Forever Burning, page 9
“Sure, Dad.” Colton grabbed his keys from the counter. “I have to run an errand before work.”
Colton and his father were rarely in opposition, but this time he was afraid he’d say something mean to his father. Well, he’d show his father and his uncles. This was real. The feelings he had for Cady weren’t the run of the mill lust. Sure, lust was part of it, but it was so much more. She had a backbone. She had drive. She had passion, in and out of the bedroom. She was simply amazing. Colton didn’t know how he got lucky enough for Cady to take a chance on him. His father was right about that. She was too good for him, but Colton wanted to show Cady every day that he was worth the risk.
* * *
Colton pulled into Wyatt Farm minutes later. Wyatt, Colton’s cousin, was outside with his wife, Camila, and their baby, Ruth. They stopped walking and stared at Colton as he parked.
“Hey. I was about to call you,” Wyatt said as he held little Ruth, who was currently chewing on her father’s finger. Drool was pooling on her bib and Wyatt acted as if it were nothing for his hand to be treated as if it were a chew toy.
Camila said hello and pulled out a tube of bright red lipstick. “Good to see you again, Colton. But I have to go make my rounds kissing the horses. They get all anxious if I don’t do it by nine. Do you want me to take Ruth?”
“Nah, I got her.” Wyatt kissed his wife and she winked at him as she left. Wyatt’s grandmother had kissed the horses every morning with her signature bright red lipstick. Camila was carrying on the tradition after Wyatt inherited the farm upon Mrs. Wyatt’s death. “What’s going on?”
“I need some cats.”
Wyatt blinked. “I thought you were more of a dog guy? After all, your family’s had bearded collies since before I was born.”
“The cats aren’t for me. Cady has a mice problem at the distillery. I thought some friendly distillery cats might help.”
Wyatt owned the horse farm, but he and his mother, Katelyn, were also veterinarians. They knew all the animals that needed homes.
“I can help with that. Kandi and Bill Rawlings have several rescues. I think they are keeping one, but there are two kittens, about five months old now, and are looking for homes for them. I have to warn you, one is an orange tabby and they can be . . . unique. The other is a Maine Coon rescue. She’s going to be huge. Like, really big.” Kandi and Bill were Colton’s parents’ age. He was good friends with their daughter, Tandy Rawlings.
“Great. Do you think it’s a good idea?” Colton asked his cousin.
“I do. They’re really sweet rescues, and they’re already showing incredible hunting drive. They’ll do really well there. I’ll text her and make sure they’re still available. Here.” Wyatt handed Ruth over to Colton.
Colton easily took the baby and played with her as much as you could play with a young baby while Wyatt sent the text. Colton would make a great father. He’d always wanted kids, but the timing hadn’t been right. Or was it the partner? Was it right now?
“Kandi said she’ll have them all ready for you to pick up in fifteen minutes. Now, I’m glad you stopped by, because I wanted to run something by you,” Wyatt said.
“Sure, anything.” Colton and his cousins were extremely close. They all grew up together and were all as close as siblings.
“I got a call from a horse farm owner in Lexington. His wife had gotten a bearded collie because of how pretty she thought they were with that long hair.” Colton could already see where this was going. “She didn’t expect the high energy herding dog that came with the pretty long hair.”
“Let me guess, it’s herding the very expensive race horses?” Colton asked, but he already knew the answer.
“Exactly. She’s just eight months old. She’s been fully trained and is apparently incredibly smart, which might be the problem.”
“Ah, the typical beardie stubbornness mixed with intelligence and natural herding drive.”
“The owners think the dog believes she’s smarter than they are. They called me since I have a bit of a reputation for finding homes for animals, be it horses, cats, or dogs. They said if I didn’t have a place for her, they’d just send her to the humane society.”
Colton frowned. “She doesn’t respect them. That’s why she’s acting up. I would say the timing isn’t great for me to get a dog, but I won’t let her end up in the shelter. If she doesn’t work with me, I know my parents will take her.”
