Baby Im Back

Shepherd mixes are usually smart,” he offered, but he clasped the leash cautiously.
    “Do you have pets?”
    “No. And I don’t want one.”
    The man apparently preferred to travel light, she presumed. His SEALs deployment probably had curtailed attachments…she wondered if that extended to women. “What are you going to do when you leave here?” she asked.
    His jaw hardened. “I’m still in the Navy. I’m hoping they’ll find a place for a cripple.”
    Lora frowned. “That’s not a very nice term. You’re far from being incapacitated. Did you have a specialty?”
    He was quiet for a long time, staring at the leash he wound and unwound around his hand. “Actually, I was a dog handler for our platoon.”
    Her mouth opened in surprise. “A dog handler?
    He nodded. “Silky was our war dog for two years, a Belgian Shepherd…strong, smart, loyal. He could detect explosives or set remote cameras. He did whatever I told him, even if it meant running straight into danger.”
    She caught the past tense verb, remembered the wooden box in his Jeep that first day he’d come into town, and the favor he had to do for a friend.
    “You mentioned there were other injuries when you lost your leg,” she said. “Did Silky die?”
    Barry nodded. “He alerted me to an explosive, then we came under sniper fire. In the confusion, he misinterpreted a signal and advanced instead of retreating.”
    “And you followed him?”
    He nodded. “But he took the brunt of the explosion.”
    Suddenly, his aversion to the stray dog made sense. “I’m sorry, Barry.”
    A muscle worked in his jaw. “I brought Silky’s ashes with me back to the States. Sweetness was the only place that ever felt like home to me. I contacted Porter Armstrong and he offered a plot in the cemetery on Clover Ridge to bury the ashes.” He looked up at her. “You probably think that’s silly.”
    She shook her head. “Not at all. Silky died in the service of this country, he should be honored.”
    “The ceremony is tomorrow.”
    “And then you’re leaving?”
    He nodded. “Your PT program has given me hope of returning to the field in some capacity. So…thank you, Lora.”
    She basked under his praise, but with mixed feelings. The progress he’d made had fueled his eagerness to leave Sweetness. She’d known from the beginning he was only visiting, but it struck her now that she’d grown alarmingly used to seeing him every day.
    She was falling for Barry Ballantine.
    Suddenly a squirrel darted across their path and the dog practically leapt into the air, barking frantically. The yank on the leash was enough to throw Barry off balance. He fell to his left knee hard on the concrete sidewalk. He grunted, but maintained his hold on the leash. “No,” he yelled. The dog quieted with a little yelp, then came back to lick Barry’s hand.
    Lora had to hold herself back to keep from going to his aid. She tightened her grip on his cane and watched while he slowly pushed to his feet. His core muscles bunched as he levered his newfound sense of balance to straighten and lift his big body. When he was standing erect, he looked at her and beamed.
    Lora smiled back, but she knew the swell of her heart was more than pride for a patient. It was love for a man…and sadness over her impending loss of that man.

Chapter Seven

    BARRY WORE his dress uniform for the ceremony to bury Silky’s ashes. Porter offered him a ride and Barry accepted. When he reached the door of the quad-cab pickup carrying the precious wood box, he was surprised to see Porter’s brothers, Marcus and Kendall, in the backseat.
    “I know you said you wanted a private ceremony,” Porter said. “Hope you don’t mind the extra company.”
    “Not at all,” Barry said, knowing Marcus was a former Marine and Kendall, a former Airman. The men told him they’d all been around service dogs during their stints overseas, especially Kendall, who had aided in many disaster recovery efforts. Barry was proud to have them along to honor Silky…although he hadn’t expected the crowd that had gathered at the Clover Ridge cemetery.
    “Sorry,” Porter offered with a rueful smile. “You know how word gets around in a small town.”
    Emotion clogged Barry’s throat as he glanced over the faces of the men, women, and children who stood around the small square hole dug in the wet ground. His gaze stopped on Lora, whose bolstering smile gave his heart a workout as intense as any PT