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- Herausgeber: Valley Publishing Ltd.
- Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
- Sprache: Englisch
Kyron swore he wouldn’t work with dogs anymore, but, when Badger asks him to go home to Aspen and to track a missing War Dog, who is missing her left leg—as he is—Kyron can’t refuse. Even if it means seeing his brother and his wife again. Not that he had anything against them. Kyron just couldn’t deal with his parents. Finding the dog seems like the easiest part of returning to Aspen, until Kyron realizes a rescue run by a fascinating woman is the one that’s spotted the missing dog, … only the dog isn’t alone …
Miranda spends every waking moment working to keep her animals safe. Two jobs keeps them in food and shelter but not much more. Considering her miserable neighbor is always making complaints about her, she has considered moving, but it is too expensive to make that happen. She has seen a three-legged canine hanging around the back perimeter of her property and had been feeding it, quietly knowing it resembled the dog the neighbor had brought home, until it ran away.
She had no intention of letting her neighbor or anyone else know about the dog, hoping to coax it onto her property, where she could look after it properly. However, then Kyron showed up, searching for the animal, and things got really ugly …
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
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KYRON
The K9 Files, Book 15
Dale Mayer
Books in This Series:
Ethan, Book 1
Pierce, Book 2
Zane, Book 3
Blaze, Book 4
Lucas, Book 5
Parker, Book 6
Carter, Book 7
Weston, Book 8
Greyson, Book 9
Rowan, Book 10
Caleb, Book 11
Kurt, Book 12
Tucker, Book 13
Harley, Book 14
Kyron, Book 15
Jenner, Book 16
Rhys, Book 17
Landon, Book 18
Harper, Book 19
Kascius, Book 20
Declan, Book 21
The K9 Files, Books 1–2
The K9 Files, Books 3–4
The K9 Files, Books 5–6
The K9 Files, Books 7–8
The K9 Files, Books 9–10
The K9 Files, Books 11–12
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
About This Book
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Epilogue
About Jenner
Author’s Note
Complimentary Download
About the Author
Copyright Page
About This Book
Welcome to the all new K9 Files series reconnecting readers with the unforgettable men from SEALs of Steel in a new series of action packed, page turning romantic suspense that fans have come to expect from USA TODAY Bestselling author Dale Mayer. Pssst… you’ll meet other favorite characters from SEALs of Honor and Heroes for Hire too!
Kyron swore he wouldn’t work with dogs anymore, but, when Badger asks him to go home to Aspen and to track a missing War Dog, who is missing her left leg—as he is—Kyron can’t refuse. Even if it means seeing his brother and his wife again. Not that he had anything against them. Kyron just couldn’t deal with his parents. Finding the dog seems like the easiest part of returning to Aspen, until Kyron realizes a rescue run by a fascinating woman is the one that’s spotted the missing dog, … only the dog isn’t alone …
Miranda spends every waking moment working to keep her animals safe. Two jobs keeps them in food and shelter but not much more. Considering her miserable neighbor is always making complaints about her, she has considered moving, but it is too expensive to make that happen. She has seen a three-legged canine hanging around the back perimeter of her property and had been feeding it, quietly knowing it resembled the dog the neighbor had brought home, until it ran away.
She had no intention of letting her neighbor or anyone else know about the dog, hoping to coax it onto her property, where she could look after it properly. However, then Kyron showed up, searching for the animal, and things got really ugly …
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Prologue
Badger sat at his desk across from Kyron Edgewater, who stared at him, somewhat angered.
“You want me to go after a dog? Did you hear me say that I didn’t want to do K9 anymore?”
“I did. And her name is Beth.” Badger looked over at Erick, who sat beside him.
Erick picked up the argument. “We figured it’s one of the reasons that you probably need to do this. We know how much you love dogs. We know how much you love that part of your life. And we figure some trauma’s still there that you might need to heal.”
“But you’re not shrinks.” Kyron felt his temper spike. “And I didn’t sign up for therapy.”
“Maybe not, but, at the same time, I’d like to think that there’s room in your heart to help out another animal.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“She’s missing a leg, was injured, and retired out in Colorado.”
“So that sounds like what all of us are dealing with.” He made a hand motion at the three of them. He had two fake knee joints, a missing lower leg, some ribs, and a kidney. Well, bits and pieces were left of the kidney. “It is what it is.”
