Skye Cree 03: The Bones Will Tell (26 page)

She noticed t
he patch of wild lettuce had almost overtaken the chamomile. In the corner of the yard a bunny munched on pineapple weed. She decided she’d have to do something about the rabbits if she intended to plant a garden. Until this moment, she hadn’t realized how much she wanted to live here surrounded by nature and gleaming water.

When she
felt strong arms wrap around her waist, she leaned back into Josh’s frame.

“What are you doing out here?
It’s so early. Couldn’t you sleep?”

“Not with the excitement of being here.”

He wasn’t buying her excuse but for now, he chose not to pursue it. Instead, he kissed the back of her neck and could feel the tension emanating off her. Determined to do something about that, he slid her top off to the side, exposing a bare shoulder. His tongue moved along silky skin so smooth it reminded him of the softest rose petals.

H
e guided his hands over her breasts till he found a ripe nipple. When she began to relax, he coaxed her with deep kisses. “Come back to bed. We didn’t get a chance to christen the brand-new mattress last night.”

“
We’ll have to fix that.” Turning her body further into his, she ran her fingers under the robe he wore, pressed hard into his space. Molten pleasure spread like the sun bursting out of the clouds.

“Oh yeah.
We’ll test the newness with hot and sweaty sex.” He captured her hand, bundled her up in his arms. With the sea breeze at his back, as blue herons soared across the bay, he carried his wife into the bedroom.

Sun
light began to glimmer through the wispy drapes as he laid her on the bed, followed her down. Stringing kisses from neck to belly, they tangled and rolled. Flames speared into rocket flares, bright as red stars. They flew up, winging their way to the crimson heat together. Mated, their bodies kept the beat through a wild pace until that rhythm brought them into a glorious freefall.

Sated
, after hours spent cocooned between the sheets, lack of food finally forced them to crawl out of their nest.

F
or their first breakfast in their new home, Skye dug out the fixings for chocolate brownie waffles and blackberry sauce. She’d squirrelled away the ingredients hoping to surprise Josh. It hadn’t been easy. Lately, it was difficult to catch the man off-guard.

“How d
id you put this together in twenty minutes?”

“It’s
a miracle,” she cracked. “It’s simple really. I used stuff I bought at the store.”

“Imagine what you could do with your own restaurant
. Like Travis. I wonder if it runs in the family.”

“Hmm, I never considered where I get my knack for cooking. My mom was a whiz in the kitchen so I just assumed… I guess it’s in the genes.”

Before putting another bite of tasty waffle in his mouth, he decided it was time to drop the bombshell he’d been keeping to himself. “I have a little surprise. I hope you like the idea. I bought that old rundown motel.”

Her mouth
fell open. “What? I fix waffles for you—that’s my surprise—and you go and buy… You mean the one we saw the night we found Shawna Langley? That old motel?”

“The same.
The first thing I get rid of is that tacky rooftop billboard.”

“
I can’t believe you’re really planning on turning that building into little apartments for the homeless.”

“It’ll take some work but I’ll hire local
, anyone who can swing a hammer I’ll consider an asset.”

“
That’s not a bad idea. Like Habitat for Humanity. They’ll let anyone volunteer no matter their skill level.” She looked at him then with a big smile. “What do you say about bringing in a new addition to the family? Let’s go check out that shelter. It’s time to get us a dog.”

Debbie Rodriguez had
worked for the Adopt-A-Best Friend Shelter for almost five years. Being a kennel keeper wasn’t a job that came with glamour or benefits. But since Debbie loved animals, dogs particularly, she got to spend her time doing what she loved. There was a lot of cleaning up poop, feeding and grooming, and taking her charges outside for a walk.

That was her favorite time of the workday when she could get outside, rain or shine, let the dogs out of their enclosures to run and play. The
four acres of donated land where the shelter sat had plenty of space for just that purpose. The dogs got to stretch their legs and run around. It’s one of the reasons Debbie stayed.

She
had her favorites. All the workers did. For the last week, she’d had her eye on one particular little female, about four months old, that had come to them as a sick stray. A jogger had found the canine at the side of the road near starvation. That had been several weeks earlier. Since then, she’d kept track of the girl’s progress.

The on-site vet had
n’t spayed the silver-colored malamute yet because of her young age, but the doctor had brought the pup up to speed on all her shots.

That’s why
Debbie was confident the puppy was healthy enough for adoption. She couldn’t wait to see the cute little thing find a forever home. If she didn’t have three dogs already she’d snap this one up in a heartbeat.

