Reluctant Hometown Hero
Автор
Heatherly Bell
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Chapter One
Zoey Castillo glanced at her cell phone and hoped she wasn’t being rude to her date. It was the third text in thirty minutes she’d received from her best friend, Jill Davis, during dinner. The first two had been reasonable inquiries on the exact measurements of water, coconut oil and protein to add to the freeze-dried, organic, carbohydrate-free food she gave her pets. But then the third message:
Jill: Settle a bet for Sam and me. Which is faster? A horse or a mountain lion? I say a horse.
Zoey: Hello? I’m on a date. Emergencies only!
Jill: Sorry. Tell Julian we say hello and not to worry about being late to work tomorrow morning. ;) ;)
Zoey glanced across the restaurant table at Julian, who worked as a guide at Jill’s company, Wildfire Ridge Outdoor Adventures. Good-looking in a dark and lanky muscular way, two weeks ago he’d asked her out on a date. Zoey was excited about the first date she’d had in... Oh my god, could she count that high? Julian had offered to hold her hand and tandem zipline on friends-and-family day because she’d been nervous about doing it alone. Sweet and handsome all in one delectable manly package. It was hard to find a hot-looking guy she felt safe with. Zoey didn’t understand why there seemed to be no spark and sizzle between them.
Nothing. Zilch.
“I’m so sorry,” Zoey said. “Jill is my sitter tonight and she keeps texting me about every little thing.”
“Understandable.” Julian leaned back. “How many?”
“Three,” Zoey said, then realized she hadn’t counted Boo, the Great Dane she was still trying to find a home for. Just one of her many foster fails. Zoey had wound up adopting nearly all her fosters, but Boo needed more room than she had. She’d tried hard, unsuccessfully, not to get too attached. “Actually, four to be exact.”
Julian went brows up. “Four? Seriously? But you’re so young.”
“Well, it’s my business, too. I am trying to adopt one of them out. Boo.”
“Adopt one out? Boo?”
Their waitress brought their plates and set them down. Steak and potatoes for Julian, stir-fried vegetables and rice for Zoey.
“I know. It’s a funny name. But he’s a big boy so I gave him a small name.”
“That’s unusual and...very brave of you.” A thin line of sweat broke out on Julian’s forehead. “My mother was a single mom, so I know what it’s like.”
“What? Oh, no, they’re not my children!” Zoey laughed at the mistake. “They’re my pets.”
She whipped her cell phone out and showed Julian photos of Boo, the size of a small pony, sitting majestically next to Corky, her potbellied pig and his best friend. Indie, her Chihuahua mix, and Bella, her boxer, sat nearby giving them side-eyes.
Julian coughed. “You get a sitter for your pets?”
“Not always.” She sat straighter in her seat, feeling a bit attacked. “But sometimes Indie and Bella gang up on Boo when I’m not around. Indie nips his ankles. For a big dog, he’s a baby and extremely sensitive.”
“Uh-huh. You said he’s a foster?”
“I adopted him.” Zoey bit her bottom lip to keep from crying. “The owners gave him up to the shelter. I think they should have been arrested, but there’s no law against giving up on your dogs.”
Julian studied her sympathetically and reached across to pat her hand. But by now she could see the resignation reflected in his dark eyes. He’d just written her off into that category of single women who were single for a good reason. No problem. She’d already crossed him off her list of Men I Might Ask to Tio and Tia’s Fortieth Anniversary Party. Sure, it was a small list, but it existed. Somewhere in this world there was a fellow animal lover who would accept her menagerie of pets and her raging dedication to them. They were a package deal.
After dinner, Julian said he had to be up early for work, and said good-night at her front door. Thankfully, he didn’t try for a kiss but gave her a kind and warm hug. Very brotherly of him.
Zoey thanked him for a lovely dinner and watched him drive away.
“That didn’t go well.” She wasn’t even seriously disappointed.
She decided it was probably the lack of said spark and sizzle.
Zoey turned to her warmly lit home and caught sight of Jill and Sam through the picture window, cuddled on the couch. Jill appeared to be practically in his lap and from here it looked like Sam had his hand under her shirt. Really? With the curtains wide open? In her house and in front of the dogs and Corky?
Who was she kidding? She wanted what they had. Passion. Vitality. Sparkle. She wanted a man whose every gaze in her direction made her quiver and shake like a 9.5-Richter-scale earthquake. Unfortunately, she already knew that man’s name, occupation and address. And also the fact that the two of them ever being together was impossible—or at least unlikely.
Zoey coughed as she turned the key, grateful for the squeaky front door. She didn’t want to interrupt...anything. When she heard giggles and scrambling from the direction of the family room, she figured she’d given them enough time to get decent.
“You’re home early,” Jill said, standing. She appeared to have been kissed and groped within an inch of her life. Her lips were bruised and her clothing a little disheveled.
“Yeah, it was a bust. He’s a cool guy, but neither one of us are feeling it.” As usual, Boo, Indie, Corky and Bella descended on her for pats and hugs as though she’d been gone for a year and not a couple of hours. Between Indie and Bella’s yips, Boo’s howls and Corky’s squeals and snorts, it was a little like being swallowed by a tsunami.
“Everything went okay here. Indie tried to attack Boo’s ankles but Sam just gave him that look he has. Indie stopped midbite.”
“He’s my kind of dog,” Sam said. “A real warrior.”
Jill pulled Zoey aside. “So...still no date to the anniversary party?”
“No, but that’s okay. I can always go alone.”
“Ask Ryan. I’m telling you. Ryan would do it.”
Ahem. Ryan Davis, the newly elected and youngest sheriff ever to serve the small town of Fortune. He also happened to be Jill’s big brother—and Zoey’s secret crush. So asking him on a date mattered too much. He might say yes, which could be a problem, and he might say no, which would also be a problem. Safest course? Don’t ask him.
