The Good Luck Potion (The Good Luck Series) (12 page)

“Good morning,” Keely said
, coming into the office.

Sue pivoted. “Hi. Pamela was telling me you had a package delivered this morning. Veronica let Alex in.”

“He must have come by early. I thought I’d get here before he did.” Keely dumped her purse and brief case in her chair before she reached for the card on the box. She read it and smiled. “A friend from high school heard I was expecting and sent this to the house. Alex insisted that I had to have it right away.”

“That was sweet of him to bring it by.”

“He can be that. I saw you have a rose on your desk.”

Sue nodded. “He left it for me.”

“I’d say that is the real reason he came by, but this gift was a good pretense to come.”

“Maybe, but he could have stuck around until at least one of us got here.”

Keely’s brow arched and she grinned. “Anxious to see him, are we?”

Sue shrugged.

“Does this mean you’ve changed your mind from Monday?”

She nodded.

“I hoped you would.” Keely came over and hugged her. She stepped back and looked her in the eye. “Promise me you won’t say a word if I tell you something.”

“I promise.”

“I went to see Alex the other night and he was pretty worked up over you. He was even talking to Duke about you.”

“He was?”

“I think I scared the be jibbers out of him when I spoke because he thought he was alone with the dog.” Keely laughed then said, “If you could have seen the shocked look on his face when he turned around and saw me. It was priceless.”

Sue laughed
too.

“Anyway
.” Keely took a deep breath and rubbed her tummy. “I think his confusion about you is a good sign. He realizes that whatever is going on is something to not rush.”

“
Maybe.”

“I think it’s more than maybe.” She went back to her desk and opened the box, pulling out the cutest little pale yellow and green layette set. “Would you look at this?”

Sue smiled.

“I’ve got to go show Darren. Hold my calls.”

“I will.” Sue went back to her desk and turned on her computer. While she waited for it to boot up, she reached for the rose and inhaled the sweet fragrance and looked at the card Alex had penned. His script was crisp as if he’d taken his time writing it. Which she found very thoughtful.

Pulling out her cellphone she sent him a text thanking him for the rose and that she was looking forward to Sunday.

The switchboard on the phone line lit up and she sighed, taking the call Veronica forwarded to her. It was time to get to work.

“Keely Jones office. How may I help you?”

The morning flew by and it was mid-afternoon when Keely came out of her office with a concerned look on her face. “Are you busy?”

“Not awfully. What do you need?”

“Mrs. Bradshaw, my neighbor…former neighbor just called. She said animal control just left the house on Cedar Lane. Something about them picking up a white dog that had been roaming the area and that Duke is barking and acting all crazy. I’ve called Alex, but he didn’t answer his cell. He may be out in the field doing research today. He spends most of Fridays doing that. I have a conference call scheduled or I’d run over there to check on Duke. Would you mind going?”

“They got the white dog?”

“That’s what my neighbor said. You know about it?”

Sue nodded, closing out the program she’d been working in. “Alex only got glimpses of it, but I actually saw it. A very pretty animal, but it wouldn’t let me get close enough. I wonder who would call animal control over it running around the neighborhood.”

Keely pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Mr. Brubaker. I’m sure of it. Out of all the neighbor’s he’d be the first to do something like that. He threatened to call them on Jama when Duke was howling. And if Duke is making a lot of noise now, he might call them on him now.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll go over there and see if I can’t calm him down. We met last week so maybe he’ll remember me.”
She shut down the computer and quickly stacked the papers on her desk.

“Thank you. I know this doesn’t fall within your job duties, but I really appreciate your willingness.”

“I’m on it.”

“I’ll keep trying Alex.”

Sue grabbed her purse and stood. “I’ll call you if there is a problem.”

Chapter Nine

Sue hurried as fast as traffic allowed for a Friday afternoon. Middle and high schools in the area had let out already for the week and since most high schools had football games that evening
more cars than usual were on the road. It took sitting through two lights to finally turn onto Cedar Lane from Broadway and then she was behind a school bus making periodic stops until it finally turned onto another road near the Catholic school.

Her phone rang and she fumbled in her purse with her right hand trying to find it while keeping her left hand on the steering wheel and her eyes on the road ahead. She punched the talk button and cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder. “Hello?”

“Sue, it’s Alex. Keely told me what is going on. How’s Duke?”

She slowed the car and turned on the signal before turning into the drive. “I just got to the house
. I’m pulling in the drive now.”

“I can hear him barking.”

“He’s running along the fence barking wildly.” She put the car in park and got out, glad she’d worn slacks and flats today instead of a dress. “I’ll try to calm him down.”

“Okay. I’m in west Knoxville. I should be there in half an hour
depending on traffic. If he won’t stop barking call me back. And Sue, thanks.”

“
You’re welcome.” She took a breath. “Alex, what are we going to do about the white dog?”

“I don’t know.
I’ll call and see if I can’t find which shelter it was taken to.”

“Okay.” She hung up the phone and slipped it into her pocket before she stepped to the fence. Duke saw her and he barked, jumping up on his back paws. She rubbed his head. “It’s okay boy. Alex is coming. We’ll find the white dog.”

“Woo—oolf.”

Rubbing his head, she tried to calm him
, but the dog was too agitated. If the neighbor had called animal control because of a stray, then he’d be just as likely to call for Duke barking incessantly and disturbing the quiet peace of the neighborhood. She spoke softly. “It’ll be okay. Yes, it will. You’re such a good dog.”

