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“A little late, but we’ll be there,” Lily replied.
Nicole lifted her hand, still adjusting to the commitment she’d made to Slade and this whole dating thing again. She made herself cough up some more of that adjustment when they arrived back at her place and her phone beeped with an incoming text. A quick peek revealed Natalie’s name, as she’d suspected, and she pressed delete.
Ever astute, he shut off the truck, turned her way, and asked, “Is someone harassing you, Nicole?”
She didn’t want to involve him in her ongoing saga with Natalie but saw no way around it now. “Tony’s twin sister can’t get past her grief and blames me. She’s harmless, the texts idle threats she doesn’t mean.”
“Don’t take any threats lightly. You should report them.” Slade opened his door. “Do you mind if I see the progress Jim is making?”
“No, go ahead. I have to get back to work.”
Flashing her a grin, he asked, “You’re not ready to show me your illustrations, are you?”
She was trying not to think about how his rare smile gave her tingles when she answered. “Not yet. When this book is done, maybe. Thanks for lunch.” She never shared her drawings until she finished a story. In her mind, they looked better coming together to tell the tale without reading the words, depicting what made a child happy with reading the book.
“I’ll hold you to that. Does six on Friday work for you? We can get something to eat first.”
“Sure,” Nicole replied, acting like it was nothing more than a date, when the thrill of going upstairs with Slade again at Casey’s shot through her. Maybe one more night would get her over this lust-induced infatuation she kept swearing she wasn’t ready for.
Chapter Twelve
By Friday afternoon, Nicole felt pretty darn good watching Jim load up to leave. Eyeing the new outdoor portion of the kennels with Paul, she couldn’t be more pleased with the contractor’s work. “What do you think?” she asked her handyman who was also proving to work out as well as Jim’s crew.
“I think you’re looking as forward to working on the dogs waiting for you as I am to learn how to rehabilitate poorly treated ones,” he replied.
“You can ride in with me tomorrow to pick up the three the shelter is in need of finding space and positive training for. They’ve agreed to send the potential adopters out here and let me make that decision when I deem the dogs are ready, which I appreciate. I’d like that extra assurance of knowing they’re going to good homes. Let’s go inside.”
They entered the barn, which looked completely different than two weeks ago. Sheetrock now covered the walls, behind which she knew lay enough insulation to keep the large space warm. Running the electric heat out here would keep it warm during the frigid winter months and by adding cross ventilation with more windows and large ceiling fans, the shelter would stay comfortable during milder weather. The five kennels with dog doors leading to the outdoor space were each spacious enough for two large dogs to have plenty of room to roam around when not playing in the enclosed yard. New concrete floor covered the rest of the barn, storage along the opposite wall for supplies and food, and enough space in between to work with the dogs indoors if the temperature wasn’t conducive outdoors.
“See anything we missed or you’d like added?” Jim asked, joining them.
“I can’t think of a thing, Jim. Thank you so much,” she said, signing the form he handed her. “It looks better than I imagined. You even left space to add a few more kennels. I never thought of that.”
“Much easier to do that now, leaving little more than putting up the pens and adding a dog door if you ever need them. Appreciate the work.”
“Put me down for referrals. That’s the least I can do for you.”
