Conrad wasn’t sure how Taylor could stand dealing with these idiots.
He followed Kenzie up the trail, Gabby running along beside him, stopping every few feet to sniff. His cellphone buzzed, but he ignored it.
They hiked until they came to the trail that circled the lake. Then Kenzie put Gabby in her tiny little harness.
“I’m going to run pretty far this time—far out of sight. Hopefully, she’ll follow her nose this time. If she gets distracted by something, say ‘Leave it,’ and praise her when she gets back on track.”
“Got it.” Conrad stroked the puppy’s fur. “You can do it, Gabby.”
“Sweet, sweet doggy.” Kenzie hugged the puppy, tousled her ears, kissed her—then stood and hurried away with Gizmo.
When she had disappeared from view, Conrad let Gabby go. “Gabby, go find!”
The creamy furball took off running down the trail, still on leash, with Conrad walking behind her. She seemed to know she was looking for Kenzie, but there were so many new and fun things to distract her—a patch of kinnikinnick, a bird, a tree root. “Leave it. Good girl! Gabby, go find!”
It took almost ten minutes, but Gabby eventually veered off the trail and ran behind a large boulder—and into Kenzie’s arms.
“Good girl! Good girl!” Kenzie let her play with her favorite toy.
Conrad praised her, too, and gave her a few treats. “Who’s the smartest puppy ever? No offense, Gizmo.”
But Gizmo seemed to be excited by Gabby’s triumph, too, his tail wagging as he walked circles around her, tangling all of them in his leash.
Conrad gave him a treat, too. “Way to be a good big brother.”
His cellphone buzzed again. He drew it out of his pocket, checked the caller ID. It was his agent. She was probably pissed off about the article. Well, let her stew.
Kenzie looked over at him. “Is something wrong?”
“No.” He shoved the phone back into his pocket.
Candace would have to wait.
* * *
Kenzie stoppedby the kennel to welcome a new boarder—a St. Bernard named Tiny—whose people were heading to Wyoming for their annual elk hunting trip. Tiny was a gentle giant who quickly warmed up to the other dogs and Inéz.
While Inéz played with Tiny and got him settled, Kenzie took care of Tiny’s paperwork, still unable to do some of the physical work because of her wrist.
“I know you must miss poop-scooping the play yard,” Inéz joked.
Kenzie held up her splinted wrist. “I’ll trade if you want.”
“No thanks. I’ll take dog poop over a dog bite any day.”
When Kenzie stepped through her back door, she heard Harrison shouting.
“You had no right to do that! I don’t give a goddamn what the contract says!”
His agent.
It had to be.
Kenzie already despised the woman. Maybe that wasn’t fair, but it seemed to her that this Candace person had no compassion for what Harrison had gone through and was only interested in money.
“I told you I would pick the publication. It’s not justsomesmall town. It’s my home! It’s where I’ve lived for the past ten years.”
Kenzie tried not to overhear, taking the dogs out for a break, sitting on the back deck to give Harrison privacy.