“Woo—oolf. Woo—oolf.”

She looked around for anything that might distract him so he’d forget about what had upset him. A stick. A ball. Then she saw the water hose. She hurried along the chain link fence until she came to the gate, letting herself inside the yard. Picking up the hose, she turned on the water and filled the dog’s bowl with fresh water.

Duke ran over to investigate what she was doing and lapped up some of the water.

“Good boy,” she said, rubbing his head again.

He barked a few more times before he whimpered and laid down at her feet, resting his head on her shoe.
He looked sad and that made her heart ache for him. “It’ll be okay. You’ll see. Alex is on his way.”

In the distance
, she spotted an elderly man in a cardigan sweater standing on the opposite side of the fence. Was he the infamous Mr. Brubaker that Keely had told her about? The one they suspected was the reason the white dog had been taken away? The same man who had threatened to call animal control on Duke for howling at night while Jama stayed here?

Her blood pumped fast and furious within her
head and she was tempted to march across the yard and tell the man what she thought of his meddling, but Duke whimpered when she moved her foot and she looked down at him.

“
Come on, move your head. I can’t take a step with you like that.”

The dog ignored her and her level of frustration increased. She didn’t want to jerk her foot out from under him, but he wasn’t leaving her much choice. Moving her foot back and forth she tried to coax him off it, but he wouldn’t budge an inch.

“Duke. I mean it. You have to move your head.”

The
dog jumped up and ran over to the fence again at the sound of a vehicle pulling in the drive.  Alex had made record time coming home and she hurried over to the fence to wait with the dog.

“Hi,” she called as he got out of the truck.

“How’s it going?”

“Not bad. I think your neighbor has been watching me.”

He nodded, planting his hands on his hips. A muscle at his jaw twitched. “He’d better keep his distance is all I can say for him.”

Duke barked and Alex ruffled his ears with his hands. “
I know, boy. He’s a meddling old man.”

“Maybe he’s lonely?”

“I thought that at first after his wife died and I tried to be nice to him, but then it became obvious he didn’t want a friend. Anyway, I called the local shelter while I drove over.”

“Do they have the dog?”

“Yeah they do and we can go get her.”

“That’s good.”

“When I explained the situation of how she’d come to be in my backyard, they informed me that the report said the complaint came from Mr. Brubaker. He stated a stray had gotten into my yard and he feared for my dog’s safety. The thing that really gets me is that the man knew I had been taking care of the dog for the last few days. We’d even talked about it because I didn’t want him doing anything like this if he should see her here.”

“You had?”

“Yeah. She came back the other night and I was able to get close enough to her. She doesn’t have any tags. And the shelter is going to check to see if she has a chip that might tell us who she belongs to. If not, then I can adopt her if I want. Or maybe you’d be interested in her?”

“Me?”

“Sure. Why not?”

She shook her head.
“I live in an apartment complex that doesn’t allow pets. I—I’ve never even owned one before.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Don’t get me wrong.” She cautioned shifting her weight from foot to foot. “I like dogs. And I especially like Duke since I’ve gotten to know him through Keely and now you. A—and while I think I’m missing out on a lot by not being able to have a dog, I—I’m just not sure a large breed would be the right fit for me.”

Alex slowly grinned. “No problem. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. Come on, let’s go to the shelter and bring her home.”

“Sure. I gave Duke more water.” She hurried to the gate and Duke followed her. Opening it, she slipped through and latched it closed behind her. “We’ll be back, boy.”

The dog flopped down and looked up at her with a woeful expression. She glanced over at Alex. “Should we take him with us?”

“No. My truck isn’t large enough inside for the four of us. And I wouldn’t feel right putting either of them in the truck bed to ride.”

She nodded and looked back at Duke. “Sorry. You can’t come with us. Maybe another time, okay?”

The dog sighed as if he’d been rejected and laid his head down. She hurried to her car to grab her purse. When she climbed into the truck she turned to Alex. “Doesn’t he break your heart?”

He
laughed, shaking his head. “No. Why is it that females fall for his moping around? You automatically assume there is something wrong with him. He’s perfectly content, that’s just the way he is. Keely fussed over him when she first moved in, calling me because she thought there was something wrong. And I’d say that is what got Jama too, except the only person she knew to call was his vet. That’s just Duke.”

“Good thing she did too or
she and Kyle wouldn’t be together today.”

He winked at her and
started the truck then backed out. Once he was on the road he reached over to take her hand. “How have you been this week?”

“Busy with work and crossing things off Kimberly’s wedding to-do list. What about you?”

“The same. With work I mean. Thank God, I’m not at your sister’s beck and call.”

She chuckled. “I wish I’d not been so willing to help, but if this takes some of the stress off of her then I’m glad to do it.”

They reached the interstate and he released her hand so he could keep both on the steering wheel. He merged into heavy traffic and changed lanes a few times to take the route they needed. “You know I’ll have to come up with a name for the white dog. I can’t call her girl all the time.”

“True.
Her name should fit her personality too. The way she was so skittish around people, but comfortable around Duke is a good example. Does she think of herself as above others or was it because we scared her?”

“So you’re saying she’s cautious?”

Sue nodded.

“What about Lady?”

She shook her head. “Lady makes me think of something dainty and she’s definitely not that. She’s strong and bold the way she came into your yard. She didn’t let Duke frighten her away.”