Scottie tried to keep a neutral expression as he followed Ed Schultz, the county health inspector, around the coffee shop.
Ed wasn’t saying much—not that he had ever been overly-chatty—but he definitely seemed to be looking for something.
In order to get an accurate picture of what day-to-day operations were like in an establishment, health inspections were never scheduled ahead of time, but this visit didn’t feel routine. It didn’t feel random.
“Have you had a busy day?” Scottie asked as Ed worked his way through the prep area, checking product dates and making notes.
“Busier than most,” Ed replied, without looking up from his note pad. “We’ve had some unusual calls…”
“Nothing about Steamin’ Beans, I hope.” Scottie knew he shouldn’t even be saying anything that might distract or interfere with Ed’s work, but something about the man’s tone had piqued Scottie’s curiosity. Ed had definitely been hinting at something.
Was he trying to give Scottie a chance to come clean about… whatever he was looking for?
Ed took a few more steps and poked around for several more seconds before finally turning to look straight at Scottie. “As a matter of fact, one call was a complaint about this coffee shop.”
Scottie’s mouth dropped open. He felt a flash of defensive anger wash over him, but it was almost instantly replaced with concern. As far as he knew, nobody had ever complained about him to the Health Department during the couple of years that he’d been in business in Silver Lake.
“Why?” he asked. “And who? What was their complaint?”
He wasn’t sure how much information Ed could, or would, share with him, but those were just a sampling of the hundred questions that Scottie suddenly needed answers to.
Instead of answers, though, Ed had a question of his own.
“Do you have… a pet… somewhere on the premises, Scottie?”
Scottie blinked.
Why was Ed asking about Sasha? How had he even heard about Scottie’s new puppy? And what did that have to do with whatever complaint had been made about the coffee shop?
Scottie’s mouth had finally closed, only to fall open all over again once he realized what was at the root of Ed’s question.
He wanted to know about Sasha because she was the reason for the complaint.
Suddenly, Scottie had a whole new set of questions. “Does someone not like Sasha? She wasn’t mean to anyone, Ed, I swear. She’s just a puppy. Did someone get upset because they saw her in here?”
“We got a complaint that a dog has been running loose in the coffee shop,” Ed said, fixing Scottie with a stern look. “I’m sure you can understand how that would be an issue—and why it may be upsetting to some people.”
“Hold on,” Scottie said, putting up a hand and shaking his head. “I understand that not everyone is a dog person. I get that, and I think maybe I was a little too eager to show off my new puppy here at the shop, but I’m afraid you have the wrong impression of what’s been going on here.”
Ed’s expression was a mixture of irritation and suspicion, but he didn’t interrupt. He simply nodded for Scottie to continue.
“Sasha is a good dog,” Scottie said. “A little energetic, sure, but she’s not a threat to anyone here. And she’s never been running loose in the shop. Never.”
For several seconds, Ed didn’t speak. Scottie had been too worked up to notice or to really even care, but now that the silence was stretching out between them, he was starting to think that he’d probably said too much, or had maybe been a little too strident in his own defense.
But dammit, he wasn’t going to just keep his mouth shut while his dog was accused of being some sort of nuisance or threat. And he really wasn’t going to stand by and let the assumption that he had violated any health codes go unchallenged.
Scottie might be laid back. He might be a little overly enthusiastic at times. But he wasn’t negligent. He wasn’t a bad dog owner. And he wasn’t a bad business owner, either.
“Is the dog here now?” Ed finally asked.
Scottie nodded. “In my office.”
“May I have a look?”
Motioning for Ed to follow, Scottie walked out of the prep area and down the short corridor that led to the back office.
Pausing for just a moment outside the closed office door, Scottie said a quick prayer.
Please don’t let this be the time you’ve done something crazy in there. Please, please, please.
He opened the door and peeked inside just as Ed was coming up to look past his shoulder. Opening the door wider, Scottie let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in.
Sasha was over in the corner, curled up on a folded blanket and snoring softly, looking more adorable than ever.
“Sasha,” Scottie whispered. “You’ve got a visitor…”
Her ears perked up at the sound of her name and as soon as she opened her eyes she was up and wagging her tail, first rushing over to Scottie before peering around his legs to greet Ed.
Even though Scottie was still annoyed and more than a little offended at the thought of someone filing a complaint about Sasha, he couldn’t help but smile when he saw Ed reach down and scratch behind her ears.
“Does this look like the face of a menace to society, Ed?”
Ed pressed his lips together as he stood back up, making eye contact with Scottie and looking like he was trying to keep from smiling, too. “I have to confess, this isn’t the scene I was expecting when I came in today.”
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Scottie said, only trying a little to keep the sarcasm from his tone. He quickly corralled Sasha back into the office and shut the door again, not wanting to tempt fate by letting her get too excited when she had been behaving so well. “Is there anything else I can do for you while you’re here?”
“No, I think that covers it,” Ed replied, turning to walk back to the front of the store. “And it was definitely not a disappointment. You know I don’t like being the bad guy, Scottie. I wasn’t looking forward to possibly giving you a violation notice.”
“I wasn’t looking forward to that possibility, either,” Scottie confessed. “But I’m glad it didn’t come to that… did it?”
