Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

I follow Brantley to his pickup truck, pondering what I could possibly say to break the silence between us without it involving anything personal. “Instead of parking at the cabin, let’s see how far we can take the truck up that cliff. It’ll give us some of our time lost back the closer we can get to the last sighting,” I suggest.

He shakes his head as he replies. “Your idea is good, but what if she’s moved those pups closer to the water? There’re rock caves all over that area, and there’s a good chance she’d take them where they are away from bad weather. We’ve had rain come in, and even wild animals protect their young from bad weather. The later it gets in the day, the better chance we have catching them. If they’re out running free it’s going to be damn near impossible. You know they’re going to take off in all directions.”

It’s true. I never saw this as a simple rescue. It could take weeks to get them, and without their mother and them needing to nurse, we can’t just grab one. I’m afraid this task for two of us is going to require a miracle or a tranquilizer for the mom. In extreme circumstances, we add sedatives to meat that will cause the animal to sleep or at least be drowsy enough that we can secure them. “I have the meds in case we need to go that route.”

“How aggressive is the mom?”

“At first she wasn’t bad, but since she’s been out here on her own, her prey drive has gotten out of control, and adding to that, she’s going to be protective of her babies. She could come at us instead of running away.”

Brantley nods. “I have my tranquilizer gun. Worst case scenario. I’m not about to have either of us harmed because she’s protecting her family.”

“I understand. That’s why I wanted a game warden with me. You’re more qualified for this than I am.” Admitting I needed him with me was not easy, not when the sight of him makes my blood boil. But I also miss his closeness.

“I know you won’t believe this, but it’s why I volunteered to fill in. When I knew I’d be home and they needed a fill-in, I picked up the shift. I figured it could give us some time to talk.” His words immediately cause my stomach to knot up.

“You and I have nothing to talk about. That ship has sailed. It’s been years. I think it’s best if we just focus on this job and walk away cordial.”

His body language changes, as if I’ve said something hilarious. “You were always hard-headed.”

“I beg your pardon?” I’m not going to take his criticism. “You don’t have the right to do that.”

“To do what?” he asks.

“To ridicule me. To judge me. I’m not sitting here talking about you abandoning our future or how you promised to keep in touch and stopped calling when you got a new girlfriend.”

He pats the steering wheel and pulls over on the shoulder of the road. “That’s what you think I did?” His head is shaking. “You don’t know shit, Sarah.”

“I know more than I want to,” I say while folding my arms across my chest and looking out the opposite window. “I don’t know why you pulled over. I’m not getting into this with you, especially now. I told you it’s the past. Let it go already. I certainly have.”

He takes my advice and gets back on the road. It’s silent for about five seconds before he responds. “Leaving was the hardest decision I ever had to make, but you have a life and future here. You know we were in two different places in life. I get that you’ve moved on, but I think you of all people would want to catch up. We’ve known each other our whole lives. I still check in on you.”

“Oh bullshit, Brantley. I haven’t gotten a call or text from you in years.”

He answers in a more defeated tone, “My parents kept me updated.”

Rolling my eyes, I pray that this ride will come to an end shortly. There’s not much more of this I can take before I begin to cry and give away all the pent-up pain that still resides in my abandoned heart.

Our communicating stops after his last statement. I had no idea he was keeping tabs on me through his parents, and that would mean directly from my parents too. They’re very close friends who still spend time together. Our mothers chat on the phone for hours at a time. It used to be a space for them to vent to each other about motherhood, but now they simply gossip about everything and everyone. God only knows what he’s been told about me. I wonder if my mother passed along all the times I asked about him. The good news is that I always dream about us together after a few glasses of wine. It never fails. If I start drinking, I miss Brantley. So many times I wanted to text him. For a while I did, until his number changed. The person who got his old number had plenty of drunk texts, some inappropriate. When I found out it wasn’t Brantley, I was so embarrassed at the things I’d said to the stranger, I vowed to never drunk text again.

Brantley drives the truck as far into the mountain terrain as we can get. We load up our supplies again and head in the direction we both agree we last heard the dogs. The thousands of acres sits between us and finding the dogs today. I’m hopeful, but also terrified it’s not going to go well. We’ve already had bad luck.

