“Do you want him?” Mari gave a sarcastic laugh. “I’d be happy to send him off with you, but I think my kids would hate me.”
Kenzie wouldn’t blame them. “If you do ever decide you don’t want to keep him, I would be happy to adopt him.”
She’d never said that to any client before, but Prince was such a sweet boy and Mari was such a bitch. It was clear that Mari felt that the puppy, like her children, was little more than an annoyance. No doubt she had something much more important to do, like getting a manicure or Botox.
Some people shouldn’t be allowed to own pets.
For the first time since Kenzie arrived, Mari smiled. “It’s a deal.”
Kenzie got back to the lesson, only too glad when the hour was up. She cuddled the puppy, her heart aching to think he might not be getting the love and training he deserved. “See you next week, sweetie.”
Kenzie picked up some office supplies and headed back up the canyon to the kennel. Crank’s family was due back from their trip and would be coming to pick him up this afternoon. There, at least, was a happy, cherished dog.
She gave Quinn a lunch break, played with Gizmo and the other dogs, and then went home for a turkey sandwich, her thoughts turning back to Harrison.
Was he thinking of her, too?
She hoped so.
What should she make for dinner tonight?
She rummaged through her refrigerator and freezer and decided that salmon fillets would be perfect for a guy from Alaska.
She sent him a text message.
What time will you be over? I’m making salmon.
For twenty long minutes, he didn’t answer.
Kenzie was back at the kennel and in the middle of checking Crank out when her phone finally buzzed.
Can T sum Th Ing Com Upl.
Kenzie’s stomach sank, disappointment like a dark cloud blotting out the sun. Then she thought about the typos. They were beyond the help of spellcheck. Harrison was never sloppy like that.
Had something happened? Was something wrong?
She finished checking Crank out, giving him a few belly rubs to say goodbye. “We’re going to miss you, buddy. You’re so much fun.”
Ross, one of Crank’s two dads, clipped a leash to Crank’s collar. “We hope to be traveling to my mother’s house for Christmas this year, so he’ll be back then.”
Kenzie was happy to hear that. “Make sure to reserve your spot in October if you can. The holidays fill up quickly.”
When Crank and his family had gone, she leashed Gizmo and turned to Quinn, who was heading out to the play yard with the pooper scooper. “I’ve got to run. Something has come up. If you need me, shoot me a text.”
“Will do.”
Kenzie hurried outside to her truck, put Gizmo in his crate, and got behind the wheel to drive the short distance to Harrison’s place.
Chapter 12
Conrad tookanother drink of Jameson, shuddering as it burned its way down his throat. He’d found the unopened bottle in one of the boxes. He and Bruce had bought it to drink when they got back from Everest. But Bruce had never come back.
Bruce, whose family had moved to Australia from Ireland, had loved Jameson. Conrad wasn’t much of a drinker and didn’t care for it. It tasted like shit as far as he was concerned. But the more he drank, the less he cared how it tasted.
Now Conrad was sharing it with his buddy in the only way he could—in front of the TV while watching documentaries of the two of them climbing together.
He sat on the floor beside a sleeping Gabby, while, on the TV screen, he and Bruce battled their way up the Black Pyramid—a steep wasteland of jumbled gneiss on the Abruzzi Spur of K2’s southeast ridge.
