More Than Neighbors. Janice Kay Johnson

want to chew whatever was in front of him—say, the seat upholstery—Gabe hurried back to the house to grab his wallet and keys.

      When he returned to the pickup, Watson barked happily, slopped a big kiss on his face before he could evade it and thrust his nose out the window when Gabe lowered it a few inches to entertain him during the short drive.

      His jaw ached from clenching his teeth by the time he pulled up in front of the neighboring house. Ciara burst out the front door before he could get out.

      “Oh, no!” she said. “Watson went to your house?”

      Despite his severe aggravation, he couldn’t help noticing how gracefully she moved, and how much he liked her long, slim body in tight jeans and form-fitting T-shirt.

      Do not get distracted, he ordered himself.

      “What was the one thing I said?” It came out as a roar. “Don’t get a dog that’ll chase livestock!”

      “Oh, no,” she said again, more softly.

      Watson, still in the cab, barked at her.

      She tore her gaze from the dog and fastened it on Gabe. “The thing is the shelter doesn’t know how most of the dogs do with horses or cows. When I asked, they gave me blank looks. Probably Watson has never seen a horse before. I...I’m sure he can learn.”

      She kept talking. There was something about a potential obedience class, and a learning curve—he tried to imagine how that would work—and she concluded by saying maybe she could pay to have wire mesh fencing added to his board fence along their property line.

      He shook his head. “That’s a mighty long property line. Unless you’re made of money...”

      The alarm that widened her eyes was answer enough.

      They both fell silent for a moment, looking at each other. Her expression was oddly defenseless. Maybe because it was so early in the morning. At least she was dressed, but the hair he’d so far seen captured in a braid hung loose and was tousled enough, he had to wonder if she’d brushed it yet. Sunlight caught fire in the curls.

      “I didn’t think,” she admitted at last. “I let them out when I first got up—”

       “Them?”

      He swung around, expecting to see another dog tearing through his pasture. The Hound of the Baskervilles.

      “You won’t have to worry about Daisy.” She turned, too. “I wonder where she is.”

      A second dog toddled around the corner of the house. Her legs were stiff, and the effect with her too-well-rounded body was more of a waddle than a walk. As she got closer, Gabe saw the milky film in her eyes that went with her graying muzzle.

      He crouched and held out his hand. “Here, girl.”

      Her tail swung a few times, and she came right to him, accepting his scratches and soft words.

      Finally, he straightened. “Her, I’m okay with.”

      Ciara’s face became mutinous. “You’re not telling me we have to take Watson back. That would kill Mark!”

      Gabe groaned and let his head fall back. This was every bit as bad as he’d imagined. No, there weren’t little kids next door running around screaming, but the one kid who was here didn’t disappear daily to school, either. Instead, he wanted to be friends. He wanted lessons. He’d be calling every damn day if Gabe didn’t shut him down. And now a cheerful young dog with no manners at all had been added to the mix.

      He lowered his head to see Ciara watching him anxiously.

      “If he attacks one of the horses or Henry Beem’s cattle, you have to either find him a home where there’s no livestock around, or you’ll need to have him put down. Do you understand?”

      Her chin trembled a little bit. “I understand.”

      The foundations of his anger began to crumble. Damn it, he thought again. This felt like kicking a puppy, too, even though she was now glaring at him.

      “All right,” he said abruptly, wheeled and opened his door.

      The dog exploded out, jumping and barking in delight because he was free, and now there were two people to love him. No, the front door was opening. Mark came out on the porch, and now there were three. Jubilant, Watson leaped up the steps to greet his boy then sprang back down and headed for Gabe.

      “Sit!” he snapped.

      The dog looked astonished, but his butt did momentarily touch the ground. Didn’t last long—next minute he was jumping on Gabe, trying to kiss his face again.

      “Sit,” he repeated, this time laying his hand on the dog’s head to quell his quivering desire to spring back up.

      “He knows how to sit.” Mark grinned in delight. “See, Mom? He’s already trained.”

      “Do you have a leash?” Gabe asked grimly.

      He looked puzzled. “Yeah.”

      “Go get it.”

      While her son was gone, Ciara said, “I’m so sorry. I did ask.”

      “You ever think of checking in town? Somebody around here probably has puppies that have been raised around animals.”

      “No-o.” She drew the word out. “I researched shelters. We got Watson and Daisy at the Spokane Humane Society. I meant to get only one. You know, for Mark. But I was afraid nobody would take Daisy, and I thought maybe she’d have a calming influence on Watson.”

      Daisy had planted herself at Ciara’s feet, appearing completely content.

      “They already have those names?”

      “Yes. I asked if they’d been named at the shelter, but those are the names they came with, so I thought...”

      Gabe nodded. “It’s something familiar. They should be able to keep them.”

      Her smile brought something to life inside him he’d never wanted to feel again. “That’s what I thought, too.”

      Gabe tore his gaze away, concentrating on the dog squirming in front of him. He released him from the sitting position but whistled sharply every time he got too far away. When Mark returned with a short red leash, Gabe had him fasten it to the collar. “Now go get some carrots, if you have any.”

      “Mom bought lots!” Mark raced back into the house, almost falling halfway up the porch steps.

      Gabe winced in sympathy despite his irritation. I am still irritated, he assured himself, although his emotions had already become way more complicated than that, as seemed to happen every time he got close to these new neighbors. Either of them.

      Once the boy returned with carrots in hand, Gabe led a parade to the pasture fence. Even Daisy roused herself to toddle along behind.

      Gabe was far from sure the horses could be persuaded to come, but eventually they got near enough to be sure one of those humans was Gabe, and that there were carrots in the offing. Every time Watson barked, Hoodoo and Aurora neighed and shied away, but Gabe had Mark put his hand around the dog’s muzzle while reminding him sternly to “Sit,” and eventually he was able to persuade the two horses to come to the fence for their treat.

      There was a lot of backing and shying, but finally Watson touched his nose to each of theirs, and Gabe made sure they all stood there long enough for the animals to develop some level of comfort with each other. He knew damn well it wouldn’t last, but it was a start. He just hoped the dog was high-spirited rather than having a killer streak. He didn’t think Mark would take it well if the dog he’d picked out to be his had to be put down.

      “Use the leash a lot these first days,” he instructed him. “If your mom is okay with it, you can walk him in the pasture, as long as he’s always on the