Her Valentine Sheriff Read online

  She sank into the plush forest-green easy chair in the corner of her living room and folded her legs, wrapping her arms around her ankles. Resting her forehead on her knees, she closed her eyes and offered her heart to God in prayer.

  She didn’t realize how much time had passed, but at eight o’clock precisely, Eli knocked rhythmically on the door, shave and a haircut, two bits.

  She was ready, and she hoped he was equally prepared for his first real lesson with Bullet. He’d seemed a little aloof about the dog on Friday.

  She opened the door and smiled in greeting, and he simply marched past her.

  “Let’s do this,” he said over his shoulder, already halfway to the den.

  No Hello.

  No Good morning.

  No How was your weekend?

  Just a curt Let’s do this, in a voice that, while not what she would term callous, was nevertheless, in Mary’s opinion, a little rough around the edges. Or maybe she was being oversensitive, and he was ready to get down to business.

  “Okay, then,” she answered blithely, tamping down her own emotions. Eli was probably nervous. She decided to cut him a break—this one time. She passed him, heading through the den toward the backyard without glancing around to see if he followed.

  She didn’t have to. She felt his gaze drilling into her back and knew he was scowling. What was up with that? Had he fallen off the wrong side of the bed? Eaten soggy cereal for breakfast?

  As she stepped outdoors, she paused a moment, enjoying the sight of Bullet playfully barking and chasing Periwinkle and Sebastian around the yard. The dogs always made her feel better.

  Eli was still staring at her, waiting for—something. For his training to begin, she supposed.

  “Bullet, volg,” she called crisply, bringing the dog to heel.

  “Do I have to talk like that—in another language?” Eli asked, stepping beside her and crossing his arms over the wide expanse of his chest. “What is that, anyway? German?”

  He was so close, and so big, that she had the impression he was invading her personal space. She wished it didn’t rattle her, but it did.

  “You’re close. It’s Dutch. And, yes, I’m going to be teaching you a few Dutch words. Bullet is trained to respond to the language, though he knows most commands in English, as well.”

  “It figures,” Eli groused, his brows lowering over startlingly arctic-blue eyes. “Dutch language for a Dutch dog. Just what I need. My partner and I not only have communication problems, we don’t even use the same language.”

  Mary chuckled and laid a hand on his arm. “Bullet isn’t really Dutch, and that’s not why we use the language. He was bred right here in Texas. The foreign words help us—and the dogs—stay in the zone.”

  He shrugged one shoulder and quirked his lips. “I thought I was done being forced to learn new languages when I graduated from high school.”

  “I promise it’s not as painful as you’re making it out to be. Only a few words and they’re fairly easy to pick up. You’ll have a good time working with Bullet. Before you know it, it’ll feel like it’s all fun and games for you—probably the best time you’ve ever had on the police force. K-9 is at least as exciting as guns and knives.”

  Eli scoffed and shook his head, and Mary raised her eyebrows. Frustration burned deep lines of aggravation in her chest.

  Why was the man being so contrary today? He was acting like a toddler who didn’t want to eat his vegetables. It didn’t add up for a man as normally well tempered as Eli Bishop to be so unreasonably grouchy—not without a good reason.

  But what reason could he have? Something was certainly stuck up his craw. Was he that uncomfortable working with her?

  She sighed inwardly. She wouldn’t blame him if he was. She wasn’t feeling entirely composed herself. But the two of them would have to find a way to overcome the awkwardness between them, or they’d never be able to see this project through to completion—and that had to happen. It had to happen.

  Could she bring up the source of the uneasiness between them? Force the issue? Address the elephant in the room—the one by the name of Natalie?

  She cringed. While it would probably be better to bring their issues out into the open, the truth was, she was a bona fide, full-fledged chicken—just hear her cluck! She could no more mention Eli’s relationship with Natalie than she could make the Earth orbit backward around the sun.

  “We’ll start with some basic commands, and then we’ll play a few games,” she instructed, consciously shoving her own emotions to the side and hoping Eli would do the same. She would have plenty of time to mull over their issues later, when he wasn’t around to pick up on it. “Use volg to bring him to heel on your left side.”

  “V-log.” Eli stumbled over the word. Bullet cocked his head, clearly interested in the strange man, but he didn’t respond to Eli’s voice as he had with Mary’s. That was to be expected. Eli had to learn to give the commands with authority, and Bullet had to learn to trust Eli. It would just take time.

  Mary took two large steps backward, away from Eli, giving Bullet a subtle hint to focus on the man before him. “It’s volg. Try it again.”

  “Volg,” Eli commanded in a low, firm voice, fisting his hands as he spoke. Bullet circled around him and sat perfectly at his left heel. Eli glanced up, his surprised gaze meeting Mary’s. A smile crossed his lips. “Now, that’s better.”

  Her stomach fluttered and pride welled in her chest, though she wasn’t certain whether it was from Eli’s reaction or Bullet’s successful training. “Sure. See? It’s not so bad. You just have to practice the new words until they become second nature to you. Probably a lot like your job—working through the ranks, learning as you go.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed soberly. “Working through the ranks.”