“There is no evidence that the dog has been near any food or drink prep areas. She isn’t unattended in any customer service areas, either. I can’t really fault you for letting your puppy sleep in a back office.” Ed grimaced. “I just have caution you that there may be some people who don’t share your enthusiasm for puppies. You’ll want to be sure you’re not inadvertently violating any codes. Don’t give them a reason to ask me to come back.”
As far as Scottie was concerned, Ed hadn’t had a reason to come in this time, but he kept that opinion to himself. No need to poke the bear, especially when this visit had gone so well.
“I understand,” Scottie said, keeping a diplomatically neutral tone and expression. “Thanks for coming in. Can I get you anything before you head back to the office?”
Ed had started to shake his head but stopped short as they rounded the corner to the front counter. “You know, I think I will grab one of those scones from the case before I leave, if that’s okay? How much do I owe you for one?”
Scottie already had a scone in a bag for Ed before he could even finish asking. “On the house today, Ed. Take care.”
He ushered the health inspector out the door, both of them finally able to smile after the serious half-hour they’d just spent together.
With a quick wave, Scottie watched as Ed walked back to his car and pulled away, only finally stopping to take a deep breath and heave a heavy sigh once the man was completely out of sight.
God, that had been unpleasant. But it could have been so much worse.
Thank goodness Sasha had been behaving.
Still, even though Ed had left satisfied with what he’d found, Scottie was troubled by the fact that someone—someone who had been to his store in the past couple of days—had been so upset about his new dog that they had called the health inspector.
He couldn’t even imagine who it might be.
Whoever it was clearly wasn’t a fan of Sasha’s.
Or Scottie’s.
“I can’t believe someone called the health inspector on you,” Gage said, shaking his head as he walked along the sidewalk outside the coffee shop with Scottie. “How could anyone look at this little furball and not fall completely in love?”
“Exactly!” Scottie rolled his eyes as he tried to keep his excited puppy from pulling too much on the leash. She had almost endless reserves of energy, and Scottie was happy to let her explore around the outside of the building on the leash, but God… the whole day had just been exhausting. “She’s a good dog. She doesn’t cause any trouble. She’s just… enthusiastic.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” Gage grinned. “So what did Ed say?”
“Just that I should be cautious.” Scottie sighed, and did his best to keep Sasha from wandering off and pulling him behind. Luckily, her nose had led her right back to stand between Gage and Scottie—or rather, to circle around Scottie a couple of times, threatening to get him tangled in the long leash. “But he saw with his own eyes how well-behaved she can be. And thank God she was actually on her best behavior at that moment.”
Scottie was just going to be glad when the day was over. Even this little impromptu walk with Gage—something Scottie thought would lift his spirits a little, since his friend could always seem to find the bright side of any situation—wasn’t helping much.
His nerves were shot.
His head ached.
And his feelings were hurt, knowing that one of his customers either didn’t like his dog or didn’t like him.
Or both.
“Do you have any idea who it could have been?” Gage asked. “Have you pissed anyone off lately?”
“Not that I know of,” Scottie answered truthfully. “I can’t even picture any of my regular customers going straight to the Health Department without at least talking to me about a problem first, but… maybe. I mean, that’s apparently exactly what happened, so I guess I don’t know everyone as well as I thought.”
“It might not have been one of your regular customers…” Gage said, nodding toward the building across the street.
Trenton’s shop.
“No…” Scottie followed Gage’s gaze. “You don’t think… no, I can’t believe that.” But even as the words left his mouth, he could see the figure in the window—almost certainly Trenton—seeming to stare back at them, seeming to taunt Scottie with just that little bit of doubt. “Do you really think he would do something like that?”
Gage shrugged. “I’m not totally convinced he wouldn’t. But the real question is—”
As Gage spoke, a squirrel darted out onto the sidewalk, no more than a yard away from where Scottie, Gage, and Sasha were gathered. Scottie felt a sharp tug on the leash, then felt his legs fly out from under him as Sasha took off after it.
He hadn’t realized how tangled he’d become in the leash until it was too late, until he was already falling.
Sasha was still pulling hard, and although Scottie had completely let go of the leash with his hand, it was still wrapped around his legs enough that she couldn’t get free.
He reached for the leash as Gage bent down to help him back up onto his feet, then Scottie felt his eyes go wide as the small metal clasp that attached to Sasha’s collar gave way.
“No, Sasha,” Scottie called. “Wait, Sasha. No!”
She was already halfway down the sidewalk, though, paying no attention to Scottie’s frantic yells as he scrambled back to his feet. He and Gage both started running behind Sasha, but there was no stopping her, and they weren’t nearly quick enough to catch up.
Still right behind the squirrel, Sasha was oblivious to her surroundings, oblivious to Scottie’s frantic cries.
Oblivious to the busy street that was just a few feet away.
“Come back, Sasha!” Scottie called in vain. “Sasha!”
The squirrel darted across the street, and Scottie’s eyes went wide as he saw Sasha run right after it.
“No,” Scottie called, Gage’s voice rising next to him as time seemed to slow down. “No!”
A car passed right in front of them, obscuring Sasha and the squirrel from view for a split-second, but that was all it took.
Scottie heard the loud blast of a car horn, then the squeal of tires on hot asphalt as the traffic on the other side of the road came to a halt.
There was a muffled yelp, and Scottie felt his heart drop down to his stomach as he stepped out onto the road.
Halfway across the street, in front of two stopped cars, his beautiful, energetic puppy lay in a heap, completely still.