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Dixie Chick continued to squirm and, after one more glance around, Decker set her down.She looked even smaller standing in the middle of the big yard.She shook, the tags on her collar jingling, then proceeded to lower her nose to the ground and sniff out her new surroundings.Decker followed behind her, looking for anything that might cause her harm.Since the sun was setting, he unhooked his flashlight and turned it on, keeping a circle of light around her as she wandered the yard.
Rome laughed.“You’ll keep her.You’ve always had a hero complex, Deck.”
He sent Rome an annoyed look.“I don’t have a hero complex.”
“I don’t know what you’d call it.Even as a kid, you were always rescuing or helping out someone.You rake Ms.Davidson’s leaves every fall after her husband passed away.You took Janet Levitt to senior prom when no one else would ask her.You declined a great paying job with Microsoft to stay here and become the town sheriff.”
“Seattle didn’t sound appealing.I like the sun too much.”
“You love the people of this town too much.”
Decker shrugged.“And you don’t?”
Rome’s smile faded.“Yeah.Even though sometimes I wish that wasn’t true.”He crouched and held out his hand to Dixie Chick.“Come here, darlin’.Come say hello.”Dixie Chick moved closer to Rome’s hand and took a sniff, then lifted her nose in the air and trotted away.Both Decker and Rome laughed.“Looks like you got yourself a finicky female.”Rome stood.“And speaking of finicky females.I heard Sweetie Holiday is back in town.”
It was Decker’s turn to lose his smile.“Yeah.She came back to spend time with her daddy after his heart attack.”
“Makes sense.”Rome hesitated.“I heard she didn’t get the welcome carpet rolled out.”
The image of Sweetie standing in the middle of the café with her eyes brimming with tears popped into Decker’s head and his fists clenched.“The damn fools just can’t let anything go.”
Rome’s eyebrow lifted beneath the brim of his cowboy hat.“I didn’t think you had let it go either.I mean we’ve spent quite a few nights together where we’ve ranted and raved about things that piss us off.Sweetie always seems to be top of your list.”He hesitated.“It always made me wonder if maybe you had a thing for her.”
Decker forced a laugh.“Me and Sweetie?No way.She was Jace’s girl.I never even considered dating her.”
It was an out-and-out lie.Decker couldn’t count the times he’d thought about that exact scenario.If he were the one dating Sweetie, he wouldn’t cancel a date because his football buddies wanted to eat pizza and go over game film.If he were dating Sweetie, he wouldn’t take her to another school’s football game on a date so he could scope out his rivals.If he were dating Sweetie, he’d buy her tulips—her favorite flowers—and give her notebooks to write more of her songs in and do everything he could possibly do to let her know how lucky he was to be dating her.
While he was lost in his thoughts, George came barreling across the yard like his tail was on fire.The sight of the normally lethargic dog running at top speed was so surprising it took Decker a moment to react.By that time, George had reached Dixie Chick.
The large hound dog could have easily swallowed the miniature dog in one bite.But he didn’t look like he wanted her for dinner.He looked completely lovestruck.He danced around the little dog with his tail wagging a mile a minute while Dixie Chick completely ignored him and continued to sniff and mark her territory.The one time George got too close, he got snapped at and immediately dropped to his belly and started whining an apology.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Rome said.“It looks like all he needed was a female to get his motor running.”
Decker laughed as he watched George’s antics.“I guess so.Maybe I should start calling him Smitten.”
They watched George continue to vie for Dixie Chick’s attention until it got dark.Then Decker scooped her up and turned to Rome.“I can’t compete with Bobby Jay’s ribs, but you’re welcome to come in for beer and gooseberry pie.”
“I never refuse pie,” Rome said.
Once inside, Dixie Chick proceeded to do what she did in the yard and sniff around while George followed behind her with his tail wagging and his tongue lolling.Leaving the dogs to get acquainted, Decker and Rome headed for the kitchen.Decker pulled out a couple beers and handed them to Rome to open while he filled the feeding bowls Melba had given him with food and water.Once he finished, he filled George’s bowl.
Only a few seconds later, Dixie Chick came prancing in, her nails clicking on the hardwood floor, and started eating ...out of George’s bowl.George just sat there and watched with a goofy look on his face.
Rome laughed.“Looks like he knows the ‘ladies first’ rule.”
Decker only shook his head as he grabbed two forks out of the drawer.A few minutes later, the gooseberry pie was completely gone.
“Damn,” Rome said as he sat back in the chair.“Darla Holiday makes a good pie.Of course, her blackberry is my favorite.”
Decker glanced at him.“When did you taste Darla Holiday’s blackberry pie?With the feud going on between your daddy and Hank Holiday, I didn’t think you’d ever been to the Holidays’ for supper.”
“She made me one after I helped Hank.”Rome had been the one who had found Hank after his heart attack and called 911.“How is he doing, anyway?”
“I saw him in town the other day.He looks like he’s lost a little weight, but other than that he seems to be as headstrong and opinionated as always.I got to hear his thoughts about cattle prices being too low and politicians being too lazy and his daughters being too uninterested in running ‘their own damn ranch.’”
Rome took a sip of beer.“If he wasn’t so hardheaded like my daddy, maybe one of his daughters would have stayed ...and maybe he wouldn’t be in danger of losing the ranch.”
Everyone in town knew the Holiday Ranch wasn’t doing well.Hank had sold most of his livestock off well before his heart attack, which wasn’t a good sign for a cattle ranch.
