But once the planning was done, it didn’t take her long to get stir-crazy sitting in her apartment, so she started spending more and more time at the animal shelter. Being there with Ms. Leah, Haleigh, and all the animals did wonders for Rae’s frame of mind.
I wanted to do something to show my appreciation, so I got Country and a few of the other brothers and their ol’ ladies to come help Rae and me fix up the place. I knew it was going to be a helluva job, and I tried to warn them, but Country clearly didn’t get the memo. “It’s for a good cause, so quit your bellyaching and carry that shit inside.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Country grumbled as he started for the front door. “Just remember, you’re gonna owe me big for this one.”
After Shotgun and I checked with the girls to make sure they had everything they needed, we went over and helped Rafe, Hawk, and Locke get the rest of our supplies from the back of the SUV. Once we had everything we needed, we headed inside.
When we got to the rear of the shelter, Country was standing between two of the kennels with a pained expression on his face. “Awe, hell naw.”
“What’s wrong now?”
“This is what’s wrong.” He leaned down and picked up one of the smaller pups, then cradled it against his chest while stroking its head. “What’s the deal with all these fucking puppies, man?”
“What the hell did you expect? It’s an animal shelter, Country.”
“Yeah, but look at ’em. How are you supposed to resist a face like this?” Country shook his head as he looked down at the puppy and muttered, “I don’t need a dog. I don’t need a dog. I don’t want a dog. I. Do. Not. Want. A. Dog.”
“You think it’s bad now, just wait until Kiersten sees him.”
“Oh, fuck me. You’re right.” He looked down at the puppy and sighed. “I’m so screwed.”
Locke nudged me with his elbow and said, “You know, it starts with a puppy. Won’t be long before she’ll be wantin’ a baby, too.”
“A baby?” Country’s eyes widened with panic. “Nah, surely not.”
“Afraid so, brother. Puppies and babies go hand in hand.”
“He’s right.” I couldn’t help but smile as I teased him. “Maybe you should take two of them. That might keep her busy for a little while.”
“Two? Ah, shit. I’m so screwed.” Country held the pup up to his face and said, “I’m gonna need you not to do that cute puppy shit with my girl. You got that?”
We all laughed as we watched Country shake his head, then grumble as he put the puppy back in the kennel. He walked over to us and said, “Keep laughing, asshats. Your girls will be wanting one of them, too. Just wait and see.”
No one said a word.
Everyone knew he was right.
It was only a matter of time before Delilah or Remington or any of the other ol’ ladies saw the adorable pups and started pleading to take one home. Rafe grumbled curses under his breath as he propped the ladder against the wall and said, “We’re wasting daylight, boys. Let’s get to work.”
The girls had already started working out front by pulling weeds and picking up trash, which left us to get started on painting, fixing the broken cages, and patching the roof.
We decided to split up and work in pairs. Shotgun and Hawk got started on the roof while Country and Rafe helped Locke and me repair the broken cages and latches. It took us some time to move the dogs over to one of the empty kennels, but once we had them sorted, repairing the metal links wasn’t too bad of a fix.
We’d been at it for several hours and were just about to start painting when Rae and Haleigh came over to Locke and me. Rae was beaming with excitement as she told us, “Oh wow! You boys have been busy! It’s looking good in here.”
“Just doing what we can.”
“Well, it’s amazing. I don’t know how I’ll ever thank y’all for this.”
“You know we’re glad to do it.”
The words had barely left my mouth when our attention was drawn to Rebecca and Kiersten as they squealed over a group of schnauzer puppies. As soon as Country saw that Kiersten had picked one of them up, he started fussing, “Don’t even think about it, babe.”
“But look at her! She’s so sweet!”
“Don’t care,” he grumbled. “We do not need a puppy.”
I knew the minute she looked at him with those pleading eyes that there’d be no way he’d tell her no. “Please, Grayson. I really want her, and we have plenty of room out at the Manor. And you know that Bray and the guys would help us keep an eye on her.”
“Okay, okay ... You can have one.” Remembering my suggestion, Country looked over to me and shook his head. “But she might get lonesome out there. Probably best to get two of ’em.”