Chapter 8 #2
Kelsey had never thought of herself as an easy blusher, but her cheeks superheated.
She focused on driving and not trying to notice him in her peripheral vision.
Driving right past the entrance to the hardware store a few minutes later didn’t help either.
She turned around in a gas station and backtracked.
“So how good is that sense of direction of yours? With no cell, you’ve got no access to Google Maps. Can you get back to the house okay?”
“I can, but I appreciate the concern.”
Kelsey stopped in front of the main doors and slipped her car into Park.
She bit her lip, not sure what to make of the way Kurt’s gaze traveled over her before he got out.
Or the way he paused the longest over her lips before looking into her eyes.
This made her mouth turn dry. She swallowed, and the sound seemed loud and awkward in the quiet car.
“I’m running by the store for snacks. Can I pick anything special up for you?” she asked.
“You chose well on the pizza. I’m sure whatever you get will be fine.” Kurt pulled out his wallet, but she waved him off. “The pizza was on you. It’s my turn.”
“Fair enough. I’ll see you back at the house in an hour or so.”
“Sounds good.” She rolled down her window as she drove away, hoping to cool her burning skin.
This whole rehab thing would be so much easier if she didn’t find Kurt so attractive.
Thankfully, he’d been so distracted by her bobblehead that he’d hardly seemed to notice her missed entrance to the store.
The most convenient grocery store was a mile from the house, so she headed that way.
The mental focus needed to zoom through the aisles would get her mind off the way she’d salivated just a bit at the sight of his sculpted hand toying with her bobblehead.
Working with him was one thing. The dogs demanded most of Kurt’s and her attention.
But she needed to get ahold of herself when it came to things like this.
She wouldn’t deny she was crushing on him.
But that was all it was going to be, an I’m-not-telling-a-single-soul crush.
He was too different from her for anything real to happen between them.
He was an ex-marine, and before he’d agreed to the job, she’d overheard him make it clear to Rob that he had no intention of staying in Missouri.
But this was her home. She loved it. Loved being close to her family and watching her sweet nieces grow up.
Loved the shelter and the pulse of this just-big-enough city.
And besides, she wasn’t ready to put herself out there by falling for another guy only to be rejected.
Once had been traumatic enough. It happened during her sophomore year of college and had turned into one of the worst experiences of her life.
Steve had been her chem partner, and they were both pre-vet.
They met freshman year and had become great friends.
They hung out all the time and were dedicated study partners.
One night right before December finals, she threw caution to the wind and went for it.
Kelsey had thought taking it to the next level with Steve was the natural next step.
She was even having secret thoughts about marrying him and running a vet practice together.
They were great together. They had so much in common—from favorite movies to a love of animals to a weakness for Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, steak fries, and mochas with extra whipped cream.
They were sitting on the same side of a booth in a popular coffee shop, cramming for their biology final, when it happened.
He’d snuck in a bottle of Baileys for their coffees, and she was just tipsy enough to let go of her inhibition.
He’d turned to whisper something in her ear about the kids at the booth in front of them, and she’d been so close to his lips.
She’d kissed him and even leaned in more when he started to pull away before the kiss got deeper.
While the kiss was her lead, taking it the rest of the way was his.
She’d dated a guy in high school for over a month, and they’d done a lot.
A lot lot. But not everything. So, it surprised her how easily she accepted Steve’s offer to go to his car and slide into the backseat.
He was putting on a condom when she told him she loved him.
He stopped long enough to look at her and say her name, but the three words she thought for sure would follow never came.
Instead, he kissed her full on the mouth, and in the swoop of minutes, her virginity was a thing of the past.
Maybe it had been true love on her part; maybe it was a crush.
Either way, her feelings hadn’t been reciprocated.
After the bio final the next day, he broke her heart.
He didn’t only break it; he crushed it. He’d been fidgety and nervous and had a big, sheepish smile she’d only seen once or twice when he really felt stuck in a corner.
“I’m sorry, Kels,” he said. “I just didn’t feel it. ”
With those few words, she lost her best friend and secret dreams at the same time.
Somehow, she made it through the rest of her finals, bombing a few and doing fairly well on the rest, even as she and Steve avoided each other like the plague.
She went home for Christmas with nothing more than a giant basket of dirty clothes, assuming that however bleak things were, she’d be back the second week of January.
It was over break that the crippling monster that was depression hit.
It was the darkest, the ugliest, the worst time of her life.
She hardly ever let herself think of those days.
Somehow, in a world of gray nothingness, she found the shelter, around the same time she started medicine.
And after the longest winter of her life, the sun came out again.
Kelsey had just turned twenty when Wes offered her a full-time job.
In the months that followed, she turned away from everything that was gray and sad.
She made the connection between the seven colors of the rainbow and the days of the week, and bought a different-colored adoption-focused T-shirt to wear each day, coordinating the day of the week with its corresponding rainbow color.
She focused on the shelter and her family and, eventually, evening classes at a nearby university.
She had her life together again. Even though things were feeling a bit repetitious and empty before this rehab started, she wouldn’t risk experiencing hurt like that again.
Remembering the few glimpses she’d had of Kurt’s perfectly sculpted core underneath his T-shirts as he worked—and the resulting churning feeling in her midsection, the one that reminded her of the ocean before a storm—she knew it wouldn’t be hard to fall for him.