  After applying the heel command successfully several more times, Mary taught Eli the words for stay, come, sit and down. Bullet, of course, already knew the commands. Eli fumbled through the Dutch, but he was a quick learner, and clearly determined to make it work between him and his new partner, which was exhilarating for Mary to watch.

  Yet even in their best moments, there was some silent but unsettling subtext within the interchange between the dog and the man. It wasn’t anything so blatant that she could immediately pinpoint the problem and correct it, but the exchange wasn’t as flowing and straightforward as it should have been. Mary couldn’t quite put her finger on what was off about it, but something was wrong.

  She took her cues from Bullet rather than Eli. The dog occasionally shied sideways, which was unlike the well-trained K-9. Bullet’s skittishness suggested his handler was agitated, and Mary watched Eli closely, looking for signs of anxiety. His expression was sober and his jaw set in determination, but she didn’t necessarily think that was cause for concern. Eli had always been a bit of a perfectionist. Clearly he wanted to be successful in his new endeavor. There was nothing wrong with focus and resolve. But sometimes when Eli would mix up his commands, the dog didn’t know how to respond and returned to Mary’s side, which only served to set Eli’s face into a deeper scowl and widen the distance between him and his new K-9 partner.

  How was she going to get him to relax? He’d been so laid-back in high school. She remembered him as the guy who always had a smile on his face, and his nature had been easygoing and friendly. But that was only her teenage love-struck observation. Maybe that wasn’t his true personality at all...at least, not anymore.

  People grew up. Things changed. And she couldn’t say it was the first time he hadn’t met her expectations. When he’d become engaged to Natalie, Mary had assumed he’d join in their family life and culture, but that had never happened. Serendipity was a small town with country ways, and family was a big deal here. Yet it hadn’t appeared to matter to Eli.

  Maybe he wasn’t the way she
had imagined at all.

  Maybe he was still bitter and frustrated from being jilted only one week before the wedding.

  Maybe he didn’t like this situation.

  Maybe he didn’t like her.

  Whatever was behind his shady mood, if he wanted this program to work, he’d have to get over it and put forth a little more proactive effort.

  He’d—they’d—get a lot further if he would relax. Bullet wasn’t going to respond to inconsistent or turbulent emotions. The dog needed regular praise and enthusiastic feedback or all of the training in the world meant nothing. Bullet wouldn’t work unless he thought it was a game.

  How to express that to Eli was another thing entirely. She’d trained plenty of dogs, but this was her first cop. She didn’t know how best to proceed, but she was fairly certain Eli wouldn’t respond to criticism, even if it was constructive.

  She paused, examining her own thoughts and actions. Dumping all the training commands on him at once might not have been such a great idea. Just because she’d easily picked up Dutch didn’t mean Eli was going to. He’d been a jock in high school and had been good at math. She couldn’t recall his performance in English or in the Spanish class he’d taken.

  What if learning a new language had proven difficult for him in the past? That would certainly explain a lot, perhaps even why he was resisting her every effort on his behalf. Her heart softened toward him. Maybe if she backed off instead of pushing him so hard, his relationship with Bullet would progress naturally. It was certainly worth a try.

  “Let’s take a break from all this hard work. Why don’t you and Bullet play for a while,” she suggested.

  “Play?” He turned to her and crossed his arms, another defensive gesture that set Mary’s teeth on edge. “What does that even mean? You make it sound like we’re fifth graders on a swing set.”

  “Something like that.” Mary pinched back a sharp retort, refusing to be thrown by his cranky attitude and determined to work through it. She’d have to show him how much fun it could be to work with Bullet. She leaned down and scooped up a simple white bath towel that had been rolled the long way and strung together with rubber bands.

  Eli arched a brow. “A towel? Really?”

  Dog training wasn’t about expensive equipment and fancy gimmicks. Mary ignored him and waved the towel toward Bullet.

  “Come on, boy,” she encouraged in the high voice she instinctively used with animals and children. “Come and get it.”

  Eli observed her silently, his lips pressed, and his posture stiff, while she played tug-of-war with Bullet and then threw the towel across the lawn for the dog to retrieve.

  “You want to give it a go?” Mary offered the towel to Eli but he didn’t grab for it. Instead, he took a step backward and jammed his hands into the front pockets of his pants. His lips curled downward. He wasn’t nearly so handsome when he frowned.

  He shook his head. “If you’re only going to play with him, I think I’ll pass. It doesn’t look that complicated. You go on ahead. I’ll grab one of those lawn chairs over there and watch.”

  Now it was Mary’s turn to frown. She was doing everything she could to encourage him. What was his problem?

  “Eli, seriously. You are never going to bond with Bullet if you don’t personally interact with him. You guys are supposed to be a team, a unit. Dogs have different personalities just like people do. You have to learn his quirks and characteristics, and he needs to get to know your idiosyncrasies, as well.”

  Eli scoffed under his breath, but loud enough for Mary to hear it. The man was thoroughly exasperating in every respect. He was certainly nothing like the guy she’d been putting on a pedestal all these years.

  Maybe he never had been.