“I don’t want to bother him. He’s too busy.”
“He’s never too busy for me. Or you.”
“I’ll think about it.”
At the door, Jill turned to give Zoey one last hug before she and Sam left.
After letting her pets out one last time in her envelope-sized backyard, Zoey got ready for bed. She washed her face, brushed her teeth and put her long brown hair in a ponytail. Usually she wore it in either braids or a ponytail for practicality but tonight she’d worn it down like Mami did. Her aunt and uncle said she looked exactly like her mother, Veronica Milagros Caballero-Castillo, which should have been a compliment. And if one was merely talking looks, it probably was since Veronica made a living as an A-list movie star in Mexico. Not content to work the family pet supply store with her sister, Veronica, a California native, had moved down to Mexico after Zoey’s father died. Zoey was twelve and had been left in the care of Tia Gloria and Tio Raul. Veronica had planned to be away for only a year, but she’d stayed in Mexico. For over a decade now.
Zoey might resemble the beautiful dark-eyed Veronica. On the other hand, Zoey was protective about who she would allow to adopt her rescues, and wouldn’t even abandon one of her pets let alone a child.
Her real parents were Gloria and Raul, who’d never been able to have any children of their own. When they wanted to retire, Zoey had taken over the running of their pet supply store. She’d renamed it Pimp Your Pet and given it a complete overhaul. Business was good.
Her personal life, not so much. Well, one couldn’t have everything. Best not to be greedy.
When Zoey crossed the threshold from her bathroom to her bedroom, she caught a familiar sight. Even though every pet had its own comfortable bed from Pimp Your Pet’s best selection, Bella and Indie were spread out and taking up one entire side of her bed. Both Boo and Corky were simply staring from the foot of the bed, as if to say, We told them not to do it, but would they listen?
Good grief. “Move over, you two.”
Maybe it was a good thing she didn’t have a man in her life. For one thing, she had no room in her bed for one.
The next morning, Zoey woke at the usual time and stumbled to the coffee for her kitchen fix. Wait. That was kitchen for her coffee fix. She let the pets out for their morning business, and then started the long process of the morning feed between sips of coffee. It sounded like she lived on a farm, but she didn’t. Just a small tract home in a residential area of Fortune. Still, food was life and she wanted her pets to have the best of everything. She got great discounts on the best organic foods on the market but they took time and effort to put together.
Bella and Corky were barking and snorting to be let in, so she did that, then went back to the food prep. Zoey was running out of time and still had to shower and get to the shop to open up. She added protein to the mix, chopping pieces of organic boiled chicken, and went to let in Indie who was having a yipping fit and beginning to launch himself at the sliding glass door.
All pets should be sitting on their haunches now waiting for their meal, practically salivating. It took ten minutes for the freeze-dried mix to jell together and be soft enough to eat. She always set a timer. Everyone but Boo stood at attention as if they fully expected her to forget all about feeding them. Boo had so much patience. He usually took a seat in the corner, with full faith that she’d call him when it was all ready.
She finally set the bowls down for all four animals and called Boo over. He didn’t come, and it took her a moment to realize that he hadn’t been let inside yet. She went to the sliding glass door and opened it, calling for him again. He still didn’t come.
Boo was gone. Zoey went to the six-foot-tall wooden side gate, which she always kept closed and latched. The gate was not only unlatched but open. She didn’t even employ a gardener for fear they’d forget and leave the gate open. She went around the side of her house toward the front, calling Boo’s name. He was slow and couldn’t get far. But there was no sign of him anywhere down her tree-lined cul-de-sac. Heart racing and thudding in her chest, Zoey ran from one neighbor to another. None had seen Boo, who—come on—couldn’t easily be missed. Boo wasn’t a runner and barely enjoyed a daily walk. He’d never tried to get away in all the weeks she’d had him and probably wouldn’t start now. There could be only one explanation. He’d been kidnapped!
Racing back home, Zoey grabbed her cell phone and dialed 911.
“Help! There’s been a kidnapping.”
“Yes, ma’am, calm down. I’ll send someone right over.”
“Okay, thank you. I have a lot of photos. He’s about four feet tall and gray.”
“Gray? Zoey, is that you?” the dispatcher said.
“Yes! Boo’s been kidnapped right out of my backyard!”
“How do you know he didn’t just go for a walk? Dogs like to get out every now and then, you know.”
She supposed Trudy, the dispatcher, was now the authority on dogs. Really!
“Yes, I do know that, but Boo isn’t a runner. I know my pets. Indie and Bella, they’re runners. But not Boo. He can hardly muster up the energy for a walk. I’m telling you, someone took him!”
In that moment Zoey realized that if Indie and Bella had been outside with Boo, they would have gone with him if he’d actually escaped. They were the true runners. Which meant... Boo had been out there alone and he’d been taken, all because Zoey had forgotten about him for a few minutes. Preparing food that took roughly a decade to be ready.
“Okay, calm down there. I’m sending Sheriff Davis right over.”
“No, don’t. He’s too busy.” And she didn’t want Ryan to see her like this. All frantic and disheveled and...manic.
“Don’t worry, hon. You’ll feel a lot better after the sheriff comes by and gives you a little talk. Everyone does.”
Was that a sigh Zoey heard? “No, seriously, don’t send Ry—”
But the incorrigible woman hung up on Zoey. Great. Now she’d not only have a rough morning, but she’d have to deal with seeing the one man who made her sizzle. The one man who made the electricity in a room spark like the Fourth of July. When she was at her worst.
Sheriff Ryan Davis. He of the dimpled, irresistible smile and wide, capable shoulders. The long legs and flat abs. The man every single woman in town had a “thing” for.
Including, most unfortunately, her.
