Nothing happening near her home, she thought as she walked around to her door.

  Well, nothing except Shane sitting in his red pickup truck in front of the house.

  He waved at her. Decoy barked a greeting, which had Chipper straining on her leash to go visit her friend.

  Piper relented. She walked to the pickup and leaned on the edge of the open door. “You don’t have to do this, Shane.”

  “You’re right. I don’t. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” he said and peered around at their surroundings.

  “Nothing as far as I can see. Maybe I was just imagining it,” Piper said, glancing back at her house and then tracking his gaze to look all around.

  “Maybe,” he said and clenched his fingers on the steering wheel. Facing her, he said, “I’ll wait until you get in. Let me know you’re okay.”

  He wouldn’t relent, so she nodded and walked to her front door. Unlocked it and left it open as she had the other day. Once inside, she checked all around, but much like in the meadow, there was nothing to cause alarm.

  She went back to the front door and waved at Shane. Called out, “All good here.”

  “Good. See you tomorrow,” he replied, then gave a brief chop of his hand as a wave and drove away.

  “Tomorrow,” she whispered to no one.

  Time to grab a bite, take a shower and relax so she could be ready for tomorrow and another day with Shane.

  * * *

  AS THEY HAD in the past, the nightmares subsided with Decoy at his side. The warmth and weight of his body brought a sense of safety, much like they had as Decoy stayed with him while his Army colleagues dug him out of the rubble of the building they’d been using for training. He had only been able to touch Decoy’s nose, feel his soft breath and the lick of his tongue, but that had been enough to keep him from feeling lost and alone.

  With the nightmares under control, he’d had more energy and focus during the training sessions at the DCA, and it showed as they neared the end of the first week.

  “You two are learning quickly,” Piper said as Shane ran through the various verbal and hand commands and Decoy obeyed. Earlier in the day they had taken a few runs through the agility course, even the dreaded chute that had so terrified Decoy on the second day of training.

  “We have a good instructor,” he said, then bit his lower lip, worried it sounded too much like flirting.

  Bright splotches of color erupted on Piper’s creamy cheeks, and she downplayed his compliment. “It’s easy when I have a dog like Decoy to work with,” she said, and then quickly tacked on, “and you.”

  The color deepened on her cheeks, and she looked away, obviously embarrassed.

  Luckily, they were both saved from what could have led to even more awkwardness by Ava’s arrival with Emma and Lacey.

  “How’s it going?” Emma asked, immediately picking up on the vibes between the two of them.

  “Good,” they both said simultaneously, earning an arched brow from both Emma and Ava.

  “Good,” Emma said and jerked her head in the direction of the agility course where they’d been working earlier that morning. “Are you done over there?”

  “We are. I was just thinking of taking Shane and Decoy indoors so we can maybe work on some attack and protect commands since he’s learning so quickly,” Piper said.

  Shane hadn’t thought about teaching Decoy anything like that, but it certainly could come in handy if they were doing search and rescue in an area that wasn’t secure.

  “Wonderful. If you aren’t going to be too late, I was thinking we could all grab a bite after the training. Shane? Ava? Are you up for it?” Emma said.

  Shane glanced at Ava, who in the last week had become more comfortable around all of them. Because of that, he said, “I’d love to go.”

  Ava offered up a small smile before echoing his acceptance of the invite. “Sure. That would be nice.”

  “Great. I was thinking we could go to Bartwell Brewing. They’ve got some great local craft beers and the food’s pretty good as well. Six o’clock,” Emma said and dipped her head as if to end the discussion.

  “Six o’clock,” Ava said, then with Lacey on a leash beside her, followed Emma to the agility course.

  “Determined, isn’t she?” Shane said and ran a hand through his hair while watching the two women walk away.

  Piper’s gaze darkened, grew sad. “You could say that, or you could say that Emma just wants to help others.”

  Shane didn’t think he needed help, but kept quiet, not wanting to push the issue. Tipping his head in the direction of the building where he’d seen the indoor ring earlier in the week, he said, “You mentioned something about attack and protect?”

  Piper nodded. “Sure. Follow me.”

  * * *

  PIPER AND EMMA had driven to Bartwell Brewing together as they did so often when they had a girls’ night.

  Shane’s red pickup was parked near the mouth of the alley where the brewery was located in a huge warehouse just off Third Street and not far from the headquarters for the police department. Its proximity was one of the reasons that the brewery was such a popular place with local law enforcement. The craft beers and good food didn’t hurt either.

  As Emma and she walked in, Piper spotted a couple of police officers at a high-top table near the bar: Dillon Diaz and his best friend, Brady Nichols. Both Brady and Dillon had trained their dogs at the DCA and were regular visitors at the ranch. They smiled and waved as Emma and Piper walked past them to the back of the brewery where Shane sat at a table in the dining area.

  He stood as they approached.

  “Hi,” Piper said, admiring how the dark blue Western shirt he wore accented his broad shoulders and lean midsection. The color magnified the intense blue of his eyes, which glittered brightly in the mellow light of the high-ceilinged warehouse building. Mother-of-pearl buttons barely held the fabric tight against the muscled width of his chest.

