“Yeah. Knight, why don’t you take them back?” Leo asked. “By the time you return, we’ll have a plan.”
“You got it. I hope you stick it to Patch real good. He probably took them with him because Claire’s sick and he didn’t want to make dinner,” Knight grumbled before turning to Cole. “He’s my best friend, so I can say without a doubt, he’s an asshole.”
Cole grinned, liking the team already. Signaling for Brody to follow them, he turned back to Knight, who welcomed him to the team and described his experience since joining them.
Leading Brody to the fenced-in area, he pulled out a bag and waited for his friend, the burger stealer, to do his business. When he finished, Cole cleaned up after him and threw it in the trash. He returned inside to wash his hands and met his new team.
“Tess and the women have rescued us from starvation. They can’t wait to meet you. If you follow us down, we can show you to your living quarters. We can help you unload after lunch and we can chat at your place,” Leo said, walking toward his vehicle with folders in his hand.
“My place?” he asked.
“Yeah. Kassie lets us borrow the cabins for the new hires for six months until you can find a place of your own. The first month, you’ll work part-time. I want you settled and ready to work within thirty days. Housing in Serenity can be scarce due to the hospital’s need for visitor housing and the town’s small size. When something opens up, the realtor notifies Kassie, and she lets me know. Don’t panic if something doesn’t open up at the end of the probationary period. Kassie won’t kick you out. We haven’t experienced any issues yet, but I imagine as the team grows, we’ll run into some problems,” Leo explained. “We do have extra bunks at the facility if it comes to it. With you working with the dogs, we picked a cabin near the dog training yard.”
“Thanks. I never expected to work part-time. I can start full-time. It’s only Brody and me and I didn’t bring much stuff,” Cole said as he opened the door for Brody to hop in the passenger seat and secured him.
“No. You’ll take the rest of your free time getting to know the residents on the mountain and in town. After the last few months, we’ve tightened security. The residents still need to see us as safe and reliable. We do acts of service in our small town. We have veterans delivering food to those who can’t drive or visit the community center. We’ve recently worked jointly with the hospital and purchased a bus to run every two hours. Seniors can use it to go shopping or hang out at the community center. This way, we know they’ll return home safely,” Leo informed him. “We’ll talk more later.”
Cole climbed in his truck and shot Brody an angry stare. “Oh, don’t look all innocent.” He leaned over, smelling the dog’s breath. “Yup, exactly what I thought. You ate them, didn’t you? That’s why the empty plate sat on the counter. Patch didn’t put away the meat before he left because he assumed you followed commands. Oh, crap. Taco put the plates on the table. Thanks to you, one of my new team members will be eating off a plate of slobber and I can’t say anything,” his voice turned stern.
Brody whined and pawed at Cole’s sleeve. His paw covered his nuzzle as if apologizing for his rudeness.
“Nope. I’m cutting you off. No more hamburgers for you,” he ordered. “You jeopardized my new job. How could you, bro? I thought we made a deal.”
Brody stretched his neck and a loud belch resounded in the truck. Cole rolled down his window as he sent a disgusted glance in his four-legged partner’s direction.
“Dude. Seriously?” he complained. “You’d better be on your best behavior the rest of the day.”
Brody smiled, making Cole groan. He didn’t know how he’d survive the day if he lost his job after driving this far. Not to mention, he felt like he was supposed to be here. He didn’t know why, but it felt like the mountain beckoned him from the first time he saw it online. Now, he only needed to discover the reason.
CHAPTER 5
Taco kissedhis wife and introduced Cole to the women in the kitchen. They reminded him of his mom. She’d love it here with all these mother hens clucking around him and piling food onto a plate, enough for two people.
“My wife owns a food truck and runs the community center’s kitchen. You haven’t tasted her tacos, but once you do, you’ll want to kiss her and propose at the same time,” Taco bragged. “I’ll warn you, she’s already married.”
Cole grinned, accepting the plate from the woman named Edie.
“I wish you’d stop telling people I’m married. I might like to compare a few kisses,” Tess teased her brooding husband. “Enjoy the food, Cole, and welcome to Serenity. I have to get back to work.”
“Thanks, Tess,” Cole said as he picked up one of the tacos and bit into it. His eyes closed as he savored the different spices. Taco wasn’t kidding when he said Cole might want to kiss her. They were the best he’d ever tasted. When he opened his eyes, his new team members all smiled at him and nodded before digging into their food. Brody sat on the floor and watched the passersby.
“She makes breakfast burritos, too,” Sparky said. “They almost rival my husband’s.”
“Ah, and the truth comes out. I heard my wife snuck into town and didn’t come over to see me for dessert,” Ty teased as he leaned down and kissed her.
“We made an impromptu visit. I tried calling you. Do you have any chicken soup to send to Claire? Knight called Patch to figure out what he did with our lunch. He insisted Knight’s playing some joke. He mentioned her catching bronchitis,” Sparky told him.
Ty signaled to one of the teens. The young man hurried over to do the man’s bidding. “Please pack up two bowls of chicken soup, six of the rolls, one of the chicken parmesan specials, and a tub of the stir fry. Ask Joe to take it over to Dr. Meyer’s house.”
“You got it, Ty,” the teen said before walking away.
“Thanks, Ty,” Leo said as he stuffed a piece of taco meat into his mouth. “It’ll save Claire from staying sick longer than she anticipated. With Patch’s cooking lately, she’ll end up with food poisoning.”
“What did he call the dish he made last week? Pot pie surprise?” Michael asked.
Shadow grunted. “More like mystery meat surprise.”
“You got meat? I spent most of my time trying to figure out what those green floating things were,” Whiskey spoke up.
