Chapter 15
Unlike on the last several days, Kelsey turned off the ignition rather than letting her bright-yellow Corolla idle while she zoomed inside to put away whichever dog she’d brought home.
She stepped out and stretched her exhausted and overworked body, then popped open the back door to let Millie, a senior golden retriever and last night’s companion, clamber out.
After giving Millie a quick potty break, Kelsey headed inside to find Megan sitting crisscross on the floor in the front room in a patch of sun.
Chance, the shelter’s resident blind Cairn terrier, was snuggled on her lap.
He looked as content as could be, curled around Megan’s swollen belly, his head and hind legs draping off onto the floor.
“I was wondering if you’d been by already,” Megan said. “Seems like you’ve been keeping longer and longer hours the last couple days.”
Chance lifted his head off Megan’s lap, sniffed the air a second or two, gave a quick wag of his tail, then dropped back into cuddle mode.
Chance might be blind, but he knew the staff by scent and sound.
Normally, he was quick to greet Kelsey at the door, but Megan’s undivided attention had proved too much of a distraction.
“I won’t argue that, which probably explains why it feels more like a month than a week since I’ve worked a full day here.”
Megan’s smile was sympathetic. “Are you in a big hurry, or do you have a few minutes?”
“I’ve got some time,” Kelsey said, thinking of all the things she hadn’t shared during her and Megan’s short phone calls the last few days.
And then there was last night. Just skimming the surface of all that had happened a mere few hours ago would take more time than she could afford to be away from the Sabrina Raven estate.
“Let me get Millie put away, and I’ll be right back.
” Kelsey picked up on the wonderful aroma of freshly brewed coffee halfway to the kennel doors.
“Thank God you started the coffee. I didn’t take the time at home.
I’ll grab a cup and be back in a sec, and I’m guessing you don’t want one? ”
“No thanks. I’ve had my morning herbal tea,” Megan said. “Quitting caffeine wasn’t as hard as I feared it might be, though if I wasn’t brewing up a baby, I doubt that would be true.”
“Better you than me,” Kelsey joked as she headed into the back with Millie. She got the sweet-tempered golden set up in her run, remembering to put in her favorite chew toy, a worn stuffed animal monkey, then made a quick stop in the break room for a steaming mug of coffee.
It had been well after two in the morning the last time her sleepless self had looked at the clock before finally dozing off. No wonder she’d slept through her five-thirty alarm this morning.
She returned to the main room, sipping her coffee. “I meant to ask… With the expansion that’s planned, will there be room for a sofa or two? Because if that’s the case, I may never leave.”
Megan hadn’t moved from her spot on the floor against the wall.
She smiled. “A sofa would be much nicer than those plastic chairs up front and much softer than this floor. But you’re right…
We’d never go home. So, how’s ‘the op’ going?
” she asked, making air quotes and referring to Kelsey’s comment yesterday afternoon about Kurt’s pragmatic solder-like views on the rehab.
“Oh, where to begin,” Kelsey said. She sank to the floor and scooted back to lean against the nearest adoption desk.
“We haven’t had a floor date in eons.” Katrina, their resident three-legged cat, spotted Kelsey’s open lap and hopped down off the counter in front of the cat kennels where she’d been napping.
After a quick stretch, Katrina claimed Kelsey’s lap and started to purr even before Kelsey began scratching next to her cheek.
Plenty of cats like me fine, Kelsey thought, thinking of Mr. Longtail.
“Remember that night we sat out here till midnight playing and cuddling with that abandoned litter of Saint Bernard puppies?”
“I was thinking of that the other day. They’ve got to be close to three years old now. We still get Christmas cards from some of their owners.”
“I remember reading some last year. Hey, did I tell you that Pepper’s definitely pregnant? She’s due in three or four weeks, Kurt’s guessing. Right around the time of your reception.”
“Aww. I don’t think there’s anything cuter than Rottweiler puppies with their portly little bodies and big heads.”
“I know. I can’t wait.”
“Hey, you bringing up the reception reminds me… Did you find a dress? I’m still happy to go shopping with you, if you’d like.”
“If you’ve got the time, that’d be great.
My mom wants to go with me, but I don’t have to tell you how we’ll never agree.
She won’t like anything that isn’t extravagant or full of sequins, and I won’t like anything that is.
