To Catch a Treat by Linda O. Johnston Page A

sat on the patio in the warm and humid mountain air of a July evening. Our dogs, as always, had gotten along fine in the rear of Reed’s sedan on the way here and now both lay under our table, heads up and noses in the air as they took in the scents, sights, and sounds of our surroundings. For the moment, they were the only dogs around, but experience had taught us that canine visitors came and went frequently at this diner.
    A server in the standard diner uniform—a green knit shirt with a white, trailer-shaped Arrowhead Diner logo on the chest pocket—came over for drink orders. Needing some bolstering, I chose the same dark beer that Reed chose.
    Then we were left alone, if you called being surrounded by other chattering diners alone.
    â€œAre you really okay?” Reed’s expression was solemn, his deep brown eyes scanning me as if I was a dog who couldn’t verbally answer that kind of question.
    Did I feel insulted? Not at all. I knew how much he cared about dogs.
    â€œYou asked me that in the car—I don’t know—five times? And what did I say then?”
    His smile was wry. “I guess your multiple yeses didn’t convince me, given how quiet you were. But in some ways—well, I know we had some issues to get past when you were a murder suspect yourself, so maybe I didn’t pay enough attention to how you were feeling, but somehow you seem even sadder now.”
    â€œNot really. Maybe some of it is reliving what happened before, at least a bit. And … ” I didn’t really want to get into my real fear here, even with Reed. I’d no reason to believe that Neal would harm anyone for any reason, let alone consider killing someone for arguing with a person he was attracted to … but the fact that someone might focus on him had continuously crossed my mind, and I was even more terrified for him than I’d been for myself when I’d been a suspect.
    Yes, Neal had been a suspect then also, in part because he’d known the murder victim a lot better than I did since she was his boss at the resort. But there’d really been no logical reason for him to have harmed her, except that she’d argued with me, so the police didn’t pursue it.
    His supposed reason this time was just as illogical, and very similar.
    So why was I worrying?
    â€œYou’re worrying about Neal, aren’t you?” Reed’s question slammed into my thoughts, and I nearly stood up.
    â€œI thought you were a veterinarian, not a mind-reader,” I grum-
bled.
    He laughed just as our server placed our drinks in front of us—plus a bowl of water on the patio for the dogs. The guy then took our orders. I chose a small steak, mostly because of my lack of hunger. If I didn’t finish it, Reed might—and if he didn’t, Biscuit and Hugo definitely would.
    When the server left again, I waited a few seconds, listening to the undercurrent of conversations from the many tables around us. I couldn’t make out what anyone was talking about, so I hoped no one would be able to eavesdrop on us, either.
    â€œYou’re right about my concern for Neal,” I finally said after taking a long swig of beer. “And as I think I told you, I’ve hired Janelle as a part-time employee at my shops, too. I don’t know her well, and neither does my brother despite his attraction to her. I like her so far, but I don’t like the fact she decided to throw a party, then made accusations and threatened one of the people who came to it. Does that make her a murderer? No. But—”
    â€œBut it does make her a possible murder suspect.” Reed nodded, then sipped his own beer. “And now you, and your brother, are connected with her. I get it. I also understand why you’re involved, even if you didn’t intend to be.”
    â€œIt’s not just Janelle and her connection to Neal,” I said. “There’s another mystery