“Sure, and then somebody went to do a welfare check on Beth to make sure she was okay. At which point, the new owners admitted that she had gone missing sometime in the night a few months ago.”
He stopped and stared. “Why the hell would somebody steal the dog?”
“We’re not exactly sure,” Badger admitted. “They were having trouble with the dog. It was a little more aggressive than anticipated, and they didn’t know why. So, when she went missing, they weren’t too upset. They weren’t planning on telling anybody either. Nobody would have known except for the dog welfare check.”
“And so now what?”
“We want to make sure Beth is okay.”
“Obviously it’s not okay. It’s gone missing. If it was getting aggressive, you also know there’s a damn good chance that somebody took it out back and shot it.”
Badger winced at that. “I hope not. We’ve had really good luck finding these animals and giving them a much better life. But if Colorado isn’t a place you want to go and if Beth is one you can walk away from …”
Kyron frowned at Badger. “That’s a low blow.”
“Of course it is.” Badger half smiled. “We’re a little desperate here. We need people who can handle dogs.”
“Of course I can handle dogs. The reason I didn’t want to go back in the K9 unit is, I couldn’t handle the death.”
“And that’s justified,” Badger admitted. “Not to mention that you’re not the first person to bring up that point. I’m just looking for somebody to take a quick trip and to see if they can find Beth.”
“But it went missing months ago. You know there’ll be no sign of it.”
“Maybe not but we have to take a look, don’t we?”
He groaned. “And of course this isn’t a paid job, is it?”
“Would it make a difference to you if it was?”
“No.” He sighed. “Just that you want somebody who can find this dog and make sure she’s okay.” And yes the dog was already a she – a warm and precious female life.
“Yes, and we’ll cover the trip, and we’ll cover the hotels and any equipment you might need.” Badger studied him closely. “Are you okay with Colorado?”
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I be okay with Colorado?” he asked in exasperation. “Aspen was my winter playground.”
“And how will you handle returning there in the wintertime, when you only have one leg?”
He glared at him. “Maybe I’ll pick up snowboarding and see how that works.”
“Maybe you should. For all we know, Beth’s been taken into Search and Rescue and is just fine.”
At that, Kyron shrugged. “You know that actually wouldn’t be a bad field for her.”
“Except for the missing leg.”
“Possibly.” He stared off in the distance. “Maybe a prosthetic could be made for her too.”
“Why don’t you go find Beth, then talk to Kat about that,” Badger suggested, “but only if you’re interested.”
He glared at him. “You know I’m interested. You also know there’s no way in hell I’ll leave that dog in trouble.”
“That’s what we figured,” Badger noted in satisfaction. “Still, it’s your choice.”
“Meaning, you know I would go.” Kyron got up and walked outside. He stopped, took a deep breath, and he knew that he was in for headache and heartache.
Every time it seemed like he got around dogs, it was just bad news. They either got killed, taken away, injured, or something bad happened.
But this one was already injured, the other part of his brain argued. Maybe, this time, it’ll go better for both of you.
He doubted it. But he was a sucker for anyone in trouble. Especially a dog. “Hang on, Beth. I’m on my way.”
Chapter 1
Kyron stepped out of the airport, shouldered his bag to a different position that didn’t press on some of the scar tissue around his ribs, then turned to look around. He’d left a message but hadn’t heard back from Allen. Absolutely no guarantee his brother would even be here. Kyron hadn’t talked to his brother in, well, let’s just say a long time. A vehicle drove up, honking its horn. They used to be good friends, but Allen hadn’t agreed with Kyron’s decision to go into the navy so long ago.
Allen had gone into local law enforcement, and that was something that Kyron didn’t have a problem with at all, but that wasn’t what Kyron wanted for himself. They kept in touch at first but had drifted apart. After a couple bouts of brotherly rivalry had hit, they never seemed to really talk after that.
He looked over at the vehicle honking again and realized it was Allen. Kyron walked forward, threw his duffel bag in the back of the pickup, and hopped up into the front seat.
Allen shot him a hard look and then pulled out into the traffic.
“What’s that look for?” Kyron asked.
“I was just assessing your walk.”
“I’m walking just fine,” he replied in a calm voice.
“You’d be walking better if you had both legs.”
“Well, that won’t change,” he murmured, “so it’s a dead conversation.”
His brother shrugged. “Considering my partner just lost his leg on the job, I guess that’s a fair assessment.”
