Charlotte Carter - Tail of Two Hearts

Vivian chuckled at the stumpy little dog. “It looks like Tikey didn’t get her fair share of legs. They look too short for her.”

“I haven’t heard her complain. As Abe Lincoln once said, his legs were just the right length to reach the ground.” Annabelle opened the door to let Vivian inside.

“Ol’ Abe was a pretty sharp cookie,” Chase commented.

It didn’t take Vivian long to decide that Lady and Tikey would be perfect for show-and-tell at Doggie Daze.

Chase decided he would take Nathan for his adoption day promotion and then selected a German shepherd named Buster.

“German shepherds are well behaved and make great guard dogs,” he commented. “A lot of farmers want a dog like Buster to keep an eye on their stock.”

“We had a German shepherd when I was growing up.” Vivian smiled at the memory. “Somewhere in the family scrapbook, there is a picture my mom took of me when I was about eighteen months old trying to ride on his back.”

“Now that would be worth seeing.” His dark eyes danced with mischief, and Vivian felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment.

If Chase ever met her family, she’d have to warn her mother of the dire consequences if she showed that scrapbook to him.

Unaware of Vivian’s chagrin, Chase arranged with Annabelle to pick up all four dogs early Saturday morning. She promised to have them bathed and ready to go by eight o’clock.

Annabelle walked with them to the barn’s entrance. “Mayor Langston dropped by a day or two ago. We got to talking about the shelter and how there simply aren’t enough funds to keep this place going for long.”

“Oh, I’m sorry hear that,” Vivian said. “Is there anything anyone can do to help?”

Wrinkles furrowed Annabelle’s forehead as she fussed with the zipper on her jacket. “The mayor and I were trying to come up with some sort of a fund-raiser that would keep us going. Nothing came to mind right offhand. But if you think of something...” She let the words drift off on the weight of her concern.

“We’ll give it some thought,” Chase promised, ushering Vivian out the door.

Walking slowly, Vivian considered the shelter’s financial problem. It would be such a shame to have to close it down. There had to be something....

Back in the SUV, Chase turned to her. “It’s almost noon. How about I drive us to Highway 135? We can have lunch at the Red Rooster diner.”

“That sounds good, but don’t you have to open up your shop? Or did you have your friend open for you?”

“Midweek isn’t a problem. I left a sign on my door that I’d be back by two o’clock. I don’t get much business in the mornings, especially during the middle of the week, so I’m not losing any sales to speak of.”

“Then it’s fine with me. Allison told me to take as much time as I needed at the shelter.” Although she hadn’t said anything about having lunch with Chase.

Buckling her seat belt, Vivian felt a tickle of pleasure that she’d be spending more time with him.

He started the car and shifted into Reverse to back out of the parking place. “Someday soon, if and when my business picks up a bit, I’m going to have to hire someone part-time so I can be away from the store when I need to leave. The Save Our Streets committee is putting together a list of local folks who are looking for work. They want us to hire from that list if we can. I’m thinking that as Christmas gets closer, I’ll take a look. I’m told there are some hard workers on the list.”

“Yes, you should have someone to help, and it would be wonderful if you could hire someone local. With me helping at the bookshop, Allison has some flexibility she wouldn’t have otherwise.”

There weren’t many cars on the two-lane country road that led to the highway. Once Chase had to go around a slow-moving tractor, the farmer probably planning to disk his fields for the winter so they’d be ready for planting come spring. Vivian’s father, who grew wheat on his acreage near Duncan Springs, had already prepared the ground for winter.

“So why did you decide to be a librarian?” Chase asked as they were driving along.

“I love books,” she replied easily. “I grew up with my nose in a book since as early as I can remember. My older sister Lisa was very outgoing, but I’d hide in my room or in the loft of the barn and read. Guess I was just shy.”

He glanced in her direction. “You don’t seem very shy now. In fact, you’ve got a great personality.”

“Thanks.” Pleased that Chase saw her in such a positive light, she gave him an appreciative smile. “When I went off to college, I decided I had to become more extroverted. So I intentionally joined a bunch of clubs, volunteered for various activities. I didn’t want to be the stereotypical meek, bookish librarian.”

“I’d say you achieved your goal. You’re definitely not a stereotype at all. You’re one of a kind.”

“Careful, Chase. You’re going to have me blushing with all your compliments.” And falling for him harder and faster than she should.

“Not to worry. I like it when your cheeks turn pink. The color is good with your hair.”

She rolled her eyes. Blushing was the bane of every redhead she knew. She so hoped he wasn’t giving her a line just to make points with her. “I may have learned to be more outgoing, but I’m still a bookworm at heart.”

They arrived at the diner, which had a gigantic red rooster perched on top of the sloping roof. Several cars and trucks were parked in the lot, and Chase had to drive around to the back to find an open slot.

“Busy place,” she commented.

“As nearly as I can tell, it’s the only decent diner between Newton and Highway 40.”

“True. I’m afraid this part of Kansas isn’t exactly the gourmet capital of the state.”

They got out of the car and strolled around to the entrance. Inside the smell of sizzling meat on the grill was accompanied by a pleasant hum of conversation from the patrons who filled the red vinyl booths. Waitresses hurried back and forth carrying trays of burgers and fries, cold sandwiches and salads, plus glasses of soda and iced tea.

The hostess showed them to a booth toward the back of the restaurant.

Vivian opened the menu the hostess had placed in front of her. “So are you into gourmet food?” she asked Chase. “Or are you more a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy?”

“I’m a pretty basic guy. No frills. You get what you see.”

What Vivian saw in Chase was looking better and better. “I don’t mind going out to a fancy dinner now and then, but my mom taught me to cook. Chicken and biscuits is about as wild as we get in my family. But Mom’s biscuits are pretty good.”

He studied her from across the table. “I’m a serious connoisseur of biscuits. I like ’em real fluffy.”

“Well, good. In that case I’ll have to invite you to dinner at my folks’ house sometime so you can see if Mom’s biscuits live up to your high standards.”

He chuckled. “It’s a deal!”

When the waitress returned, Chase ordered a cheeseburger with coleslaw instead of fries. Vivian chose a chicken salad with a raspberry vinaigrette dressing on the side. She had iced tea; he ordered a soda.

As they chatted over lunch, Vivian learned Chase had grown up in Wichita, living in a half dozen different houses or apartments. And that he’d started work at a warehouse when he was seventeen years old.

“You didn’t want to go to college?” she asked.

“My grades weren’t good enough, and I had to earn some money to help out my mother.”

Vivian sensed he was plenty smart enough to get good grades and go to college, but maybe he hadn’t been tuned in to academics. Some of her classmates had been like that: smart but not interested in studying. Then again, given his family’s situation, maybe he hadn’t had any other choice.