Chapter 2
“DO YOU really think he’s going to be okay?” James asked once Lyle got the dogs back into the car. “It’s a lot to take on four dogs. I mean, they’re small enough, but they need a lot of attention and care.”
Mitchell shrugged. “I have to believe that Corky knew what she was doing. She loved those dogs like they were her children.”
“She was a wonderful lady. But dogs are property. We love them as though they are more than that, but legally….” He was nervous that if she didn’t make arrangements in her will, those dogs could find themselves in legal limbo, and they were valuable animals.
He knew that from school and property law.
It was his field of interest: animals and the law.
“I don’t think I can help with that,” Mitchell told him.
“She always told me that she had made arrangements for the dogs, but I don’t know what that means or what she did.
But it’s something we can’t worry about.
It’s not our business.” James could tell Mitchell was concerned, but there wasn’t anything they could do.
“Would it be all right if I stopped by to see Lyle in the next few days to check that he has things under control? Little dogs may seem like less work, but they can be a challenge.”
“I don’t see why not. He told us that he was Corky’s neighbor, so if you wanted to pop by, it should be okay.”
James nodded and went back to putting together the evening meals for the rescue dogs.
He had a few more to do before he left for the night.
It didn’t take long before he put the bowls in the last enclosures and checked that all the dogs had water.
Then he said good night to Mitchell and drove back to the house he shared with three other students.
Thankfully, the house was quiet. Anna, Wes, and Ray were all in the living room, which was strewn with books and case materials. “Do you want to join us? We left a few of the cases for you.”
“Cool,” James said and hurried to his room. He got his materials and joined the others.
“So how did it go with the dogs?” Anna asked. “Did you get any adopted?”
“Mostly I worked on the expansion. Mitchell wants to be able to take a few more dogs, but he needs add more enclosures and some of the older ones are wearing out, so they’re being replaced.”
“How does he afford all that?” Wes asked.
“I wish I knew. But Mitchell is the most dedicated person I have ever met.”
“Come on, guys. I know this is important, but so are these cases, and we need to get them researched and reviewed,” Ray interjected.
He was always intense and took his work very seriously.
Not that they all didn’t, but Ray tended to be a little over the top.
Still, in this case he was right, and James settled in a chair and got to work.
They spent hours working on the cases and then discussing the highlights and what they thought the important points were.
By the time they finished, it was nearly one in the morning.
But the studying was done for the weekend, which meant James had a few days of work at the shelter, and while he wanted to get ahead, he would have some time to himself.
“WHERE ARE you headed?” Anna asked the following morning. All his roommates looked as bleary-eyed as he felt.
“I have to work at the shelter. Mitchell is adding some capacity, so he’s busy with that.
I’m going to help with the regular chores.
” He took off and hurried out. It was early, but he arrived in time to get the morning feeding done before Mitchell and Daniel arrived.
As planned, they built the new shelters and James stayed out of it, because while he was good at many things, put tools in his hands and he became a total menace.
“Will you be done today?” James asked about noon, when they had been working for a while.
“We should. There is capacity for eight more dogs, and I think that is about as much as we can handle. If the shelter gets too big, then we fall into a different category with the county, and I really don’t want to go there.
I’m already getting grief for the numbers we have when something unusual happens, but then that’s almost always in conjunction with the police, so they can’t say too much.
” He sighed and wiped his brow. “Let’s get these dogs settled so we can get some lunch, and then James can go,” he told Daniel.
Between the three of them, they got everyone set where it was supposed to be.
“Are you going to visit Lyle and Corky’s dogs? ”
“Yeah. I was going to head over there now to see if he’s okay.” James figured he’d grab lunch first, or maybe after. He wasn’t sure yet. But after saying goodbye, he drove to where Corky lived and knocked on the next door over.
He had the right place, judging by the barking. “Can I help you?” Lyle asked, cracking the door open.
“I came to see how you were doing with them.”
Lyle groaned. “I’m trying to build an enclosure out back, and I’m not getting very far.
