Pamela Tracy - The Soldier's Valentine

At least she wasn’t barking.

“The second call,” Bianca continued, “was from one of our local police officers wanting to know if I had a thirty-something male with a dog staying here at the bed-and-breakfast.”

To his aunt Bianca’s credit, she didn’t show any more concern about the call from the police than she had about the noise complaint. She’d always been the aunt to step in when the Guzman brood needed a soft place to land. That didn’t mean, though, that she was blind to their faults.

Gary grinned. “Let me guess. It was an Officer Leann Bailey.”

Bianca nodded. “You were out late last night. Something happen?”

“Quite a bit.” He handed her the list of commands he’d just printed off. “Thanks to Officer Bailey I found out the dog understands and obeys—well, sometimes obeys—German. Who would have thought it?”

Bianca gave Wilma an appreciative look. “Leann lived in Germany for quite a while, I remember. So, how do you say, ‘Quit chewing the table leg’?”

Gary laughed. “Those words aren’t on the list.”

Bianca took the paper out of his hand, studied it and handed it back. “What happened last night that had you figuring out Wilma understands German?”

“How well do you know Officer Leann Bailey?”

“Her father used to be my financial adviser, so I know the family quite well.”

“Last night, Wilma and I had a little run-in with her at the park.”

“What—?”

This time it was Gary who held up a hand. “Nothing to worry about. Wilma took a liking to her, tried jumping into her squad car, but had to settle for giving her a hug.”

“Wilma probably smelled Peaches,” Bianca offered, heading for the kitchen, probably knowing Gary would follow. Gary followed.

“I didn’t notice the smell of peaches.” Gary thought back. He hadn’t noticed any smell except for the ripe grass and strong pine scent coming from the trees.

Bianca laughed as she started making lunch. “I’m talking about Leann’s dog. Peaches. She’s a big mutt, tough looking, like a bear, but gentle as a kitten.”

“And to think she made fun of Wilma’s name.” Gary sat at the table. It felt odd, not having anything to do, but he’d been out of the military only a month, and his mind hadn’t wrapped itself around the term civilian .

Bianca raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you had a whole conversation with Leann?”

“Just enough to figure out she can control Wilma better than I can.”

“How did the training go?”

“Not so good. I can’t believe Max neglected to tell me Wilma only understands German! I spent a whole hour ordering Wilma to sit and offering treats. She sat, but not when I asked her to, and she still expected the treats. She jumped on me a least a dozen times and almost dragged me down a small hill when she spotted a cat.”

“Now that you know about the German, it will help. What was Leann doing at the park?”

“Husband-and-wife dispute.”

“Ah,” Bianca said, “by the swings.”

“How did you know?”

“That would be Gail and Ray Goode. They argue at least twice a month and usually do so in the park. Gail doesn’t want her parents to hear. They’re the disapproving kind, not the helping kind.”

“Officer Bailey handled it differently than I would have, but she handled it well. She separated them, sent the husband to his brother’s and sent Gail to the main house and someone named Clarissa.”

“That would be the Crabtrees’ housekeeper.”

“Crabtree?”

“Gail’s parents, her maiden name.”

“They have a live-in housekeeper?”

Aunt Bianca nodded. “And a full-time groundskeeper.”

“So, they get special consideration from the cops?” Gary didn’t think his brother Oscar, who was also a part of the Sarasota Falls police department, would go for such behavior, but maybe Leann was different? Yet that hadn’t been the sense of her he had last night. He’d been impressed with the police woman and how she’d handled the scene with her sister.

Bianca deftly set bread on the cutting board—lunch meat to the left of it; cheese and tomato—and started making their lunch. “What I should have said just now was that Crabtree happens to be both Gail’s and Leann’s maiden name.”

“Sisters?” Gary sucked in his breath and relaxed a little. “That explains a lot.”

“I wonder why Leann called here instead of asking Oscar about you.”

“She was so busy with her sister, I think she forgot to ask my name so doesn’t know Oscar’s my brother. Not very cop-like.” Gary had been military police among other things.

“She’s a good cop, dedicated and—”

The bell over the front door rang. Bianca set down her knife, glanced out the window checking the dog’s whereabouts, quickly washed her hands and headed up front. Yesterday, she’d done the same thing and Wilma had snatched the bread.

Gary recognized the voice that said, “Hey, Bianca, good to see you.”

Leann Bailey in the flesh. Gary grinned. So, the lady had decided to follow up her phone call with a visit. He sometimes had an effect on women. Usually, though, it was when he was in uniform.

He followed his aunt to the foyer and studied the cop in question. He’d liked her better standing with the moon to her back. She was equal in height to his aunt, but where Bianca was soft and dark, Leann was toned and fair. He noted how well she wore her blue uniform.

“You looking for me?” he asked.

Bianca, a half frown on her face, told him. “I guess I didn’t take their complaint seriously enough. Officer Bailey’s here, something about a noise ordinance.”

Leann nodded. “Right now, I’m just issuing a warning, but—”

“I’m Gary Guzman. You met me last night.”

“Guzman,” Leann muttered before turning to Bianca. “I can’t believe I missed it. Oscar’s brother?”

“And my nephew. Younger than Oscar by two years,” Bianca supplied.

“Better-looking, too,” Gary put in.

He watched as a myriad of expressions crossed Leann’s face. There was surprise—probably a result of last night’s meeting or maybe his relationship to Oscar and Bianca. Annoyance—no doubt she didn’t like surprises. And detachment—she probably didn’t want to warm up to him while on duty.

“About Wilma,” Leann said. “You’re going to need to do something about her barking.”

“I’m working with her. Now that I know she understands German, I’ll be able to ratchet up the training.” He pulled the piece of paper from his back pocket and showed her.

Leann didn’t look impressed.

“It will just take a few days,” he promised. “She’s a good dog,” Gary inserted, “but I’ve only had her for a week.”

“Ah,” Leann said.

This time Gary could read her face. The smile reached her pretty green eyes, which suddenly registered a positive impression even as she said, “A rescue?”

“No,” Aunt Bianca said.

“More or less,” Gary put in.

Leann looked from one to the other.

“My friend Max has been in Germany the last three years, came stateside for a few months and was just deployed six days ago to a place he couldn’t take Wilma. It’s temporary.” Gary didn’t mention the arm-twisting from Max, or the adamant “No” consistently given by Gary, followed by Max finally showing up at the tiny apartment Gary was crashing at.

“Good of you to take in Wilma,” Leann said.

“No, good of me to take in Wilma.” Aunt Bianca shot Gary a look.

“I’ll let the neighbors know this is only temporary and that you’re working on the problem,” Leann said, suddenly back to being a cop. Gary liked the impressed lady better. He wanted that look back.