at the English setter. “That’s Cocoa. Someone found her on the streets in Jackson Hole. She was pregnant at the time, and she had nine puppies about six months ago. We adopted them out in less than a few hours.”
“But not her? Seems hard to believe,” Ames said.
“She had some complications in labor,” Lindsey said. “She requires a lot of medical attention, and I guess no one was willing to incur those costs.”
“I want her as a foster too,” he said. “Same conditions as Norman.”
He looked around at the dog pack still with him. “I think that’s it for now. Sorry, friends.” He patted the other dogs who’d clearly taken a shine to him. “I’ll need more dogs soon, okay?” He wanted to take them all, and he found it a little shocking that he could feel so much for these animals in such a short time when it took him so long to connect to humans.
He didn’t have to pretend to be someone or something he wasn’t with dogs. They knew who he was, and they either accepted it and liked him, or they didn’t.
“I’m not going to stop asking you to work here,” Lindsey said. “You have eight dogs following you around as if you rolled in steak-scented cologne before you got here.”
“I wish I could work here,” he said. “But I have some prior obligations.” He flashed her a smile and added, “Do we need leashes for them?”
“Yes,” she said. “Not that they need them. I have a feeling they’ll follow you anywhere.” She took down a couple of lead lines and handed them to him. She looped one around Cocoa’s neck while he did Norman and Florence. “I can’t believe Florence came out of the trees to meet you. I just can’t believe it.”
Sophia started talking to her about her family’s ice cream shop, and Ames glanced at his girlfriend to let her know he appreciated it. He didn’t need Lindsey fawning over him or offering him a job every five seconds. The dogs were put in an indoor kennel while Ames started the paperwork to do the adoption and the fostering.
Forty-five minutes later, he had all three large dogs in the back seat of his truck, Cocoa sniffing Sophia’s hair and the other two sitting demurely next to the open windows on both sides of the truck.
“Thank you,” he said to Sophia as he reached over and took her hand in his. A twinge of pain moved through his hand from his injured thumb. He pulled away and added, “My thumb hurts today. Maybe I should unwrap it and check it.”
“Did they say to do that?”
“I honestly don’t know,” he said. “I was really out of it at the hospital. Do you remember?”
“I think they said to keep it dry and then yes, check it after a few days.”
“It’s been a long time since I rewrapped it. Before the wedding.” He determined he’d do it after he dropped off Sophia, took the dogs back to Cy’s, and got all the things they needed. Bowls, food, leashes, collars, and anything else he saw at the pet supply store. Cy sometimes put sweaters on Blue Velvet in the winter, but Ames had learned that he’d done that because Patsy loved sweaters.
Ames didn’t want to dress up his dogs. He wanted to make them feel loved and safe. He wanted to exercise them and teach them to do what they loved best—work and love their master.
“Down,” he commanded Norman, and the Akita went straight to his stomach, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted. Florence knew the English and German commands for down, and she trotted up after Norman and sank all the way down too.
Blue Velvet hadn’t even run after the ball this time, as she didn’t have quite the stamina of Norman and Florence. Likewise, Cocoa had retreated to the shade about ten minutes ago. Ames knew the other two dogs would go and go and go until he told them they could stop.
The summer sun was hot here despite the elevation, and he picked up the ball and dropped it in the bucket. “All right,” he said. “We’re done.” He stepped over to the house and turned on the hose. “Come get a drink.”
Norman and Florence followed him, and they both drank from the water spouting from the hose. Blue Velvet waited, and then she drank too. Cocoa drank last, and Ames filled the big plastic bin they used as a water