Whenever we come upon a steep or dangerous area, Brantley reaches out a hand to help me, but I wave it away, refusing his efforts. I’m angry with him, for the past, for being here, for merely existing at the moment. All of the hurt has trickled back into my veins. I’m broken, as if I’ve not healed one bit.

The brutal silence is deafening when we stop for a water break. He’s stewing. I remember how he acts when he doesn’t get his way. Instead of being a victim, I take control of the conversation. “What does your new wife think about you coming back here and working with me?”

“My wife?” He takes another swig from his canteen. “You don’t know anything, Sarah. Seriously.”

“Oh yeah? I heard all about your life in California.”

“I don’t know who you were hearing things from. I don’t have a wife.”

“Fiancée then,” I correct.

Brantley snorts, spits out his last sip, and closes the thermos. “I’m done talking about this nonsense with you. Your attitude is never going to change. You’re trying to piss me off on purpose, because it’s easier for you to argue with me than have a regular conversation. This isn’t the time or place for us to talk. You’ve made that abundantly clear. Just know, everything you think you know is probably wrong. Let that sink in.” He takes off in front of me, not even checking to see if I’m following.

I huff but continue behind him, even though he’s moving a lot faster than my short legs are able. After a good five minutes, I can barely see him ahead of me. “Wait up!” I yell just as he disappears down a steep ravine.

Thinking he’s slipped, I haul ass in that direction only to see he’s hunched down, mouthing for me to shut up. A little ways further I see the momma dog. She’s at the water’s edge of the stream, bending down to take a drink. Before it’s too late, I unzip my bag and pull out the meat full of sedatives. The good news is that we’re downwind, and it’ll be hard for her to pick up our scent, but one sound or false move and we’re toast. This could be our last attempt.

I wave the bag of meat so Brantley sees it. He nods and points to a close-by place to toss it. With a good heave, I make it in that vicinity and watch the momma react to the sound. Brantley keeps his body low and doesn’t move. I’m behind the tree-line, so she can’t spot me either. The only place she’s looking is where the meat landed. With the puppies nowhere in sight, the large dog heads over to the meat and begins smelling it. She uses her nose to move the pieces around before ingesting all of it in a few chews. I stick out my thumb to Brantley that the plan worked when the dog takes off.

Brantley shakes his head and stands. “Seriously?” he says as he approaches me. “You couldn’t wait until she drops?”

“It doesn’t matter. She won’t get far.”

“How long will it take to enter the bloodstream and work?”

I shrug. “Maybe ten to twenty minutes. Hopefully sooner. In the meantime, we need to locate the puppies. I’m guessing she’s heading in their direction. She’ll want to protect them from us, which means that’s the direction we’re going to head to find them.”

“Do you seriously take me as someone who wouldn’t know that already? I get that you have it out for me, but can we please acknowledge that we’re both smart when it comes to animal behavior?”

A sarcastic huff expels. “Too bad you’re no good at human behavior.”

“Low blow again, Sarah. What the hell is wrong with you? Are you seriously not at all happy to see me after all these years? I know you’ve moved on and you’re doing well, but we have a long past together. I thought we ended things on good terms.”

“Again with the unfamiliarity of people skills. You clearly don’t know what good terms are. Let me fill you in, “ I add. “Good terms are when you keep in touch. You don’t immediately leave your longtime girlfriend to start a new life for yourself, and especially not with another person. I mean, good for you, but I don’t feel like having it thrown in my face.”

He turns to face me, stopping us both. “First, I never threw anything in your face, and second, I didn’t leave for a new life. I left because my career took me away and I didn’t think it was fair for you to keep waiting for me when I didn’t know where I’d be for several years. I loved you too much to do that. You had school and your career. You had your future going for you as much as I did.” He looks down at the ground and kicks the small rocks around. “Besides, our parents sat me down and told me it was best for both of us, and that we could be together again when our time apart was over. I trusted that what they said was true.”

