Though Tag objected, she tied the leash to a picket. “You need to stay with me, let them do what they have to do around front.” To soften the insult, she got him a bowl of water, a biscuit.
Then she crouched, rubbing the spot between his ears that made his eyes roll back in bliss. “Was it you? Did you chase him offbig, fierce dog? Did some good fairy put you on the side of the road that day for me?” She laid her head on his. “Did you scare him as much as he scared you? Well, we’re not going to let him scare us. We’re going to take a bite out of him, you and me, if he tries it again.”
She pressed her lips to his muzzle, looked into his wonderful eyes. She’d fallen in love with the dog, just as she’d fallen in love with Xander. Against her better judgment.
“There doesn’t seem to be a thing I can do about it.”
She rose, then walked to her pretty new containers to plant.
Xander found her tamping the dirt around a tomato plant while the dog stretched out full-length in the sun, half snoozing.
“They’re pretty much done out there, and said there’s no reason the landscapers couldn’t get back to it tomorrow. Kevin’s crew, too.”
“That’s good. That’s fine.” She picked up a pepper plant. “Do you know why I’m doing this?”
“It looks obvious, but tell me.”
“Besides the obvious, I’m planting these herbs and vegetables. I’m going to water them, watch them grow, watch the vegetables flower and watch the tomatoes and peppers form. I’ll harvest them and eat them, and it all starts with what I’m doing right here. It’s a statement. I need to do some research, but I think you can plant things like kale and cabbage in the fall.”
“Why would you?”
“I can make some very good and interesting dishes with kale and cabbage.”
“You’re going to have to prove that to me.”
She kept planting while he went in, came out, and stood watching her.
“He ran away,” Xander began, and she nodded.
“Yeah, I saw that.”
“Saw what?”
“The footprints. You don’t have to be an expert to conclude, or at least speculate. The ones going toward the house, toward the side are different from the ones leading away. Leading away they’re farther apart, and with a kind of skidmoving fast, even running.
“I bet he strolled around the back here. The son of a bitch. Cocky, confident. I don’t know if he’d intended to break in or just look, but he wasn’t feeling cocky and confident when he left. The dog scared him.”
Tag thumped his tail at her quick glance.
“I think he came around here, and would’ve gone in if the door hadn’t been lockedor maybe planned to get in anyway, but the dog scared him off, defending his territory. Defending what’s ours.”
“You ought to know that the scenario you just outlined is the one those trained feds and cops outlined a few minutes ago. It’s how they see it.”
“Well, aren’t I fucking clever?”
He arched an eyebrow. “I think so.”
“I’m so pissed off. I should probably level that out before I plant any more. I don’t think you should plant living things when you’re so incredibly pissed off. You’ll probably end up with bitter tomatoes.”
She yanked off her gloves, tossed them down. “He used her again, Xander. He used Donna, used the fact that everyone who’s usually here would be at her funeral. That makes me sick inside.”
“Then think of this instead. That stray, that dog who wandered from place to place as much as you used to, stuck, like you stuck. And scared the bastard off. He didn’t leave here strolling, Naomi, just like you said. He left with his heart knocking and his knees shaking.”
“Damn right, he did. Damn right,” she repeated, and strode up and down the deck. “If he tries it again, he won’t get to leave, heart knocking, because he’s going down bloody. If he thinks I’m an easy mark, that he can come for me whenever he damn well pleases, he miscalculated.”
“I get the value of mad, as long as it doesn’t walk with stupid and careless.”
She whirled to him, eyes dark green fire. “Do I look stupid and careless?”
“Not so far.”
“And that’s not going to change.” She calmed a little, told herself to keep the mad in a back corner until she needed it. “Do you think Kevin and Jenny can get a sitter? I’d like them to come over, I want to tell them sooner rather than later, but not with their kids around.”
“I’ll make it happen, if you’re sure.”