I wondered how long that would last when he heard the details of my proposal. “So it looks like I’m in need of a space to hold the dogs until my roof gets fixed.”
“I think we’ve already agreed on that.” He leaned against a tall shelving unit that held extra bags of dog food that had been donated.
“And you happen to have some empty space that you won’t be using for a few months.” I summoned my biggest, brightest smile. “Win-win, right?”
“Whoa, wait a minute. I need to get a penguin habitat built if we’re going to have a shot at pulling off this wedding.”
“We?” I scrunched my nose. “There’s no ‘we’ here. That deal is between you and Lacey. What ‘we’ need to figure out is where we’re going to move the dogs since you single-handedly ruined their shelter.”
“Wow, single-handedly? From the looks of it, your roof was in pretty bad shape before I stepped foot on it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine, you’re right. But you’ve got space and I have a need. A huge need. Can’t we work something out?”
“How long do you think it will take to fix the roof?”
“Not long. Insurance should cover it. Shouldn’t take more than a few weeks at most. The dogs and I would be long gone before your penguins move in.”
Alex glanced to his feet. “I do feel partly responsible for ruining your shelter.”
I held back a grin. He was going to go for it; I could tell by the way his mouth screwed up in that cute angsty scowl.
“But we have to run it by Lacey first. I haven’t even signed any paperwork. Technically, the space is still hers.”
He was right, of course he was right. But I feared Lacey wouldn’t be as easy to convince. With a sense of trepidation, I dialed Lacey’s number.
Less than five minutes later I disconnected the call—the shortest, most accommodating call I’d ever had with my childhood best friend. She was up to something. She’d been way too easygoing, way too quick to agree.
“I guess it’s settled then.” Alex glanced at his watch. “I’ve got a few hours before I need to get back to my sister’s. You want some help moving those dogs?”
“That would be great.” Something was off but I didn’t have time to ponder it. Not now when we were losing daylight and I had two dozen dogs to move before dark. Who was I to look a gift horse in the mouth? Even when that mouth usually couldn’t stop yapping at me. Maybe Lacey was in such a good moodabout the big wedding that she didn’t care what Alex did with the warehouse.
For the first time in a long time I’d found myself in a bind I hadn’t been able to work my way out of on my own. I hated having to ask people for help. Although I never minded providing it and was the first to step up when someone else was in need, it never sat right with me when I was forced to accept help from others. Lacey joked that being too self-sufficient was my greatest weakness. I preferred to think of it as a strength. That was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the differences between us.
I let my gaze drift over Alex as he hefted a couple of bags of dog food onto his shoulders to carry out to the truck. Maybe I’d finally found someone to help champion my cause. Either way, I’d taken care of the problem at hand. Tomorrow would bring a whole set of new ones, so I ought to be grateful for Alex’s help while it lasted.
An hour later, I’d retrieved my truck from Lacey and pulled up next to where Alex stood, leaning against the side door to the warehouse.
He met me as I walked around to the tailgate. “Where do we need to put everyone?”
“I figure I can put the pups in the back third of the warehouse while you and your penguins take over the front. Does that sound okay?”
He shrugged. “As long as they don’t get in the way of building out the penguin habitat.”
“I’m going to schedule a huge adoption event to try to find some of them homes.” I lowered the back of my truck. “If I can get the numbers down, maybe I can move them to my place temporarily if the roof isn’t fixed in time.”
“Don’t you need zoning permits or something?”
“Thankfully she’s got some connections at the sheriff’s department and city hall.” Bodie stepped close, joining the conversation. “Hey, long time no see.”
Alex took his hand and I stepped back, not wanting to get in the way of the testosterone surging between the two men.
“Yeah, it’s been a few years.”
Bodie let go first. “So you’re the reason my wife ended up in the hospital?”
Alex bristled and I wanted to laugh. I was familiar with Bodie’s sense of humor but obviously Alex didn’t have a clue the other man was joking.
“Um, how do you figure?”
