Zach absorbed the news that Brittany had been visiting the dog. “How’s he healing?”
“It’s all looking good. Gabe is pleased with him. I had a couple of people in here wanting to adopt a dog, but so far no one that’s right for Jaws. One couple seemed interested, but I said no.”
Zach wondered what sort of couple would be interested in an ugly dog with an uncertain history. In his experience that wasn’t a résumé that was likely to get you snapped up into a loving home. “I’m guessing you’re not going to get that many offers. Would have been less work for you if you’d said yes to them.”
“Not really, because if it doesn’t work out, the dog is back here again in a few weeks and each time that happens his trust takes a bit more of a knocking until finally you’ve got a dog that won’t trust anyone. That’s not going to happen on my watch. When I meet someone I think is right, I’ll go through the checking procedure and if they pass, I’ll let them take him. Until then, he stays here with me.”
Zach found her dedication touching. “Sounds like you should run a dating agency.”
She shook her head and gave him a quick smile. “I’m no good with humans. I don’t understand them. Just animals.”
He looked at her for a moment, this slender girl with a bright smile and dark hollows under her eyes. Everyone had a story, he thought. Everyone.
“It must be pretty quiet round here. Do you miss the city?”
“Never.” The way she kept her eyes down made him think she’d had very specific reasons for leaving.
He frowned. “Sara—”
“Oh, look at that! He’s seen you. He knows you’re the one who saved him.”
It was true that right at that moment Jaws spotted Zach and decided to declare his undying love by hurling himself across the pen.
Zach winced and crouched down. “Easy now. Don’t do yourself more damage.”
Jaws howled and looked at him adoringly.
“He loves you,” Sara said delightedly. “He thinks you’re the one. Just so we’re clear, I’d let you adopt him if you wanted to.”
Zach felt a flicker of alarm. “Then maybe you’re not such a great judge of character after all. I’d be the wrong home for him. He’s already had one bad owner. He doesn’t need another.”
“What makes you think you’d be a bad owner? I think you’d be the perfect owner.” Sara studied him for a moment and then smiled. “But you can’t adopt a pet unless you really want to, and you don’t want to, so that’s fine. If you change your mind, let me know. I’d approve you in a heartbeat. In the meantime if you want to come and walk him with Brittany, she usually comes around seven in the morning on her way to camp.”
Zach wondered why she was telling him that. “If she’s already walking him, then I don’t need to.”
“I thought you might enjoy doing it together, seeing as you both brought him in and you used to— I mean you seemed to be— But what do I know? Forget I said anything. I match animals with humans, not humans with humans. I don’t know anything about relationships.” Blushing, Sara blew a kiss to Jaws and walked back towards the clinic leaving Zach to wonder how many of the islanders were speculating about his relationship with Brittany.
Before going back to his cabin, he stopped at Harbor Stores to pick up some milk. As an afterthought he scooped up some beer.
Dawn Parker was manning the checkout and she assessed his purchases with tight-lipped disapproval. “Guess you’re lining your stomach with one before drinking the other.”
Zach could have told her that the milk was for his coffee and he kept the beer in case Philip stopped by, but he figured that what he did with his purchases after he bought them was his business so he handed over the money and kept silent.
“You should know that my Mel is seeing that nice Carter Ashford, so if you’ve got any ideas in that direction, you can forget them. He’s got a college degree and he’s sensible.”
It crossed Zach’s mind that if Carter Ashford was dating Mel he couldn’t be that sensible, but he filed that thought along with all the others he had no intention of expressing.
He was about to bag up the milk and attempt to navigate his way through the fog of disapproval when he heard someone calling his name. He turned, and saw little Grace Green running towards him across the store, followed by a powerfully built man who was obviously her father.
“That’s him, Daddy. That’s him.”
Anticipating trouble, Dawn Parker stiffened. “If you have a problem you should take it outside. I don’t want any—oh—” She blinked as Grace threw her arms around Zach and squeezed tightly.
“Zach—I mean, Mr. Flynn—this is my dad. I’ve been telling him all about you. How you saved me and how you told that poor dog he wasn’t to bite me.”
Dawn, who had clearly been on the verge of dialing the emergency services, watched with her eyes popping out of her head. “Well, I don’t—”
Ignoring her, Zach hunkered down in front of the child. “That dog? Sara is caring for him in the Animal Rescue Center. I saw him just now. His favorite toy is a squeaky bone. Once we cut that nasty wire off his neck and gave him some attention, he was just fine.” It was important to him that she knew the dog wasn’t vicious. That his behavior had been the result of fear. “You should drop in and see him, Grace. He’d be pleased to see you.” He gave her a smile, then rose to his feet and found his hand grasped tightly by Grace’s father.