Chapter 8
The job that lay before them was just so massive.
At the very least, they were going to need help from a few trusted volunteers.
Kelsey suspected she’d have a hard time convincing Kurt to let some tasks fall to other people, but she couldn’t see how else the rehab was going to work.
He’d requested that for a few days, he be the only one taking the dogs in and out of the kennels and furnishing their meals, top areas where aggression could arise.
However, that left him with an enormous job.
He was fine passing dogs off to her once he’d walked around with them and made sure they were calm and attentive.
Kelsey then did a “middle” shift with each dog, taking them for walks around the backyard while he readied their breakfast. After she passed the dogs off again, he had them sit at attention, then fed each one a little by hand before placing the bowl in front of them.
From start to finish with all the dogs, the whole process ended up taking the better part of four hours.
During it, Kurt was quite different from the laid-back guy he’d been during their meal yesterday.
He didn’t say a word that wasn’t related to the training, and she suspected there were times he forgot she was there.
One thing for sure, she’d never met anyone with his ability to communicate with and train dogs.
As he worked, she could almost see him shedding layers of his world until it was only him and the dog before him.
He was commanding and alert without being harsh or overpowering.
During her years working at the shelter, she’d witnessed harsh and overpowering from a few people who’d come in claiming to have a way with dogs but who just intimidated them until the dogs were uncomfortable and submissive.
In no way was this Kurt. His voice was never raised, and his movements were slow, fluid, and a bit exaggerated. Easy for the dogs to observe.
By the time the morning was over, Kelsey was willing to bet all thirty-seven dogs in their care had accepted him as an alpha and master.
All except one, that was. Judging by the dog’s behavior both in the kennel and out, Kelsey was harboring doubts the cranky giant of a dog could be won over by anyone.
He snarled when other dogs passed within six feet of his kennel, had all but refused to reenter it after a late-evening bathroom break last night, and pulled away from any sort of human touch or affection.
It was something, watching Kurt work. And a good experience for her too. That clingy feeling she’d carried around the last two days—reminiscent of a few embarrassing high school crushes she’d had—fell away like crumbs off a cookie. In its place, true admiration formed.
And after a dozen passes of the leash, she even stopped feeling the hiccup in her stomach every time their hands brushed.
But that also might’ve had something to do with the fact that each leash pass was exponentially easier than the first when he’d placed both hands tightly atop hers to show her the best way to hold the extra leash for maximum control.
During those few seconds, she’d grown seriously light-headed.
His hands were perfect. They were well muscled, and the skin of his palms was tough without being overly calloused—and just maybe a part of her would’ve been okay with having him hold on forever.
That had happened while she was taking over care of the Akita so Kurt could get the dog’s breakfast ready.
The observant dog had turned around to look at Kelsey as if it had picked up on her raging hormones.
Thankfully, Kelsey had pulled it together and not let her mind trail deeper into the land of hand-touching fantasies.
After that, perhaps due to being shamed by a dog, she held the leash exactly right and didn’t need any more reminders. She forced her focus to be on all the amazing things she was likely to learn from Kurt over the next few months.
After the next-to-last dog was back in her kennel, Kurt looked directly at Kelsey for the first time in over an hour.
“Let’s save the cranky giant till your friend Patrick arrives.
You saw that it was all I could do to get him back into his kennel last night.
And I’ve got the sense that dog has a stubborn streak bigger than mine.
We might need a third set of hands around him for a while.
I suspect he’ll be testing us the next couple of days. ”
“Something tells me you’re right. Patrick should be here in another hour or two.”
“So, uh, well done this morning. You’re easy to work with.
That doesn’t happen often. I know it’s a big job, but before long we’ll have enough of a system in place to bring in those volunteers you mentioned.
I know when we do, it’ll give the dogs more time out of their kennels, but let’s give it a few more days.
I’d like to get a good grasp on the rest of their personalities. ”
She nodded. “That makes sense.”