“Great. Let me give the owner a call.”
“I can’t get her today. My shift starts soon and I need to pick up the cats,” Colton told him as he placed the call.
“Dixie, it’s Dr. Davies. I think I found a home for your girl.” Wyatt glanced up at Colton. “He can’t get her today. He’s the fire chief here in Keeneston and needs to be at the fire station.” Wyatt muted the phone. “She’s in the car driving to the humane society. She wants to know if she can drop her off at the fire station. She can be here in thirty minutes. She said one way or the other the dog was gone today.”
“I see why the dog doesn’t like her. Give her the address. I’ll grab the cats and meet her there in thirty minutes.”
* * *
Colton hopped into his car and took off toward town. Kandi and Bill lived near the station, so it wouldn’t take too long to get there. Kandi was waiting on her porch with a large brown box on each side of her.
“Colton, honey, thank you so much for taking these rascals off our hands. Wyatt said they were going to Cady’s distillery. They’ll be perfect there. They love people but have already killed my slippers, the duster, and all of Tandy’s old Alvin and the Chipmunks stuffed animals.” Colton had to smile at that. It did seem as if they’d be perfect for the distillery. “They’re all fixed, one boy and one girl. And I didn’t know if Cady was going to let them indoors, but I’m sending their litter box, some litter, and their food and bowls with you to give to her. Tell her to call me anytime if she has any questions and I’ll be sure to stop by and see them soon.”
“Thank you, Kandi.” Colton reached into the box with the cats inside and was instantly being rubbed against as the box began to vibrate with the purrs of the cats. “They sure are sweet.”
“We’ve worked really hard to socialize them.”
“You’ve done a good job. I hate to cut this short, but I have someone dropping off a dog at the station any minute.”
“You’re in full rescue mode, aren’t you? You know, Tandy loves men who love pets.”
Yeah, that was his signal to leave. He wasn’t going to be set up with Tandy. He liked Tandy—don’t get him wrong—but Tandy wasn’t Cady and Cady was the only woman he wanted.
“See you soon!” Colton called out as he loaded the boxes into his SUV and drove the short way to the station.
Chapter 11
The men were outside cleaning the fire truck when Colton pulled in. He gave the guys a brief rundown of the various animals that were going to inhabit the fire station today as Colton got the litter box out.
“We’re getting a dog?” Conley asked with a big grin.
“I’m getting a dog,” Colton replied. “But if she’s well-behaved, she can come to the station sometimes.”
“Please tell me it’s something big like a Rottweiler named Rexa,” Jack begged.
Colton was carrying the box of kittens into the bay when a fancy Range Rover pulled up with the personalized plate for a huge horse farm on it. Colton knew that farm. He also knew the owner was considerably older than the woman with designer jeans, Hermes purse, and Chanel shoes who got out of the SUV.
“Is the fire chief here?” the blonde woman asked.
“That’s me,” Colton said, handing off the box of kittens to Jack. “Are you Dixie?”
“I am. Here’s your new dog. Good luck. You’ll need it.” Dixie opened the back door and grabbed a beautiful bearded collie by her pink rhinestone collar. She was about two feet tall at the shoulders with long black and gray hair on the outer layer and white hair underneath that flowed almost to the ground and a long hairy tail. Her hair would flow almost to the ground when she was older. A pink bow held back the hair from her eyes. “Princess, here’s your new daddy.”
The dog was shoved at him. No leash. No food. No toys. Nothing.
Dixie was back in the SUV and speeding down Main Street before Colton could ask anything about Princess. Well, Dixie was speeding away until Cody Grey, the sheriff’s deputy, pulled her over for said speeding. Colton smiled at that and looked down at the dog staring up at him with big, dark brown eyes. She was evaluating him with the haughty look of, well, of a princess.
“Princess?” Jack asked with a frown. Princess’s fluffy tail with white and black hair wagged and she lifted her black nose in the air as if Jack smelled bad.
