CHAPTER TWENTY
Surprised that Marcus was still so angry with Botts, but satisfied Emily and he had a plan of action beyond fixing the sign to build interest and attendance at Southwind, Sarah left them discussing possible treats with Grace while prepping for tonight’s service. On the way back to the carriage house, she fretted about whether Grace had fully confided in her or if Emily and Marcus had interrupted her sharing something else. Feeling somewhat uneasy, Sarah made a mental note to add finding a time to visit with Grace in the next day or two to the list of people, like Jacob, she wanted to visit with before Monday.
Even with spending time at Southwind, Sarah realized Fluffy’s early wake-up call had begun her day at a point that, for once, she wouldn’t be running late for her weekly dog walking stint with Harlan at the animal shelter. She was only sorry that, other than feeding RahRah, she hadn’t been able to get any quality playtime in with him this morning. No matter what, she’d make it up to him when she got home this afternoon.
When Sarah arrived at the animal shelter, the sound of Harlan’s distinctive chuckle told her he’d once again beaten her there. Sarah followed the sound toward the break room, where a woman, whom Sarah didn’t know, stood in the doorway, her back to the hall, laughing. Whatever the woman found funny apparently also had amused the break room table’s occupants: Harlan, Phyllis, the shelter’s new director, and the veterinarians, Drs. Vera and Glenn.
The woman Sarah didn’t know turned to leave and almost bumped into her. Acknowledging Sarah’s presence with a nod, she slipped by and went down the hall, while Sarah joined the group, who seemed to have been overcome by another round of laughter.
“Now that’s a sight. What’s so funny?”
Phyllis pointed at Dr. Glenn. “He was describing how, during one of his animal rescue missions, a dog and a cat were rescued from the same house. When they were put in separate cages for their flight to a no-kill shelter, both started going crazy the minute people tried loading them on the plane, so Glenn stopped everything and made nice to both animals. Unfortunately, when he stopped, they freaked out again. Because all the seats, except the pilot’s and one for a passenger, were removed for the rescue flight, Glenn had them stack some of the smaller animal carriers on the passenger seat. He contorted his six-foot-two body into the available floor space between the two cages for the flight. It doesn’t sound as funny when I tell it as when he acted it out, but you get the idea.”
“I do.” Sarah turned her attention to the tall veterinarian. Although she knew he owned the building where the clinic was, she’d seen him only in the hallways, as her animals usually saw his associates, Drs. Tonya and Vera. “Dr. Glenn, I didn’t know you were involved with rescue missions.”
“Yes, ever since Hurricane Katrina, I’ve tried to help whenever there’s a hurricane or natural disaster. Unfortunately, there have been way too many of them.”
“Glenn’s being modest again. He doesn’t volunteer only during disasters,” Phyllis said. “He was active with protecting our working animals when he was in Afghanistan, and now his staff helps raise funds and solicit volunteer flights to bring domestic animals from kill to no-kill shelters. They’re working out the details for us to be formally recognized as one of those shelters and for them to be fully associated with a national group. Harlan just agreed to handle the legal details for our shelter and the clinic pro bono.”
Glancing at Harlan, she saw the flush rising on his neck and knew his little bald spot was also probably blushing with embarrassment. Because of how much work Harlan had done pro bono for her, Emily, and their mother, she knew the animals were in the hands of a dedicated lawyer who would do an excellent job for them. “You couldn’t get anyone better to help you, even if you paid them.”
At that, everyone laughed again. Sarah didn’t laugh as robustly as the others. She was still puzzling over a few things Glenn had said. If he started helping during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, attended vet school, and did a tour of duty in Afghanistan, which could have been any time after 2001, she was confused about his age. The other doctors referred to him as being the senior partner and the old man, but she didn’t think he could possibly be much older than thirty-five.
“Is this national organization the same one you worked with during Hurricane Katrina?”
