And that was why Freddie had lost his manners. He wasn’t the center of attention.
“They want to adopt him.”
The immediate rush of anger and the urge to move surprised Cole. He put one hand on Rebecca’s shoulder to ease her out of his way. Instead of going along, Rebecca wrapped her hands around his arms and planted her feet. “Stop. Wait.”
Cole stared hard at the couple, who’d done nothing wrong except pick Freddie. And then ignore him, but that...
He took a deep breath and met Rebecca’s stare. “I’ll stop the adoption if that’s what you want, but think for a minute. Is that what you want?”
No. It wasn’t.
He didn’t want this panic or the immediate sensation of having something he loved ripped away, either. Cole braced his hands on his knees and forced himself to breathe through the anger and grief.
How could he have been so stupid as to get attached?
Rebecca pulled him away from Brenda and the bake sale table. “The Scotts walked the town square with me. They’d had their eyes on him since they showed up, but they were afraid to approach you.”
Then she wrapped her hand around his forearm, which drew his attention to his own hands. They were clenched so tightly the skin was white. The ache in his knuckles felt right.
“Should I stop the adoption?” she asked as she leaned forward to try to make him look at her. “I will. I should have asked you or...”
Cole breathed in carefully through his nose and exhaled slowly while he forced himself to think. If he said no, Freddie would be spending most of his time in a kennel. Yes, he was safe and well fed and popular at the shelter, so he had lots of company.
But that wasn’t a home. That wasn’t freedom and a family all to himself.
He should have expected something like this to remind him how life worked.
Instead of spewing any of that frustration or anger onto Rebecca, Cole shrugged. “No. That’s why we do what we do.” He stepped back. “I better go make sure the van’s ready to be loaded. I’ll be back for the tubs later. Just leave them...”
Without pausing, Cole marched around the table. If he waited for half a second, the sympathy in her eyes would break whatever force field he’d managed to build over the years. Emotions were a liability.
This friendliness had opened him up to pain.
He’d had to learn early to shove the sadness and worry down. That had been insufficient but valuable training for living behind bars. There, without one second to call his own, he’d had to learn to shove everything down. Stitch had been fine as far as cell mates went, but touchy-feely emotions would have been blood in the water.
Now he could get the space he needed.
Escaping to the van took him right by the adoption table and Freddie.
As he approached, the little beagle spotted him and the lolling tongue seemed to be a grin of complete satisfaction. He wasn’t worried about his current state. There was no reason Cole should be worried, either.
Sarah was a pro at this. She’d been running the adoptions at Paws for Love for months. Shelly and Les had been doing it even longer. They had a long list of questions that each prospective owner had to answer. He’d seen the forms himself. Did they have other pets? A commitment to exercising the dog as needed? Every person who took a dog or cat from Paws for Love had to sign that he or she would continue immunizations and routine health care. Sarah would follow up to make sure all those things were happening, too.
None of that mattered as Cole knelt down beside the happy dog. No one would take as good care of Freddie as Cole would.
“Hey, man, congrats. You made it out. You’re going home.” Freddie licked his hand. “Be a good boy.” Cole noticed how the older woman sniffed and stepped away from him. Apparently, she knew his story. Was there no one in Holly Heights who couldn’t point out the convict in the crowd?
The small surge of anger helped. Cole pulled the camera out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Here. Take a picture of us.” He didn’t give her a chance to argue but pulled Freddie closer. The dog immediately put his paws on Cole’s leg and left happy kisses all over his face. He saw the camera flash twice before he slipped the beagle a final treat. “Call me if you need bail money, buddy.”
After one final scratch of Freddie’s ears, he forced down the emotion, slipped on the neutral mask and stood. Sarah was watching him with the same kind of eyes Rebecca had. Between the two of them, he was living on borrowed time. One or the other of them would corner him, make him talk. He wondered if he pulled Sarah aside and explained that he couldn’t give Freddie up, would she cancel the adoption? Or kindly point out all the ways Freddie would be better off with this couple instead of a single guy who lived in a trailer with no yard and no air-conditioning? He wasn’t good adoption material. “Headed for the van. I’ll have the volunteers load up.”
Sarah nodded. “Great work today, Cole. You’ve worked so hard this week. You must be exhausted. Drive the van home when you’re done. We’ll come get it if we need it, and I don’t want to see you around until Tuesday. Take two days off.”
Les clapped a hand on Cole’s shoulder. “When the crowd thinned, I sent EW on home. I’ll follow you and Eric to the shelter, help with the unloading.”
Happy to have his orders, Cole tipped his chin at the man and then turned on his heel and walked away.
He wouldn’t look back. He couldn’t. If Freddie’s grin had transformed to a worried frown, they’d both be making a run for the county line.
And at some point, if he was going to keep this job, he’d have to get a handle on these emotions.
“Hey, man, you ready to get out of here?” Eric asked. He and Mike were huddled in the shade of the van. Cole was surprised to see them there. In the old days, he’d have ducked out on his obligation as soon as the people in charge credited him for attending.
