“Afternoon, son,” Rob said cheerfully. He pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. “I’m doing okay on time if you’d like to show me how some of these guys are progressing.”
“Yeah, of course.” Kurt glanced at Kelsey, motioning toward Frankie. “You okay walking him around the yard a bit? Patrick, you’ll stay with her?”
Patrick glanced at his watch. “Yes. I have twenty-four minutes before I need to leave.”
Kelsey pressed her lips together as Rob’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. Clearly, he was trying to decide if Patrick was joking, even though his expression was serious.
“Perfect,” Kurt said as if that was just the answer he was looking for.
Chapter 16
There was no way around it. Each day of the rehab wound up seeming more like a week than a single day.
Kelsey fell into step behind Patrick as she walked him out for the night, a part of her wishing she could crawl into the passenger side of his old Tacoma and have him drive her home to her apartment—no, to her parents’ house and her old room and bed that were still the same as when she moved out six years ago. To shed life’s responsibilities and sleep in as late as her exhausted body craved.
Patrick scooped Orzo into his arms as they reached the truck. He’d come back out after leaving the shelter when it closed for the evening and spent an hour walking Devil around the front yard, allowing him to scent mark as he pleased.
The big giant was continually finding new ways to challenge them. This morning, Kurt had asked Patrick to take the lead in the dog’s retraining. If Devil was ever going to be adoptable, Kurt had admitted, he was going to need a lot more one-on-one attention that Kurt was going to be able to give him. Although Patrick was hit or miss when it came to understanding the social cues of people, he was a genius at reading animals. Even not knowing him long, Kurt seemed to have picked up on this.
“Thanks again for your help. I know you’re putting in your regular hours at the shelter too. Kurt’s not much of a talker, but I know he’s impressed with how well you do with Devil.” Kelsey gave Orzo, who looked quite content in Patrick’s arms, a scratch on the forehead.
“I think that he wants to communicate.”
“Kurt?”
“Devil.”
“How so?”
“Whenever he lunges at the kennels or snarls at the dogs passing by him, he’s quick to look me or Kurt in the eye. It’s the same way when he looks down the road.”
“Do you know what he’s trying to tell you?”
“I will soon. He’s a complicated animal. Not like Orzo, who just wants to sniff and eat and get petted.”
Kelsey nodded. “I won’t argue with you there. Let me know if I can help. I swear, there’s always so much to do here. I think Kurt feels pulled in every direction.”
Jim, the volunteer electrician, had been at the house for several hours too, working on the circuit panel. He had left for the evening after relaying that, while the Sabrina Raven estate needed a considerable amount of electrical rewiring, his patchwork would hopefully be a stent to keep the op running smoothly.
“You’ve made a lot of progress already,” Patrick said.
Kelsey squeezed his elbow. “You’re the best, Patrick.”
He made a face like he didn’t know how to respond, then muttered good night. He loaded Orzo into the backseat of the cab and took off after rolling down his window and offering a wave.
With hardly the energy to move, Kelsey watched him drive off, noticing exhaustion in atypical places like her joints and her belly. Finally, she headed back in. After quietly shutting the front door—the dogs had settled down, and most were dozing—she paused in place, wondering where Kurt had gone.
Butterflies fluttered in her chest, reviving her better than caffeine. It had been such a busy day that there’d been no time to wonder if the way they’d so easily gotten down to business this morning meant last night would become nothing more than a fantastic memory, or if it might happen again. She’d also not had time to gawk at Kurt’s amazing lips or daydream about running her hand once more over his smooth skin and precision-toned core.
If she had a hope basket, she’d stick all her eggs in it, hoping she’d be lucky enough to experience him more than once. But starting something up again tonight wouldn’t be the smartest decision. She wasn’t the only one who was wearing out. Kurt was—finally—showing signs of fatigue. He’d yawned several times during the nightly feeding and once while intently focused on a training session with Lucky, the nine-year-old Doberman. For his fatigue to show during training, Kurt had to be tired. Hopefully, the floodlights he’d installed would enable him to relax and fall into a deep sleep tonight.
Kelsey headed toward the back of the house where she’d last seen him. She found him at the kitchen table. The ceiling light was off, and the last of the fading daylight was coming in through the south window. Mr. Longtail was sitting on the table in front of Kurt, lapping up milk from a half-empty glass. Kurt was bent over, staring down at his lap, ignoring the cat.
After twisting sideways for a closer look, Kelsey realized he was asleep. His eyes were closed, and his breath was even and slow. Her chest swelled with new emotion. It was the first time she’d seen him look vulnerable. She wanted to pull him against her and run her fingers through his hair. She wanted to tuck him into bed and crawl in beside him and hold him while they drifted off to sleep—even if it meant sleeping in one of those questionable old beds.
And she never wanted to leave.
As she had with Steve, Kelsey wondered about the difference between a crush or fling—whatever
