Page 14 of Without Judgment

“I’ll be happy to see him, too.” Since I knew my way to his kennel, I started for it, pretending I didn’t hear Mason and Melanie talking behind me. Not that he was flirting, but he was asking her questions about her work and acting nice. A quality I hadn’t believed possible with him.

Since Melanie was the type of person out to change the world, I couldn’t even bring myself to feel jealous. In fact, as soon as I got to Koda, all thoughts of my life, Mason, and everything else disappeared.

He was a bluish gray with a bully head and a whippet-type tail which was frantically wagging as he whined.

“Hi, baby. How are you?”

I let myself into his kennel and took a seat on his bedding, letting him give me doggie kisses and find his way to my lap. I scratched behind his ears. Dog therapy was just what I’d needed to put my life back into perspective. “Who’s my gentle boy? Have you been behaving this week? Huh? We need to get you a forever home where someone will love and appreciate you as much as I do.”

The sound of Mason’s voice surprised me. “Why don’t you adopt him?”

I sighed as I watched him walk into the enclosure. “I wish I could. But he has a checkered past, and my father absolutely won’t hear of a pit bull in his home, let alone one who used to be a fighting dog.”

Mason reached down, letting Koda smell his hand before crouching and petting him. “And do you always do what your father says? Can’t you get your own place and do what you want?”

He didn’t say it in a snotty way but with genuine curiosity.

I pulled out Koda’s brush and smiled when he nudged it. Dogs were so grateful to be groomed. “I probably could. And should. After the breakup, I felt a bit lost as to what my next step would be, so I just moved home.”

“When was the wedding supposed to be?”

My gaze met his; I was surprised he was asking me anything personal. “Four weeks ago.” My father had lost a good deal of money on the deposits since we’d been only months away when I’d called it off.

“Why does Edward call you Beth?”

I cocked my head to the side, trying to figure out how he’d known that.

He answered my unasked question. “At the country club. It’s what he called you.”

Oh. That made sense although I was surprised Mason had noticed. “My given name is Elizabeth Avery Newhall. Trevor always called me Avery, and I preferred it, so even my parents started calling me by my middle name. But Edward liked calling me Beth—I guess to be different.” I expelled a breath. “I never loved it, but now I absolutely hate it.”

I told him this in case he had any ideas of calling me Beth. Guess there was something I liked less than princess.

“Melanie offered to take me on a tour. You planning to be here awhile?”

“Yes. I normally spend two hours. I’ll be here for another few minutes with Koda, then go out and play with some of the other dogs before exercising them and giving them baths. Then I always end with my big boy here.”

He smiled at the scarred dog. “Why him?”

“Because he’s been through hell. You can see it in his eyes. The pain. I like to think that during the time I spend with him he forgets it for a while.”

Mason cleared his voice and appeared suddenly uncomfortable. “I’m sure he does.”

He stood up and left me alone.

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