“My parents would never want to hurt me like that.” I’m annoyed he thinks he can use them as his excuse. Both mine and his parents watched me fall apart. They had to support me during those times. “I felt like my life was over. You were everything to me. How dare you blame them for your misdoings.”

“I’m not lying to you, Sarah. Oh, and I don’t know where you’re getting your information from, but I’m not engaged or married. My brother was engaged and got married. He still lives in California with his wife and a kid on the way. Maybe they wanted us to be apart so we could figure out how to be together again?”

I don’t know why his words give me a glimmer of hope, because there’s no way he’s home for good, home for me, for the future he gave up so long ago.

He continues, “I tried to call you. You changed your number. You blocked me on social media. You made it clear you didn’t want to catch up, so I backed off. Forgive me for not mailing you letters updating you on my whereabouts. My dad told me you were trying to move on. He told me to leave you alone. I didn’t want to come between you being happy, even if it wasn’t with me. That’s all I ever wanted for you.”

I look away. It’s too hard to see the struggle in his eyes, the pain radiating off his words. “I can’t. I can’t believe they’d keep us apart.”

“I can,” he says while stepping closer to me. “Neither of our parents wanted us to give up on our dreams. They wanted us to be happy with our careers before we could be happy in future relationships. We were young. We still are, but I have a lifetime of regrets on my back when it comes to you. I did date someone in California. I was lonely, miserable, and frankly you’d cut me off from your life. I wanted to feel something, anything.” He shakes his head like he’s unsure of how to proceed. “It didn’t last. I knew it wouldn’t. I was incapable of having feelings for someone. She knew it from the start. I made no effort to hide it.”

“I don’t want to hear about the women you’ve been with, Brantley.” My voice cracks. The pain of envisioning him with another woman makes me feel sick. It’s my biggest fear, one that I thought was happening the entire time he’d been gone. “Can we just get back to catching these dogs? This isn’t the time or place for this.”

“Sarah.” He reaches for my hand, and I pull it away. “Damn it, would you just give me a chance to talk to you like two grown adults?”

Shrugging, I force myself to look away, in any direction he’s not in. “It still hurts. It’s taken me a long time to get through it. You destroyed me, Brantley. When you left you took the best part of me. I know that sounds cliché, but it’s true. I’ve spent years trying to figure out how to do life without you, and now you show up and give me this bullshit story about our parents keeping us apart to help us grow as adults. We’d been together our whole lives. Why would being apart help us?” I can feel the tears starting to drip down my warm cheeks. Maybe they’re wind burned or I’m so frustrated the blood is rushing to my head. “On top of that, you trap me on this seizure with you so you can, what, make amends?”

When I look over, he nods once and picks up a stick to twist in his fingers. “After I got out of the military, that contract job just fell into my lap. I’d planned on coming home, but the money was too good to pass up and my brother had moved in with me. He didn’t have a job at first so I couldn’t abandon him until I knew he could support himself. He found a great position and ended up meeting his wife. When my contract ended and I started working in Wyoming, I promised myself I was done being across the country, and I thought about all the ways I could tell you I’d be coming home, but this one seemed like the best way at the time. I asked our parents not to tell you.”

“They know we’re together right now?” I’m still stewing on everything else he said. “Assholes. Seriously, why would they do this to me, to you?”

“Because statistics say we never would have made it if we married out of high school. One or both of us would have made sacrifices for the other, and it would lead to animosity in the relationship.”

I give him a flippant glare. “What, are you some therapist now?”

“Had to see one in the military. It was hard leaving everything behind, mostly you. Your letters helped at first, but the distance, the lack of touch, well, it wasn’t as easy for me. I struggled, bad. In all honesty, I wanted to pack my bags and go AWOL. My commanding officer forced me to see a shrink. It took a while, but I learned how to keep moving forward. I knew eventually, I’d find my way back to you.”

His confession takes my breath away. For just a moment I feel like this could be a dream, the most fantastic fantasy I could conjure about finding our way back to one another. But, as the wind whips against my face, and I stare into his innocent eyes I know this is real. He’s real. He’s here, telling me everything I’ve wished for since the day he left.