  “Are you going to do this or not?” she demanded, at the end of her emotional rope and quickly losing patience.

  “All right, already.” He snatched the towel from her grasp and tossed it across the yard in a long, high arc. “Nag,” he muttered crossly, under his breath.

  “Somebody’s got to be,” she retorted, propping her fists against her hips. “Do you give Captain James this much grief?”

  His eyes widened. “No, of course not. I—”

  He paused. His frown deepened for a moment before he offered her a rueful smile. “You’re right, of course. I’m acting like a class-A jerk, aren’t I?”

  His grin sent her stomach aflutter. “You said it, not me.”

  “I’ll try to do better,” he promised.

  “I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she assured him, surprised at the intensity of the relief that washed through her. She hadn’t realized how very much she didn’t want to have to butt heads with Eli. She could only pray things would go better from here, now that he’d checked his attitude. She’d just known he’d be the kind of man willing to own up to his mistakes, and it was heartening to be proved right.

  Bullet sat on his haunches directly in front of Eli, wagging his tail. Eli tentatively reached for the towel and removed it from Bullet’s mouth. “Now, what did you say when you tossed this old rag for him?”

  “Apport. It means fetch.”

  “Yeah. I figured.”

  “Actually here’s a little bit of useless trivia. I named my business Rapport Kennel. It’s a play on words.”

  “Clever,” he said, displaying his admiration in both his voice and his gaze.

  Mary couldn’t help but smile. She liked seeing the kinder side of Eli. Finally she was seeing a glimpse of the man she believed would eventually make an outstanding representative of the K-9 unit for the Serendipity police force.

  “And what words do you use to play tug-of-war?”

  “Grrr,” she said with a laugh. “Just wag the cloth in front of his nose. He’ll take it from there.”

  For once, Eli did as he was instructed and didn’t complain about it. “All right, fellow. Show me what you’ve got.”

  Bullet barked and leaped for the towel. Eli involuntarily snatched his hand back and the dog bounded off with his prize.

  “Hey, now,” he protested, rushing off after the dog. “Get back here. That’s not fair. You caught me off guard.”

  Mary wasn’t sure that the dog had caught him unaware. It looked more like he’d startled him—she wouldn’t go so far as to call it fear, but she noted it on her clipboard nonetheless. She was probably being too conscientious, but this was her first time training a K-9 team. It had to be perfect. Better to be safe than sorry.

  Bullet advanced and retreated playfully, eventually dropping the towel by Eli’s feet so he could play, too. Eli didn’t hesitate this time. He made a low rumble from deep in his chest and shook the towel at the dog. Soon the two were in a full-out tugging match, dashing up and down the lawn as man attempted to best the beast. Bullet was clearly enjoying the interchange, but Mary watched Eli carefully, uncertain about how he felt about the exercise. His expression, coupled with the firm set of his jaw, appeared more resolute than exuberant. But at least he was trying. She had to give him that.

  She sighed softly, her gaze lingering on Eli. There was much to appreciate. He was a large man and firmly muscled, but he moved and turned with a fluid grace of a bird in flight. She couldn’t help but admire the way his biceps strained against the short-sleeved material of his uniform shirt as he weaved and pulled, jumped and twisted. He was absolutely stunning to observe—from a purely objective point of view. What woman wouldn’t notice?

  Reluctantly she shifted her attention from Eli in particular to the interchange between dog and man, noting on her clipboard both strengths and weaknesses in their movements as a team, points Mary would eventually need to address. For now it was enough just to watch. If she enjoyed the exchange a little too much, and if her eyes strayed a little too often to Eli, it was for her alone to know.

  She inhale
d deeply and strictly reprimanded herself. Keep your mind on your work, girl, or you’re headed for trouble.

  Eli wasn’t here to have her gawk at him. If he should happen to glance over and catch her expression in an unguarded moment, that would be the end of their association for sure, and she would lose the best chance she had to make her goal of running a training kennel a reality. Her dreams were worth too much for her to lose on something as silly as being caught gaping at an attractive man—even Eli.

  Especially Eli.

  Bullet vaulted around the man, anticipating Eli’s moves with Bullet’s own clever efforts. They were testing one another, each trying to best the other, and Mary couldn’t help but smile indulgently. She could give herself a pat on the back for a job well done. They were getting to know and figuring out each other. Strengths and weaknesses, just as she’d instructed Eli to do.

  The two were well matched. Mary had known they would be. Eli wasn’t aware of it, but she’d chosen this dog specifically for him. And vice versa. They’d make a good team one day, when their training was done.

  “Here’s his favorite toy,” Mary called, lofting a tennis ball at Eli, who caught it with ease. “Give it a toss and check out his response time. He’s amazingly fast for his size.”

  Eli drew his hand back and threw the tennis ball in a high arc, whooping when Bullet dashed off after it. “Look at that dog run. No wonder you named him Bullet.”

  Pride welled up in her throat, and she smiled. “You got that, did you? Trust me, it’ll come in handy when you’re taking down a bad guy.”

  “Only the bad guys, though, right?” he asked. His tone was light but his gaze not so much.