by Debbie Burns
“A few weeks after Devil—I mean, Toby—was adopted, the man dropped out of contact,” Tess added. “Tina worried he was blocking her calls, but she’d given Toby away so there was nothing she could do.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Yeah, I know. She says her life has been empty without him. She understands about the trial and how Toby can’t be released into her care until he’s made a lot more progress, but she’s fine with it. She’s just across the river in Belleville. She’ll come out every day until she can take him home. Patrick’s going to time his visits here so they can work with Toby together. I guess he was always a bit stubborn and peculiar, but she knows how to get him to listen to her. Patrick’s got her walking him around the yard, and Toby’s focused on her every word.”
“That’s awesome. I was worried he was so damaged we wouldn’t be able to get through to him. But that reaction when he saw her…” She teared up again and cleared her throat. “He’s just a big, wounded baby. And Patrick was right. He wouldn’t bond with anyone else because he was waiting for her. And did she say if her dad—”
Tess shook her head. “She said he passed away a few months ago. She’s got his place for sale and is going to look for a house with a big yard for Toby.”
Kelsey set the ceramic bowl she was holding on the last empty spot on the dish towel. “Wow. What a journey for both of them! And thank God it’s going to have a happy ending. As long as Tina doesn’t mind, this is going on the front page of our newsletter. I won’t be surprised if Channel 3 wants to air it.”
“You know, before I toured your shelter, I’d have thought I couldn’t handle shelter work because it’d be too depressing, but I realize now I was only considering half the story.”
Kelsey smiled and lifted the stopper, letting the dirty water drain out of the sink. “Trust me when I tell you, I wouldn’t be in my seventh year here if the good didn’t always have a tendency to outweigh the sad.”
Chapter 30
Kelsey spent the days that Kurt was away inundating herself with the dogs and an endless list of chores, and enjoying the company of Ida, Tess, and Patrick whenever there was a bit of downtime. The only part of her normal routine that she missed was swinging by the shelter at night to bring home one of the dogs. That didn’t seem like the right thing to do when she was sleeping at Sabrina’s. Bringing another dog through the door could add stress and cause undue excitement for the dogs that were here.
She contented herself at night with cuddling the puppies, which seemed to be getting bigger by the hour, and hanging out with Mr. Longtail, who was decidedly more affectionate in Kurt’s absence.
By the time Kelsey made it to night four, Thursday night, she tucked herself into bed and pulled out her phone for another quick look at Kurt’s most recent text.
I should be home tomorrow midmorning. Can’t wait to see you. It’s been too long.
Home. Like love, it was a simple, often taken for granted word. She knew he could have meant St. Louis—or even Missouri for that matter, and not specifically this house—but she couldn’t help but connect this place with him. She wondered if he had any idea how it fit him so perfectly: beautiful and complex and rugged, and just unpolished enough to have immeasurable character. She also knew he was one of the few people who could love it as much as it was meant to be loved.
She fell asleep listening to the puppies’ soft sounds carrying across the top floor of the house and with her hand a barrier between her face and Mr. Longtail’s. He wouldn’t stop trying to nip her nose as he purred and settled down across two pillows.
Like the other nights she’d spent here, this one passed impossibly fast, and she blinked her eyes open to the first light of dawn. And to the sight of Kurt, asleep but fully clothed, lying atop the covers next to her.
She held her breath and counted out a handful of seconds to be sure it wasn’t a dream. It was real. Kurt was back and in bed beside her. A small, brown paper bag was clutched in one hand by his stomach. The other arm was extended, and his hand rested on her hip. Mr. Longtail was at the top of his pillow, curled around Kurt’s head.
Four long but busy days disappeared into nothingness. It was if he’d never been away a single minute. His chest rose and fell with ease. The tension that sometimes lined his forehead was gone, and he looked like a cross between an angel and a soldier, impossibly tough and vulnerable at the same time.
She studied him as the sun peeked over the horizon, wanting to commit him to memory, but trusting she didn’t have to. He loved her, and he was home.
Then her phone alarm was blaring out Avicii’s “Wake Me Up,” and Kurt was awake and sitting up. Mr. Longtail rose to his feet, arching his back and stretching. Kelsey clicked off the alarm and sat up next to Kurt. Frankie, who’d been sleeping on the rug at the bottom of the bed, stood and dipped into a deep stretch.
“Welcome back, traveler. I didn’t think you’d be here until lunchtime.”
Kurt swiped the sleep from his eyes and grinned. “I ended up driving through last night.” He leaned close and pressed his lips against her temple. “Picking between sleeping another few hours in my car and catching a bit next to you was an easy decision.” He closed one arm around her and swept her hair back with the other, kissing her neck. “Kels, I owe you an apology. A big one. I’ll never leave again without telling you first. Hell, I can’t imagine having anywhere else to go.”
“I was never mad, just worried.”
“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “But I was in good hands. I had Frankie.”
