aware that he was addressing a room of three women rather than a firing squad, he took a deep breath and added, “I, uh, came to apologize. For earlier. About the puppy.”

  Sophie hadn’t had a chance to apprise Dawn of the day’s events, but one look at her sister’s face and it was obvious she was up to speed. With that kind of giddy glee lighting her from within, Dawn obviously thought this whole thing was hilarious. Lila mostly looked worried.

  Neither of those reactions was surprising. Lila had always carried herself with a serene grace that matched her status as the eldest in the family. It also matched her tailored clothes and the topknot she wound her almost waist-length hair into. Dawn wore her own dark locks—a gift, along with the sisters’ deep-brown eyes and light-brown skin, from the Vasquez side of their family—in a tousled bob that made the most of her natural waves. Her wide, sunny face was sprinkled with freckles and a smile to match. Lila’s demeanor was one men could admire; Dawn’s one they couldn’t help but be charmed by.

  It was only Sophie who lagged behind. She’d done the best she could to distinguish herself from her sisters, her short, boyish figure offset by a pixie cut that made the most of her delicate features, but it was no use. When the three of them stood side by side, she inevitably faded into the background.

  Or, rather, she used to fade into the background. From the way Harrison was looking at her, like she was his walking savior, she couldn’t help but feel a warm glow start to take over.

  “There’s nothing to apologize for,” she said with what she hoped was breezy unconcern. “It was a slight misunderstanding, that’s all. I should have warned you ahead of time that your animal had already been selected for you.”

  “About that…” Lila began, but Sophie turned to her with an imploring look. Lila might technically be the one in charge of Puppy Promise, the service-dog training organization that provided the Vasquez sisters with their life’s purpose, but Sophie needed this. Bubbles needed this.

  Lila had been uncomfortable with the idea of using a puppy mill dog from the start, since the poor thing had obviously been subjected to more than one cruelty in her short life, but Sophie had no doubts on that score. Five minutes in that animal’s company had been more than enough to convince her that she was worth taking on.
/>
  With some animals—some people—you just knew.

  “I realize Bubbles isn’t much to look at, but she’s smart and eager to learn. All she needs is a chance to prove herself.”

  Harrison didn’t say anything. He kept watching her in that intense, panicked way, as if he couldn’t make up his mind whether to sit down again or run screaming from the room.

  Please don’t run screaming from the room, she wanted to beg him. Please don’t run screaming from me.

  “What do you say we make ourselves scarce, Lil?” Dawn asked, a deep dimple appearing in her right cheek. “Scott has that new litter of blue heelers he wanted us to come take a look at.”

  “But we don’t need any—”

  “They’re very promising. I bet they’ll get snatched up quickly. We’ll need to act fast if we want to make an offer.”

  “But—”

  Dawn took one glance at Sophie’s face and put on her sternest expression. “Now, Lila.”

  It took Lila a good ten seconds to pick up on the subtext and agree to give Sophie and Harrison some space. Harrison was much quicker on the uptake.

  “A blue heeler?” he asked. “Are they good at—what did you call it—scent detection?”

  “Yes, they are,” Sophie said. In fact, given Harrison’s obvious preference for dogs with size to recommend them, a blue heeler would be a perfect fit. Their noses were more than adequate to pick up on the subtle changes in human saliva that occurred when blood sugars rose or fell, and the larger dog would be able to keep up with him as he plunged through forest undergrowth.

  In any other situation, she’d have allowed the client’s preferences to outweigh her own. In this situation, however, she was taking a stand.