“Yep, let’s start with the cat kennels in the front. We’ll leave any empties here and get them on the next run. If we can get all the animals in one trip, let’s do that.” They’d all need to be fed and watered. There was going to be so much work to do. That was a good thing.
As soon as they had the van rocking with more than a dozen barking and meowing passengers, Cole, Eric and Mike made the quick trip to the shelter.
“How many animals were adopted?” Eric asked. “Think there’ll still be work to do next week?” He glanced at the shelter’s much smaller population.
“Got a waiting list of animals that need a place. Then there’s the fostered animals.” Hearing his own worry coming out of Eric’s mouth was reassuring. Paws for Love was a good place. They both liked working there. And there would always be more animals who needed him.
Cole shoved the air-conditioner setting to high. Something about choking down the lump in his throat made it hard to get comfortable. “There’s always going to be work to do.”
He looked over at the kid, who seemed to be relieved at his answer. “You and Les, you’re getting along, huh?”
Eric tipped his chin up and stared hard out the window. The faint snort from the backseat made Mike’s opinion clear.
“Got him dreaming big things. This week, he even studied for the science test. Like a stupid grade matters.”
Cole could understand exactly what Mike meant. In his life, all that mattered was hard work. With or without a diploma, Mike and Eric would be working low-paying jobs, sometimes more than one. Or they could enlist, learn a skill.
Or...they could put their trust in a crazy optimistic guidance counselor who had no idea how the real world worked.
He wasn’t sure anymore what the best choice for these boys was.
He did know that Eric had impressed him.
“You did a great job today,” Cole said as he parked in front of the shelter. “We needed both of you the
re, working, so I appreciate it.” He pointed at the mangled cake that had taken a beating during his emotional walk to the van. “Take that with my thanks.”
“A bet’s a bet,” Eric muttered as he slid out of the passenger seat.
Cole would have muttered something in return, but the small smile on the kid’s lips convinced him that he was playing it cool. That’s what guys did, but at eighteen, cool was pretty important. “Grab the leashes. We’ll get the big ones first.”
The smaller dogs could be carried in the kennels. Cole pulled out his key ring and unlocked the front door as Les and Shelly drove up. With their help, the four largest dogs were soon cooling off in their freshly wiped down pens and the remaining animals were swiftly unloaded. Shelly and Les moved into the cat room to put out fresh food and water for the felines. Settling them down again would take some time.
Most of the dogs were so tired they’d already curled up and fallen asleep.
Freddie’s empty spot would tear him down if he stayed there too long.
He motioned for Eric and Mike to follow him. “I’ll drop you off at home on the way to town.” They could walk it like he usually did, but they deserved a lift. They stopped in the lobby so that Cole could lock the door. The shelter was closed for the day. They’d begin again on Monday, call people on the waiting list with strays that had been living on borrowed time.
Mike pointed at Sarah’s office door. It was standing open, as usual, but all the lights were off. “Y’all closed tomorrow, too?”
Cole shook his head. “Yeah, but Sarah will be here during the day. Open or closed, she can’t let a day pass without working. Too much she wants to do.” It was an admirable trait. He worked to push the memories and worries as far away as he could.
Sarah worked because she believed in something.
“Surprised you have your own key,” Eric said. Cole didn’t answer as they slid inside the van. He started the engine and backed out of the parking lot.
“Because of my record?” Cole said as he pulled onto the highway. “Couldn’t very well open the place without a key.” And now that they trusted him to be there with the sunrise, Sarah and Shelly had both relaxed, sometimes arriving after eight o’clock.
“Yeah, but ain’t there—” Mike picked at a loose thread “—I don’t know, drugs and stuff in there?” He studied the trees along the side of the road.
“Well, they’re dog drugs,” Eric drawled. “You want to get rid of your fleas or something?”
Cole didn’t laugh as Mike punched the back of Eric’s headrest, but he was starting to like the kid. At some point, he’d given up on impressing Eric with how terrible his life could be and scaring the kid straight.
It had been a stupid impulse anyway. There was no need to explain to Eric how bad things could get. Even if he hadn’t lived it already, he’d seen it close enough to know.
“Hope you’re right about the work,” Eric said as he picked up the mangled cake. “Need those hours or Debbie will skin me.”
“No worries.” Cole propped his arm on the steering wheel. “You can count on hard work, even if the rest of life lets you down.”
“That is seriously depressing, man.” Eric shook his head.
“Guess I’ll have to give up my dream of writing greeting cards,” Cole drawled and then offered the kid his fist for a bump.
Eric huffed out a breath as he returned it. “Yeah, stick to what you’re good at. Know a lady who’ll help you figure that out.” Then he slid out of the van and slammed the door. “Pretty, too, but a little intense.”
“See you Monday.” Cole raised a finger at Eric as the boys walked in front of the van. It was too bad Mike didn’t have the same community-service sentence Eric had. With enough exposure, Rebecca might be able to fix him for the better, too.
Cole was still shaking his head when he rolled to a stop in front of Sue Lynn’s diner. Brenda was gone; so were all the cakes and cookies.
Only Rebecca remained.
He’d much rather have kept suspicious Brenda than sunny Rebecca, but he didn’t get to make decisions like that. Apparently, she was going to have her chance to talk to him about Freddie. She wouldn’t be denied.
