Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (43 page)

I returned and found Logan and Goldie hot into a ball game. Each time he threw the ball, wonder dog leaped into the air and caught it. “She had no intention of running after it.” I laughed and glanced at Loga
n. I had no urge to run
,
either.

Chapter Thirty-six

On my way out
,
I stopped by Hank
’s desk. He glanced up from the computer screen.
“N
eed
something
, s
ir?”

“
Put me on the night
shift
. T
onight.”
I hadn’t gotten the
okay from Doc, but
I needed my normal routine.

“Nicole
’s already scheduled.” Hank clicked the correct spreadsheet in his computer.

“Take her
off. P
ut me on
.”
I was being
unfair to Nicole
—I’d
take it up with her
later.
Either this, or
go
mad from sitting
at my desk for
one more day.

I dashed home
,
arriving
back at the station
in time
for my shift.
Alec
followed me out to the patrol car. “What are you doing?”

“Riding along.”

Friends. G
otta love
’em
.
The night was quiet as we destroyed all ev
idence of
the
coffee and donuts from
our first stop. It wasn’t long until w
e
received the expected
Friday night call to break up a fight at Mick’s Bar
,
on the outskirts of town. A few hours later a
nother call came in, a
dog hit by a
car near the cove. We
headed
to the location
while
Alec
put in a ca
ll to
Dr. Victoria Katz
.

The veterinarian
lived near the scene
and arrived before we did. I walk
ed to the side of the road
where
she knelt by the dog. “Hi
,
Tori
. How’s it going?”

“He’ll need
x-rays.
But I think it’s only
a fractured leg—he’s lucky. W
ill
you get the
carrier
out of my van?”

“I’ll get
it.”
Alec
returned from the van and
set the
carrier
on the ground next to the
dog. “
Any tags?”

“None. The way his ribs protrude—definitely
a stray.”
Victoria
continued
her
examination
.

“Looks like a Husky
,
” I
said. I knelt
next to her
,
ignoring
the
cramp
in my leg.
I rubbed the dog
’
s head. T
he brown
color on his jowls and the black around his eyes looked as if he’d dressed for a masquerade ball. “He’s a beauty.”

She
finished wrapping gauze around the dog’s leg
.
“
My guess is a Husky mix
—he
has markings of a Lab. O
ne blue eye and one brown—n
ot unusual in a Husky.”

“He’s f
riendly.” I pushed up off the ground
.
Alec
grabbed my arm and
assisted me
. Then
he
helped load the dog into the van.

“Call me with an update.
” I waved to Victoria
as I climbed back into the cruiser
.

I finished my shift, and headed home for a few hours sleep. Before going to bed, I texted Sam and invited her to breakfast later that
morning—it was already
past midnight.

I pulled up as she
twisted the key in the lock of the
shop door
. She turned
,
the
sweetness of her
smile
causing
a pause in my breathing.

“Hi. We could walk to Rubi’s
.” She pointed tow
ard the diner as she climbed into the passenger seat.

I leaned across the seat and prope
rly greeted her.
“If you don’t mind tagging along
,
I want to follow
up on a case from last night first
.”
A few minutes late
r
,
we
knocked on the rear
door of the vet’s office. Victoria
let us in and I voiced appropriate introductions before getting down to business. “How’s the patient?”

“
Getting ready to call the shelter in
Mariner Bay
. The bone in his leg is
definitely
fractured. Otherwise
,
he
in good shape.”
Victoria
led the way to
the
dog’s cage
and opened the door
.

“Oh, h
e’s gorgeous
.”
Sam reached in and stroked the dog’s back.

“What’s the
procedure to adopt him
?
”
I
looked at Sam still ruffling
the dog’s fur.

“Normal procedure would be to
wait a few days to
see if any
one claims him.
In this case
,
he is extremely
undernourished
—
I’m
confident
he’s a stray.
I checked
and
he doesn’t have a microchip.
K
now
someone who might be interested
?
”

Uttering a sigh, I crawled out on the proverbial limb.
“Yeah. I’ll take him.”