Kyron looked over at him. “Conrad?”
“Yeah, car accident, high-speed chase. Conrad ended up whipped out and pinned behind a power pole, and the leg couldn’t be saved.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Kyron said sincerely.
“Me too. I think his wife is more torn up about it than Conrad is. Although I’m not sure reality has set in for him.”
“It takes a long time,” Kyron stated. “You put on this good front and a happy face and say, ‘Hey, it’s only one leg.’ Then you believe it’ll all be better—until you wake up in the morning and try to go to the bathroom and end up flat on your face because you forgot you are missing a leg.”
Allen looked at him, startled. “Never thought about things like that.”
“He’ll adjust, the same as I did.”
The two brothers didn’t say anything for a long time.
“So, in that very short text of yours, you didn’t mention why you were coming to Aspen,” Allen stated. “It would be lovely to think it was to see me and Sandra, but I highly doubt that’s what is on your mind.”
“Let’s just say, it’s good timing for a chance to combine two things with one,” he replied.
“Which also means that you wouldn’t be coming for a visit if you didn’t have this other purpose.”
“Well, I didn’t have a whole lot of purpose otherwise,” he shared. “Don’t worry. I’m not planning on sticking around as a deadbeat brother, and the visit would have happened eventually either way,” he admitted finally to himself and to his brother. “I just wasn’t sure when or how.”
“You pick up a phone, and you book a ticket, and you make it happen,” Allen stated. “You know that we would have come to you anytime over the last couple years.”
“Yeah, you probably would have,” he agreed. “But it’s only now that I’m really somebody worth talking to.” Allen didn’t say anything for a long moment. And Kyron appreciated that.
“I gather the anger was pretty rough.”
“You could say that.” Kyron paused. “I lost my career, along with my leg and my best friend,” he noted, his voice low. “You tend to either get over it really easily, or it takes you a hell of a long time to let it go.”
“I think you got over it just fine,” Allen added briefly. “You’re at least talking to us now, so I take that as a positive sign. I do know some guys, some veterans, who have a huge hate for the world around them.”
“And a lot of guys don’t,” Kyron countered quietly. “I needed to get to the point where I became one of the ones who don’t have that hate.” He knew his brother would understand, especially being in law enforcement. They took risks every day of their lives, and sometimes the risks were just a little bit worse than others.
“I’m sorry about your career.”
“Well, I could have had a desk job, if I wanted it.”
At that, Allen snorted. “You and me both would have the same attitude about that.”
“Well, that’s the thing.” Kyron sent a brief smile in his brother’s direction. “It’s been pretty tough, and I just couldn’t see myself at a desk job. Some guys can adapt and do well, but I couldn’t see myself in that role.”
“And yet,” Allen noted, “you used to be in a K9 unit.”
“I was, and I walked away from that just before the accident.”
His brother looked startled. “You didn’t tell us that.”
“No.”
“And why didn’t you?”
“Because we had four dogs die,” Kyron snapped. “One mission went bad, real bad, and I just decided that I’d had enough of the deaths.”
“And yet you didn’t retire.”
“No, I didn’t, but I probably should have. Hindsight. It’s awesome if hindsight actually had the ability to change anything,” he stated. “But when you can’t change things, it just makes you feel like an idiot for not having seen the signs ahead of time.”
“That’s terrible.” Allen shook his head. “I hadn’t ever considered it that way.”
“And, honest to God, it could be so much worse,” Kyron added.
“It could be, yes,” Allen agreed. “I could be driving to your funeral right now, instead of driving you back home.”
“I appreciate the lift, by the way.”
“And I hope you’re staying with us.” When Kyron hesitated at that, Allen shook his head. “Don’t be stubborn. We haven’t had a chance to see you in a couple years. You damn near died on us, and you know how much we want to see you.” He looked over at him. “By the way, Sandra’s pregnant.”
He looked at his brother in shock. “Seriously?”
Allen gave him a pleased smile. “Yeah, I know. We didn’t think it would happen. The doctors even told us it wasn’t likely to happen, but, hey, it did. So, what we’re trying to do is keep her calm, quiet, and not have anything go wrong. It’s considered a high-risk pregnancy, and we all know how that can go. I’d appreciate it if you’d keep that part of the conversation out of the house though.” Allen shot a glance at his brother. “We always have too much of that worry in the back of our minds.”
