“Oh, no. We just put them in here at night. It’s a new building with heat and air, which makes it good in the summer and winter. Not all the dogs stay out in the kennel. Sometimes, if we have a dog that hasn’t acclimated, we will keep them in the house with us and Ethan’s dog.”
Elana bent down and rubbed an older chocolate lab between the ears. “What happens if they don’t acclimate?”
Felicia shrugged. “I don’t know. Right now, we have a border collie/Siberian mix inside. His name is Jack. His owner went into the nursing home, and we took him in. We have been loving on him, but he seems depressed.”
Elana stood. “That’s heartbreaking. Did the owner not have any family that would have taken Jack?”
Felicia snorted. “He had two sons, but they didn’t want a mixed dog. They only wanted a purebred.”
It broke Elana’s heart.
“Hey, you two. Are you up for a campfire?” Ethan called out as he and Grandma Cecilia poked their heads in the kennel. “I think the dogs want us to stop disturbing them so they can get some sleep.”
Felicia laughed. “You’re right. I was just trying to introduce Elana to our dogs.”
Elana and Felicia walked out of the kennel and toward the house. Elana turned to Felicia. “So do the dogs ever get adopted out from here?”
Felicia grimaced slightly. “I’m afraid we are the last place the dogs go. Ethan is great with the dogs, and we have a pond behind the house, so he takes them for walks and lets them go swimming in the summer. He gives them the best life a dog can have.”
Elana nodded. “You know, you said they are senior dogs. But they all seem like they have a lot of life left in them.”
Felicia nodded. “They do. It just takes the right person to help them see that.”
Ethan held the door opened while everyone walked inside.
A dog lying on a dog bed in the corner raised his head and looked at them before laying his head back down.
“That’s Jack.” Felicia walked over to a canister on the coffee table. She pulled out a dog treat and offered it to Jack. He sniffed at the treat and took it, but instead of eating it, he put his head back down.
“I wish I knew how to give Jack his puppy heart again.”
Elana looked at him. “Puppy heart?”
Grandma Cecilia grinned. “Older dogs will usually get spunky once a puppy is brought into the house.”
Ethan nodded. “That’s right. Now let’s grab these hotdogs and we’ll cook them over the fire. You ladies like hotdogs?”
Grandma Cecilia grinned. “We love them.”
After they ate, Elana pitched her tent outside while her grandmother slept in the van. And as she drifted off to sleep, she couldn’t help but think about Jack and how she hoped he would find happiness again.
CHAPTER8
Jack stirred from his bed in the corner of the new house he’d found himself in.
He missed the old man who had raised him from a pup.
“Hey, Jack.” The large man with the gentle voice came out of the kitchen with a cup of something hot in his hand. From the smell, Jack knew it was coffee.
The old man had drunk coffee every morning.
Jack lowered his head and looked at the large man.
“Let’s go outside, Jack.” The large man opened the front door and held it opened.
Jack slowly got to his feet and stretched his legs out in front. He walked over to the front door. The large man waited for Jack to walk out.
Jack looked up at the man. He had been nice to Jack, and even let him sleep inside instead of outside in the kennel with the other dogs.