She laughed. “Yes, you were.” She swallowed and thought of telling him that the last time she’d slept with someone, it had led to the end of a several-year friendship, but then decided it was pointless. That was a lifetime ago, and it wasn’t with Kurt.
“What happened to make you take off so quickly?” she asked instead. “Was it seeing the fishing float I put on the kitchen windowsill? Your mom figured out where you went. She explained it to me the best she could, about your grandma.”
Kurt sat straight and stared at her, blinking. “You put that float in the kitchen? I guess there’s an answer for everything in time. But why? How?”
She shrugged and smiled. “Because I found it on the beach when I was a kid. I had it on my desk at the shelter forever. The other day, I decided to bring it here.”
He dragged a hand through his hair, shaking his head. He was still a solid minute, then he started to laugh. It was a hearty, deep laugh of relief. “Of course. Of course you did. It couldn’t have happened any other way.”
He stood up and paced the room, the first light of the day glowing in his hair. Frankie watched him pace without missing a beat on the nylon bone he’d begun to chew.
“Did it help?” she asked finally. “Going there?”
“It did,” he said, taking a seat at the edge of the bed. “Kels, there are things I haven’t told you about my life before, things I may never be able to tell you. Friends, dogs that I didn’t or couldn’t protect. Choices I made. I’m too much like William for words to ever come easy—”
“It’s okay, they don’t have to.”
He held up a hand. “My grandmother used to say that nothing up to today matters unless you choose for it to matter. Sometimes that makes sense, and sometimes it feels impossible. But a part of me has to believe it, because rather than running, I came here. I saw you six weeks ago on that news story, and I made a choice to stop running, stop evading, and I let you in. I let this house in and these dogs. Hell, when the time comes that he goes up for adoption, I’m going to throw my name into the hat for Frankie, even if it means going down to a one-dog house for a while. As long as you agree.”
Kelsey blinked. As long as I agree to what?
Kurt lifted the forgotten bag off the bed and got up, walking around until he was directly at her side. He sank into a squat, resting on his heels.
“This isn’t a proposal, so you can stop looking like a deer in headlights.”
She bit her lip, unable to stop the smile from spreading across her face. “Thank God, because I’d be tempted to kiss you and I definitely have morning breath.”
“If it were, this would be a real kneel and I’d have had the sense to let you get dressed first. What am I saying? No, I wouldn’t. I love the way you look first thing in the morning in your pajamas with your hair all mussed, and when you’re asleep too.”
He smiled and passed her the bag. “It isn’t much, but it stands for something bigger. At least, I’m really hoping it does.”
Kelsey tucked back a strand of hair and sat straighter, folding her legs into a pretzel under the sheets. “Should I open it now?”
He nodded. Frankie had meandered over, and Kurt closed his hand over the top of his head, his nylon bone sticking out of his mouth like a cigar.
It was a plain paper bag stamped with the name of a store in Cannon Beach, Oregon. Kelsey sifted through tissue paper until her fingers closed over a small object. She pulled it out to find that it was a blown-glass Christmas ornament. It was a shiny dog figurine—a tan puppy wearing a Santa hat.
“It’s so cute. I love it.”
Kurt wrapped a hand over her wrist. “I asked her to keep it a surprise, but I spoke with Megan a few times on my way home. You know that things are moving in court. The first round of dogs, Zeus and a few of the others, might be able to head for the shelter in a month or less. Which means we could have a bit of space on the lower floor by Thanksgiving. Enough at least for a Christmas tree. A giant one. And I’m hoping this is the first of a lot of ornaments, Kels. I love you, and I want to make a home with you. This home, actually. I know you weren’t that crazy about it in the beginning, but I’m hoping you’ve changed your mind.”
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I love this house. It took me awhile to realize it, but I do. I love it. I can’t imagine liking a house more than I do this one.”
“I was hoping you’d say that because I’d like to buy it. I’d like to live here, with you.”
“Kurt, I don’t know if that’s possible. For now it is, but the shelter will sell it at auction and probably not for years from now, and if you keep fixing it like you’ve been doing, it’ll go for a lot of money. I’m not sure we’d be able to afford it.”
He rose and pressed his lips against her forehead, then sat beside her. “What if I told you the attorneys reviewed the will and found a stipulation of sale that works in my—in our—favor?”
“What do you mean? I thought Mr. Longtail would have to be gone—”
“Not if Ida consents to an early sale, which she has.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because with a bit of sleep figured in, it’s a two-day drive between here and Cannon Beach. I had time to think. Time to make some calls. I wanted to tell you in person. The house is ours, if we want it. I know I do, and I’m hoping you do too.”
Kelsey sat speechless, taking it all in. “You want to live with me, here, now.”
“Here, yes, and forever. I love you, Kelsey. And I’m not afraid to tell you I want the whole package. I thought you might want to take it slower than a full proposal in less than six weeks, and honestly I wanted to plan it better—”
Kelsey silenced him with a kiss. There was a hint of salt on his lips. She wondered if it was from the ocean or something more recent, like a gas station snack.