“How far along is she?”
“She’s seven months already.”
“Wow, but that also means, if something did go wrong now, you’re at the point where the baby could survive, right?”
“That’s what we’re counting on. She’s been off work since we found out, just trying to be as careful as she can,” he noted quietly.
“How is she doing mentally?”
His brother nodded. “Much better now. The miscarriage a couple years ago hit her really badly, and she was in a really depressed state. I had trouble getting her to eat. She didn’t care about anything, and she lost weight, too much weight.”
“She doesn’t have any to lose to begin with.”
“No, and it’s been a struggle to get her to put on enough to make it through the pregnancy. Honestly, we’re pretty stoked that she’s at seven months and that things are still looking solid.”
“I’m sure you are,” he replied. “Any idea what it is?”
“It’s a boy.” Allen grinned.
“Holy cow.” Kyron sat back, staring at his brother. “You’ll actually have a son.”
“I know. I know. I’m pretty excited.”
And he was; Kyron could tell from the proud look on his face. “Well, let’s hope everything goes well for these last couple months.”
“We’re doing our best to keep everything calm and quiet.”
“Then it’s better if I go to a hotel, isn’t it?” Kyron asked. “The last thing I want to do is upset the apple cart.”
“And how would having you home upset the apple cart?” Allen asked, frowning. “If you went to a hotel, it would make her all worried that she’d done something wrong.”
“Yeah, that’s a Sandra thing, isn’t it?” Kyron rubbed his temples. He didn’t know what to do. He thought that maybe he could stay with his brother, although Badger had specifically said they would cover the expenses. Yet hotels here were really expensive, and there wasn’t any need for it, as Kyron had family here. Also, if he didn’t have to spend as much money, then Badger could use it to help other dogs, which was always part of his thought process.
“Yeah, to some degree. Listen,” his brother continued. “I would appreciate it if you did stay, and, hey, if it looks like it’ll be stressful, I’d have no problem asking you to leave.”
Kyron snorted at that. “Bro, you’ve never had a problem telling me exactly what you thought.” An awkward silence followed for a moment.
Then Allen finally spoke. “I’ve wondered if you still held that against me.”
“Trying not to.” Kyron shrugged. “It was great that you got to make your life choices and have everybody’s support, but I just couldn’t go that route.”
“Yeah.” Allen nodded. “I’ve thought about that a lot over the years, and I have to admit that is something I regret. Your parents do too.”
“You mean, our parents?” he corrected, with a wry tone.
He winced at that. “Yeah. Listen. I know they supported me becoming a cop because that’s what our father was as well. So, to them, I was following in his footsteps.”
“And I was following in Granddad’s footsteps, but, because they were on outs with him, they chose to be on the outs with me,” Kyron replied quietly.
“Have you talked to them?”
“Nope, I sure haven’t. They told me that I’d get hurt and to not come back to them when I was all crippled up and in need of financial support,” he shared, his voice hard. “So, no, I haven’t reached out.”
A shocked silence came from Allen’s side of the vehicle. “Jesus, I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, and they were pretty specific. So I’ve not had anything to do with them since then, now that, of course, I am injured and what they would think of as ‘in need of financial support.’ Therefore, you can damn well bet I won’t have anything to do with them now either.”
“That’s a little harsh, isn’t it?”
“Nope, it sure isn’t,” he snapped. “Not if you’re me. Not if, like Sandra, you’re protecting your health or your sanity, by keeping cynical and hateful people out of your life.”
“They were trying to stop you from running away and dying in a far-off land.”
“Maybe so, but you’re just as likely to get killed in law enforcement here in Aspen as I was in the military.”
At that, Allen nodded. “Unfortunately it happens, but one was a little more honorable to them than the other.”
“Of course. One kept you close, and I left to pursue the other,” Kyron replied. “I also think it had an awful lot to do with Granddad.”
“You were always really close to Granddad too,” Allen murmured.
“Always.”
“It was just something they hated, but I never quite understood that either,” Allen murmured.
“No, and I sure never got the reasons for it either, but, because they were mad at Granddad, they considered my friendship with him to be choosing sides.”
“Maybe.” Allen pulled out of the traffic and headed down a side street.
“No maybe about it. They were supposed to be the adults back then, and now.” With a huge sigh, Kyron asked, “Have things in town changed much?”
