Kelsey grimaced. “I hope that’s a figure of speech.”
Kurt gave her one of the half smiles she was starting to love. “Let’s go with that. Then I became a teenager, and the trouble really started. If it hadn’t been for my grandmother and for the chances I had to work with Rob and his dogs, I’d probably have ended up in juvie.”
“You don’t seem anything like that now.” She held out the bag, offering him another pretzel. The tips of their fingers touched as he took one, giving Kelsey an electric jolt. Yep, she was definitely crushing hard. Learning more about him wasn’t helping extinguish those flames either.
Over to the west, it was starting to cloud up and turn gray. The rest of the sky was still blue and sunny. She wondered how many hours they had before the storm hit and what kind of anxiety it might stir up in the dogs. She was opening her mouth to ask if they should start the evening feeding rounds early when she spotted his grandfather’s truck coming down the street. This time, there was only one person in the cab.
“Looks like it’s only your grandfather this time,” Kelsey said, nodding toward the street.
The slightest hint of a frown appeared on Kurt’s face. He set his bottle on the porch floor and lifted a perturbed Mr. Longtail off his lap. The cat meowed and twitched his tail at having been disturbed, then strode to the center of the top step and started licking his long fur.
“As long as you’re good with it, while you guys talk, I can switch out the dogs in the runs—after I discover who’s newly named.” Offering him a smile, Kelsey made a show of crossing a finger over her heart. “And I promise to handle only the green betas whose names I know you’re going to love using very soon.”
He chuckled and brushed off his pants. “Sounds good. Yell if you need me.”
After waving to Kurt’s grandfather as he pulled into the circular drive, Kelsey headed inside. She couldn’t be sure, but this morning she’d gotten a strong sense that Kurt’s grandfather was holding something back.
Chapter 13
Kelsey was out back watching Lucky and Pepper enjoy some time in separate runs when Patrick stepped out of the house onto the back porch.
“Hey, when did you get here?” she called as she headed over.
Patrick glanced at his watch. “Three minutes ago. Kurt said that if you’re able to help, I can go ahead and get the big shepherd mix out of his kennel. Kurt will join us when he’s finished. He’s on the front porch talking to an older man with a similar face shape. I think they’re related.”
Kelsey swallowed a giggle. “That’s his grandfather, but sure, I can help. These two guys are fine out here for a bit. What are you going to do with the shepherd mix today?”
She’d been only slightly surprised to find that Kurt had named the big shepherd Devil. The dog knew all the basics like sit and stay, and he seemed to respect people, even if he held no obvious regard for them. On the other hand, he’d already eaten through one kennel and had destroyed every chew toy he’d been given, even the most indestructible ones. And whether he was in his crate or out, he passed most of the day anxious and unsettled. He had zero tolerance for other dogs. All of that paled in comparison to how difficult it was to keep him on track during training sessions. When he was out of his crate, he always seemed to be searching for something that was just out of sight. Treats and affection were wasted on him. His only interests during his training sessions were in scent marking, snarling in the direction of other dogs, and searching the road for signs of who knew what.
“He doesn’t want to be here,” Patrick said as they headed inside. “Maybe none of them do, but none of them seem to feel as displaced as he does.”
“The poor guy has probably had it really rough.”
“Maybe.” But the way Patrick said the word, it seemed to imply maybe not more than maybe. “Appropriate name,” he added when he spied Kurt’s addition to the tape on Devil’s kennel designating him as red alpha seven.
Although the giant had given no indication that he would ever snap at a human, he was the only dog here being treated as a high-risk possibility. This meant rather than simply hooking a clip leash to his collar after his kennel door was opened, Kurt or Patrick needed to get the generally uncooperative dog to step into a slip—or noose—leash first. Once it was on and the dog proved to be calm, a regular clip leash was hooked to his collar and the self-tightening slip leash was removed.
From there, it was pretty much business as usual. Except that Devil had no interest in receiving their praise or in any of the reward toys the dogs were offered when they were well behaved, and only a mild interest in even the best of treats.
“What’s on the agenda for him today?” Kelsey asked a second time.
“Music.”
Kelsey pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth. She’d hoped for a better explanation but suspected she wouldn’t get it.
Rather than allowing Devil to drag him toward the front door, Patrick coaxed him out the back
