Alex got up from his chair, set the pup down in the basket, and stalked out of the room. Morty shook his head. “He’s a good man but he doesn’t know how to grow roots.”
I didn’t know how to respond. Was he directing his comment at me? Did he expect me to say something in return? “Oh, I um?—”
“He’s got a good heart. As soon as he finds something worth sticking around for, he’ll make a good father and husband someday.” The older man gazed into his mug.
I gulped down a giant swig of coffee and set the mug down. “I’m going to get the pups out to the warehouse. Have a good day.”
I didn’t wait for him to reply. Armed with the laundry basket of puppies, I covered the distance from the house to the warehouse in record time. I didn’t need to know Alex’s whole backstory. Didn’t need to know he came from what sounded like a broken home or that he had mama issues. I balanced the basket on one hip while I wrestled the door open. One of my volunteers saw me struggling and rushed over to lend a hand.
I filled my helper in on how to care for the pups, then left to run home for a quick shower and a change of clothes. I still had that adoption event scheduled for tomorrow and needed to get ready. Whether I liked it or not the penguins were coming and I had to make room.
As I pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road, my cell rang with a call from Lacey. “How’s the mama to be this morning?”
“Not good. Not good at all,” Lacey answered. “Where are you?”
“On my way home to grab a shower. We found some puppies in the woods by the warehouse, and I spent all night feeding them.” And doing unmentionable things to your penguin handler. I decided to keep that part to myself.
“Bodie’s at your place.”
“My house?”
“Yeah. A call came in last night. Someone saw something strange going on over there. I couldn’t reach you, so he went over to check it out.”
“What happened?” My heart jumped into my throat. I tried to swallow my fears back down, but the knot of worry wouldn’t budge.
“I don’t think the roof collapsing was as much of an accident as we thought. There may have been some foul play involved as well.”
“What do you mean?” I pressed on the gas, eager to get home and figure out what Lacey was talking about.
“Someone doesn’t like the fact that you’re helping all these pit bulls. I think they’re trying to warn you to stay away.”
“That’s crazy. I’ve been working at the rescue for a few years now. No one’s bothered us before.”
“Yeah, but Bodie’s getting close to figuring out who’s behind the dog-fighting ring. Maybe the two are related.”
My mind spun with possibilities. I’d originally thought Bodie’s dad and grandfather might be behind the dog-fighting ring. But when they were arrested last year for smuggling huge amounts of Cuban cigars into the country, I gave up on that idea. Since I’d teamed up with Bodie to take on the cast-off pitties he came across, we’d received some publicity about the shelter and the dogs. Maybe the people behind the dog-fighting ring were feeling threatened.
“Tell me what happened.” I needed to know what would be waiting for me when I got home.
“They redecorated your house, hon.” Lacey’s voice went all quiet. “It’s not safe for you to stay there anymore. I want you to move in with us for a bit.”
My heart kicked up its pace and began to beat so hard and so fast I thought I might pass out. “I can’t stay with you, you’re on the other side of town. It would take me forever to get to the warehouse. And even longer to get to the shelter once we get that fixed up.”
“Well you can’t go home. You’ll stay at the Phillips House.” Her voice held a finality I’d heard before. But it had rarely been directed at me. It was her mayor voice, the one she used when she wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“I can’t stay there, you’ve only got two bedrooms and they’re both in use,” I ground out. Not to mention that’s where Alex was. And based on what went down between us the night before, trying to maintain my distance with him so temptingly nearby might prove to be too much for me to handle.
“The men can share a room. We’ll bring in an air mattress if we have to. But you’re not going home and that’s final.” Lacey’s voice bordered on shrieking.
“Settle down, mama. No need to burst an eardrum. Let me check in with Bodie and we’ll make a plan from there, okay?” It didn’t fail to register that I was the one who should be freaking out right now, not Lacey. Maybe this pregnancy was changing my friend in more ways than met the eye.
“All right. He’s waiting for you there. Call me after?”
“I will. And Lacey?”
“Hmm?”
“Thanks for worrying about me. You know you’re a giant pain in my ass, but I do love you.” That was an understatement. The pain-in-the-ass part. Lacey wasn’t so much a giant pain in my ass, she was more like a boil that was about to burst.
