“I can take him.”
Both women snorted in derision, and Kalista silently agreed. Beckett was a handsome man with a lean body of what looked to be hard muscles, but he couldn’t even begin to compare to Jared’s enormous strength. Still, it gave Kalista a little thrill hearing Jared’s cousins call her his girl.
Francesca shot Kalista a wide grin. “I blame those damn chocolate dipped shortbread cookies of yours for the five pounds I can’t seem to get rid of. I can eat a whole box when I’m writing.”
Kalista smiled as she relaxed. Francesca was tall, beautiful and had a body that was perfectly proportioned. “Those are a particular favorite of mine, too.”
Evie bumped her shoulder against her cousins. “I already told Kali that her bakery is dangerous, but look what she made for our boys and girls!”
Francesca and Beckett were impressed by the treat samples, and the two women working at the desk cooed over the frosted paws. Beckett had to excuse himself to treat a patient, and one of the young women offered to take Evie’s dogs outside to play while Evie took Kalista on the tour of the facility.
“I would love to join you, but I have some edits to finish up. My publisher will kill me if I don’t get them done in time. Why don’t you bring Kali up to the house after the tour and we can have a glass of wine.”
“I’d like that,” Kalista said.
After Francesca left, Evie led Kalista into the kennel where the dogs were kept. The setup was impressive. Each dog was housed in a separate cage, lined up in rows in the big open space. In each cage there was a dog house and a few toys, along with big metal water and food bowls. The areas were kept clean, and Evie introduced Kalista to the various volunteers that were inside the kennel as they made the rounds distributing the treats to the dogs. Overall, Kalista was pleased that the recipes she had chosen seemed to be a big hit among the canine community.
As they visited with the dogs, Evie told her stories about how each of them were rescued, and Kalista noticed that each cage had a detailed sheet of paper describing some of the dogs’ attributes and where they had come from. There were some dogs that had been dropped off after being abandoned by their previous owners, but most of them had been rescued from horrible situations when a dog fighting ring was broken up or when an owner was discovered being abusive to the animal.
“It’s a shame,” Evie said. “You can see that all of these dogs are just looking for someone to love them. They have good hearts and will make someone a wonderful companion someday.”
Kalista agreed. “It’s amazing work that you do here. I am so happy you asked me to be part of your adoption event.”
“We get emails all the time about the dogs we put up on our website, but no matter how many we find a home for, we always seem to get more dogs coming in. It’s an ongoing process that can break your heart.”
They walked into a large room in the back of the warehouse where an older woman was sitting in the middle of a fenced in area, playing with a dozen adorable puppies. A large man at the back of the room turned as they entered, and Kalista held back a shiver as his penetrating gaze focused on her. She could see by his dark hair and hazel eyes that he must be the other cousin she hadn’t met yet, but that was where the similarities ended.
His large hands were gentle as they stroked a sleeping puppy, but Hunter had an aura of intensity around him that instantly put her on guard. She could see the angry-looking burn scars that covered his left hand and arm that disappeared beneath his black t-shit. Before he had shifted to his side, she had seen the same scars on the side of his neck. From what Evie had told her about his accident, Kalista knew the burns must have been extremely painful, and she gave another silent prayer of thanks that the former Navy SEAL had made it home alive.
“Hunter, Maddy, this is Kali.”
Hunter merely nodded in greeting, but the older woman sitting on the floor beamed a bright smile at her. Kalista’s stomach flipped as she realized that the woman looking at her was Jared’s mother.
Well, hell…
“Why, hello there, Kali. Why don’t you girls come in here and join me.”
They took off their coats, hanging them up on pegs near the doorway, then Evie carefully opened the gate on the fence and they entered the play area after making sure none of the little dogs escaped. Kalista sat down on the padded floor and was instantly covered with puppies begging for attention. She laughed in delight at their antics, then watched as they scurried over to where Evie was passing out the smaller treats.
“There are two litters here, and they’re all pit bulls. We rescued the babies from an abandoned house about two hours away from here, and the other poor little guys were dropped off at the center by man that found them in a box on the side of the road,” Evie explained.