The landlord said it was okay as long as I didn’t make a mess.
I got some poles and put them in the ground.
But I’m not sure if this is strong enough.
” He shooed the dogs back and let James inside.
“Sorry. Every time someone comes up front, they go off like an alarm, and I’m not used to it. ” He closed the door behind them.
The place was remarkably clean. Somehow James had expected that the dogs might have pooped all over the place. Okay, so his imagination went a little wild sometimes. “I could take a look at it if you like. Though I do have to warn you that me and tools are a terrible combination.”
Lyle chuckled. “I swear I banged my hand twice and dropped a hammer on my foot at least once.” He led the way down the stairs and outside through a door in the back of the building. A few poles were in the ground and a roll of fencing lay on the grass. “That’s as far as I got.”
“You know,” James began as a thought occurred to him.
“They make these dog play areas. They’re about thirty inches high, and you could get two of them and tie them together and make an area around the basement door.
The dogs could play there, and you wouldn’t have to build anything.
” He turned to face Lyle, and it suddenly hit him how cute he was, with his wild hair and full lips.
He also seemed almost scared a lot of the time, like maybe he was waiting for the next bad thing to happen.
The wariness in his eyes made James want to take him into his arms and tell him that everything was going to be okay.
James paused and shook his head slightly.
He had never seen vulnerable as sexy before, but with Lyle it certainly was.
“Oh.” Lyle’s face lit up. “I never thought of that.”
“And the nice thing is that you could take the enclosure in and put it here beside the door to store it. The dogs will love some outdoor time, and it’s not like you are just going to leave them there.”
“Right. They always frolicked in the grass when Corky took them for a walk. So I thought they might like some play time outside. I need to take all this stuff back.” Lyle pulled the poles out of the ground and put them in a stack next to the building.
They had barely been in the ground and would have fallen at the slightest pressure. “See, I suck at stuff like this.”
“Hey. Let’s put these things in your car and get them returned. Then we can find the enclosures and have a few of the dogs check them out.” James paused. “That is, if you want.” He realized his own exuberance got the better of him.
“I’d appreciate the help. I had to haul all of this down here.” And it was clear he wasn’t looking forward to carrying it back up.
“You take the fencing, and I’ll get the rest of it.” Lyle lifted the roll of fence and awkwardly took it inside. James grabbed the entire set of poles and headed around the building. He smiled to himself when he glanced back, Lyle watching him for a second before closing the door.
James knew he was built. Heck, he had spent many years in gyms and on sports teams to sculpt his body.
He’d wrestled in high school as well as played football.
But he left those sports behind at Penn, focusing on his studies.
He still kept active, and he was hoping to do the same thing while he was in law school.
A good workout always seemed to melt away stress and leave him clear-headed.
He climbed the slight hill on the side of the building and found Lyle with the trunk of his car open. He placed the poles inside with the fencing and closed the lid. “Let’s go shopping,” Lyle said.
“Are the dogs okay?” James asked.
“Yes. They have food and water. I also took them out an hour ago. I’m worried about when I go back to work on Monday, though.” He got inside the car and started the engine. “I thought I’d come home at lunch and check on them. I figured they would need to go out.”
“Do you have a friend who can stop by?”
Lyle shrugged. “I don’t make friends really well. I have some good ones, but they work, like me, and they’re farther away than I am. Carrie works in Camp Hill, and a lot of my other friends work in Harrisburg. I managed to get a job here where I grew up.”
“Then you should know lots of people,” James said casually.
Lyle shrugged. “I went away for college, and sometimes it seems like everything changed in that time. Some of the people I knew stayed here in town and got jobs. Others moved away and… well. Four years is a long time, or maybe we weren’t those kind of friends.
I don’t know. When I got the job at the warehouse, I moved in next to Corky.
She had her daughter, but a lot of her friends had passed away.
So she was growing lonely, and lord knows I was.
Being on your own can be hard, I guess.” They pulled into the Home Depot parking lot.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to take a turn down Maudlin Way. ”