Let Me Love You (6 page)

Desperation had probably set in.

She pulled her iPhone from her back pocket and checked the time. How long would it take animal control to show? They had a facility on the east end of Blue Lake, and she was clear across town. Shouldn’t take that long…

The dog whimpered and fought against whatever was holding its hind legs. It sank into the mud, disappearing completely.

“There he goes,” Matthew said drily.

Bobbing back to the surface, the dog appeared once more. Although with the mud covering its head, it couldn’t see. Panic took hold over the dog as it fought harder and opened its mouth to bark. Nothing but a squeal came out.

“Damn it,” Lucy said, and jolted into action.

She kicked off her shoes and shoved her iPhone into the toe of one of them. Taking a deep breath, Lucy ran to where a giant oak tree had been planted on the back bank and leaned far into the gulley. The mud was slick and sticky, and pulled at her feet from the first step. She held on to the trunk and guided herself down the roots. She sank to her knees, and then her thighs. The mud was damn cold, seeping right through her clothes and chilling her skin.

Hearing her approach from somewhere behind, the dog whipped its head around and struggled to open its eyes.

“It’s okay, boy,” she crooned. “Or girl. It’s okay.”

The dog’s silent pleas turned to a whimper. It lowered its head until its muzzle touched the mud.

“Your voice is calmin’ him down,” Matthew said from his squatted position on the bank. “He freaked out when I got down there. Keep talkin’ to him.”

She sighed, moving deeper until the mud rose above her waist and seeped into her sweater. God, there was mud in her belly button! When she’d woken this morning and had dreamed of heading to a spa for a mud bath, this was
not
what she’d had in mind. The universe sure had a twisted sense of humor.

“It’s okay,” she said, reaching out for the pup. “You’re a pretty doggy, aren’t you?”
No collar. Burrs stuck in the fur by its neck.
“You look like you’ve been on your own for a while. Someone needs to give you some good ole-fashioned TLC. You’re going to be okay. We’re here to help you.”

As she reached the dog’s tail, she reached out and brushed its tip. The dog thrashed around, snapping for her hand. She jerked back.

“You don’t like to be touched?” she thought aloud. “Aww, someone must’ve hurt you.” She reached out again. “I wouldn’t do that. Will you trust me to get you out? Could you do that so we can both get the hell out of this mud?” The dog whimpered. “I’m ruining my brand-new sweater. I got it on clearance, but it’s one of my favorites.” She really needed to stop thinking aloud. “Come on, lovely.”

As she took another step closer, her foot caught on something sharp. She tripped, falling face-first into the mud. When she regained her footing and stood upright, she swiped mud from her eyes and mouth. Tiny glops hung from her lashes. The metallic flavor clung to her lips.

Freaking wonderful.

“Ms. Stone, are you all right?” Matthew hollered from the safety of the dirt road.

“Yes, I’m fine.”

Oh, she’d be fine all right. After she saved this damned dog and took the longest, hottest shower of her life.

In the distance, the familiar sound of a fire truck siren wailed.

Skylie must’ve called 911 when Lucy reported Matthew was hurt. Where was Skylie, anyway? And where was animal control?

Carefully, Lucy felt with her feet for whatever had tripped her. Was it a pile of machinery from one of their harvesters? Garbage someone had tried to dispose of on her property? As she kicked it, the dog cried out.

“I’ve gotcha,” she said, moving her foot over the chunk of metal. “I know what’s the matter now. We’ll get you out.”

The ground rumbled as a fire truck appeared on the bank amid a giant dust plume. Within seconds, Joey stood next to Matthew on the bank. He wore black tactical pants with huge pockets, clunky boots, and a white undershirt that pulled taut over his muscles. He looked relaxed, shoving his hands in his front pockets as he took in the scene and listened to what Matthew had to say.

Although Lucy couldn’t hear what they were saying, Matthew’s hand motions were enough to let her know that he was describing the entire scenario. As Matthew pointed toward Lucy, he flung himself forward to mimic her fall, and smacked himself in the forehead. Joey chuckled.