“So how are you at building fences?”
Kelsey felt her eyebrows arch. “I can’t say I’ve ever tried.”
“I think our first order of business when the dogs aren’t demanding our attention is to get a few runs set up out back. If any of those volunteers are itching to help, we could use a hand there.”
Kelsey pulled out her phone. “We have an email hotline set up for such a thing. I suspect a few people will show up if I put out a call for help. What time should I tell them to come?”
Kurt glanced at his watch. “It’s a little after eleven. How about one o’clock? I need to run by a hardware store first, and since neither of our cars will hold all that we need, I was going to rent an hourly truck at the nearest Home Depot. If you’d give me a lift there, I’d appreciate it.”
Kelsey’s mind flashed to the less than perfectly clean interior of her Corolla.
She liked to think there was a link between it and her busy life.
Her dedication to bringing a shelter dog home each night meant there were always stray hairs floating around.
To protect the backseat from resulting wear, she’d covered it with a sturdy quilt.
Its bright, colorful pattern didn’t exactly add serenity to her car.
On top of that, with her packed schedule, she was often grabbing meals on the run.
Try as she might, crumbs got into hard-to-clean places.
At least she carried trash and recycling out after each trip. There was that.
Yesterday, she’d seen that while Kurt’s restored Mustang might be old, it was meticulously clean inside and out. Which was probably what you’d expect from someone who’d just gotten out of the marines.
“Sure. I can meet you out front whenever you’re ready.”
“I’m ready.”
So much for a fast cleaning spree. He bolted the house doors after she grabbed her purse.
If he didn’t need her at the Home Depot, she was going to swing by the grocery store for some grab-and-go snacks.
For a while at least, sitting down for a meal would be a rarely afforded luxury.
And they’d need to have something to offer the volunteers.
Her car was unlocked, so Kurt let himself in. He gave the Chihuahua bobblehead on her dashboard a soft flick and set it to bobbing. Kelsey started the ignition, a touch apprehensive about driving under his watch. “So how was your night? I can’t believe you slept on one of those beds.”
“Would you believe me if I told you it was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a while?”
“Now that you say it, you do have an air about you that says you wouldn’t let a drafty, eerie old house disturb your rest.”
“That cat tried to take over the pillow once. That was the only thing to wake me up.”
Kelsey’s jaw nearly hit the floor. “Mr. Longtail slept with you?”
“I suspect he was being more territorial than affectionate. So, what is it about the house that you think is eerie?”
“Let me see. How long do you have?” This made him laugh, a gentle, rolling sound that made Kelsey’s heart flutter.
She gripped her hands on the steering wheel again and forced her focus on the road and away from the well-muscled thighs shaping his jeans.
He hadn’t shaved this morning and had a touch of five-o’clock shadow complementing his olive skin. “It’s creepy, for one thing.”
“You said that, but I’m looking for specifics.”
Specifics. She went with the first few that came to mind as she drove out of the residential area and merged onto Arsenal Street.
The house was at the end of an unusually quiet neighborhood, and it was easy to forget how close it was to bustling South City.
“It’s so abandoned and—I don’t know—isolated.
Though I’ll admit that with all the life packed in it right now, it seems warmer and more welcoming than it did before.
And there are the creaks that sound like moans.
The house sounds like it’s protesting just about every step you take.
And creepiest of all, in the back of the basement where it becomes an unfinished cellar, the temperature drops a solid ten degrees in a matter of a foot or two.
One night when I was down there looking for Mr. Longtail, that whole area seemed foggy.
I made sure it was still daylight whenever I went into the house for a few weeks afterward. ”
He gave her Chihuahua bobblehead another soft flick, this time sideways as she headed west toward Kingshighway Boulevard, which was a few blocks from the store.
“Unnerving but definitely cool.” He looked her way and gave her a crooked smile. His eyes were warm and rich like chocolate syrup.