He looked up and met her gaze. She couldn’t help but notice his eyes had the clarity of two deep, multifaceted emeralds. Never having seen eyes of such a pretty shade of green, especially on a man, she wondered if he wore contact lenses. Apparently, from the way the skin around his eyes crinkled with laugh lines, there were lots of things that tickled his funny bone.
“I wasn’t even aware of the issues involved with animals when Katrina hit. Until the storm rolled in, I was a freshman at Tulane, majoring in partying. My grandparents lived in New Orleans. When word came to evacuate, I piled them and as much of their stuff, including their pets, into my car and drove them to Birmingham. We were able to save their pets, but we saw others stranded on the street we couldn’t help. My grandmother was in tears. Through a family friend in Birmingham, she volunteered, basically doing paperwork and phone calls, matching agencies and pets other people went back to New Orleans and rescued. Rather than letting me sit at home distressed at being displaced, she dragged me along with her. As I helped, I found my calling.”
“Your grandmother sounds like a special lady.”
“She was. Our clinic is in the house she left me while I was in the army.” He clicked his fingers. “You own the property across the way. Did you know her?”
“I only know of her. My ex-husband and his mother bought our property shortly before your grandmother moved into Sunshine Village.”
His green eyes widened. Glenn seemed surprised Sarah knew his grandmother had moved to the retirement center.
“The only reason I’m aware of where and when she moved is Bill, my ex-husband, wanted a house on Main Street. When he heard through the grapevine she was moving, he checked into whether hers was going on the market. He didn’t pursue it, because ours, which already had the carriage house for mother-in-law quarters, went up for sale a few days later.”
“Small world. Anyway, that’s the story of how I went from being a party animal to becoming a veterinarian who believes in rescue missions, as well as your neighbor.”
“It’s a fascinating story.” More important, it made him younger than her first calculation would have. In fact, they were probably very close in age. Why she cared about his age, Sarah didn’t know. She glanced at Harlan. He was staring at her. “I’d love to help, too, if I can. Pro bono, of course.”
“Great.” Glenn made a note on his cell phone. “Vera, Phyllis, or I will let you know when we schedule our organizational meeting. Looking at the time, Vera and I better get on with what we came to do.”
While she nodded at Glenn, Harlan stood and offered his hand to him. “I’ll be in touch.” Harlan shot her the look, where his eyebrows bunched and his piercing stare seemed like it could bore through a person. “In the meantime, two of us have some dogs to walk.”
Irritated and uncertain why he’d shot her the Harlan look, she opted to ignore it as they retrieved their respectively assigned dogs. She hoped his mood would lighten up or it was going to be a long few hours.
“Hey, Buddy,” Sarah said to the beautiful black Lab who limped toward her on his three good legs. She bent and rubbed him behind his ears. Sarah let the rheumy-eyed dog smell and nuzzle her before she leashed him. “You’re such a sweetie. I was hoping you’d find a home this week. You know I’d take you home if I could, but I’m at full capacity.”
She really wished she could take him home, but the carriage house wasn’t big enough for a third pet, especially a dog of Buddy’s size, with a bad leg and poor vision. Sarah knew Phyllis and several of the volunteers, who had come up with his name when he was found wandering, paid special attention to him. How could they not? He was so gentle and affectionate. Still, Buddy was the longest unadopted pet at the shelter, but at least with its unofficial no-kill policy, he still had a chance to find a forever home.
Spotting Harlan already on the fenced-in walking path, she lowered her head so only Buddy could hear her. “Do you want to catch up to Uncle Harlan and Lady Lassie, or should we let the sourpuss walk alone?” She took Buddy’s immediate pull on his leash to be an affirmative answer, though she bet Buddy’s interest was in Lady Lassie rather than Uncle Harlan.
“Harlan, wait up! Buddy wants to walk with you.” Even as the words came out of her mouth and Harlan stopped to let them catch up, she hoped she wouldn’t be struck by lightning for lying.
“Hi there, Buddy.” Harlan bent to the dog’s level and greeted him by rubbing his head. He held Lady Lassie so Sarah could do the same to her. “Guess we can’t keep these two apart.”