Seriously? Did Matthew really have to describe how she’d biffed face-first into the mud?

“Hey!” She picked up a wet clod and chucked it at Matthew as hard as she could. It arched high, but she was too deep in the gulley. The clod hit the ground at his feet. “Mind helping me, Joey, or are you too worried about getting dirt on those spit-shined boots of yours?”

Matthew kinked his head to the side and whispered something to Joey. Joey laughed again, but this time he cut his laugh short. He lifted Matthew’s arm, eyeing the bite mark carefully. He asked something. Matthew answered. His gaze shot to Lucy as he asked Matthew something else. Smiling, Matthew put up his hands and shook his head.

Was no one going to help out?

Fine. She could do it by herself. She always had, and always would.

With a huff, Lucy returned her attention to the dog. It seemed calmer than when she’d first arrived. As gently as she could, she reached into the mud and shifted the piece of metal around. The hunk of steel was square, and propped up on something that felt rubber and round.

A tire.

No
, she corrected.
Piles
of tires.

As she lowered herself into the mud to get a better feel, tilting her head so as not to get anything else on her face, Joey charged into the gulley. No roots for handholds. No careful walk down the slope. He leaped over rocks, slid on his backside when the side got too steep, and then hurtled right up to his waist in mud. Lucy squealed and cowered from the nasty tidal wave that sloshed at her.

“Couldn’t take the easy way down, Brackett?” she said, holding on to the steel so the dog wouldn’t sway with the wave. “You must like mud.”

“No, I’m just a sucker for a woman in distress. What’s he caught on?” Joey’s face was stern, his jaw clenching and unclenching as he took in the scene. “Is it his back legs or his tail?”

“Umm, its back legs.” As Lucy pushed on the metal harder and lifted, the dog whimpered and sank further. “At least I think that’s what got it held up.”

Animal control’s SUV pulled up and a woman emerged with a pole and a cage.

“What do you say we work your way out of here?” Joey reached into the mud as if he hadn’t seen the cavalry arrive to help him out. “Calm down, boy. You’ll be out of here in no time.”

The dog rose up again, but this time the metal came loose from the tires.

“Wait,” Lucy said, feeling around the steel form. “It’s…a cage of some kind.”

“A cage?” Joey’s hands met hers at the back end of the metal box. They were soft and searching, a gentle brush through the mud, and then the warmth of his touch was gone. “It’s for cats,” he said decidedly. “But the front gate is broken.”

“How do you know?”

“Not that I have time to explain it, but”—he took her hand and led her to feel around the cage—“narrow and rectangular, door at the back, twisted wires on the front by the pup’s foot.”

“Oh…” Her hand tingled where he held her. She took it back. “How do we get him out?”

“Lucky for you, buddy,” he said, raising the cage at an angle and lifting the front door, “I grew up in the backwoods and know my way around a cat trap.”

As the woman with animal control approached the top of the gulley, kennel in hand, Joey went to work beneath the mud. The dog writhed and whimpered, and finally came free. It tried to swim, but sank. Lucy reached her hands deep into the murk, touched wet fur, and guided the dog away from her and out of the crud. It scrambled onto the bank, scrawny and covered muzzle to paw in mud and blood. The woman from animal control knelt and called the dog. It lowered its muzzle and padded cautiously over.

“Come on, boy,” the woman from animal control said, holding out her hand. “You’re a handsome fella, aren’t you?”

Creeping closer, the dog sniffed her hand. He made sure to stay just out of reach.

“He’s going to be okay,” Lucy said, swiping mud off her face. “He’s walking. His leg’s not broken.”

“Or at least it doesn’t look that way.” Joey trudged out of the mud and onto the bank. Once he got his footing, he extended his hand for Lucy.

Was he always such a gentleman? The last few guys she’d gone out with would’ve hauled their backsides out of the mud and let her fight her own way out. Joey couldn’t be this way all the time, with every girl he went out with, could he? Didn’t the act get tiring?