She’d gone to the ocean once and found something that she’d been too afraid to admit until now proved she was the luckiest person on earth. She’d just been waiting all this time to let it in.
She ran her hands over the top of his strong shoulders, then his smooth neck, then his silky hair. She had the rest of her life to get used to being with him. As Frankie went back to gnawing on his bone and Mr. Longtail began to knead his front paws into her hip, she knew one thing already. She loved Kurt as much as she’d ever imagined loving anyone.
“Yes,” she said. “Yes to everything.”
Chapter 31
The camping chair Ida was using was deeper than she would’ve imagined, and she suspected she’d have to have a hand getting out of it when the evening was over.
With Halloween a week away, the backyard was decorated with happy ghosts, fuzzy spiderwebs, purple-black lights in the bushes, and white rope lighting circling the expansive tree trunks around the yard. Three pumpkins, the last straggling survivors of her sister’s old garden, each one more imperfect than the other, lined the steps along the back porch. Pots of steaming chili and an assortment of fixings sat atop the porch table along with hot dogs and s’mores for roasting over the fire. Mr. Longtail was posed once again at the edge of the table, licking his paw indignantly after having been shooed away twice before.
The yard was filled with the rise and fall of laughter from people her sister would have enjoyed meeting. A crackling fire filled the yard with the pleasant smell of woodsmoke, reminding Ida of camping trips in Connecticut when her children were young, and of the circle of life.
Kurt returned from the house and passed Ida the blanket he’d gone inside to find. She thanked him and watched as he settled back down on the bench next to Kelsey on the opposite side of the fire and closed a hand affectionately atop her knee. The young couple exchanged a private smile before returning their attention to the lighthearted ghost story being told by one of the shelter volunteers.
Several kids sat on the ground on blankets in front of the benches and camping chairs, listening attentively. A few of them roasted marshmallows, while others were content to watch the dancing flames.
Having abandoned the table on his own, Mr. Longtail worked his way into the group through an opening in the edge. He walked over to a small girl with bouncy, angelic curls and sniffed noses with her. She giggled and pulled him onto her lap, which he tolerated surprisingly well, even though there was far more of him than her small, pretzeled legs could accommodate.
The girl buried her small hands deep in his long fur and babbled a string of adorations at him. From where Ida sat not far away, she’d almost swear the cat met her gaze. And if she knew anything at all, it was that the sparkle in his eyes was from more than the flickering light of the fire.
Order Debbie Burns’s next book
in the Rescue Me series
My Forever Home
On sale December 2018
Ida Greene’s Homemade Apple Pie
Ingredients
Pastry for a 9-inch double crust pie (Ida’s crust recipe is a family secret, so you’ll have to find your own)
½ cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup white sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
8 to 9 seasonal apples (Ida used Pink Lady and McIntosh), peeled, cored, and sliced
Directions
Prepare and ready pie crust, cutting lattice strips for the top. Store in fridge until needed.
Preheat oven to 425°F. Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium heat. Gradually stir in flour to form a paste. Add white sugar, brown sugar, water, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
Place the bottom crust in the pie pan. Fill and mound with apple slices. Cover with a latticework crust. Gently and slowly pour the sugar-and-butter liquid over the crust so that it does not run off.
Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350°F. Continue baking for 30 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft. Cover the top loosely with aluminum foil if pie begins to over-brown.
Enjoy, or share with your neighbor.
Author’s Note
While the High Grove Animal Shelter and the Sabrina Raven estate are fi
ctional, St. Louis is full of diverse and charismatic neighborhoods, and some are highlighted in this story. A few of the South City shops and restaurants mentioned, like Gus’, a pretzel shop, and Hodak’s, one of the most popular fried chicken stops in the city, are real and worth a visit if you find yourself in St. Louis. The underground caves, old breweries, and empty lot believed to be an Underground Railroad site also mentioned are part of the town’s rich history. The characters in this book, human and otherwise, are fictional, though Mr. Longtail bears an uncanny resemblance to my family’s tetchy Maine coon–tabby mix.
Read on for a sneak peek at book 3 in Debbie Burns’s Rescue Me series
My Forever Home
Coming soon from Sourcebooks Casablanca
Chapter 1
After sixteen months backpacking and taking on seasonal jobs across Europe, Tess Grasso had racked up a healthy list of once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Especially, she thought, for a twenty-six-year-old who, before then, had never been out of her home state. She’d been back in her hometown of St. Louis for a month, and even though she was no longer seeing famous works of architecture or artwork or meeting people from all corners of the planet every day, the list was still growing.
For instance, before this morning, she’d never traveled alongside a 103-pound Saint Bernard while crammed into the confining back seat of a 1969 Mustang. An oversize, invasive, drooly Saint Bernard.