“No. It’s funny, you’d think they were courting.”
“Well, we’ll give them a good time together today.” Harlan circled behind Sarah, untangling the leashes that had crisscrossed in the dogs’ happiness to see each other and the humans’ efforts to greet them. Situated back on the official Astroturf path, Harlan and Sarah fell into lockstep.
“Harlan, have you talked to Chief Gerard lately?”
“Yes. We had a meeting yesterday.” Harlan kept walking, facing the trail ahead of him.
Sarah was surprised by how curt his response was. “Were you able to tell if he’s been looking at some of the other possible suspects on Jacob’s list?”
“Anyone in particular?”
“Well, yes. Louis Botts. When we talked the other day, Botts told me Riley and he really weren’t dating, but from what everyone says, I find that hard to believe. Because the perpetrator in books and on Perry Mason often is the boyfriend and Botts acted so harshly the night Riley died, he’s at the top of my suspect list. If Chief Gerard hasn’t considered him, I’ll . . .”
“Darn it, Sarah. How many times do I have to tell you to leave it to the professionals? Chief Gerard talked to Botts and a lot of the other names, but he thinks it’s more likely the murderer is the spurned boyfriend.”
Sarah started to disagree, but her attention was diverted when Buddy pulled her to the side of the trail. Instead of trotting ahead, Lady Lassie sat, her eyes focused in Buddy’s direction.
Harlan made no effort to disturb Lady Lassie. “You know, people talk about animals not being as smart as humans, but there are times, like this, I don’t agree with that. These two seem to have a relationship as strong as any human bond.”
“I know what you mean. RahRah and Fluffy are like that. Even though RahRah is a cat and Fluffy a dog, they seem to have made a connection, too. I originally thought I had to keep them apart, but now, except for bedtime, they’re each other’s best friend. It’s so cute. They often nap resting on each other.”
“That’s nice. Unusual, considering how often cats are agitated by the smell of dogs.” Harlan gently tugged Lady Lassie’s leash.
When she still refused to budge, he impatiently pulled a little harder. She remained immobile until Buddy and Sarah rejoined them.
“Harlan, what’s wrong?” She couldn’t think of anything she’d done at the office that would have irked him. Today, he might have been upset by her flirtatious exchange with Glenn, but she doubted it.
“Nothing.” He kicked a stone off the path.
“Harlan Endicott, this is our walking time for the dogs. It isn’t good for Buddy or Lady Lassie to feel we’re irritated with each other or them. If I did something that bothered you, let’s talk about it.”
“For the sake of the dogs?”
“That’s right.” Seeing the slightest hint of Harlan cracking a smile, she pressed on. “We certainly don’t want to say or do anything that will upset Buddy or Lady Lassie, do we?”
“Never, Dr. Dog Whisperer.”
“Hush. If RahRah even senses you calling me a dog whisperer, he’ll get his nose way out of joint.”
“And we wouldn’t want that either, would we?”
“Absolutely not.”
This time, Harlan laughed so loud Lady Lassie jerked her head back in the direction from which the sound exploded. He reached down and patted her head. “It’s okay, Lady.”
Harlan kept his attention on Lady Lassie but changed the focus of his conversation to Sarah. “I’m not mad at you. I’m frustrated with Jacob. How well do you know him?”
“We’re good friends. I met him when I helped Emily out at the Food Expo. You know Jacob worked for Marcus in California until he came home to work for his father’s real estate company. By the time I met him, he was back working with Marcus and trying to develop the entertainment district. Why?”
Harlan started to answer, but Lady Lassie caught sight of a bird perched on the fence that marked the end of the dog-walking trail. She excitedly yanked Harlan toward the bird.
By the time Lady Lassie reached the fence, the bird flew off.
As the four turned back toward the shelter, Sarah said, “Harlan, you haven’t told me why you’re frustrated with Jacob.”
“Because he lied to me.”