“Nope, still big money, still big problems, and most of it under the counter, until something brings it to light, you know?” he replied. “We are getting two more patrol positions in the department, but, with tourist season on, it’s pretty rough sometimes. I do enjoy my days off, when I get them.”
“Any thoughts on retiring, now that you have a family?”
“Haven’t got enough years in for that,” he stated. “I’m looking for my twenty, and then we’ll discuss it.”
“You still doing search and rescue?”
“I am, indeed.” He looked over at his brother. “Are you interested in doing that again?” Then he frowned and added, “Jeez, sorry.”
“Sorry why?” Kyron asked. “Because I’d have to learn how to ski and all that all over again? That’s true, but people do it all the time, so I won’t say I can’t.”
“Me either,” Allen replied. “The last time I told you that you couldn’t do something, as I recall, you knocked me down a few times and broke my nose.”
“That was your fault.” Kyron laughed. “I’d forgotten all about that.”
“Well, you can bet I haven’t.” Allen chuckled. “And, yes, you’re probably right. I deserved it. I was being that nasty older brother who didn’t want the younger kid tagging along.”
“Hey, that was my life.” Kyron sighed. “I didn’t want to tag along behind you in law enforcement either.”
“No, and I think sometimes that you deliberately went into the military to get away from us all.”
“Not so much to get away from all of you but away from being part of that whole clone system that you guys seemed to have down pat.”
“You’re really into being the second son, aren’t you?”
“I struggled because the first son was obviously the favorite, because the person I was closest to in all the world was Granddad, who was well and truly hated. I mean, I had to sneak off to see him after work and after school and not tell Mom and Dad about it. And then, if they did find out, I’d get grounded,” he snapped. “So, yeah, definitely hard feelings existed, which undoubtedly pushed me into enlisting.”
“I mentioned that to them in the ensuing years, and they really didn’t like me pointing it out,” Allen noted.
“Of course not.” Kyron stared out the window, streets passing by in an endless stream. “Not a whole lot they like about anything to do with me.” He looked over at his brother, frowning. “But I want you to know that I’m not bitter. I was at one time, but I just don’t have the time or energy for it now.”
“Good, and I am glad to hear that because life is too damn short.” And, with that, he navigated around several sharp corners, then pulled up in front of a house.
“Look at that,” Kyron said. “You’re also the only one of us who owns property. Jeez, you did all the right things. You married your high school sweetheart, and you got a job locally in a career your family approves of, and look at this. You have your own house, even though property prices are out of this world.”
“And you also know that I only got the house because Mom and Dad helped me.”
“Oh, yeah, don’t worry. I heard all about that too,” he confirmed.
Kyron was surprised that he really wasn’t bitter about it. It had been made very clear to him a long time ago that his brother was the favorite son, and, if Kyron wanted to come anywhere close to measuring up, he needed to toe the line, but toeing the line wasn’t something Kyron did well. It just wasn’t him. Instead he’d chosen to be a bit of a maverick, and he’d hightailed it out of here, knowing that he would never compete and certain that he didn’t want to. What he and his brother had shared at one time hadn’t survived while they had gotten older. As his brother became more and more the favorite, Kyron had willingly chosen a different pathway.
“I’m really sorry about a lot of things,” his brother said, as he pulled into the driveway and turned off the engine. “And that’s one of them.”
“Yeah, but I’m not sure it’s worth wasting time and energy on now.” Kyron looked at the house, shook his head. “You know what? I won’t stay. I’ll grab a rental vehicle and a hotel close by—or maybe a bed-and-breakfast. I don’t know.”
At that, his brother opened his mouth and argued, “Come on. Don’t be a fool. You know you don’t have to do that.”
“Maybe I don’t have to,” he agreed, “but you know what will happen the minute Mom and Dad find out I’m here.”
“Well, I would hope”—Allen stared at him—“that maybe you guys could mend the rift.”
“The rift of me officially being the black sheep who went into the service instead of law enforcement, even though we all know those are two sides of the same coin?”
His brother winced at that. “I never really saw it from your point of view before. But, even as I look at my house from your perspective, I can see that it’s also a result of my relationship with them. I guess there are a lot of reasons for hard feelings. I hadn’t really seen it before.”
“Hey, they wouldn’t even talk to me, so at least one of us has a better deal with the parents.” With that, Kyron got out of the vehicle and slammed the door shut. Just then the front door opened, and Sandra stepped out. She took one look at him and burst into tears. He walked to her, his arms out, and he immediately held her close.