  “Hi,” he said, his voice slightly husky.

  “Hi, Shane,” Emma said cheerily from beside her and then peered around the brewery. “Have you seen Ava?”

  “Not yet,” Shane said at the same time that Piper’s phone rang. Ava was calling.

  “Hi there, Ava. We’re in the back dining room.”

  “I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to make it. Captain Rutledge wants Jason and me to work the night shift. Says we have to earn our stripes,” Ava said, the exasperation apparent in her tone.

  “Sorry to hear that. Sorry about Rutledge as well. I know he can be difficult,” Piper said, staring at Emma and shaking her head in disgust.

  “I have to learn to deal with him, right? But I am sorry. I was looking forward to tonight,” the young officer said. When noise filtered in from behind her, she added, “Have to run.”

  Piper swiped to end the call and blew out a harsh breath. “Captain Rutledge is making Ava and Jason work tonight. Do you think it has to do with Ava training with us?”

  “And Jason dating Tashya? Possibly,” Emma said and took a seat at the table.

  Piper and Shane joined her, Piper at her side and Shane across from them.

  “I gather Rutledge is not a fan,” Shane said just as a waitress came over with some menus.

  “The craft beer list is on the back, and we also have an assortment of the usual in bottles or draft. Bud, Miller, Stella and the rest,” the young woman advised and took a pad and pen out of her apron pocket.

  “Anything you can recommend?” Shane asked Piper and Emma.

  “I love the Mountaintop IPA, plus a portion of the sales go to our local search and rescue group. I’ll take a pint of that,” Piper said.

  “The same,” Shane and Emma said.

  “I’ll go get your drinks and be back for your food orders,” the waitress replied and hurried off to place their orders.

  Emma took only a quick look at the menu and laid it down on the table. “Burgers and steaks are always good here.”

  With a bob of his head, Shane said, “Sounds good.”

  The waitress returned a couple of minutes later with their drinks, and they placed their food orders and returned to their earlier conversation.

  “What’s up with Rutledge?” Shane asked, pressing the issue again.

  Piper shared a look with Emma and said, “He’s not a fan of the K-9 program at Jasper PD. If Chief Walters retires—”

  “When he retires, Piper,” Emma corrected. “I know Doug is looking forward to more free time.”

  * * *

  “I GUESS THE captain is next in line to be chief?” Shane said, sensing the upset of both women over the Jasper PD officer.

  Emma and Piper shared another look. One of disgust if he had to guess, which surprised him since both women were generally easygoing and friendly.

  “He thinks he is, but truth be told, many of the officers have issues with him,” Piper said with a wrinkle of her nose as if she was smelling something bad.

  “We’re hoping Chief Walters chooses someone else to take over,” Emma added, and Shane understood what they weren’t saying. Someone who would be supportive of the police department continuing the K-9 program and training with the DCA.

  He raised his glass of beer in a toast. “To the DCA and a big thank-you for all you’ve taught me so far.”

  Both women smiled and joined in the toast. “To the DCA and to your success in an SAR group,” Emma said.

  Piper chimed in with “I second that,” but Shane detected a momentary flicker of sadness in her gaze. As she met his, there was no doubting it from the emotion in those deep green eyes.

  In their short week together, something had changed between them that had nothing to do with the K-9s or his plans to move on to possibly join a search and rescue group in Montana.

  He decided a change of discussion was the best remedy for the sudden melancholy he was likewise feeling.

  “How did you start the DCA?” Shane said, wondering what would have made two such bright and beautiful women dedicate themselves to such an out-of-the-ordinary life in the Idaho mountains.

  Emma shrugged, but then launched into her story. “My foster dad was a K-9 officer with the Jasper PD. He helped train a lot of the dogs and officers in Jasper as well as in nearby police departments. My foster mom was very active in community affairs, including work with local animal shelters to try and get the animals rescued before they were put down. After they both died, I inherited money from an insurance payment, and it seemed right to use that money to honor them by continuing the work that they did with the dogs.”

  There was more to the story, he could tell, but suddenly Emma’s phone rang and barely a second after Emma answered, the waitress came over with their meals.

  The waitress was about to walk away, when Emma ended her call and said, “I’m going to have to take mine to go.”

  “I’ll get you a container,” the waitress said and hurried off.

  “What’s wrong?” Piper asked, brows knitted together with worry.

  “Tashya says Gus the cat got into it with a fox. Gus won, but he got bit and Tashya needs help since Marie’s busy with a horse that’s foaling.”

  “I guess I’ll get mine to go as well,” Piper said.

  “I can drive you,” Shane said at the same time that Emma replied, “You stay.”

  Piper looked from one to the other and shrugged. “Okay. I can stay, that is if it’s not a big deal to drive me home.”

  It was only about twenty minutes from his RV campground to Piper’s home, but more importantly, he didn’t want the night with Piper to end so soon.

  “It’s no big deal.”

