“His owner was a woman?” Patrick passed Devil’s leash to Kelsey and pulled a small stack of index cards from a different pocket.
The guy looked at Patrick and nodded. “If I remember correctly.”
Devil sank onto his haunches while Patrick sorted through the cards. “That narrows it down. I’ve been searching through all of the popular big dog blogs and messaging some owners that live in the Midwest. A few have responded, and I’ve ruled them out. I found seven people within a half-hour drive of here, and from comments left by similar user names on other sites, I believe I’ve linked two of those seven to bluegrass music by their attempts to win tickets to local concerts. I suspect Devil’s owner is one of them.”
The girl behind the counter shook her head. “I’m sorry. I don’t understand.”
Patrick singled out two cards. “I’d like to give you the names of the two women, and you can tell me if one is a match. If it’s one of them, I’ll be able to lead you through a Google search to help you find her contact information.”
Kelsey felt a wave of admiration wash over her. Patrick was an absolute genius at so many things. What a miracle it would be if this worked! But what if they found her, and she’d given him away? What if she wasn’t the one Devil seemed to be looking for?
Behind the counter, the two technicians huddled over one monitor. The girl entered the microchip number and clicked through several screens before flipping between the two cards. When she looked at the second card, her lower jaw fell open.
Kelsey grabbed Patrick’s elbow. “It’s a match, isn’t it?”
“Well, what do you know,” the guy said.
“That’s Tina’s card.” Patrick looked at Devil and said her name again. Kelsey suspected the single thump of his tail was more because he was becoming attuned to Patrick’s voice than anything else. “Tina F. was how she signed in on the blog.” He looked at Kelsey. “She didn’t disable the tracking stamp on her photos. I could find her house. If she hasn’t moved again.”
Kelsey bit her lip. “I think it might be best to call or send a letter. It could be a bit much, you know.”
“The dog was eleven months old the last time he was seen here. Before that, she had him immunized regularly. He’s a month away from being six years old now.” The girl passed Patrick back the cards. Immediately after the F, she’d added erguson and scribbled Tina’s old street name underneath. “You’re so close to getting there that it makes sense for this phone call to come from you.”
Tina Ferguson.
They thanked her and headed for the door.
“Hey, will you let us know if it works out?”
Kelsey promised she would. With no other dogs in the area, Kelsey walked Devil around a mulch island for a bathroom break while Patrick searched on his phone.
As Devil was pulling in his haunches and taking a massive poop, Patrick let out a single humph. Kelsey looked over to find him engrossed in his phone. Pulling a bag from the nearby bag stand, she asked, “You found her number, didn’t you? It’s hard to believe it’s that simple.”
“It’s become easy to find people if you know where to look.” He offered Kelsey his phone and reached for the bag. “You should be the one to call. You’ll come up with better words than I would. I’ll bag it.”
Kelsey let her thumb hover over the number. What happened if Tina had given Devil up and wasn’t interested in reconnecting with him? She took a breath and pressed Dial. She was almost relieved when the call went to voicemail after the fourth ring.
She left a vague message, saying only that she was with the High Grove Animal Shelter and wanted to talk to Tina about a possible former pet. She ended the call and handed Patrick back his phone.
“I expected her to answer,” Patrick said, his forehead wrinkling.
“We have her number now. We can keep calling if we need to.” Kelsey squeezed his arm as they headed for the truck. “I’ve known you for five years, and hardly a week goes by that you don’t amaze me with some crazy fact you know or something remarkable like this that you do.”
Compliments weren’t something Patrick processed easily. He gave her a confused look as he opened the passenger-side door. The seat was still flipped up. He was able to motion Devil in and hook up his harness with almost no cajoling. Then he snapped back the passenger seat and jogged around to the driver’s side.
“Thank you for coming” was all that he said before he started the ignition and busied himself in the activity of driving.
Chapter 23
If there was a more picturesque place in all the Midwest for the celebration of Megan’s wedding, Kelsey hadn’t seen it. Nestled in the rolling hills of Augusta, the winery was surrounded by brilliantly hued trees, farmlands, and the quietly meandering Missouri River in the distance.
The historic brick buildings throughout the vineyard were quaint and inviting, the trees were lit by white marbled lights, and the reception hall was a sea of white, silver, dove gray, and blush. Megan had flown home yesterday, and she looked radiant and refreshed from her magical week away.
Kelsey had left Sabrina’s house a little before noon, run by her apartment, and headed out to Augusta. After a few hours of helping Megan see to last-minute details at the winery, it had been pampering time.
Megan had done Kelsey’s hair. It was mostly pinned into a gorgeous updo, but a few strands hung loose and would hopefully hold the curl.
After Megan left, Kelsey finished getting ready on her own. The inn’s inviting king-size bed piled with pillows and a plush comforter made her salivary glands activate the way they did right before she ate something tart. It made her think about her and Kurt having the
