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“The building that used to be here was in shambles. We bought it. Rebuilt. I wanted a balcony we could sit on every morning and every evening. And my husband didn’t say no to me.”
I’d heard so many stories about Hastings Gidrey I felt like I knew the man. But he’d passed away of a heart attack a few years before Miss Adeline and I met.
“Does anybody say no to you?” I pressed my foot to the floor and began to rock. “What are these chairs made out of anyway? You’ve had them longer than we’ve known each other.”
“Hastings built them when we moved here sixty years ago.”
They were worn and weathered, but somehow, they’d withstood the test of time. I suggested getting some new ones once before I knew Miss Adeline’s late husband had made them. It didn’t go over well.
“Was he a carpenter?” Mr. October asked. When was he going to tell us his name? Better yet, why hadn’t I asked?
“He did a little of this and that.” She leaned her head on the back of the rocking chair and looked up at the stars.
Muffy and Ash curled up on the blanket we’d brought out for them. Most nights, when it was warmer, we let all the dogs up here so they felt like they were in a home instead of a rescue center.
“How’d you start rescuing dogs?
Miss Adeline snorted. “We were at a racetrack in Miami. I wanted to see the dogs after the race, so we went to the kennels. One of them had broken his leg. They were about to shoot him like he was useless. I stood between Sunshine and the gun. There were two more they were going to put down because they couldn’t race anymore. After that, I was determined to save as many as I could.”
That was over fifty years ago, and by now, things should have been different—humanity should have been—but greyhounds who could no longer race were treated worse than trash. Miss Adeline insisted upon going to every rescue we went on. She might be old, but I’d seen her do what it took to save the dogs.
“Tell him about the ride home,” I said, trying to hide my smile.
“We had a fifty-four Ford we’d driven down. Once we had those dogs, it was like they knew we’d saved them. I opened the passenger side door and all three of them went for the front.” She snickered. “I grabbed the keys from Hastings after I helped Sunshine in the car and my husband had to sit in the backseat all the way back to New York. He said it was nice to be chauffeured. But by the time we were home, we had four more dogs.”
“What did you do with seven dogs? This is a nice apartment, but that would get cramped fast,” Mr. October said incredulously.
“We’d talked for a couple years about what to do with the downstairs space. We went back and forth about renting it, even had a few people want to put a restaurant in. But we never committed because we didn’t want the noise below us. As soon as we had the dogs, I knew why we’d never done anything with it. We were waiting for the dogs to come home.”
“Did you keep all of them?”
She laughed. “We did. It was a circus.”
“So how did the two of you meet?” His penetrating gaze landed on me. “Were you a volunteer?”
Tension, thick and fierce tightened every muscle in my body. Miss Adeline reached over and patted my hand, which helped.
“I was at a track in Virginia. They were abusing the dogs. I found a letter Miss Adeline mails to all the tracks to tell them any dog they don’t want, she’ll come get.” I swallowed hard.
“She called. I went.”
It wasn’t just the dogs she’d picked up that day.
“You the onewho called me about the dogs?”
The woman was way older than she’d sounded on the phone. But she had a van. I could help her get them in it.
I hiked my backpack on my shoulders and looked around. “Yes.”
A determination filled her eyes. “Then let’s get to it. Hop on in.”
I shook my head and glanced down the road toward the track . . . which was too far away to see. “I’ll walk back.”
“Honey, if you trust me to rescue those dogs, you can trust me to give you a ride.”
I shook my head again and took a step back. “I unlocked the back gate. Take the first drive before the main entrance and I’ll open it for you.”
She assessed my dirty overalls and messy hair. I’d washed my face in the gas station bathroom while I’d waited, but I was still gross.
