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Streaks of water ran down his gray Henley.
“He doesn’t just like to drink water.” Muffy looked at me like he knew I was talking about him. “He likes to play in it too.”
“It’ll dry.”
“If you take it off, it will.”
I elbowed Miss Adeline, and she elbowed me back.
“I’m looking for a dog Dr. Lyons said she brought by earlier. She was in a fire.”
I lifted my chin in Ash’s direction. “That’s her.”
His brow furrowed. He stared at the dog and then dropped to a squat. Muffy crawled all over him. He put one arm around him and cupped Ash’s face with the other hand.
“You’re a pretty girl,” he said, and I had to lean on the desk for support. “I didn’t recognize you without all that soot on you.”
But she’d recognized him. She leaned into his touch.
He put his forehead to hers. “You’re so brave.”
“She has a burn on her back hindquarters, but Dr. Lyons says it will heal,” I said. The wound was about six inches long, but the vet couldn’t tell what had caused the burn.
Mr. October examined the bandage for himself. “I’m sorry, baby girl. I hope it doesn’t hurt too much.”
I’d seen countless volunteers and potential adopters with our greyhounds. None of them had ever made me all fidgety. He was so kind and gentle with Ash, a contradiction to his tough exterior.
Muffy swiped his tongue over Ash’s ear. She returned the favor, getting him square in the nose.
“Already made a friend, I see. Hope you don’t have a truck or he’ll pee on it.” Mr. October made himself at home on the floor. Both dogs clamored to get into his lap. Each ended up with a head on one of those long legs.
“We could use a few more volunteers,” Miss Adeline said oh-so-helpfully, breaking the spell I was under.
“How many dogs do you have?” He kept his attention on the ones in his lap.
“Eleven,” I said.
His brows shot up. “How many people work here?”
Miss Adeline puffed her chest out. “You’re looking at them.”
“It’s not work.”
He tilted his head and studied me. Technically, it was a lot of work, but these dogs weren’t a job to me. They were my life. How anyone could’ve discarded them so easily, I’d never understand.
I held his gaze, even though it was uncomfortable. His dark eyes were no less fierce than they’d been the other day, but now, I wasn’t exactly sure what was in them. The anger had been a lot easier to take than whatever was there now. It made me want to duck back down behind the desk.
Bark. Bark. Bark.
Mr. October gestured toward the direction the noise came from in the back. “Aren’t you going to go see what that’s all about?”
Bark. Bark. Bark.
“That’s Sadie. She wants her dinner.”
“Sounds like it,” he said, looking uncertain.
“She doesn’t wear a watch, but at six every single morning and night, she demands her meals.” Fondness washed over me. It was aggravating at times, but it made her who she was. “If she doesn’t bark, that’s the time to get worried.”
