Page 19 of Happily Never After

“Barney was your benefactor?” The words barely tumbled out over her numb lips. Barney was selfish and ruthless. He had even admitted to killing animals as a child. Why in the hell was he supporting the shelter? Was it just a tax write-off for Heirloom Hotels?

Gloria nodded. A flush had crept into her cheeks. “Apparently he set up the trust as an engagement gift to his ex-fiancée. But his assets were frozen after he went to prison, and we’ve slowly been running out of money.”

Claire’s stomach knotted. It was her fault. Well, technically it was Barney’s fault. But she was the reason he was behind bars. She locked eyes with the blind Winston. What would happen to the animals?

Gloria smiled kindly. “It’s not your fault. I can’t believe a serial killer was financing our operation. Not a great PR situation. But it’ll be okay. A few of the animals will be adopted by then. They won’t all have to go to the shelter.”

“The shelter?”

Gloria nodded. The chance of a special needs animal being adopted from a catch-all shelter was incredibly low. They would be first on the euthanasia list when the shelter filled up. Her ears rang like someone had just blasted a car horn. What could she do?

“I’m going to help set this right. I’ll put together a benefit for the rescue. You can’t close.” Claire grabbed Gloria’s hand.

“If we don’t figure something out in the next two weeks, we won’t have a choice.” Gloria’s eyes were red, and she seemed tired. She normally had the energy of a woman twenty years her junior.

Rosie trotted out of the kennel. Winston attempted to follow her but banged into the cage door.

“I’ll take him.” The words were out before she had even registered them.

Gloria looked up at her. “You want Winston?”

“Yes. Today, if possible.” She couldn’t save all the dogs. But she could save Winston. And besides, a friend for Rosie had been on her mind since moving to Luke’s. It was such a big house, and they both worked a lot. How mad could Luke be? And more importantly, who could say no to that sweet face?

“I’ll draw up the paperwork.” Gloria walked to the front office.

Whoops.

CHAPTER SEVEN

To Do:

- New dog toys

- Throw together fundraising for shelter—gala?

- Caterer quotes for Brad

“I can explain.”Claire dumped shopping bags in the foyer. A new dog bed and a handful of toys tumbled onto the tile. Rosie skittered into the kitchen, Winston a couple of steps behind.

Claire approached Luke slowly, a bag of lo mein dangling from one wrist like a peace offering. Her stomach tightened into a ball. He couldn’t be that mad. It was a blind pug, for Pete’s sake, not a tiger.

“Who’s this?” There was curiosity but also a hint of exasperation in Luke’s voice. He ducked down to offer a hand to Winston.

The dog sniffed him apprehensively, then sat on his butt. His head cocked to one side, and he allowed some head pats.

Claire took a deep breath. Might as well rip it off like a Band-Aid. “This is Winston. I kind of adopted him today.”

Luke raised his eyebrows, then his mouth hardened into a line. “Claire, we talked about this. You can’t buy a dog every time you have a bad day.”

She narrowed her eyes. It was one time, and she had neveractuallygone to Wisconsin to get Rosie’s biological cousin. “That’s not it, I promise. I may be responsible for Tender Hearts Animal Rescue getting shut down.”

He raked a hand over his face, then leaned against the kitchen island, arms folded over his broad chest. Winston, apparently annoyed that the attention had stopped, rolled over onto his back and exposed his belly, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

“And how exactly did you manage to do that? Did you sleepwalk there and steal all the dogs? Are there more outside?”

She raised her hands in front of her. “Just Winston, I promise. I talked to Gloria today when I was dropping off the food, and she said they have to shut down next month. Their benefactor is no longer supporting them. They’re out of money.”

“Well, that’s bullshit. Who was their benefactor?”

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