Page 118 of Back To Our Beginning

“We’ll talk to Eli. He won’t have to be afraid anymore.” Beau promised me. “Plus, I have a lead on Sparks.”

“You do?”

What couldn’t this man accomplish?

He squeezed me tight, his eyes bright and filled with love. I couldn’t wait to get him home.

* * *

It wasn’t until nine-thirty that we made it back to my place. First, we’d talked to the police, then I’d called Oliver. He was not happy that he hadn’t been kept in the loop. After I’d tried to defend myself on my phone for over three minutes, Beau had finally taken the phone out of my hand and given Oliver a piece of his mind. He’d handed my phone back to me, and Oliver was suddenly extremely thankful for all that I’d done.

After that, we went to the animal shelter in Pigeon Forge, and they took us back to see Sparks. He was in a cage that was not near any of the other dogs. As soon as we got close, he growled. When he saw us, he started barking like crazy. He was pissed.

Beau squatted down in front of his cage.

“Hey, Sparks, do you remember me?” Beau crooned.

Sparks continued to bark as if Beau were the enemy.

Beau looked up at me. “Honey, you have your Kindle with you, don’t you?”

“Yeah, why?”

“This is going to take more than a minute. Why don’t you go out to your Jeep and read for a while? Sparks and I are going to get reacquainted.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if it were me? After all, it was a man who beat him.”

“Just give me some time. I have a thing for dogs. I partnered with a dog for a while when I was overseas. I don’t know if I can get through to Sparks, but there is no way we can let Eli near him when he’s in this state.”

I nodded. It was true.

I squeezed Beau’s shoulder, then left the shelter for my Jeep. I really hoped Beau could accomplish something.

I was halfway through a new book when I heard some noise and looked up. Beau came out with two women. They were locking up. He looked tired, but he still smiled at me.

When he got into the Jeep, he leaned his head against the headrest.

“How’d it go?”

“I got him to take a treat from me. So, there was progress. But I won’t be here long enough to gentle him before I leave.”

“Beau, you can’t fix everything.”

He rolled his head and looked at me. “I want to.”

“You’re too soft-hearted to be a social worker,” I teased.

That made him grin. “Take that back.”

“Nope. Just calling it the way I see it. Now, do you want to eat out, or do you want to pick something up for dinner?”

“Let’s order pizza and pick it up on the way home.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

After he was done ordering the pizza, he dialed another number. I gave him a quick questioning look before I turned my head back to the road.

“Kai? Yeah, it’s me. How are you with dogs?”