Linda O. Johnston - Trained To Protect

“Of course,” Elissa said.

If Amber hired Elissa, Doug figured she would give her a quick rundown about the Chance K-9 Ranch’s background—probably including how Amber’s dad had been murdered in a then-unsolved case, and how Amber had come home to keep the ranch going for her mother and herself, without knowing anything about dog training.

She’d held tryouts, and Evan had won.

And she and Evan had managed to figure out together who’d killed Corbin Belott...

“I gather that you two won’t be there to watch my demonstration,” Elissa continued, “which is a shame. My pet and therapy dog Peace is also a golden.” She reached over to caress Griffin’s head, and Maisie’s dog wagged his tail vigorously as he leaned toward the woman petting him.

“It is a shame.” Maisie did appear sorry. “But you’ll see Griffin and me again, to watch if and when you start your classes at the ranch. You can count on that.”

“I will.”

Doug noted that Elissa again aimed a brief gaze toward him, then looked once more at the dog whose head she stroked. If she was silently inquiring if he’d be around to observe future therapy classes, too, he would have thought his response would have been an unqualified no.

Before.

Now, he wasn’t so sure.

But heck. It was time for Maisie and him to go. Sure, he found this new acquaintance charming and sexy and definitely of interest for the future—but she had yet to be hired and he might never see her again.

Too bad.

Well, hopefully she would land that job at the K-9 Ranch. There’d at least be a possibility of seeing her again then, though not as his or his dog’s trainer.

He rose then. “Nice meeting you, Elissa.” He offered his hand for a polite and noncommittal shake. When she grasped it firmly in hers, he had to resist pulling her close for a goodbye kiss.

Ridiculous. His mind was taunting him as if he was a sex-starved teenager.

As Maisie, too, said her goodbyes to Elissa and Amber, he nodded at the K-9 Ranch owner, then told Hooper, on his leash, to heel.

And couldn’t help, at the coffee shop door, turning back and looking once more toward Elissa. Who was looking at him, too.

He nodded then turned.

It would probably be a good thing if she didn’t land that job at the K-9 Ranch.

He wasn’t ready for a new woman in his life. Probably wouldn’t be for a long time, no matter how attractive he found someone.

But the thought of not seeing her again?

“Hey, bro,” Maisie said as they and their dogs stepped out onto the sidewalk outside the coffee shop. “What’s with your attitude toward that pretty dog trainer? You after some time alone with her?”

“Hey, you know me, sis. I’m always looking, sometimes scoring, and that’s all fine with me.”

“Well, just be careful.” Maisie aimed her hazel-eyed gaze, so like his own, up at him as both dogs sat at their sides. “I’ve got a feeling that you’ll be the loser, with the lowest score, in any game you play with that one.”

Elissa drove her black SUV down the narrow forest-surrounded mountain roads and reached the 101 Freeway on her way home fairly quickly. The traffic was moving well. If it continued like this, she would be home in fifteen minutes.

Although she’d put the radio on, the current music she preferred didn’t keep her mind off her earlier meeting.

Or off the K-9 police officers—particularly one.

Well, so what if she’d had a momentary attraction to handsome Officer Doug Murran? And so what if she admired that he worked with a highly trained dog to protect people and catch bad guys? She had other things to think about.

She had caught up with a slow-moving big rig. Putting on her turn signal and checking carefully for other cars around her, she passed it.

And forced her mind back onto what she’d been thinking about earlier, when she had started her drive down the mountain. What she needed to think about.

Her demonstration tomorrow.

She’d talked a bit more about it with Amber, who was incredibly nice and knowledgeable. The kind of person Elissa could see herself working for and loving it.

Plus, she was wise. She’d known that new therapy dog handlers were usually volunteers who received free training from experienced handlers. She had therefore obtained a grant from a charitable organization focused on helping people in need to help pay for the more comprehensive lessons she would provide, starting from the basics. As a result, she had funds toward the salary of whoever she hired as a part-time instructor—hopefully Elissa—so the student handlers in training would only be asked to pay a token amount. Not that Elissa would get rich, either, but that was fine.

And Amber had also mentioned that she was writing a book on dog training with her chief trainer Evan Colluro. She wasn’t sure when it would be done or how she’d get it published, but she wanted to include a chapter on therapy dogs and their handlers, so that would be another fun thing Elissa might get involved with.

Regarding tomorrow’s demo, Amber had told her there would be other people present who would act as if they were in a hospital environment and could potentially be helped by a therapy dog. That would be fine with Elissa. It would allow her to show off what she, and Peace, could do and teach.

And if she was hired, she would need to learn more about the local hospital as well as long-term-care centers, schools for special-needs children and other similar facilities around Chance where therapy dogs and their handlers would be welcome. She needed to know where she could take her students to show them how it worked and, when they and their dogs were trained well enough, to make use of what they learned.

Would that include Officer Maisie Murran? Elissa hoped so—both because she liked the woman and what she did, and because Maisie had indicated she’d like to participate, or at least watch.

Too bad her brother hadn’t seemed interested.

Enough. Elissa had to erase Doug from her thoughts. She had only just met the guy. He might actually be the kind of person she would detest or despise.

Although she doubted it. How could a dog aficionado like him be so terrible...?

Good. She saw the sign for her exit in San Luis Obispo. It was about time.

A few minutes later she drove along the nearest major road toward her house. She soon pulled off onto her street and drove up the driveway to the small, aging stucco house she had rented. She’d found it almost immediately after she had moved here and, though she had some problems with its electrical system sometimes, she had remained, considering it home. Her landlord was nice, though slow to respond to her requests, and so far he hadn’t raised the rent too much— so far being the operative words. He’d been hinting lately that a substantial increase would be imposed soon.

Elissa pushed the button to open the garage door and waited while it creaked upward till it stopped. She drove her SUV in, picked up her purse from the passenger seat and opened her door.

And expected to hear Peace’s cheerful barks welcoming her home. That was what the sweet girl always did.

But not now.

Immediately, Elissa began to worry. Was Peace there? Was she okay?

Was Elissa worrying for nothing? After all, the poor dog could just be in a deep sleep at the far side of the house and not heard her.

But Elissa wanted to find out for herself. She pushed the button on the wall to close the garage door and used her key to unlock the windowed entry door beside it. She couldn’t see into the kitchen because of the taut draperies on the inside of the door that she’d installed for privacy and security.

She hurried through the door into the cramped and outdated kitchen. Peace barked and leaped toward her on the dingy linoleum floor, then crouched and looked at Elissa. No longer barking, she began circling the kitchen. Its door into the house was shut, which was unusual, but Elissa sometimes closed it with Peace inside. She must have done so this morning.