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Woof.
At least she didn’t deny who she was.See?Greyhounds spoke English.
“If either Miss Adeline or I can come take a look at where you think you can keep them, we can get you the supplies you need.” With every word, optimism infused me. “And of course, they won’t be solely your responsibility. We’ll come care for them.”
“I’ll have the furniture removed from the living room. That should be plenty of space for everyone.”
All eyes jerked to Daniel. His expression remained cool and calm.
Then Vivian kissed his cheek. “I like that solution.”
Stone slung an arm around Muriella’s shoulders and grabbed a leash off the counter behind them. “We better get back to it. I’m thinking you need more help than us walking four dogs.”
It was hard to admit the truth. I liked taking care of things myself, and for such a long time, that was exactly what I had been doing. With Miss Adeline, of course. But in the past few weeks, it had felt like an army had entered my life, slowly showing me I was wrong. That it was okay to say “yes, please” and “thank you” when help was offered. And one of those times was now.
Chapter Thirty
Teague
“Yo!”
I stirred the chili simmering on the stove, not in the mood for Burke.
He clapped my shoulder. “How much longer?”
I’d come in early for my shift to cook. Actually, it was to avoid being alone with my thoughts for a minute more. I couldn’t turn off the images of the fire that had ultimately taken Cassano’s life. It didn’t seem possible he was dead.
“About ten minutes.” My answer was robotic. I didn’t sound like myself. Didn’tfeellike myself.
I’d hoped being at the firehouse would bring a sense of normalcy back.
It hadn’t.
“I’ll go tell the fellas.” He snorted. “It’ll take that long to get them to the table.” Burke was behaving almost like himself. But there was something off. His joke not quite authentic. Like he was overdoing it.
Because we’d lost a brother.
I continued stirring on autopilot.
“Shit.” I banged the spoon on the side of the pot before I stirred it too much.
My phone chimed.
Call me.
I put the lid back on the pot of chili and turned around one of the kitchen chairs. As I hit Daniel’s name on my phone, I sat backward in the chair.
“An inspector paid a visit to Grey Paws today.”
No.
Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse. And this was completely my fault.
“What happened?” I spat.
“They have to get down to eight dogs in forty-eight hours or they’re shut down.”
“Son of a . . .” I stood, the chair scraping across the linoleum when I did. I kicked it. There was no satisfaction when it fell on its side.
