Light up the Night (Firehouse Three #2)(39)

Before they reached the cash register, someone tapped on Everly’s shoulder, and she turned.

“Look, Biscuit! It’s Miss Everly!” A girl who looked to be about eighteen, nineteen was standing there, looking down at a big, goofy black lab who seemed to have more tongue than anything else. The pair looked overjoyed to see Everly.

Man, he could so relate.

“Biscuit!” Everly knelt and wrapped her arms around the big dog, whose tail just about wagged off its body. Gossamer sniffed and wagged, seemingly happy to see the other canine.

Everly looked up, wiping dog slobber off her cheek with a smile. “He’s settling in well? He looks great!”

The girl nodded happily. “We were just picking up some more of those training treats you recommended. He likes them better than anything else. My boyfriend even picked up these boutique organic ones, and Biscuit didn’t want anything to do with them.”

“One of yours?” Drake asked as Everly gave one last scratch to Biscuit’s ears before standing.

“Yeah. Biscuit was one of the very first adoptions we did at Hopeful Paws,” Everly said, her eyes glowing with pride. “He’s always going to be special to me. They’re all special, but some of them leave a huge mark on my heart. He’s one of them.”

“It’s so good to see you again,” the girl said, wrapping her arms around Everly in a quick hug.

“You too, Tasha,” Everly said, returning the gesture.

As the pair moved off, Everly watched them with faraway eyes.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say why you started the shelter in the first place,” Drake said as he began organizing the selections in the cart. Normally, he’d have been a little frustrated at the delay. But tonight? Every moment’s wait was another in her company, and he’d never argue about that.

“It’s kind of a long story.”

Drake nodded toward the line in front of them. “I think we’ve got some time.”

Everly laughed a little at that. “True.”

She cleared her throat and began. “When I was in the third grade, I walked to school. It was a super quiet neighborhood, and there was only one corner I had to cross, so my parents let me skip the long bus ride. On the way home I passed this little convenient mart, and when I had enough change saved up, I’d go in for a Nutty Buddy, you know, the ice cream?”

Drake nodded.

“Well, I was leaving the store, and I noticed this box out by the dumpster. It was moving. So I went over and looked, and inside was this little puppy. It couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old—much too small to be away from its mother. But it was alone.” Everly wrapped Gossamer’s leash around her hand as they moved closer to the register. The person in front of them was checking out now.

“Someone dumped it?”

She nodded sadly. “Yeah. I couldn’t leave it. So I took it home. My parents didn’t want me to keep it, but they couldn’t ignore a baby in trouble any more than I could. So we took it to the vet, got the supplies we needed, and that dog lived with us until she died of cancer eight years later. Too young, but she had a great life. Loved to chase tennis balls, slept at the foot of my bed every night. She was an awesome dog.”

“Sounds like it,” Drake said, squeezing her shoulder gently.

Her eyes looked a little misty with the memory. “Anyway, for a long time I wondered what would have happened if I hadn’t been there that day, if I hadn’t seen that box moving. I wanted to make sure that animals had places to go to be safe until they found their homes. So that’s why I started Hopeful Paws.”

Drake opened his mouth to reply, but he got cut off.

“How are you folks tonight?” The cashier said as he began scanning items, one by one.

“Good, thanks,” Drake said. He glanced over at Everly, but she’d knelt down to straighten Gossamer’s harness.

Seemed like the moment had passed. He wanted to know more, but he could be patient. He hoped.

They loaded everything into the back of his pickup—honestly, it filled more of the bed than he ever could have anticipated. It was a good thing he wasn’t hurting in the bank account, because this stinky rescue dog was costing him just as much as any pedigreed pup ever would. Everly held Gossamer’s lead as Drake put the last item in and closed the tailgate.

“You sure this is enough?” he cracked as he grabbed the shopping cart to return it to the corral. “I could go back in and drop another three or four hundred on her.”

Everly didn’t blink. “You’re the one that got her that super-premium organic food, not me. And don’t get me started on the hyper deluxe crate. And the economy-size box of chewies. And the canopied—”

“I get it, I get it.” Drake shook his head as he opened the passenger door for his ladies. “I’m a sucker, I know. But you’re worth it, aren’t you, stink-face?”

Gossamer gave him a lick as he helped her into Everly’s lap.

Rounding the truck, Drake took a moment to breathe and consider his options.

This was good. This had been exactly what they needed. Time together that wasn’t so sexually charged. Time to talk, to get to know one another a little better. Of course he still wanted to jump her bones, but he didn’t just want a quick f*ck. Not with Everly. She wasn’t the kind to enjoy that kind of relationship, and quite honestly, neither was he.