The sound of a dog yelp grabs both of our attention, taking us away from our talk. It has to be paused as we both head in the direction of the sound. Around a large column of boulders we see the puppies running around playing. They’re biting each other in normal play, but one probably nipped too hard. Unfortunately, their mother isn’t knocked out yet and is now barreling in our direction.

Brantley spots the beast first and motions for me to turn. “Run, as fast as you can.”

I take his advice, but stop dead in my tracks when I hear the sound of a gunfire. The piercing sound is so loud I’m temporarily deafened, turning so quickly I don’t know what to expect. Fearing Brantley shot the mom, I’m suddenly reassured when I see his pistol in hand, raised to the sky. It halts the mom, but she’s closer and still growling. He lowers the gun and takes a few very slow steps backward, letting her know we aren’t a threat. Her puppies are heading in her direction, and instinct tells her to gather them up and head away from us, so she does just that.

Brantley whispers to me. “Are you sure there was enough meds in that meat to knock her out?”

“Dad said it could take down a pony temporarily.”

Brantley seems concerned. “Well, change of plans. We’re going to keep our distance until we know she’s down. It’s too dangerous and I don’t want to tranquilize her if she’s got that much in her already. You have a muzzle and a net, right?”

“This isn’t my first rodeo,” I say with sarcasm.

He lets out a quiet laugh and points to a nearby rock formation we can sit on. Once we’re as comfortable as can be, we take drinks from our canteens and share some peanut butter crackers.

I savor the flavor and dryness, because I’ve been on that stupid diet all week. “Oh, my God, this is better than sex.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he says with an inquisitive glare.

“I’ve been eating cabbage soup for the past week. It’s like real food.”

He looks me up and down. “You’ve never needed to be on a diet, Sarah. Why would you put yourself through the amount of shitting that comes with?”

“I like torture. I’m an expert at torturing myself. That’s why I’m still single, obviously.”

He gives me a nudge with his shoulder. “That’s ridiculous. You could have any guy out there. Just thinking about it gave me the worst anxiety. I certainly wasn’t eating cabbage soup to make it worse.”

“It was more of a cleanse. I’m trying to be healthy and sometimes I splurge a little too much, so I do a short cleanse to rid my body of all the bad stuff. Then of course, I do it all over again a little while later.”

We both laugh a little and then our eyes meet. Being this close to him after years away is like it’s not real. I can’t get over the fact that he’s back, so close. “I haven’t moved on. In fact, if I’m being honest, I’m still as miserable as when you first left. I should have never blocked you. I just couldn’t stand seeing you live a life without me.” I pause and feel tears running down my cheeks. He reaches over and wipes each away with his thumbs. “If you’re not back for good, I…”

He doesn’t let me finish. His lips are on mine and it takes me back to a place in our lives when we were still planning to be together forever. This man is all I’ve ever wanted. I’ve done my best to try looking for someone else, but no one ever compares.

Brantley stops kissing me but leaves his lips against mine. “I have never stopped loving you for a second the entire time I was gone, but I really thought you’d moved on and I was stupid for not checking on you sooner. I threw myself into work to keep going and time just got away from me. Please forgive me, Sarah. If I could go back, I never would have left.”

His hands remain on my cheeks so I place my palms over the back of them. “If you ask me to come with you, I’ll go this time.”

“I bought some property about ten minutes from the rescue. I close on it next week. The bank had to wait until I was back to settle. I’ve got a builder lined up, but I haven’t told anyone yet. I wanted to surprise my parents, and you, of course. I guess I shouldn’t have just showed up like this, but I’m tired of being away. My parents are getting older and they’re going to need someone close by as they decline. I’m hoping it’s not for a long time, but things happen. There’s nothing keeping me away. I’m not tied to the Army or the government. This probably isn’t the time or place to ask, but I want a second chance for us. I want to build you a house that’s ours, one we can raise kids in. Ruby and Ozzy, right? Those were your names you picked?”

I laugh and pull away, but only to climb onto his lap. “The fact that you remember that drunken conversation when we were sixteen is crazy. I’m a little flexible on names nowadays.”

