Page 5 of Not Looking
“Yeah…” He blew out a breath. “Change of subject. What brings ya by?”
I smiled. “Gonna check in with Tammy and the gift shop to see if I need to rotate stock or bring some new stuff in.”
“Gotcha.” He glanced down. “Wanna temperature check the springs with me, Russy?”
My dog barked in agreement.
He laughed, then clapped my shoulder. “You know the drill. If I’m not at the springs, I’ll be checking the garbage bins coming down on the back trails.”
“Got it. I knew you’d take him along.”
He leaned over and scratched Russy’s head. “Of course.” He stood straight again. “You’ll drop by the office and say hi to Dad, right?”
“He won’t mind the interruption?”
“He’ll grumble about it, maybe even to your face. But he’ll appreciate it.
I chuckled. “Typical stoic alpha.”
Simon snorted. “I’m glad Papa didn’t let that bullshit rub off on me.”
I shrugged. “Changing times, too.”
“Maybe. But Papa would thwack Dad upside the head every time Dad tried to tell me to tough it out because I’m an alpha.”
I laughed. “Your papa was a good man.”
Simon gave me a sad smile. “He was.”
There was a moment of awkward silence before he cleared his throat. “I need to get moving. State regulations about how often temperatures are checked.”
I scratched the back of my neck. “Yeah. Sorry.”
He shook his head. “No. It’s ok.” He looked down. “Come on, Russy.”
Russy barked and fell in beside Simon as they headed out of the barn. I turned the other direction, towards the main building.
“Hi Randy,” said Claire—a perky blonde who’d been the weekday front desk agent for years—as I walked in. “Tammy’s in her office.”
“Dale’s still in his?” I asked as I leaned on the counter.
She sighed. “Unfortunately.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Things not running right?”
She held up her hands and waved them defensively. “Oh, no. Don’t get the wrong impression. He runs everything fine. It’s just…” she sighed. “He’s not happy up there.”
I let out a long breath. “Simon said something similar.”
She nodded. “It was one thing when he was still actively grieving. But he’s only hurting himself more now.”
I rapped my knuckles on the counter a couple times. “I’ll head up there and see if a visitor won’t cheer him up a bit.”
She smiled. “Thanks, and good luck.”
I chuckled and headed to the stairs. The staff offices were only one floor up, so not worth dealing with the elevator. I popped my head into Tammy’s office to let her know I was there and would check in with her after chatting with Dale, then continued down the hall.
“What is it?” Dale demanded when I knocked on the door.