“Why the tears?” he asked against her hair. She was round and obviously emotional, but then what did he expect from somebody who was pregnant and trying so hard for a successful pregnancy after struggling with the issue for the whole of her married life?
She leaned back and looked up at him. “Because it’s good to see you,” she stated firmly. Then she reached up, kissed him on his cheek, and whispered, “You have no idea how much Allen wanted you to come. Thank you.” And, with that, he knew his plans of escaping to a hotel were about to crumble into dust around him.
Sometimes Miranda Galloway thought she’d somehow taken a vow of poverty. Except she wasn’t religious, and she certainly hadn’t gone down that pathway deliberately, scraping by just to get food for all the animals. But somehow she’d ended up with an animal rescue that wasn’t on anybody’s radar, so she worked a full-time paying position, plus a Saturday job, just to keep the food flowing at her rescue.
Her family had often told her that she needed to stop that “foolishness,” and either get animal control in to put them down or to find “real” rescue organizations for these animals to go to. And she had done some of the latter—never the former—as she farmed out as many as she could on an ongoing basis, and she’d adopted out as many as she possibly could too.
Yet she always seemed to have more mouths to feed. It drove her crazy that so much big corporate money was here in this town, and yet it seemed like so little help was available. She didn’t even know for sure if that was true; it’s just that she couldn’t seem to find a way to access the people with the money, much less get them to loosen up and to spend it on the animals in her care.
She also worked part-time at the local vet’s office to pay off the bills she constantly incurred, when the animals needed shots, surgeries, and the like. It was an agreement between them that worked well, but, at the same time, she also had that full-time hourly job as well. And she needed both jobs just to keep the animals cared for.
She’d heard about animal rescues with a steady income, and, for her, at least right now, that was just not a possibility. Getting some of the animal numbers under control would help. She’d just found new homes for twelve of her fostered animals, and that had helped, but she still had fourteen cats, three horses, a goat, and a llama.
And then there were the dogs. It seemed like the incoming dogs never ended. However, they were also often the easiest to move to better homes. She did have a network of animal-loving people from her two jobs, although most people would hold up their hands and cry uncle, saying they couldn’t take any more home, even to foster.
Miranda had talked several out of money as well, but she’d pushed that as far as she could, for now at least. At the same time, she still needed to find a way to tap into more money, so that some of these animals—unlikely to do well in other settings—could live out their days in better conditions than she could provide for them now.
She posted newsletters around town; she tapped the local charities, and she regularly worked with one of the cat coalitions because it always seemed that cats were the first to get dumped. And, in a place like Aspen, Colorado, that was a death sentence in the winter. Which was one of the reasons Miranda kept a supply of cat food outside for feral cats.
Plus, she kept bundles of hay in the shed, with multiple pet doors for the feral or skittish cats to come and go, so they could at least get in out of the cold. For some of them that was all she could do, as they were too wild to domesticate. Yet she knew, if she had the time and the money, then she could rehabilitate quite a few of them and potentially bring them in from the cold on a permanent basis.
As it was, when she could get close enough to trap them, she took them in to get spayed or neutered, which would keep their numbers down, but it was still an ongoing problem here. So many people just didn’t give a crap about any animals, whereas Miranda seemed to care far too much.
She walked back inside, her breath finally warming, as she took off her boots and her gloves and her big heavy coat and scarf. She wasn’t always so cold, but, this last year or two, it seemed like she was always freezing. Then she’d also been on a tight budget, had cut down the house heat, diverting those savings in a desperate attempt to make ends meet.
She sat down at the kitchen table and hugged her cup of coffee, wondering what her next option was. She knew more animals out there needed help, but she was kind of tapped out. Yet she could do nothing but continue on this pathway, until something imploded. Of course what she was afraid of was that the inevitable implosion would be way more than she could handle.
If it wasn’t for her grandmother, Miranda didn’t know what she’d do. Her grandmother had been a life force, even when Miranda’s parents got angry and fed up with her. But then her parents didn’t seem to give a crap about animals. They only cared about people. Whereas Miranda could have happily left people behind and would do anything to save the animals.
People at least had choices; these animals did not. A lot of them had been dumped here, knowing she would care for them. Some were severely injured or sick, and many had been living in the nearby woods on their own, trying to do the best that they could. Sometimes they did well; and sometimes, well, they didn’t.
