Page 16 of Puppy Kisses

“You don’t want to know what gesture she’s making at you right now, Adam.”

“Don’t worry—I can guess. Is she close enough yet?”

“Just a few more feet… Dawn, you’re going to have to get closer than that. Human Dawn, I mean.” Phoebe laughed again. She’d been doing that a lot ever since they arrived on the scene to find the wayward cow frolicking in a pit of mud and weeds like she was never going to see the sky again. “We should probably give the cow a new name. This is going to start getting confusing.”

“Startgetting confusing?” Dawn asked. It was a rhetorical question, since both the Dearborn siblings were intent on the task at hand. As this apparently involved having her lure the cow close enough for Adam to get a rope around its neck, it hardly seemed fair that those two were the ones concentrating so hard. She was the one in imminent danger of being trampled to death.

“A little closer,” Phoebe said. “One more step. There you go. And…now!”

Dawn shrieked as a heavy coil hurtled past her face. She knew from the stories Zeke and Phoebe told that Adam was something of a savant when it came to roping cattle. Neither of them were able to explain how he did it, but assuming an animal was within the length of the rope, he could land the loop around its neck on the first try every single time.

From a distance, she had no doubt that Adam roping cattle must be a sight to behold. She’d never known anyone to be so comfortable in his own skin, so unconcerned with the way others perceived him. He was confident without being cocky, adept without being arrogant. The hard planes of his body were hewn by hard work. His clothes were functional rather than ornamental.

In other words, he knew his value, and he didn’t need anyone else to confirm or deny it.

Up close, she wasn’t so charmed by the picture he presented. Projectiles whizzing by her head and a five-hundred-pound cow bucking angrily against her restraints had a way of ruining the mood.

Enough.This was the second time in as many hours that this dratted cow was preventing Dawn from appreciating Adam as he was meant to be appreciated. She was putting her foot down. Literally. Without waiting to consider the wisdom of her actions, she squared her stance and faced down the agitated animal. Pausing just long enough to wipe her hands on the seat of her jeans, she put one finger on either side of her mouth and did what she did best—made a lot of noise.

The piercing whistle cut through the air, stopping everyone short. Humans, cow—even the birds in a nearby tree—all halted at once.

“That’s more like it,” Dawn said. She stepped toward the huge, bulky animal heaving a few feet away, the rope now slack around her neck. “I don’t know who taught you how to behave, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in this lifetime, it’s that a lady is only allowed to cause as much trouble as she’s worth. And you, my precious, aren’t worth this much. Unless—” She turned toward Adam. “How much will a cow like this go for at market?”

“Right now? Twelve hundred dollars, give or take a few hundred. Although at this point, I’d pay twice that just to get someone to take her off my hands.”

Dawn turned back to the cow, one finger outstretched. “Then you aredefinitelynot worth the trouble. Now, get moving. I’ve got two puppies to train and one very long shower to take, and you have some serious thinking to do about your actions.” She slapped a hand on the cow’s massive, muscled back for good measure, more surprised than pleased when it actually worked. The white-and-brown-spotted cow gave her only a mild stare before beginning a slow and careful trudge out of the mud pit.

A round of applause from somewhere behind her had Dawn turning in her tracks. She expected to find Phoebe standing there celebrating their success and was understandably surprised to see a strange woman doing the clapping. The woman was well into her seventies and wore her years defiantly, her wrinkles pronounced and her expression grim.

Like most of the people around these parts, she was also dressed for hard labor. While Adam looked like a flannel god chiseled from stone and Phoebe wore her jeans like they were a second skin, this woman looked as though she’d spent most of the morning rolling around in the mud pit with the cow. Baggy brown pants, an oversized button-down shirt that looked to be disintegrating at the seams, and a pair of boots that had to be six sizes too big for her were hardly what Dawn would considercowboy chic.

“About damn time someone took that animal to task,” the woman said. She stopped clapping as suddenly as she’d begun, her eyes drinking in Dawn from the tips of her muddied toes to the spaghetti straps of her chiffon tank top. It was hardly the ideal outfit for working out in the middle of nowhere, but Adam was a tactile man. Dawn loved wearing fabrics that he wouldn’t be able to keep his hands away from. “Though it beats me what the hell you’re supposed to be.”

Dawn laughed. “A puppy trainer, if you’d believe it.” She made her way to the edge of the fence, her progress slowed by the clinging pull of mud against her feet. She extended a hand. “Hi. I’m Dawn—Dawn Vasquez.”

The woman stared at her hand for a few seconds. Too late, Dawn remembered that it was still covered in mud, but the woman accepted the handshake with a low grumble. Her own palm was rough and warm and none too clean itself. “Bea Benson.”

Ah, yes. The neighbor onto whose property the cow had strayed. Although Dawn hadn’t had much time to appreciate the scenery before, she took a moment now. Most of the land in this part of the county was flat and uninteresting, similar to the landscape she and Zeke had passed when fleeing with Gigi. The occasional stack of hay, small clusters of trees, and political signs of the conservative variety were all that provided much in the way of visual interest.

This area was similar, though a cute white farmhouse stood not too far in the distance. It was built on a slight rise so that it sat like a beacon against the bright-blue sky, with several fruit-bearing trees growing around it. Dawn had never been much of a one for nature, but she could see how a place like this might appeal.

Not with all this mud, though. For the life of her, Dawn couldn’t figure out why this particular area was fenced off. Images of late-night mud battles between buxom, scantily clad women flitted through her mind only to be immediately banished. That was way more fun than most of these people were used to having.

“Why do you have this section fenced off?” Dawn asked. “Does it have some kind of sentimental importance? Oh God…this isn’t your family cemetery or something, is it?”

She cast a quick glance around, fearful of finding evidence of mortal remains having once been laid to rest, but Bea just barked out a laugh. It sounded rusty from underuse, but Dawn liked the sound of it all the same.

“Of course it’s not a cemetery, you ninny. It’s my garden.” The laugh stopped short as evidence of the carnage seeped in. “Leastaways, itwasmy garden. Six months of sowing and weeding, my blood in every goddamn leaf.”

“I’m really sorry about this, Mrs. Benson.” Phoebe stepped forward, wringing her hands. “We had her all penned up this morning, but then the gate got unlatched, and…”

“And she ate my entire life and livelihood,” Bea finished for her. “That’s fine. No one around here cares if I die of starvation, so why would you be any different? Just don’t be surprised if I sneak over in the dead of night and eat your damn cow to make up for it.”

Dawn was unable to subdue a shout of laughter. Sneaking around at night and exacting personal vengeance was the same thing she’d have done in this situation. Bea turned a furious eye on her.

“And what do you find so funny, young lady?” Bea demanded. “They weren’t your butter beans she ate.”

“No. But I hope that when you do come for the cow, you’ll let me know ahead of time.” Dawn stared down at her outfit in disgust. She’d never be able to wear this tank top again. “I have one or two retributions of my own.”