Beauty and the Beastmaster - Linda Winstead Jones Page 0,8
animals. Silas could appreciate that. There were times he needed the help. He never stayed away from home very long, but his work did require the occasional overnight trip.
At least, for now.
Silas suspected that one day Damian would leave Mystic Springs and set up as a dog trainer out in the world. At least, that seemed to be part of the plan. If Jenna had her way, Damian wasn’t going anywhere.
Some of the animals Silas took in simply needed a home, and he took care of them, too. They weren’t strong enough or smart enough to be trained as a police or service animal. Because he knew what they needed he was able to place them carefully. An older couple for a dog who needed peace and loving companionship after years of abuse, a family for a young pup who wanted only to play and be boisterously loved.
And then there was Judge, who was reluctant to leave even though he’d been here longer than most. Judge had shown up almost a year ago, to the day. Plenty of police departments would love to have a bloodhound, but until Judge was ready to leave he was welcome to stay.
What Judge needed, what all these animals needed, was a home.
If Jenna was able to cast her spell, his business would cease to exist. Those from outside would forget him. Gradually or instantaneously? He didn’t know, and didn’t care. Those Non-Springers who’d be scared or prodded out of town over the next couple of weeks would forget, too. He wondered if they’d have a hole in their memory, a touch of amnesia, or if some false memory of their time here would fill in the blanks.
Would the effect be like that of amnesia punch? Would those outside Mystic Springs feel dazed for a while after the place ceased to exist for the rest of the world?
Not his problem.
When all the dogs had been fed and watered, Silas got them settled in their pen and headed back to town. The trip was just long enough that he drove if the weather was bad or if he’d already made a couple of trips that day. The weather today was nice, too nice for him to think about staying inside, or driving when he could enjoy the walk. Judge stayed with him, because the dog had insisted and Silas could see no reason not to let the bloodhound tag along. It would give him something to talk about while Gabi cut his hair.
Judge seemed as excited as he had more than a year ago, when he’d first shown up at Silas’s place. The effects of the springs had worn off long ago, so what had the bloodhound so wound up?
“What is it with you and Gabi Lawson?”
Judge’s response was the canine equivalent of a harrumph, which made Silas laugh a little as he entered downtown Mystic Springs and stepped onto the sidewalk.
Not many people were out and about this time of day. The lunch rush at the café was over. School had not yet been dismissed.
Down the way, he saw Cindy Benedict leaving the beauty shop. Maybe she’d been Gabi’s last customer. God, he hoped not. Cindy’s hair looked like she’d just crawled out of bed. It was sticking out in all directions. Maybe that was a new style?
She crossed the street so Silas didn’t get a chance to speak to her. At least he didn’t have to lie and tell Cindy her hair looked great.
He heard the kid a split-second before he opened the door to the beauty shop. If he’d heard it any sooner he might’ve kept on walking.
Gabi’s daughter Mia was one-ish. She could walk, though not very well, and she talked but only spouted gibberish. And, apparently, she screamed. Silas didn’t like children much. He hadn’t spent much time with little kids, but he found them mostly demanding, messy, and annoying.
As he opened the door Silas looked down to instruct Judge to stay on the sidewalk, but that instruction was too slow. The bloodhound slipped past him, through the doorway and into the beauty shop.
Gabi stood in the middle of the room holding her little girl, bouncing her up and down, whispering soothing words which did not soothe.
Maybe he wouldn’t get his hair cut today after all. What he had to do, the plan he was supposed to enact, would have to wait. Just as well, since he didn’t really have a plan. This visit was recon, nothing more.