“Are you interested in a lifetime partnership with me?”

“Yes. And also a big wedding, during the fall months, dogs included.”

His arms hold me close while we speak just inches away. His tender kisses repeat between our words, and the reason we’re out here simply fades from our minds as we share in these moments. I stand and remove my pants and underwear, while he undoes his belt and prepares for me. This is a carnal need more than anything sweet and intimate. I’m desperate for him and he’s the same for me. Once I’m back on his lap, he enters me and nothing else in the world exists except for the two of us. We’re lost in each other, our kisses and caresses desperate but constant. We come together like a crescendo during a concert, silently remaining together in each other’s arms.

The sun is starting to set when we come out of our temporary bubble. We redress and gather our packs, hoping to find the mom knocked out. We trek past the furthest point we reached earlier and come to where the puppies and mother have sought shelter. It’s a small cave-like formation looking at the water. Two pups play outside while the others are near the mom, who remains unconscious. They’re sleeping, or at least appear to be.

To be safe, Brantley whistles to see if they’ll respond. When they don’t, we approach with caution. We work quickly, at first ignoring the smaller puppies to get the mother secure. Once we have her hooked to a harness, muzzled and leashed, I do my best to check on the puppies. A third person would have been a huge help, but we have to work with what we have.

Brantley squats down beside me and pets a few of the pups that aren’t being shy. They’re not used to people, but without mom reacting to us, they’re a bit more manageable.

“We should stay in tower four tonight. There’s a direct road there that’s closer to where I parked.”

“How do you know that?”

“There’s these things called maps, and in my line of work, we have them with us.” When I lightly slap him, he smirks. “I checked out the surrounding areas in case we needed extra resources, then there was a note at the station when I checked in this morning. It’s vacant and there’re some things we can use if we need them.”

The tower can be seen from the water’s edge, so we make a plan. We get the puppies all leashed, which is not as easy as it sounds, and I’m in charge of them. Brantley picks up the hundred-plus pound dog and proceeds to lead us. We have to take breaks, because she’s limp, dead weight in his arms. The ten-minute walk takes us an hour. The good news is that there’s a small utility shed beneath the tower we put the animals in to secure them for the night. Even when the mom wakes up, they have food, water, and blankets for the night, and there’s no way she’s breaking out after I dosed her with an anti-anxiety medication we use on some high-energy situations to keep the dogs safe from injuring themselves.

We should sleep, but end up talking most of the night in between love making. We’d both been stubborn and missed out on so much. We have a lot of catching up to do, and now that he’s back, I don’t want to close my eyes in case this was all a perfect dream.

In the morning, after waking up in Brantley’s arms, Uncle Bernie sends resources to help us safely pack up the vehicles and transport them to the clinic, where they’ll get much needed vaccinations, medical care, and anything else they need before coming over to the rescue. The mom, who we call Ava, wasn’t as vicious as I thought she’d be. She seemed almost grateful when her puppies were safe at her side.

Three months later

Ava is going to her new home, with us. Her puppies have all been adopted to wonderful families where they’ll be loved. Brantley is staying with me until our house is finished. We’ve been working with Ava to adjust to life on the farm. If she struggles, we have plenty of farmland where she won’t get out or cause trouble, but we’re hoping to make her a lap-dog like the rest of them. It’s hard work, but worth it. Besides, she really likes what we feed her, along with Brantley’s attention.

We’re planning a wedding for next fall. There’s no reason to take things slow. We’ve lost enough time. We’ve forgiven our parents for forcing us to pursue our careers before finding each other again. All we care about is that we’re back together, and everything else is in the past. It’s the future we look forward to now, and a houseful of plenty of animals to love. Maybe I’ll send that Sasquatch an invite to our special event—for Juan, of course.

Not every story ends happy, but mine will. I’ve never been so sure of anything else in my life.

The end.

This story is a spin-off of The Mitchell Family Series and Mitchell-Healy Series. All 25+ books are available for purchase on Amazon. Thanks for reading and donating to this anthology and the people of North Carolina and surrounding areas.