Chapter 5 #3
“Not long. Insurance should cover it. Shouldn’t take more than a few weeks at most. The dogs and I would be long gone before your penguins move in.”
Alex glanced to his feet. “I do feel partly responsible for ruining your shelter.”
I held back a grin. He was going to go for it; I could tell by the way his mouth screwed up in that cute angsty scowl.
“But we have to run it by Lacey first. I haven’t even signed any paperwork. Technically, the space is still hers.”
He was right, of course he was right. But I feared Lacey wouldn’t be as easy to convince. With a sense of trepidation, I dialed Lacey’s number.
Less than five minutes later I disconnected the call—the shortest, most accommodating call I’d ever had with my childhood best friend. She was up to something. She’d been way too easygoing, way too quick to agree.
“I guess it’s settled then.” Alex glanced at his watch. “I’ve got a few hours before I need to get back to my sister’s. You want some help moving those dogs?”
“That would be great.” Something was off but I didn’t have time to ponder it.
Not now when we were losing daylight and I had two dozen dogs to move before dark.
Who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth?
Even when that mouth usually couldn’t stop yapping at me.
Maybe Lacey was in such a good mood about the big wedding that she didn’t care what Alex did with the warehouse.
For the first time in a long time I’d found myself in a bind I hadn’t been able to work my way out of on my own.
I hated having to ask people for help. Although I never minded providing it and was the first to step up when someone else was in need, it never sat right with me when I was forced to accept help from others.
Lacey joked that being too self-sufficient was my greatest weakness.
I preferred to think of it as a strength.
That was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the differences between us.
I let my gaze drift over Alex as he hefted a couple of bags of dog food onto his shoulders to carry out to the truck.
Maybe I’d finally found someone to help champion my cause.
Either way, I’d taken care of the problem at hand.
Tomorrow would bring a whole set of new ones, so I ought to be grateful for Alex’s help while it lasted.
An hour later, I’d retrieved my truck from Lacey and pulled up next to where Alex stood, leaning against the side door to the warehouse.
He met me as I walked around to the tailgate. “Where do we need to put everyone?”
“I figure I can put the pups in the back third of the warehouse while you and your penguins take over the front. Does that sound okay?”
He shrugged. “As long as they don’t get in the way of building out the penguin habitat.”
“I’m going to schedule a huge adoption event to try to find some of them homes.” I lowered the back of my truck. “If I can get the numbers down, maybe I can move them to my place temporarily if the roof isn’t fixed in time.”
“Don’t you need zoning permits or something?”
“Thankfully she’s got some connections at the sheriff’s department and city hall.” Bodie stepped close, joining the conversation. “Hey, long time no see.”
Alex took his hand and I stepped back, not wanting to get in the way of the testosterone surging between the two men.
“Yeah, it’s been a few years.”
Bodie let go first. “So you’re the reason my wife ended up in the hospital?”
Alex bristled and I wanted to laugh. I was familiar with Bodie’s sense of humor but obviously Alex didn’t have a clue the other man was joking.
“Um, how do you figure?”
Bodie shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “You came into town and told her you were delivering some fancy wedding planner on a plate. Chyna somebody? I’m surprised she didn’t have a heart attack on the spot.”
“Oh.” His shoulders visibly relaxed as he realized Bodie wasn’t about to knock him out of his boots. “Yeah, what a coup, huh?”
Bodie scratched his chin. “Hope it all goes well. I wouldn’t want Lacey to get all worked up and put the baby at risk.”
I stepped in. “Bodie, stop issuing idle threats. You’re going to scare him off before we even get the penguins’ swimming pool built.”
“I ever tell you that you suck the fun out of everything?” Bodie grinned. “How about you help me get these dogs inside?” He gestured to Alex, who followed him over to his truck.
I huffed out a sigh. The last thing I needed was two men fighting over alpha dog status as I tried to hold things together.
I had more to worry about than whether Alex got his feelings hurt.
Like how I was going to provide an outdoor space for the dogs to get exercise since there wasn’t any kind of fencing around the warehouse.
It would take forever to let them out a few at a time.
I’d have to see if I could rustle together some extra volunteers or put up some sort of temporary enclosure.
With a list of to-dos forming in my head, I gathered the next crate and carried it into the warehouse.
Alex and Bodie had sectioned off the back third of the space and set the kennels up in long lines.
I didn’t have crates for all of the dogs, so I’d have to rig some makeshift pens for the better-behaved pups.
My temples began to throb at the sheer undertaking it would be.
All of this work for something temporary.
But who else would fight for the pups? If it hadn’t been for rescue dogs like the ones from For Pitties’ Sake, my own brother would never have recovered as well as he did. With a renewed sense of purpose, I headed back outside to pick up another crate.