She’d seen a dog that her neighbor, Old Man Brant Macintyre, had picked up somewhere along the road. It had been injured and was missing a leg, and the neighbor apparently thought it was a great talking point, but, when it had run away on him in the middle of the night, he’d been pissed. He’d told her that, if the dog had come around her place, it was his, and she was not to feed it.
Regardless she’d been trying to get a hold of the dog and had caught a glimpse of it in the woods every once in a while. She thought that it might be eating the cat food she put out in the shed, but she couldn’t get anywhere near the three-legged dog. She also knew that, if she got close to it, she wasn’t bringing him back for her asshole of a neighbor to shoot. She could only wish he’d sell his house and disappear from her life. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Just then her phone rang. She looked down and smiled. “Hey, Grandma,” she answered. “Yes, I’m doing fine.”
Her grandmother gave a boisterous laugh. “You always say that. And you never give me a chance to actually ask if you’re really okay.”
“That’s because it doesn’t matter. I’ll be fine,” Miranda stated firmly.
Her grandmother sighed. “If only I could believe that. You’re running yourself ragged, burning a candle from both ends, like you are.”
“It doesn’t matter if I am or not,” she muttered. “I can’t do anything less for the animals.”
“I know that, dear. I really do. Oh, I did want to tell you that I got some money out of your great-uncle,” she shared. “I told him what you were doing, what you are working toward, and you know that he’s been a great animal lover all his life. Now that he’s back in the US, I decided to contact him and see if he was interested in helping out. He wants to come by and take a look at your place.”
“Oh, crap. When?”
“I don’t really know,” she murmured. “And I don’t know how serious he is about that aspect of it, but he is interested in helping.” Miranda wasn’t sure exactly how she felt about her grandma contacting people like that, though the sweet old dear had only the best of intentions. But people who wanted to exert control over Miranda’s life were precisely the ones she wanted to keep out.
So, if her uncle, great-granduncle at that, wanted to see the place, he likely wouldn’t be happy because it was run-down and desperately in need of repairs. But still, how could she say no if he was willing to help?
“Anyway,” her grandmother continued on cheerfully, “he cut me a check for you … for ten thousand dollars.”
At that, she gasped in shock. “Seriously?” She bolted upright. “Don’t you find that strange?” she asked immediately.
“Oh dear,” Grandma replied. “We really have to do something with your attitude toward humanity.”
“Most people don’t give that kind of money without wanting something in return,” she stated immediately. “And you know how I feel about people wanting to be in control.”
“I don’t think it’s a control issue,” she explained. “I think it’s just wanting to make sure that the animals will be cared for.”
“Well, the animals are loved. There’s no problem with that, but their accommodations are a whole different story.” Miranda sat back down again with a heavy thud. Ten thousand dollars would be a huge help. “And do you actually have that check?”
“Not only do I have it,” she said, “but I’m walking toward the bank right now. I’ll put it in your account. So, if you need food, dog food, cat food, whatever, go ahead and use the money,” she urged.
“Wow, I will,” she agreed, “but now I need to sit down and make a priority list.”
At that, her grandmother paused. “I guess it’s never quite enough, is it?”
“It’s huge, Grandma, thank you,” she hurriedly reassured her. “It’s really huge,” she repeated. “I might get enough food to last through the winter on this.”
Her grandmother sighed. “Well, could you make sure you buy a little food for yourself while you’re at it?”
“I’m eating,” she replied defensively.
“Sure you are, and how much weight have you lost this last year?”
Miranda shrugged. “I don’t know, but I definitely had some to lose.”
“No more,” her grandmother said shortly. “You might have had it to lose, but you don’t anymore. You are as lean as you ever should be, if not too lean. I’d feel much happier if you had an extra ten pounds on you.”
“Hey, two jobs, mending outside fences, scrubbing buckets, and working outside in the cold all the time,” she argued, “I don’t know that I could put back on ten pounds if I wanted to. And I’m really not worried about it. You know I’m doing what I love.”
“Sure, but do you sleep?”
“I try,” she answered, “but money has been a huge nightmare, so trying to get sleep is a different story.”
“Well, hopefully this check will help.”
“Are you kidding? It’s massive. Like seriously massive.”
“He also has acreage in town, did you know that?”
“Who?”
