Page 17 of The Texan's Tennessee Romance

He nodded, looking a little distracted. He wore a denim shirt, blue plaid flannel jacket and jeans, all of which showed evidence that he’d been doing rather dirty manual labor that day. “Hi. Listen, that dog’s hovering around again. I think maybe he came back for another meal. Do you have anything?”

“I just brought home enough leftover pot roast for a whole pack of dogs. I’ll get him some, and a bowl of water.”

“I’ll come in and help you carry it out. We can’t walk on the deck because the sealant is still drying.”

“All right.”

He followed her into the kitchen. “Did you have a nice visit with your aunt and uncle?”

She answered as she refilled the plastic bowl she’d used the day before with fresh water. “Yes, I did. Very nice.”

Handing him the water, she opened the fridge and pulled out the plate of leftover roast. “Did you have any problems sealing the deck?” she asked to keep the small talk going.

“No. I used Kyle’s sprayer and everything worked fine.”

“Good. So I should be able to walk on it tomorrow?”

“Yeah. Give it twenty-four hours or so and it should be good to go.”

She warmed the meat just to room temperature, only a few seconds. She didn’t want the hungry dog to burn its mouth. “Okay,” she said, taking the plate from the microwave. “Let’s go see if he’s still there.”

“I have a feeling he will be,” Casey replied, letting her precede him. “He looked pretty hungry. And hopeful.”

“Should we call animal control while it’s here?”

Casey hesitated. “Give me a couple of days to see if I can make friends with him first. Maybe Kyle will know someone who’d give the dog a home if we can get it to trust us.”

Natalie was still wearing the clothes she had donned for church that morning, a black waist-length jacket buttoned over a lace-trimmed green cami with a knee-length, black-and-green checked skirt. Fortunately, her black shoes had a reasonably sensible, two-inch heel so she had little trouble following Casey across the uneven lawn toward the woods.

She spotted the dog just as Casey stopped ahead of her. Looking as ragged and dirty as it had the day before, it lurked in the shadows, watching them warily, prepared to run if they made any sudden moves.

Holding the water bowl in his left hand, Casey reached out with his right to take the food plate from Natalie. He crooned quietly to the dog as he took a few slow steps forward and knelt to set the bowls on the ground. “Here you go, buddy. Come on. Have some nice pot roast.”

Casey stayed by the plates, waiting to see if the dog was hungry enough to approach the food even with Casey so close. The dog remained where it was, looking from the food to Casey and then back again, its thin body quivering.

Casey sighed, stood and moved back to Natalie’s side, several yards from the food. “Okay. We won’t get too close.”

Apparently reassured, the dog crept closer to the food. It ate quickly, finishing the roast and then cleaning the plate with a few more licks before washing the meal down with several noisy laps of water. Satisfied, it looked at Natalie and Casey again. After a moment in which none of them moved, it gave a couple of quick, tentative wags of its matted tail, then turned and ran back into the woods.

“I think he thanked us,” Casey murmured, glancing at Natalie with a grin.

; Though she wasn’t prone to anthropomorphizing, she returned the smile and said, “Maybe he did. Do you think he’ll be back?”

“Could be. I’ll pick up some dog food this evening. That would be healthier for him than table scraps.”

“I’m not sure we’re doing him any favors by not calling animal control. At least he’d be safe and well-fed in an animal shelter. And the nights are starting to get pretty cold.”

“I don’t think they’d be able to catch him,” Casey argued. “And I don’t like the thought of him being trapped. I think I’ll be able to tame him enough to find him a home. He seems like he wants to make friends. He’s just a little skittish.”

“And how long do you think it will take to tame him to that point?”

“I, uh, don’t know,” he admitted with a shrug. “If I haven’t made any progress in the next couple of days, I’ll call animal control and ask for advice.”

She looked at him curiously. “Why are you so reluctant to call them? I’m sure they can catch him very humanely. And it would be so much safer for him to be…”

“In a cage?” Casey broke in to ask. “Deprived of his freedom and locked up somewhere for his own good?”