  Except he could hear Gonzo’s voice in his head chastising him. Dude, it’s totally a big deal because you have feelings for this woman.

  He didn’t really know just what those feelings were, but he intended to take the time to find out, starting with tonight.

  Chapter Six

  She was alone with Shane. Great.

  Except she’d been alone with him various times during the week while they trained.

  But this was different. This was a potentially monumental shift in the cornerstone of the wall she’d built around herself since David’s death.

  You can get through this, she told herself, as Shane asked, “How did you and Emma get to know each other?”

  Keep it to Emma and you, she thought.

  “We met in college and became fast friends. When I wasn’t in school or interning for my degree, I’d visit with Emma and her mom.”

  Shane cut a piece of his steak slowly, clearly thinking about what to ask next. “Emma mentioned her dad died.”

  Since the information was public news based on various articles that had been written about her friend, she didn’t feel she was betraying a confidence by sharing it. “Her foster dad, Rick, died in the line of duty. Rick and his wife, Susan, fostered Emma after she was removed from her home because of issues with domestic violence. She loved the Danielses, and sadly, her mom passed about a year after she finished college.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said and forked up some of the French fries that had come with his meal.

  An awkward silence followed. Emma suspected what he wanted to ask and yet he didn’t, maybe because then she’d ask him about his background. Much like hers, it was forbidden territory, she suspected. Still, she wanted to know more about him.

  “I’ve met Gonzo once or twice when he brought some of his teens to the DCA to work with us. How did the two of you become friends?”

  “We met in basic training. We had both enlisted right out of high school after 9/11. We just hit it off and I knew I could always count on him to watch my six,” Shane explained and swirled a French fry through a mound of ketchup on his plate.

  Piper chewed on her burger thoughtfully, struggling with how to phrase what to ask. Somehow her mouth blurted it out before her brain could stop her. “Were you with him when...?”

  Shane paused with the French fry halfway up to his mouth, then set it down. “I was. It was supposed to be a routine scouting mission to look for a small Taliban cell that had been terrorizing a nearby village. We were ambushed and luckily we didn’t lose a man, but Gonzo was seriously injured. We didn’t know how bad until later.”

  * * *

  UNTIL THE DOCTORS had dealt with the immediate emergency and then loaded his buddy onto a plane headed for the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, so he could be treated at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

  “He was lucky to survive,” Piper said, and her gaze darkened once more, to a green like that of the deepest shadows in a forest.

  She was thinking about her husband. The man who hadn’t survived.

  “I’m sorry about your husband,” he said and immediately regretted it as tears shimmered in her gaze and one spilled down her cheek.

  He reached into his jeans pocket for the handkerchief his father had always said he should carry because you never knew when you might need it. Handing it to her, he said, “It must have been hard for you.”

  She took the handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes. “It was. I was lucky to have Emma. She was a big help because I was so lost.”

  He knew the feeling well and something inside him made him share. “I was an expert sharpshooter and had been offered a position as a trainer. After Gonzo was hurt, it made me realize how fragile life was and so I took that position,” he said and jabbed at the steak to finish it although it would probably taste like sawdust thanks to their conversation.

  She reached out and laid a hand on his, stilling his almost angry motion.

  “But you were hurt anyway and now here you are. With us,” she said and soothed her thumb across his knuckles, the gesture surprisingly comforting.

  “I am,” he said, his tone more resigned than curt.

  She did a slow nod and, with laser focus, settled her gaze on him. “When David died, I asked myself time and time again why it happened. It took a long time for me to realize that I was meant to go on a different journey than the one I had envisioned for myself.”

  “What had you envisioned?” he asked, needing to know more about this woman who intrigued him on so many levels.

  “David and me. Babies. A small house in the suburbs. Teaching elementary school. I was an education major,” she admitted freely, a Mona Lisa‒like smile on her face. “And you?” she added.

  “In truth?” he said and paused, digging deep into his soul for the answer. “I always wanted to be a soldier. Even before 9/11. As for family, I wanted what my parents had. Laughter. Love, only... There was never enough time for that after I enlisted.”

  She blew out a harsh laugh, as if chastising herself. “There never is ‘enough time,’” she said, emphasizing the words by using her fingers to mimic quote marks. “Unless you make time for it.”

  “You don’t think that’s what I’m doing now?” he asked because in truth, he still wasn’t sure what he was doing at the DCA. When Gonzo had mentioned it and he had spoken to Emma and then the leader of the Montana SAR group, it had seemed like something to try. Something to replace being a soldier only...

  Was it just another excuse to keep from really living? he thought.

  That Mona Lisa smile drifted across her lips once again, filled with compassion, sadness and possibly even resolve.

  “I guess we’ll find out,” she said.

  * * *

  AN EXPECTANT QUIET filled the cab of the pickup as Shane and Piper did the short trip from the brewery to Piper’s ranch house.

  When Shane pulled into her gravel driveway, he killed the engine and sat there, gripping the wheel tightly before he faced her and said, “Let me walk you to the door.”