As
Debbie put her charges through their paces outside under the threat of rain, she watched the sweet expression on the malamute. The fluffy ball of fur made her laugh. For some reason, the little pup had gone off to one corner of the lawn all by herself. There, she seemed to delight in playing with what looked like, an imaginary playmate.

The dog
pranced and jumped, put her front paw in the air as if to touch her new bestie. The only problem with all of it was that there was no other dog within ten feet of her. The pooch was literally romping in a meadow with no one else around.

When
Skye and
Josh pulled into the lot they saw what looked like a private residence, stately and grand. They’d already learned from the Internet that the house and surrounding land had once belonged to Frederic and Eleanor Brandenhall. After the couple perished in a 1952 plane crash near Seattle, the city found out Frederic and Eleanor had arranged to leave their sizeable estate in a trust to help with the care and feeding of the island’s animal population.

For more than fifty years
Adopt-A-Best Friend had stood as one of the best in the state. The place had a good reputation as a well-run facility that provided quality care on a full-time basis with a competent veterinarian and medical staff on call twenty-four-seven.

As soon as
they crawled out of the Subaru, every dog in residence set up a din of barking. Whether it was a showy welcome or to get attention, the gesture worked. Skye went through the gate first and spotted Kiya.

She nudged Josh
in the ribs to take a look. In a corner of the huge yard the wolf played with a baby, a silver-gray Alaskan malamute with big blue eyes and the largest feet she’d ever seen on a puppy.

Skye
wasn’t surprised when Kiya scrambled over and the pup followed. Though her wolf sat like a dignified lady at her feet, the cute little bundle of fluff did not—the idea of manners seemed foreign to the fuzzball. She jumped and danced around Skye’s legs before bounding into her arms with a lick to the face.

“Aren’t you a pretty girl?
You’re just a puppy, aren’t you?”

“The vet says she’s between four and five months old.” From a few feet away Debbie went through the pup’s story and how she’d been found.

Once the dog nuzzled Skye enough to win her over, the puppy moved on to Josh, making sure all her bases were covered.

Josh
crouched down, ran his fingers through the girl’s fur. “You’re a roly-poly wad of energy is what you are. Does she have a name?”

“
Not yet. That’s up to her new owners. I think you’ve found a new best friend.”

Skye met the woman’s amused eyes. “Your sign says this is the place for it.”

“It’s true. We’ve hooked up quite a few serious relationships since I’ve been here. This one is a sweetheart. Got a name picked out yet?”

Skye looked at Josh.

“Your dog, your call.”

“Our dog. But I think I’ll call her Atka,” Skye asserted as she rubbed the pup’s ears. “She’s Alaskan so it seems fitting.”

“That’s a beautiful name
,” Debbie decided. “Does it have special meaning for you? I’ve never heard of it before.”

“I
t’s Inuit. The name means guardian spirit.” Skye scooped the dog up into her arms and said, “Come on, Atka, let’s go fill out some paperwork so we can get you home.”

Th
ey worked the
rest of the day unpacking boxes while Atka settled in around them, most of the time underfoot. The curious pup sniffed and explored her new home, but didn’t stay very far away from her owners for long.

That was okay by Skye.
Standing in the kitchen perched on a stepladder, she stacked plates in the cabinet as Josh handed them off to her.

“Don’t worry, we
’ve almost got this room knocked out then we’ll move to the living room, get that squared away.”

Like a general with a plan of attack,
she’d been working like a fiend to put the house right. Josh shouldn’t have been surprised in her resolve—she put Mr. Clean to shame. “Do we get to break for lunch?”

She grinned.
“I’ll ignore that while you make sandwiches. If you’re bored, I can finish up. Why not take the dog out?”

“Come on, Atka. Let’s get some fresh air.” He
took the leash down off the peg as the dog made a mad dash for the door when it cracked open.

“We’ll need to think about training and teaching her some manners,” Josh said as he disappeared down the back steps.

What the hell, thought Skye? The sun peeking through the clouds drew her outside. She crawled down off the ladder, abandoned her mission and took off running after man and dog. She caught up to them near the little ornamental pond. As they cruised past the hydrangeas, Skye watched Atka snub her nose at the flowers and squat between the sweet fern and pepperbush.

“
Good girl.”

“She’s that
, and smart,” Josh said, easily enough. “You know she has wolf blood running through her, don’t you? I can sense it.”