He couldn’t run away from this forever. His shit wasn’t going to drive itself here. Once he had retrieved it, he wouldn’t have to go to The Cave again. If anyone pressed him with questions, he could just refuse to answer.
He went in search of his shoes and then had to search for Gabby.
He found her near the back door, where she stood sniffing…
“Oh, man. Shit.”
The little thing had pooped on the floor.
* * *
Kenzie livednext door to her business, so she drove home, parked, and walked to the kennel to find the place quiet. With the peak months of summer behind them, they had only six dogs boarding now, and they were all out in the play yard with Quinn, her manager, who was also looking after Gizmo and her own dog, Sheba, a black lab.
That was one of the perks of working at the kennel. Every day was Bring Your Dog to Work Day—provided the dog was well-trained and got along with other pooches.
Kenzie made her way to her office and filed the Q3 tax documents Lexi had given her, making her Q3 payment online. Then she read through her email—a couple of inquiries about reserving space for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, a shipping confirmation for an order of hypoallergenic pet shampoo, and an email from a woman who wanted to know how to keep her new puppy from tearing up her couch cushions.
Kenzie answered the woman with a few suggestions and attached a couple of flyers—one about crate training and the other a schedule of upcoming puppy kindergarten classes—and immediately got an angry reply.
“You think I want to spend more money on this animal? I just need you to tell me what to do!”
Kenzie’s heart hurt for that puppy. Why did people bring companion animals into their homes without learning how to care for them? The failure wasn’t the puppy’s, but the owner’s.
Kenzie decided it was probably a bad idea to reply with the words that had come to mind, so she simply deleted the woman’s email.
She left her office and walked out front to the store, fighting the urge to text Harrison to find out how things were going.
She found Dree, who’d worked for her for about a year now, getting ready to close up the shop.
“Where’s Gabby?” Dree asked.
“I left her with a friend.”
The store wasn’t as profitable as the kennel or her obedience training classes, which both got clientele from across Forest and Boulder counties. Scarlet Springs was a small town, after all. Still, Kenzie had been able to stay in the black so far, while offering the residents of the area the best in natural pet food and other supplies.
No one, including Kenzie, wanted to make the trip down the canyon to Boulder just for good pet food.
“How did the day go?” Kenzie sorted the mail.
Junk mail. Bills. Catalogs.
“It was pretty busy, actually.”
Fridays were often busy. The store was open only from 10 to 3 on Saturdays and was closed on Sundays to give Kenzie and her staff a day off.
“People are trying to get what they need before the weekend.”
Kenzie cashed out the register, leaving Dree to mop the floor and do a quick restock of the shelves before locking up. She carried the cash to her office and had just filled out a bank deposit slip when her cell phone buzzed.
A message from Rose Ellery, the town’s psychic and leading gossip.
I forgot that Gandalf needs more dry food. I’m in the middle of a chakra realignment and won’t make it before you close. Can you leave a bag of the silky coat formula outside the door? I’ll drop a check through your mail slot.
Kenzie texted her back.
Sure thing. It will be waiting in the cooler outside the door.
She went back to the store, where Dree had just finished mopping, and grabbed the bag of cat food Rose wanted. Kenzie rang it up and carried the cat food outside to the large cooler that sat by the store’s front door, shutting the food inside with the bill.