Conley laughed and Colton swore Princess winked at him. Colton grabbed a piece of rope and tied it around Princess’s collar. “Hey, sweetheart. You’re a beautiful girl.” Princess wagged her tail again as the rest of the department went back to work washing the truck.
Princess barked and took off. Colton grabbed the long rope as it went flying by, but he hadn’t needed to. Princess wasn’t running off. She was running straight for the dirty water from the truck. Princess leaped into the dirty water, stomping like she was digging up dirt, sending water flying. Then she flopped into the puddle and rolled onto her back. Her white furry legs were already turning tan from the dirty water.
Her pink tongue hung out the side of her mouth as she splashed in the water on her back. Princess was a wet mess and he’d never seen a dog happier than she was right now.
“Hey, pretty, pretty princess,” Colton said, teasingly to his new dog. “Want to play in the hose?”
Conley got the hint and turned the hose close to Princess. The dog got up, her long hair drenched with dirty water, and shook. Water went flying, then she was attacking the water. She was barking happily as she ran through it, causing all the guys to laugh.
Until the fire alarm went off.
“Let’s go!” Colton called as dispatcher read off a fire at the middle school.
The men were already pulling on their equipment when Colton realized he had lost sight of Princess. “Princess?”
Woof
The guys all turned. Princess had jumped into the firetruck and was sitting behind the steering wheel.
“Well, let’s go!” Colton ordered.
Jack opened the door and Princess barked at him. “Move over, girl. We’re in a hurry.”
Princess hopped off as Jack got into the driver’s seat. Princess sat on the floor between the two front seats as the sirens were flipped on and Jack drove off. They were fed information that a fire had started in a science lab during an experiment. The teacher had tried to put it out and the kids had been evacuated.
“What a mess,” Conley muttered as they looked at the chaos of young teens and some preteens more interested in doing dances for social media than listening to the teachers trying to corral them.
The principal waved them down. She had to be closing in on seventy because she’d been the principal when Colton was in school. “Ma’am,” he said, climbing down.
“We think the fire was contained just to the room. Minimal damage. But we also don’t have a good head count. Have you ever tried to herd teens?”
Princess barked, leaped from the firetruck, and took off. She barked, running circles around the teens and preteens, slowly corralling them into a tight group. One broke off to get a selfie, but Princess cut her off pronto and nosed her back into the group.
“Well, we might need to get a dog for the school,” the principal muttered as the guys got to work. Teachers were finally getting their headcounts in as the fire department entered the building.
Schools were eerie when they were empty and with the fire lights flashing. They made their way to the science room, cleared the room, made sure the Bunsen burners were off and no chemicals were nearby, and then headed out.
Colton found Princess sitting with her tongue out as kids lined up for selfies.
“Not the firehouse dog I wanted,” Jack said, “But I’m pretty sure she’s the firehouse dog we need.”
Cady smiled her way through the conference as she tried to hide the mice problem. Harlan and Joey had been trapping mice as discreetly as possible. Jordan had been trying to get her attention, but she’d done a good job of ducking him all day.
What Cady wasn’t counting on was Bruce cornering her.
“Cady,” Bruce said with a smile that she didn’t trust. “I’m so glad I caught you alone for a minute. We have something very serious to discuss.”
“What’s that, Bruce?” Cady added a touch of impatience to her voice. Only Isaac had been kind to her during this conference, and she was tired of trying to placate Blue Stone Distillery.
“During the tasting the other day, I realized why your bourbon tasted so familiar. You used our recipe. You need to turn your books over to us immediately or we’ll sue you for stealing trade secrets.”
Cady smiled because she wasn’t scared. She had the law on her side. “Yeah, no. Go ahead and sue me. You know Uncle Ollie. You can send the lawsuit to him.”
Cady moved to walk away, but Bruce’s hand shot out and grabbed her arm. “Do not test me, little girl.”