Thanks for inviting my parents, by the way.
I’ve been meaning to tell you they got the invitation. That was nice.”
“Of course. I love your parents. And while your mom is awesome, I agree you probably shouldn’t go dress shopping together, unless it’s for a dress for her. A love of frills that runs that deep almost certainly has to skip a generation.”
Kelsey giggled. “I still can’t believe you’re getting married in two weeks.”
“Why ever not?” Megan smirked, patting her growing belly. “Because I only met my fiancé eight months ago? Or because I’m headed to the altar a solid six-months pregnant?”
Megan and Craig would be flying to a private island off the Georgia coast for their nuptials.
Craig’s two kids—both of whom had spent enough time at the shelter that Kelsey felt confident saying they were truly spectacular kids—would be going with them.
Megan’s mom, stepdad, and two younger half siblings would be there as well.
Afterward, Megan and Craig were staying behind for a few days’ private honeymoon.
Then, a day or two after the newlyweds returned home, there was going to be a large reception about an hour away in the Missouri wine country.
They’d rented out a winery for the event and a few dozen rooms in a nearby inn for guests who wanted to stay overnight.
Before the rehab at the Sabrina Raven estate was even a thought in the wind, Kelsey had decided she’d like to stay overnight, thinking it would be a fun break.
Now, she was wondering how she’d find the time to get away at all.
She also thought of how she’d RSVP’d that she wouldn’t be bringing a guest. But now, after last night, she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she should be bringing a date.
But she hadn’t even known Kurt a week. Trying to imagine how their relationship might progress over the next several weeks was like trying to envision the true vastness of the oceans from the mere glimpses she’d had while standing on the beach.
“Funny, but none of the above,” she said in answer to Megan’s playful question.
“It’s because eight months and one day ago, your life was one way and now it’s totally another, and it still suits you perfectly.
Like a fairy tale almost. And look at all the good things that have happened since you two met.
And it’s not just you and Craig and his family.
The shelter’s undergone a complete turnaround because of you two. ”
Megan gave a humble shrug as she scratched Chance’s belly.
One of his back legs thumped the air rhythmically, matching the beat of her scratches.
“I’m very blessed. I’ll give you that. If you want to know the truth, I was sitting here taking it all in.
The baby did this whopping somersault when Chance barked as I walked in, like he or she knows how much I love this place.
That’s what I was doing when you pulled up, sitting here with Chance being thankful. ”
“And that’s why you deserve every good thing that’s happening to you.”
“It’s going to happen to you too, you know.”
Kelsey wasn’t positive her face flushed until Megan called her out on it.
“Kels, I can’t believe I missed it, but something’s up, isn’t it? Because all of a sudden you look like Chance when he’s eaten something he wasn’t supposed to but isn’t sure that we know yet.”
Kelsey giggled. “It’s that obvious, huh?”
“Totally. Was it Kurt? What am saying? It has to be Kurt. I saw those looks you were giving each other the day when the dogs arrived. And I’ve been on the other end of our phone conversations lately.”
Kelsey curled forward into a ball, pressing her forehead against the top of Katrina’s head. The curious cat twisted in her lap and started to lick Kelsey’s temple.
“I really like him, Megan,” she said, sitting upright again.
“He’s so good with the dogs. And he’s sweet.
He’s got the worst ADHD I’ve ever seen. Unless he’s focused on the dogs, which he’s incredible with, he pops around the house doing chores like a Ping-Pong ball.
And he’s a really good person. He was raised by his grandparents.
His mom was only sixteen when he was born, and he never even met his dad.
And he’s seriously a dog whisperer, if I didn’t mention that already. ”
Megan nodded slowly. “I can see why you’d be attracted to those qualities. The only thing you forgot was that he’s so hot, he’s smoking.”
Kelsey dragged her hands through her hair. “I’d like to say you get used to it, but I haven’t yet. I swear, it’s like my pulse is racing all day, and half the time I’m salivating. I’m not even kidding.”
“So, have you told him how you feel, or are you keeping all this to yourself?”
“What would I tell him?”
“A few of those things you just told me might be a good way to break the ice.”
“I think it’s already broken. I took him on a walking tour of South City last night. We got stuck out in a thunderstorm, and we ended up making out in a bus stop shelter.”