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“How’d she come to be with you?” I asked.
“Her family, lovely people they were, moved. And left her outside in the backyard without any food or water.”
“Wow,” I said, understanding his rage issues as this sweet girl licked my arm.
“Yeah.”
“How long has she been with you?”
“Six weeks,” he said. “We like to do a lot of personality testing and vetting, so we are sure the dogs have a fighting chance of a happy life with their next home.”
“So she’s… all good?” I asked.
“No aggression toward anything we’ve exposed her to. Which is damn near everything. But she does bark at anyone walking up to the house. Which is kind of what you want.”
“Definitely,” I agreed. “She’s really sweet.”
“So… you’re okay with this?” Remy asked, trying not to be too hopeful.
“Yeah. I’ve always wanted a dog,” I said, trying to soothe his concerns as he unclipped her leash. “And the… oh, hey!” I said with a big smile as Dolores climbed up on the couch and started licking my face.
“Yay! She’s here!” Triss exclaimed, rushing into the room. “Remy told me all about her and her mean-ass old owners,” she said, walking up and reaching out to rub the dog’s neck. “You will never be hungry or alone again. I already ordered you the cutest collar for summer. And I maybe got you ones for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas too,” she told her. “Wanna go outside?” she asked.
“Don’t worry,” Booker called, jerking his chin up at me. “The garden fences have been done for over an hour.”
His team was honestly hard to believe. They seemed to have tireless energy, moving from one task to another with no complaining and even some smiles and laughter.
“Oh, Christ,” Alaric said, coming into the room and shaking his head as he looked at Triss with Dolores. “This is going to become your whole personality now, isn’t it?” he asked with a bemused, brotherly smile.
“Hey, if you see Dolores and me walking down the street in matching outfits, remember it costs you nothing to shut your damn mouth and mind your own business,” Triss said, hip-checking him as she walked past with a happily prancing Dolores following along.
Remy hung around for a bit, talking to Booker mostly, before heading out, telling us that everything he had for Dolores was in the garage.
And it was.
There were toys and a bed, bowls, and a supply of her monthly heartworm medicine. What there wasn’t, though, was dog food.
“He just got back to me,” Alaric said twenty minutes later. “He’s already home, but said he will turn back and bring a bag.”
“Can’t we just go and get one?” I asked. “The pet store is only, like, ten minutes from here.”
Alaric looked torn.
He probably had orders to keep us at the house, and to keep an eye on us. But it was stupid to make Remy drive three times as far to come back, then go home again, when the store was so close.
“Alright,” Alaric decided after thinking on it.
He couldn’t ask Huck, who was busy with Donovan and the others. And we had no idea how long the guys would be gone. Dolores couldn’t miss dinner because we were afraid to take a quick trip to the store.
“Alright?” I asked, moving to stand.
“Yeah, the two of us will go. Levee will stay here with Triss.”
“Okay, sounds good,” I said, going to grab my bag and slip into my shoes.
“Shit, they blocked me in,” Alaric grumbled as we moved out front to find all of Booker’s guys had parked on the street. And since there wasn’t a whole lot of room, they’d made it impossible for him to inch the Jeep out.
“I can drive,” I offered, waving toward my car. “It’s probably not good that it’s been sitting here not getting used for this long anyway.”
I could tell he wanted to object. But, well, it just made more sense to go in my car than to go inside and make one of the guys who was working come out and move theirs.
“Sure,” he said, climbing into the passenger seat.
I felt oddly weird about driving. I guess because it had been a bit at this point since I’d gotten behind the wheel.
I’d like to claim that the anxiety was some sort of sixth sense, that I had somehow known what was coming.
That would have been a lie, though.
As I pulled out of the driveway and turned on the road that led to the little independent pet store a few minutes away, I was mostly thinking about what kind of treats I might get for Dolores.
Dental ones, of course.
Maybe something bigger to keep her busy if she got bored or missed being with Remy.
It went without question that I was going to pick her out a toy. Or three.
And with my mind on those things, the anxiety I’d felt started to ease away.