“So...” She didn’t say anything else but raised her eyebrows.
“So.” Cole eased around her. “Want me to drop these off at your house on the way to the shelter?” He did not want to do that, but Sarah would ask him to do it anyway, so he might as well swallow his medicine and get it all over with.
“No, I drove. All stacked like this, they’ll fit in the backseat.” She peered at him through her eyelashes. “What do you think?”
He thought she was crazy and a terrible judge of space.
Eric was right. Pretty and sometimes too intense for comfort.
“Let’s see.” He picked up the stack, waited for her to grab the other and then followed her to her car. How much different would his life be if he were any regular guy helping a pretty girl? He could be a boyfriend who’d been roped in to work on his day off from... What kind of job could he possibly have that would work in this scenario?
His imagination failed him.
She stopped next to a beige sedan and popped the trunk. “Some of them might fit here.”
It took some ingenious cramming, shoving and stacking, but between the trunk, backseat and passenger seat, they managed to get everything inside.
“Are you going to be able to drive this way?” Cole asked. He wasn’t sure she could see out the passenger-side window. “I don’t mind stopping by your house.” He did. If he lost his mind and all impulse control, he would kiss her again. And better this time. Knowing full well there was no way anything between the town criminal and the girl one step away from sainthood could work, he’d still kiss her.
Because he wanted to.
All this emotional upheaval? Getting tangled up with Eric and worrying over the dog. Yeah, it’s her fault. Step away for your own good. No people, no trouble.
“You should have seen the way I packed for college. My parents couldn’t move me, they were hosting a fund-raiser for earthquake victims in South America, and Daniel was already too busy with school, so I drove to Baylor with a three-foot-square clearance right in front of my face. It was dumb, but I managed.” She sighed. “This is a piece of cake.”
Cole frowned as he studied her face. Was she teasing him?
“Piece of cake. Get it?” Rebecca winked.
Yeah, he got it. He grunted a reluctant laugh.
“I wouldn’t have guessed you were into puns.” Rebecca blew on her knuckles and brushed them against her shirt.
“I’m so not into puns.” Cole was pleased with his dry tone. He was going to make it out of there without rehashing all the emotion.
“Sorry about Freddie.” Rebecca squeezed his fingers. It wasn’t a kiss, but it was nice that she wasn’t afraid to step close to him anymore. “He was your friend. That has to hurt.”
Cole crossed his arms over his chest. “A little. The emotions surprised me. I don’t like it.”
Rebecca nodded. “I get that, but you still seem to be in control. It’s okay to be sad. This adoption thing is always going to be bittersweet for us.”
Hearing her lump them together, as if they were on the same team in this, was nice. Sweet. If he was included on her team, that had to say something good about who he was.
Then he realized this was how she got him. She sneaked past his defenses by pretending to care about him. When she found another project and moved on, it would be saying goodbye to Freddie all over again.
She could keep her encouragement. He didn’t need anyone else.
Except for EW, the man who’d saved his sanity more than once.
And Sarah, who’d taken a chance on him when it seemed like a bad idea to everyone else.
>
Getting attached to Rebecca with the bright blue eyes, watching him, waiting for him to do the right thing, was not a part of his promise. She’d force him to get involved, to take on other people’s problems.
Kissing her might make it worth the trouble.
“About the kiss...” Rebecca swallowed hard.
To save her the embarrassment, Cole said, “Yeah. It was a crazy second. I shouldn’t have done that. I won’t do it again.”
She shrugged. “Not so crazy, but—”
“Hey, Rebecca, wait up!”
The shout came from across the street. Cole was anxious to hear how Rebecca finished her thought, but she’d already focused her attention on the interruption. A woman in a tie-dyed T-shirt was waving a notepad with one hand and clasping a large straw hat to her head with the other. Without a single glance either direction, she charged across the street, her grin Texas big.
“Hayley Michener, from the newspaper,” Rebecca murmured. “Be nice.”
The reporter brushed long black curls away from her face and blew out a gusty breath. “I’m so glad you’re still here. I got some quotes from Sarah for the paper, but I wanted to meet this guy.”
Cole had been doing his best to blend into the brickwork next to the diner window. He did not want to tangle with a journalist. There was no way he’d say the right thing, and the shelter was too important to mess up.
“Yeah, not a good idea.” Cole pointed at the van. “I need to get that to the shelter. Just came to help pack up.” He craned his neck both directions, but the volunteers had been ruthlessly thorough. The streets were cleaner than any other time he’d been through town.
“Sarah says you’re working wonders with the dogs at the shelter.” Hayley poised her pen over her notebook. “What’s the secret to your success?”
Desperate for a way out, Cole glanced at Rebecca. She made a “go on” gesture with her right hand.
“Patience.” Cole cleared his throat. “In Prison Partners, we learned that all dogs want to learn and they all deserve a second chance. When you understand that mistakes don’t last forever, it’s easy to brush off a missed command and try again.” He frowned, hoping that would be enough to send this woman on her way. “Also, treats work.”
Keeping Cole's Promise Page 14