Page 60 of Taming I Do
“You’ll have a good time with Zina.” He stood, then stepping in front of me, he lowered his nose to lightly tap against mine. “You want to have dinner together tonight?”
“Did you buy groceries? Can I cook at your place?”
He took a step back. “No, I haven’t had a chance to do that yet. How about I take you out for those amazing cheese enchiladas instead?”
“Or”—I turned around and pulled his arms around my—“we can go to the store, then head back to your place. Dinner and dessert?”
“I don’t think I’ll be done in time tonight. But we can grab whatever you need from the store tomorrow. Sound good?” He pressed a kiss to the top of my head, then slid his arms away from my grasp. “We’d better get back before they come looking for us.”
“Okay.” I brushed off the bottom of my jeans, a little confused by his reaction. Last night he seemed like he’d been into me. Like totally into me. Had I misread the signals? Was I trying too hard? Things had been so easy between us. Maybe we’d been too easy. I followed him back to where the others had finished lunch and had already begun working again.
“There you are.” Mrs. Taylor gestured toward the empty bowl of salad. “I don’t know what you put in that salad, but I’m going to need the recipe for the dressing. I’ve never seen my boys eat so many vegetables so quickly.”
I summoned a smile. “I’ll be happy to jot it down for you when we get back to the house.”
I helped Mrs. Taylor clear the dishes and repack the basket. Before I turned to head back, I scanned the area for Jasper. He must have moved to a different section of the orchard. Disappointed I wasn’t going to get a chance to say good-bye, I filled my arms with dishes and set off for the house.
After I’d helped Mrs. Taylor clean up the kitchen, I grabbed the directions Jasper had drawn out for me and headed for the bright pink truck. I’d spent so much time with Jasper since I’d been in town. Getting out on my own for a bit would be good for me. At least that’s what I told myself the whole way to For Pitties’ Sake.
Zina must have heard me coming up the drive. Several dogs occupied the outdoor kennel runs, and they greeted me as I climbed down from the truck.
“Hi, I’m glad you could make it this afternoon.” Zina held her arms open. “What happened to your eye?”
“Just a late-night run-in with a crazy goat.” I gave her a hug, then stepped back to check out the building and surrounding area. A single-story house sat a few hundred yards away. But the shelter occupied its own building. Dozens of chain-link dog kennels protruded from the side of the building. “Thanks for the invitation. This is a great space.”
“Thanks to Alex and his dad. Let me show you inside first. Maybe these dogs will quiet down a bit if we head inside.” Zina opened the door and held it while I stepped into the space. “It’s not much, but it’s everything we need, and at least it’s not falling apart around me.”
I lifted my brows. “Does that happen a lot around here? Buildings falling down?”
“No.” Zina let out a laugh. “But that’s kind of how Alex and I met. He tried to check a leak on the roof of my old building and ended up falling through. The whole building was condemned, but it all worked out.”
“How?”
“What’s that?” Zina tilted her head.
“How did it work out after he had your building condemned?” Didn’t sound like the start to a perfect relationship.
“Oh, well, it’s a long story. We ended up having to move the dog rescue into the wedding warehouse for a bit. But then Alex was training penguins for that winter wonderland wedding, and?—”
“Penguins? Real penguins?”
“That’s right. Lacey will go to any and all lengths to make sure the brides who book their weddings in Ido get the wedding of their dreams.” Zina rolled her eyes. “It can get to be a bit much. I’m assuming you’ve heard about the upcoming butterfly wedding?”
I smiled. “Yes, Lacey mentioned it’s coming up soon.”
“She’s good at what she does though, and she’s single-handedly saving the town.” Zina clucked her tongue. “Don’t tell her what I said. She told me to be nice today.”
“The two of you seem like you’re pretty close.” I wondered what it would be like to have a close female friend. The closest thing I had was Stella, who didn’t really count. Monique had been a good friend, although she was more of a mentor. Not the kind of friend I would call if I wanted to whine about my love life.
“We’ve been friends since junior high. No matter how crazy things get around here, I’ve got her back and she’s got mine.”Zina pointed to a door. “You want to tour the offices before we go back to meet the dogs?”
“That would be great.”
“We’ve got a training session going on, but we can peek in on them.” Zina led the way and I followed. “Since we moved the rescue out here, we’ve been able to add some additional services. Alex’s grandpa’s been volunteering with a program that works with veterans to pair them with service dogs.”
“That’s fabulous.” I peered through the window into a large area with a concrete floor. A half dozen dogs worked one-on-one with their handlers.
“It really is. It’s a win-win. So many of our dogs are abandoned or surrendered. We’ve found a lot of our service members feel the same way. Seeing them build a bond with each other is an amazing thing.” Zina motioned for me to move on. “We’ve even done some work with kids from the community.”
