“I don’t like people hurting animals, as you well know, but when they hurt an animal like that in such a ruthless way, it’s just bad news.”
“Once I get a place to sleep for the night, I’ll take a drive out there and look at what I’m up against.”
“Don’t do that,” Daniel said in alarm. “When I say that place is bad news, that means it’s bad news. You let the authorities handle that one.”
He snorted. “Well, the sheriff won’t do a whole lot about this War Dog. That’s why I’m here.”
At that, his friend stared at him. “So what kind of work did you do in the navy?”
He gave a side tilt of his lips. “Stuff that handles these kinds of guys.”
“Man, I don’t like the idea of you going off and facing them,” he said, frowning. “Especially not alone.”
“I’ll only take a look and check out the lay of the land first.” He continued. “Per the parties, the dog may have been sold ‘free and clear,’ but it’s still up to me to make sure it’s taken care of properly. Particularly as this last sale was a breach of the government contract. If the animal is happy and well looked after, then fine, we won’t interfere, until the next welfare check. However, if the dog’s in anything but wonderful condition, that’s not something I will tolerate.”
“That’s a whole different story. You know perfectly well that there can be food, and yet the animal’s abused.”
“I know, so I won’t make any decisions until I see it.”
“Still don’t like anything about this.” Daniel stared at his buddy, with a grim knowing look.
“Neither do I, but it was also an opportunity to come back here and stop in and visit.”
“You could have done that without the dog rescue.”
Harley grinned, lifted his glass, finished his beer, and called for another one. “You still rent rooms upstairs?”
“I do, but we’re pretty full up. Let me see if there’s a space.” And, with that, Daniel got off the barstool and headed into the back.
Harley hoped there was a room available. He didn’t need much, just a place to crash. It seemed so strange to think that Daniel had a wife and two kids. But, hey, he was happy. The big man had put on a lot of weight too, so his life was content, as he’d say.
Harley shied away from thinking about Jasmine having a child because that was just so wrong. For everybody to have thought it was his meant she’d had a relationship very fast, either before he left or right after. And that just made his stomach wrench open up into a deep pit. And wasn’t that something after all these years, thinking his love for her had survived over a decade—and that hers had too. Boy, was I wrong. And it hurt.
Harley should have asked Daniel what she was doing for a living nowadays too and if the foster family was still around locally. He sat here, sipping his second beer, as he looked around. A couple people he thought he recognized, but he had hardly been a popular kid back then, so he wasn’t exactly sure who people were. Just enough years had passed that it was hard to recognize anybody for sure.
When Daniel returned, he nodded. “I got one room for you, but it’s not fancy. It’s not usually rented out.”
“Does it have a bathroom?”
“It does. It’s at the very back of the pub and small and barely furnished though.”
“That’s fine. I’ll take it.”
Daniel nodded. “I’d give you a room in the house with us, but, with the boys, there aren’t any spare bedrooms.”
“What will you do when child number three comes?” he asked.
At that, Daniel started to chuckle. “Well, number three is on its way”—he puffed up proudly—“so I’m not really sure what the answer to that question is.”
“Wow. They’re coming on hard and fast for you.”
“Once you get into that family mode, it’s easier just to have them right after each other, while you’re still doing diaper duty.”
“Diapers.” He shook his head at that. “I just can’t imagine you with diapers.”
“None of that bothers me much. You know me. I was always up for getting dirty.”
At that, Harley burst out laughing. That was positive evidence of marital bliss, even after all these years, and that Daniel was happy—when changing diapers was no big deal. Still grinning, Harley looked around at the place. “So much of this just looks like it hasn’t been touched in all these years that I’ve been gone.”
“It hasn’t been. Dad’s gone now though.” Daniel gave his friend a sad smile. “Mom’s okay, but she’s sure showing her age too.”
“I think it happens to all of us,” Harley noted.
“It does, indeed.” He tapped the bar. “Now that you had dinner, are you sticking around for the evening?”
“I’ll take a drive through town.” He shared a knowing look with his buddy. “Reacquaint myself with the layout.”
“And stop in to see your ex?”
“Well, she’s hardly my ex apparently,” he noted quietly. “Where is she living now?”
“She’s still at home.” Then Daniel shook his head. “Of course you don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“Her dad was killed in a car accident, and her mom has dementia.”
“Her mom’s not very old.”
“No, and it happened very quickly after the father’s accident. I don’t know if stress can bring on something like that but maybe.”
“Ouch, that’s a hard one for her.”
“She’s her mom’s caregiver, so she’s still at home.”
“And that’s not that easy either,” he murmured. He nodded at his buddy, as he stood. “I’ll stop by there later, when I’ve done my trip around town.”
“You do that. Don’t go to that drug compound though.” He pointed a finger at him. “Certainly not in the dark.”
“Why is that?” he asked curiously.
“I know they got electronic security, and they got dogs, but these are not dogs that you necessarily want to hang around with,” he replied. “And then there’s the armed security guards.”
“What are they keeping inside? Fort Knox?”
“Maybe.” Daniel frowned. “I’m serious. These guys mean business.”
“Good to know.” Harley nodded. “I’ll see what I come up with then.”
At that, Harley slapped his buddy on the shoulder. “I’ll see you in a couple hours.” And he headed out.
Jasmine Willoughby sat out on the deck, brushing the strands of hair off her face. It was a hot evening, and the iced lemonade wasn’t making a dent in her frustration or her sadness. Her son, Jimmy, had gone over to his friend’s house. She could hear them in the backyard on the trampoline. They were just two houses down and being as obnoxiously loud as eleven-year-old boys could be.
Her mother was inside the house, weeping softly into her hanky, as she was wont to do daily. To know that the only way out of this life was her mother’s death was not something Jasmine wanted to contemplate, but, on back-to-back sad days, it was hard not to. Particularly right now as Jasmine wished she and Jimmy were a long way away from all this.