Embracing Today, a firefighter romance: (The Trading Yesterday Series, #3), Kahlen Aymes [essential reading txt] 📗

That’s what my grandad used to say, and why we’d always used kennels to house train our pets. I could still hear him say it like it was yesterday. Knowing there was nothing left to do but take her out again, I pushed back the covers and padded into the adjacent bathroom where I was keeping the small kennel I found her in at the farm, after I’d fed and watered the horses three hours earlier.

I crouched down and carefully unlatched the metal door.

Bowww, bowww, bowwww! she wailed. Booooowwwwww!

“It’s okay, honey.” I swung open the door to the kennel. “Come on! Come on out,” I said in something akin to baby talk. “Do you have to go outside?”

I wanted to reach in to get her, but she was scared, and I wanted her to trust me. She was in a strange place and missing her people. There was a white T-shirt inside the kennel that I hoped she’d snuggle into, but there was no such luck.

The pup peered at me and wailed again. “It’s okay. You’re okay,” I said in a soft voice, reaching in one hand and letting her get my scent again. “Come on, baby,” I cooed at her. “You’ll be back with your mom soon enough.”

If the guys at the firehouse heard me babbling like this to a dog, I’d probably never hear the end of it. She was a baby, I reminded myself, but still. I had a reputation at the station for being a tough guy and this scene would certainly kill that notion, but I smiled when it occurred to me that I couldn’t care less if it did. If only my nephew Dylan and my sister, Missy, were still living with me, taking care of the puppy would have been a piece of cake. Dylan would no doubt have already won the dog’s trust, and Missy was such a loving person she would have jumped right in to care for my temporary little orphan.

“You’re okay, Gemmy.” I tried using her name. She had such a sweet face. Her sparkling black eyes peered at me cautiously and she whined. “Come on. Let’s go outside, and then I’ll get you some warm milk. Would you like that?”

I tried to use one index finger to pet her small, but very silky head. “You’re okay.” I probably should have gotten her something to eat before I’d opened the kennel, but her sad cries made food a second thought.

“That’s it,” I soothed as the little puppy inched her way to the open door. By now I was sitting with my legs crossed on the floor, starting to rub behind her ears. Her tail started to wag and soon she was on my lap. I stood up holding the puppy close to my chest, then bent and kissed her head. “You’re okay. We’ll go outside and then we’ll get you something to eat.”

It didn’t matter to me that I was only wearing boxer briefs and a t-shirt. It was late and my neighbors would be sleeping. I moved through the house to the back door off of the kitchen and pushed it open, turning on the porch light; it was so late that I wasn’t worried about my lack of attire. I moved gingerly down the steps and sat Gem in the dew dampened grass. She was so small that the grass came up to her belly and she had a hard time navigating through it.

“Man, I guess I need to mow,” I muttered to myself. Soon she was walking around, turning circles until she found a place to do her business.

When she was finished, she looked up at me and then waddled the short distance back to me. Before I could even bend to pick her up, she had laid down in a little ball, then rested her head on my foot, clearly intent on sleeping where she was.

My heart melted. “Awww,” I said, and bending, I picked up the black ball of fur and nestled her against me with one hand as I went back inside. If I wasn’t careful, I’d become attached and then where would I be? I couldn’t have a dog because of all of the time I spent at the firehouse, but this precious little thing sure made me long for one.

After I’d poured a little milk in a saucer and heated it slightly in the microwave, Gem was soon lapping it up happily. “Is that good, sweet face?”

My bedroom was upstairs, and the house was dark, so I scooped her up and returned to it. I yawned, contemplating how the puppy’s owner was doing in the hospital. I hoped she’d at least be able to sleep.

I placed the pup back in her kennel and she started crying before I even had the door closed. Sighing, I gave into the inevitable and was soon back in my bed with the puppy sleeping contentedly on my chest as I petted her in a slow rhythmic motion. I mean, if I wanted any sleep at all, what choice did I have?

I smiled into the darkness as my hand stroked back and forth over the silky black fur. Yeah, it was the least I could do for the beautiful young woman who’d probably just lost the love of her life. This little dog was all she had to come home to; I reasoned, feeling sad that we hadn’t been able to save the man.

The woman’s heartbreaking sobs still rang through my mind, as did her smoke smudged and tear stained face. I took my job seriously, and tonight was a particularly grizzly scene. I tried to remain impartial, but this… was worse than most. I could only imagine what it had been like for her to watch the man she loved burn to death. His screams must have been horrific. I’d witnessed something similar once and it still made me cringe to think about it.

I inhaled a sigh of regret as the dog