“We’ll have animal control take him to the vet to get looked at,” he went on. “You were brave for jumping down here.”

She felt her cheeks heat as she took his hand. “You too.”

“This is my job.”

No, it was more than that. He could’ve helped Matthew with his arm and waited for someone else to secure the pup. He could’ve bolted out of the mud once he spotted animal control showing up.

Joey pulled her onto the bank and helped her scramble to the top. As soon as the warm wind hit her, her skin was covered with gooseflesh. She was soaked, but sticky, the mud hardening to her clothes. Whey Joey reached the road two steps ahead of her, he jogged to his truck and came back with a blanket. Wrapping it over her shoulders, he knotted it in front and escorted her to the truck.

It wasn’t until the side door opened that Lucy realized there were other firemen in the truck. One of his crew members had gotten out to bandage Matthew’s arm, but the others acted indifferent.

They hadn’t even exited the damn truck!

“I think the dog’s going to be all right. That could’ve been bad,” Joey said, watching animal control lure the dog into the kennel. Every time the woman got close to touching him with the pole in her hand, the dog spun and snapped for it. “If she can get her hands on him.”

“I think that’s precisely the problem. There’ve been too many hands on him. He just wants to be left alone.” Lucy’s heart broke as she watched him squirm on the ground and snap at the woman’s ankles. “He’s been hurt. He’s afraid of someone hurting him again.”

As if the dog had suddenly tired of fighting, he scurried into the cage. The woman shut the tiny gate and lifted the pooch into the truck.

“You sound like you know a lot about this dog,” Joey said.

“This is the first time I’ve ever seen him.” Lucy spun and caught his tender gaze. There was more to what he’d said. “Wait…what did you mean by that?”

“Nothing,” he said, his voice a deep rumble. “I’m just thinking aloud.”

He strode around the back of the truck and disappeared out of sight.

But Lucy knew exactly what he’d meant. And he’d been spot-on.

Joey’s stomach had been in knots all morning. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason, but he decided it had something to do with the pot of coffee he’d guzzled before heading to StoneMill for Janice’s birthday party. Either that or the sight of Lucy covered head to toe in mud yesterday had really gotten to him.

He bet his bottom dollar on the latter.

Lucy had plagued his dreams all night. And each time she’d been covered in mud, just the way she’d been before, only in his dreams she was completely, beautifully
nude
. All that porcelain-pale skin…all that mud sliding over her body as he pressed his naked body against hers. He’d been tortured every slow-ticking hour of the night.

He awoke in the morning exhausted, eyes burning. It was as if he hadn’t slept a wink. He’d apparently tossed and turned all night, soaking his sheets in sweat. And every muscle in his body was tight. On edge. Raring to go.

He wanted Lucy. It was undeniable. It was also an impossible scenario.

As he pulled up to the winery and parked beside Dane’s black Ducati, Janice raced to his driver’s door.

“You’re here!” she squealed and pulled him into a hug the moment he stepped out of his truck. “Now everything’s perfect.”

God, he loved this girl.

She was all smiles and sparkling pink lips. Her raven-black hair was straight, parted down the side, with sweeping hair falling over her right eye. She’d always had her own style, and her Sweet Sixteen birthday party was no exception. She wore a hot-pink dress, matching half jacket, tall white boots, and a pointed birthday party hat on the top of her head.

She looked like Sweet Sixteen Barbie and his innocent niece rolled into one glittery pink ball.

Alec should be here.

He couldn’t get the thought out of his head. His brother should’ve been here to celebrate his daughter’s sixteenth birthday. He should’ve been here to witness the transformation from little girl to beautiful woman.

Putting an arm around her shoulders, Joey guided his niece across the parking lot. “Am I the last of the family to show up?”

She grinned, flashing him a million-dollar smile. The braces had straightened her teeth perfectly. He’d worked every overtime shift for the entire year to be able to pay for those.