Sam
laughed and hugged me. “Look—
Goldie’s talking to him through the cage.”

“Is he neutered? Don’t want
any Husky, Lab
,
and Sheltie mix
pups.”

Sam
gigg
led and grabbed my arm.
“T
hey’d be
cute
, but Goldie’s been spayed.”

Victoria
smiled.
“This one’s been taken care of
,
too
.
Are t
he
dogs going to be together?” Her
gaze bounced from
Sam
to me. “Just asking
..
.
”
H
er
l
aughter followed us as we left with both dogs in tow.

I texted Maggie with a heads
-up—
two
adults,
two
dogs for breakfast
.
”

As we
pulled into her drive
way
Magg
ie ca
me flying out of the house
in shorts
and a tee.
“Let me see.
”
She tried to
peer
inside the cab
.

“Hold on, let us get out first.” I went around to the passenger side and
helped the Husky down
to keep him from hurting his
leg
.
Sam
followed
the two dogs
to where Maggie waited.

“
He’s something
,
isn’t he
,
s
is?” The excitement in her smile spoke volumes.
“He’s
yours.”

Maggie
and
Sam
both stared
at me as a
mazement crept
onto their faces
. “Two speechless women—
now
that’s an accomplishment.”

Maggie
threw her arms around me and gave me a bear hug
. Her face lit up like a child’s on Christmas
morning
. “I love him.
How did you know?”

“When you started referring to yo
urself as Goldie’s Aunt Maggie.
”

She shot
a sharp look beneath lowered brows
, but failed to hold back a smile
. “
Breakfast
is ready
.” Maggie called the dogs to follow her.
Goldie
waited
at the top of the steps for the
Husky
to limp
up on the porch.

After eating
,
w
e waved
goodbye to Maggie and
Wolf
—the monik
er she’d decided on.
“
Goldie acts like she wanted
to stay.”
Sam
reached in
the back seat and comforted her
. “
Did you see the look on Maggie’s face?”

“She was pretty stoked.” As
I
turned in
to the alley
behind the boo
kshop
,
a paper
was
sti
c
k
ing
out near the back door frame
.
I
followed
Sam
and she
slid it
from the gap
.

“It’s from
John
. ‘Leave us alone
.’” She read the message scrawled across the note
. “How dumb can I be? Elizabeth
asked me not to return
Anne
’s writings and stupidly I
wrote
a
thank-you
note
and Betsy
deliver
ed
it
.
”

T
he defeated look on her
face s
lammed my heart.
I pulled her into my arms.

Sam leaned back and looked at me.
“There comes a time when enough is enough. Shoul
d I respect
John
’s wishes and leave them alone?
My grandfather
’s
righ
t. W
e can’t turn back the years.
”

“You can’t reverse time
, but d
on’t give up hope—you’ll find a way to reach
your grandfather.
”
I held her close as she laid her head on my shoulder.
Lord
,
make it so.

Chapter T
hi
rty-seven

Days come and go and the quandaries remain
. My birth father—I
ne
ed that piece of the puzzle, although
I’m still unsure
about meeting him
.
I long for my g
randmother—t
he connection
aches
to take hold.
My grandfather
—
I’m not so sure about. Logan—
a blazing flame of hope
,
sweeping through my soul. ~ Journal entry

I’d hit
a speed bump with s
elling the bookshop
—me
.
I
simply
wasn’t ready to let
go of it. Goldie brushed my leg with her paw and moved toward the door
.
Turning, I saw Audra. She wore
jeans with a white tailored shirt tucked in, looking as professional as she did
in her slim skirt. “
Thanks for dropping by
.”

“No
problem.
”

I squared my shoulders and took notice of my posture.
“
As
I told you in my text, I’ve decided
to lease the
shop
.”