Excerpt from
Love to the Rescue Book 1
Chapter 1
Cara Medlen felt the growl before she heard it, rumbling against her leg from the dog tensed at her side. She jiggled the leash to break his concentration. “Easy, Casper. You may not realize it yet, but today’s your lucky day.”
He looked up at her with dull eyes, one brown, one blue. A jagged scar creased his face. Ribs and hip bones jutted through his mangy white coat. And, oh boy, did he stink. Cara had yet to meet an ugly boxer, but Casper…well, he had the sort of face that made people cross to the other side of the street.
That same face grabbed at a tender spot in her heart.
“It’s a blessing that Triangle Boxer Rescue can take him,” the woman behind the desk, a volunteer named Helen, said. “Shelter life hasn’t been good for him.”
Cara nodded as she handed the signed paperwork to Helen. “I’ve worked with a lot of dogs like Casper. I’m sure we’ll have him ready for adoption in no time.”
But the warning she’d received from her homeowners’ association over the summer weighed heavily on her mind: Keep her foster dogs in line or face disciplinary action by the board.
The door to the kennels opened, allowing raucous barking to spill into the lobby. Casper peered around her and fixed his gaze on the man who’d come through the door. His ears flattened, and the hair raised along his spine.
Yep, this dog was trouble all right.
Cara sidestepped to block his view. “Thanks, Helen. Happy New Year.”
With a quick wave, she hustled Casper out the front door. He tucked his tail against the cold air, then raised his nose and sniffed the sweet scent of freedom. He slunk onto the brown patchy grass of the shelter’s front lawn and raised his leg on a tree.
When he’d finished, she loaded him into the backseat of her little blue Mazda. She smoothed her hands over her black dress, wrinkled since the funeral by hours in the car and now covered in Casper’s white fur. The ache in her chest rose up, squeezing her throat, and she shoved it back.
Later, she’d grieve. Now she needed to get Casper home.
She swung into the front seat and cranked the engine. “So, you’ve officially been sprung from doggy jail.”
He gave her a wary look, then turned his head to stare out the window. She pulled onto High Street and took the ramp to Interstate 85, headed for her townhouse in Dogwood, a small town on the outskirts of Raleigh, North Carolina.
“But listen, no more shenanigans, okay?”
Casper cocked his head, his mismatched eyes somber.
“One of my fosters growled at my neighbor’s dog, and she filed a complaint against me with the homeowners’ association, so I need you to be on your best behavior.”
With a dramatic sigh, he sprawled across the backseat and closed his eyes. Well, she’d take that as a yes. She’d put in a few extra hours of behavior training with him in the meantime, just to be sure. Casper slept for the next hour as Cara drove them home.
The latest Taylor Swift single strummed happily from inside her purse, and she shoved a hand inside to grab her cell phone. Merry Atwater’s name showed on the display. “Hey, Merry.”
“Hey. Just wanted to see how you’re holding up,” Merry said. “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”
Cara tightened her grip on the steering wheel, blinking away the image of Gina’s pale face inside the casket. “I’m okay, or I will be.”
“Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry. Let me know if there’s anything I can do. Are you still planning to go out tonight?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there, just maybe late. Casper and I have some acquainting to do.”
“How is he?” Merry shifted into her professional voice. As the founder of Triangle Boxer Rescue, she had a vested interest in every dog they saved. Cara had no idea where she found the time to run a rescue on top of her day job as a pediatric nurse, but Merry somehow managed to juggle the two.
“Well, he’s only growled twice so far.” Cara glanced over her shoulder with a smile. Casper watched, his head on his front paws.
“What happened? The shelter didn’t mention aggression.”
Cara flipped on her blinker and exited the highway onto Fullers Church Road. “I think he’s just stressed out. I’m not too worried about it. What time should I meet you at Red Heels?”
“Why don’t I come over to your place and we can get ready together? I’ll help you get Casper settled, and we can talk.”
“Sounds great, Mer, thanks.”
“You bet. See you around seven.”
Cara shoved the phone back into her purse. Truthfully, the last thing she wanted to do tonight was go to a New Year’s Eve party, but she refused to sit home and feel sorry for herself. She’d go, and she’d even have fun, dammit.
It was what Gina would have wanted.
She pulled into the parking lot of Crestwood Gardens, her townhouse community, and guided her Mazda into its assigned spot, right next to her sexy next-door neighbor’s shiny black Jeep Grand Cherokee. The man in question stood in his front yard, deep in conversation with a perky brunette in tight jeans and a low-cut sweater.
Cara felt a twinge of something like jealousy, which was ridiculous because she didn’t even know his name. And she’d prefer to keep it that way. She shut off the engine and hurried to fetch Casper from the backseat. “Welcome home, dude.”
He hopped down, tail tucked. It had been a long and difficult day for both of them. Time to get settled in and relax for a while.
One of her neighbors—Chuck Something-or-other—passed with a nod as Cara headed toward her townhouse. She offered a polite smile, her attention focused on Casper. The dog looked up at the older man. Their eyes met. The hair along Casper’s spine raised, and he released a low, guttural growl that sent Chuck scrambling into the parking lot.
Cara swore under her breath as she shoved the key into the lock and pushed open her front door.
So much for making a good first impression on the neighbors.