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“I wouldn’t let Daddy throw away Mittens’s bowls or bed, and I kept her bowl exactly where it was when she was alive,” she confessed softly. “I mourned her for months.”
His face was shadowed. “I’ve still got Bess’s bowl in the kitchen. I had her for fourteen years. I’ve mourned her more than some relatives who died.”
She nodded. “I read this article in a magazine, about grief. People who don’t have pets don’t understand how traumatic it is to lose one. The article said that grieving for an animal isn’t an aberration. It’s a natural reaction when you’ve cared for the animal every day since you got it. They’re like furry kids,” she added slowly. “It takes a lot of time to get over it.” She glanced at Snow, lying down in the hall, her blue eyes staring at Dal lovingly. “I got Snow from a shelter in St. Louis. She lived with me in my apartment until I came back here. I was . . .” She hesitated. “I was grieving myself to death over my mother and Mittens. I thought getting another animal might help me.” She smiled. “It did. Snow took the rough edges off the grief.”
“That’s why I have Jasper,” the tall man replied quietly. “He does help ease the pain of losing Bess.”
“I’m sorry Snow keeps bothering you,” she said. “I’ll try to make sure she doesn’t wander when I let her out.”
He was still holding Jarvis, absently smoothing his big hand over the animal’s head. “Jarvis moves like greased lightning,” he confessed. “I usually confine him to his room and the fenced patio in the daytime so he can’t run out. But he’s so fast that my part-time housekeeper can’t keep up with him. He’s sneaky as well.”
She laughed. “Next time, I’ll check all the rooms when I leave doors open.”
He shrugged. “I guess I could put a piece of wood over the dog door and nail it shut.” He glanced at Snow. “She was a rescue?”
Meadow nodded. Her face tightened. “The shelter said that her owner had her chained in his yard and often neglected to feed her or give her water. When she howled, trying to get loose, he hit her. When she went to the shelter, she was eaten up with fleas and mange and she wouldn’t eat the first couple of days. The vet honestly thought she was going to die. I happened to go in the day she was scheduled to be . . .” she swallowed, hard, “put down. It wasn’t a no-kill shelter. Snow saw me come into her cage and she looked as if she’d won the lottery. She was all over me. I took her straight to the vet and let her stay there until they got her well. I visited her every day. When I brought her home, she turned into the finest dog I’ve ever had. She loves to ride in the car.” She watched Dal’s face go hard at the revelation about Snow’s abuse. “To this day, a raised hand makes her run away. She’s terrified of sticks. I have to use a Frisbee if I play with her outside.”
“Was he arrested?” he asked.
She shook her head. “The laws haven’t quite caught up with animal abuse where I lived when I got her. It was a small town outside St. Louis and the man was a local politician. But they did get Snow away from him and put her up for adoption.”
“Pity he didn’t live in Raven Springs,” Dal said through his teeth.
She smiled. “I was thinking the same thing.”
He grimaced. “Well, I’ll get home. You’re really taking that job with Jeff?”
“Yes.”
He arched an eyebrow and smiled. The smile told her the truce was over. “I can see him now, handing you a single bullet for your gun and holding his breath if you have to fire it.”
“I can hit what I aim at!” she shot back.
He shook his head and turned away.
“I can!”
He looked over his shoulder. “Your dad and I did finally get the bullet out of the tractor housing,” he said casually.
She flushed red. She felt her hands clenching at her sides. “I was only sixteen and I’d never fired a gun!”
“I was winning skeet shoot competitions when I was ten.”
“Mr. Perfect,” she muttered.
“Miss Imperfect,” he drawled back.
“That’sms.to you!”
“Oh, sure. You’re a manly woman, all right, just like your dad always said.”
She was shocked. “What?”
He turned. His distaste was evident. “He said that you loved competing with the men at work, always trying to stay one step ahead of the people in your unit. He said you’d never think of getting married because you wouldn’t want to give up control of your life to another person.”
She felt her heart sink. Her father had said that about her, to her worst enemy? Why?
He noted her lack of response. “Not my problem, any way you look at it,” he added with a faint laugh. “I like my women feminine and sweet. I’m dating a florist. She grows orchids in a back room. She loves to work in the garden.” His face hardened. “If I were of a mind to marry, she’d be the woman I’d choose. But women are treacherous. I learned that the hard way. They’ll play up to you, flatter you, do anything to make you think they care. Then when they’ve got you where they want you, they’ll take up with another man and laugh themselves to death about how stupid you were.”
