Sarah shrugged. “You really think it’s safe to trust a dog with all that?”
“I could put you in touch with a couple of our other veterans’ wives. They would be able tell you more than I can.”
Sarah touched the hair feathered out across her cheek. “I wouldn’t know what to do with spare time.”
“Time you found out, maybe?” Jori chuckled. “But don’t get too relaxed. We can’t teach our dogs to cook a pot roast or tell a joke. And they’ll never replace a good woman.”
As they rounded a corner, Sarah turned to gaze wistfully at the box store they were passing. “Seems a shame not have a new outfit to go with this haircut.”
Forty-five minutes later they entered the WWP building. Kelli, Jake, and Mike were drinking coffee and chatting.
“Well now, don’t you look pretty.” Mike came to his feet on his braces and crutches, a big grin on his face for his wife. “Sarah, you look like a bride.”
“You’re overdoing it, Mike.” Sarah took a friendly swat at her husband’s arm. Her smile was as wide as sunshine.
Kelli winked at Jori. “Why don’t you both come into my office for a moment?”
Within ten minutes, the Williamses were on their way home, Yuki happily stashed in the backseat of their truck.
Kelli came up to Jori. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure. I just took a chance. And I know what you’re thinking. A little makeup and a decent haircut won’t make her life any easier.”
Kelli grinned. “Then you for sure can’t read my mind. I was thinking you pulled off a miracle. You’ve got a knack for dealing with people. Sometimes that’s harder than working with the dogs. Good job.”
Jori basked in the glow of Kelli’s praise all the way home.
It wasn’t until she was alone that she allowed herself to even think of how lucky the Williamses were to have each other. Even with the burden of his disabilities.
Ten days and not a single message or phone call from Battise.
He’d warned her. But then he’d called and asked for her to come to Springdale.
She’d seen the real Battise. The lawman who set his own welfare aside to serve and protect others. And the troubled man who wanted desperately to hide his weaknesses. Seeing all that had made her want so much to be with this flesh-and-blood imperfect man. The trouble was, he didn’t want to acknowledge that man.
Too bad. She was very much afraid she had fallen for him. Even with the dents and rust and mileage, he was more of a man than any other she’d ever known. So it might be hard, maybe close to impossible to be with him. But she was going to make him let her try.
“It beats the hell out of being alone.”
She was going to give him time, until Christmas Day. By then she might just dress up like that Dutch-girl elf he’d so admired in Eureka Springs, and show up on his doorstep. What would be the worst that could happen?
She knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t turn her away if she started undressing. After that, well, one step at a time.
Argyle jumped up in her lap, purring and pawing, looking for the perfect spot.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Law was humming along to Johnny Cash’s version of “I Won’t Back Down” on the radio as he turned off High Sky Inn Road onto the paved strip of road that led to his cabin. It was raining and the forecast promised sleet then snow as the day wore on. Right now there was little to see beyond fine mist blowing in the beams of his headlights. Though the sky had shifted from navy blue to sullen gray, the hollows in the winding road were still pitch black. He’d worked a night shift at his desk. But he didn’t mind. Two things had him smiling.
One, he’d be taking his physical the following morning. After he passed it, he’d be fully reinstated and ready for active duty.
Two, the morning’s headline news story was fresh in his mind.
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS DRUG SWEEP ARRESTS DOZENS.
Even as he started to go over in his thoughts the details of the earlier newscast, the radio station news came on.
“The Central Arkansas Drug Task Force, assisted by other local, state, and federal agencies carrying warrants, arrested sixty-seven people in the early hours of this morning. Warrants were issued as part of a sweeping federal investigation into corruption and drug trafficking. Several additional people were arrested in Missouri and Oklahoma. The Arkansas arrests include four law enforcement officers who are accused of accepting bribes to watch over drug shipments crossing state lines. Further arrests are expected. The major surprise of the drug bust is Harold Tice, majority shareholder and CEO of Tice Industries. Mr. Tice, sequestered in his home, is expected to turn himself in at the courthouse later today. Three other men and a woman are still at large as of this newscast. Their names will be released at a task force news conference scheduled for eight a.m.”