Not only was he a pleasure to look at, but he was so natural and calm with the dogs.
Maybe she’d been wanting to kick life up a notch, but crushing on Kurt wasn’t the answer. She was here to help dogs that deserved the best second chance they could get. That was enough. For seven years, her work at the shelter had been enough. It would be enough at the Sabrina Raven estate too.
* * *
For stocking up, Kelsey focused on the peripheries of the crowded store, choosing a variety of easy-to-eat fruits, precut veggies, hummus, and several packages of natural granola bars.
She couldn’t pass up a box of freshly baked cookies from the bakery but promised herself she’d leave them to Kurt and the volunteers.
Mostly. As she was inventorying her cart, she remembered string cheese and bottled water and circled back, hoping they’d now be set.
In addition to them having the groceries, Megan had texted earlier that she was bringing a hot meal over tonight. Most likely Megan’s meal would be enough to feed a small army, so they wouldn’t need to worry about dinner for a few days, even if several volunteers showed up.
Megan loved to cook, and whatever she was making was sure to be fabulous, though Kelsey had stopped asking for her recipes after several failed attempts to replicate her incredible cooking.
Kelsey was steering her cart next into line at the register when she remembered paper plates.
Normally she was a wash-and-reuse kind of girl, but she hadn’t inventoried the stash of dishes that came with the house.
She left the cart to hold her spot in line and jogged to the paper goods aisle, grabbing the first package of recycled paper plates she could find.
She made good time in the store and wasn’t surprised to make it back to the Raven estate before Kurt. The grocery store was much easier to navigate than Home Depot. And he was renting a truck.
She was, however, surprised to find two cars parked on the side of the street in front of the house and five people milling around them. The hair on the back of her neck prickled knowingly as she took them in. Protesters.
Kurt had mentioned they might show up, but Kelsey had doubted him.
Who’d want to protest on this quiet, forgotten street?
Apparently, they would. She recognized one woman from the warehouse.
Kelsey had read the sign now hanging loosely at the woman’s side the morning she chose the dogs: ONCE A KILLER, ALWAYS A KILLER.
A rarely felt anger bubbled up. The warehouse had been unfamiliar and foreign. But this was shelter property. How dare they! She pulled past them and into the circular driveway. Rather than grabbing the groceries, she squared her shoulders and crossed the front yard.
“Is there something I can help you with?”
There were four women and one guy. Self-righteous wasn’t a word Kelsey liked to label anyone with, but it certainly fit the bill this time.
She could feel the indignation rolling off them.
Several lips curled as she approached. The woman from the warehouse stepped forward, as if indicating she was the ringleader.
“We saw your interview. I doubt there’s anything you’ll be willing to help us with, so we’ll be helping ourselves. We’re getting a court injunction to shut this down before someone gets hurt.”
Shock and anger rocketed through Kelsey.
The possibility that someone might try such a thing had been discussed among the group at the shelter, but it had seemed like a worst-case scenario.
No one would wish them that much ill will.
But clearly someone did. Five someones. And they were standing right in front of her.
With thirty-seven dogs, the shelter might be over regulation as to how many animals could reside there permanently, but the rehab was temporary. And thanks to a volunteer with great connections on the city council, they’d been given a waiver.
“I suspect you won’t have much luck with that,” Kelsey responded. “We have permits. And we’re keeping the dogs confined to the property while they’re being retrained.”
Somehow, the woman’s face was both pasty and pink at the same time. “Oh, it’ll happen. We have God on our side.”
Kelsey’s anger flared like a lit match. “Oh really? Because I’m pretty sure God loves all creatures.”
“That house is full of killers,” the man interjected.
“God holds no love for killers.” He had a creepy look about him that made Kelsey feel squeamish.
He was wearing a tight sweatshirt with an iron-on picture of two dogs trapped in a savage embrace, teeth bared in ferocious snarls.
The caption underneath read Not God’s creations.
Kelsey’s blood pressure was spiking. No good would come from talking to these people.
And inside the house, there was important work to be done.
She needed to focus her energy and attention on something that could make a difference.
But the boiling-over-with-anger part of her couldn’t hold back.
“I’m curious. Do you eat beef? Or wear leather?
Or do you protest the existence of cows too? ”
All five protesters looked at her like she was crazy.
“I’m just saying, when you’re done making a mess here, maybe you should protest outside a cattle farm.
I’m sure you know the stats. Cows kill about as many people each year as dogs.
Only there are a zillion more dog-and-people interactions than there are cow-and-people interactions, so statistically speaking, cows are far more dangerous to people than dogs.
Even dogs like these that have been placed in fighting rings. ”
The leader shook her head, her lip curling as if Kelsey were diseased. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I don’t?” Kelsey leaned forward, setting her hands on her hips.
“Google it. And if you would kindly step off the grass, I won’t have to call the police.
It’s a free country, and this is a public street.
You’re welcome to stand there and protest to all the people not coming down this deserted street all day long.
But step on our property, and I’ll have you arrested. It’s that simple.”
She turned and headed at a controlled walk toward the car. They tossed insults the whole way, calling her and the dogs a variety of nasty names. She kept her anger in check and took her time getting her bags out of the trunk, even pausing to check her phone.
Sticks and stones, Kelsey thought, heading inside and taking a deep, calming breath once the door was closed. If anything, their taunts had made her more determined to make a fantastic success out of this venture.