“I’m not little anymore, and if you continue to harass me, you’ll be served with your own lawsuit. Can you imagine the headlines? Billionaire Bourbon Boss Accused of Harassing Woman. It’ll play very well in the media, don’t you think? I don’t work for you. I can’t help it if you can’t sell like you did when my father was your master distiller. And it’s not my fault you refused to let me work for you. Because if you had, this would have been yours. You didn’t think I could do it. Must hurt to see me succeeding like this.” Cady patted his arm with sympathy. “Now, if you don’t let go of my arm, I’m going to scream.”
Cady wouldn’t scream. She would punch him in the nuts or use Sophie’s fart taser. It would feel so satisfying, but Bruce let go of her arm. “We’re not done talking about this.”
“Yes, we are. Bother me again, and I will go to the sheriff. Did I mention he’s a friend of mine? You’re not the big dog here who can buy his way out of trouble like you can at home.” Cady walked off. She had to force herself not to run. She refused to show Bruce how scared she was.
“Cady, do you have a moment?” Isaac asked from where he was waiting for her outside the door of the building. Cady jumped with surprise and Isaac apologized. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I wondered if now was a good time to talk?” Isaac looked behind her. “Never mind. We’ll do it soon though.”
Cady glanced back to see Bruce walking toward them. “Yes, later,” Cady said, hurrying toward the building where Joey and Harlan were still working on the mice issue.
It was then she saw the fire station SUV driving down the lane. A furry dog head with a very off-center bow and a sparkling collar was hanging out the window. The dog’s long hair was blowing in the breeze along with the jowls.
Cady pointed to the building she was heading to and Colton parked in front of it. The door to the building opened, and Joey and Harlan stepped out. Colton wasn’t far behind, opening the door to his SUV. The hairy, wet, and dirty dog bounded out. Cady laughed at her antics and the dog seemed to hear her. Suddenly, a big shaggy dog was running right to her, bow flopping, and somehow the dog was smiling.
“Princess!”
“Ew, don’t call me that,” Cady yelled back at Colton.
Colton smiled but pointed to the dog. “She’s Princess. You’re my angel. And these are your two new kittens.”
“Kittens?” Cady asked as Princess shoved her nose between Cady’s legs before seemingly approving and bounding off as she barked happily.
“They’re a little too old to be kittens exactly, more like teenagers. Kandi had rescued them. They’re both fixed, one boy and one girl, and very social. Also, according to her, very interested in hunting.”
“You got me cats to help with my problem.” Cady didn’t know what to say. The two cats poked their heads out from the box they were in and she was in love. They were already purring as she approached to pet them.
“The orange tabby is a boy,” Colton told her. “And the black one is a girl. She’s a Maine Coon and apparently will grow to be very large. She’s already adult tabby sized and she’s only five months or so. Would you like to keep them? If not, I’ll find them good homes.”
Cady was already picking them up. “Of course, I want to keep them. The boy I’m going to name George. The girl, Ginny, since we make gin here too.” Suddenly, forty-five pounds of hair jumped up and shoved her black nose between the two cats. Princess’s long tail wagged as she began to lick the cats. “I think Princess thinks the cats are her babies,” Cady said with a laugh as the dog began to lick the cats.
“Kandi gave you a litter box, bowls, and food for them too,” Colton told her.
“Great. Let’s put the litter box in my mud room. Joey, can you put a pet door in that’s big enough for Ginny? That way they can come and go as they please.”
“I’ll get right on it, Cady.” Joey jumped in his cart and took off for his car. He was going to have to make a trip to Lexington to get a pet door.
Colton leaned down and kissed her. The cats took that as an invitation to bat at his shirt. Princess took that as an invitation to bark as she spun in circles.
“How was your day, angel?”
“Apparently not as interesting as yours. How did you end up with two cats and a dog?”
“I ended up with a dog. You ended up with two cats. Come on, I brought things to make you dinner. Also, I know you have a full day tomorrow then a half day on the final day of the conference. Tomorrow, I have a guys’ night, but if you’re not too tired, I thought we could do something to celebrate your first bourbon conference.”
