Page 2 of Stolen Hearts (WaterColor Romance #7)

Autumn sat down in her home office and glanced out the window.

The world seemed all too happy to roll right by while she was stuck inside.

She’d often thought that it would be nice to have a reason to go for a walk outside throughout the day.

On her own she simply didn’t have much of a reason to leave.

Recently, she’d even considered adopting a dog.

She wasn’t quite ready to take the plunge yet but had signed up to volunteer as a dog walker at a local rescue.

Happy Paws Wagging Tails Animal rescuewas a wonderful rescue in town.

Autumn had recently heard about it through Mel.

Mel was engaged to her good friend Willow.

It had been the coincidental encounter she’d needed to push her into volunteering.

Today, she was meeting up with the shelter director, Jordan Foxx.

Autumn stood and stretched out her shoulders.

Five years ago, she’d started her interior design business in WaterColor.

In that time, she’d watched herself go from small jobs here and there to some pretty big name clients.

She was grateful that she was able to take an hour out of her day to do something as simple as take a walk.

Happy Paws Wagging Tails Animal rescue was probably the cleanest dog rescue Autumn had ever seen.

A very well put together woman was waiting for her up front.

The woman had long dark hair and striking dark eyes.

She seemed to be a bit older than Autumn, though not by much.

The woman gave her a wide and welcoming smile then extended her hand.

“Hi. Are you Autumn? I’m Jordan Foxx.”

“Yes. I’m Autumn Kingsport. It’s very nice to meet you.”

“We’re always glad to get in a new volunteer. I’ll give you a bit of a tour then drop you off with one of our dog walking volunteers, Madison. She can show you the ropes.”

“Sounds perfect.”

“Great. The first place I’ll take you is the cat room.”

Jordan showed her to a room that was filled with cat trees and perches along the walls. Several cats lay around on various cushioned objects.

“They seem very comfortable,” Autumn laughed.

“I certainly hope so,” Jordan chuckled.

A small black kitten swatted at one of Autumn’s shoestrings. She bent down to give the kitten a little scratch on the head. The kitten gave a soft mew as it rubbed against her hand, purring.

Jordan led Autumn through the rest of the rescue from the front office space to the rooms where they housed their more senior dogs.

Most of the older dogs were napping on giant dog beds.

Autumn’s favorite was a Chihuahua in a private room napping on a dog bed that was clearly meant for something more the size of a Great Dane.

The dog caught them watching and gave a long, luxurious stretch before turning her back to them.

“That would be Chi Chi,” Jordan smiled and shook her head.

“She seems sassy,” Autumn laughed.

“The sassiest. But also, very sweet.”

Jordan began walking back the way they’d come, and Autumn followed.

“You’re Mel’s friend, right?” Jordan asked.

“I am.”

“Well, we always love it when word of mouth leads to new volunteers. Let’s get you over to Madison and she can show you the ropes of walking our dogs.”

Jordan led her through two swinging doors and through one final kennel door that led outside. Just outside the doors was a woman in overalls washing out dog bowls. As they approached the woman glanced up, she had long red hair and deep brown eyes. Her smile was wide as she stood to greet them.

“This is Madison. She’ll get you started learning the ins and outs of our dog walking program,” Jordan smiled.

“Madison, this is Autumn. She’s a new volunteer. She’s going to be coming in and helping twice a week.”

“It’ll be fantastic to have an extra person to help out during the lunch shift,” Madison extended a hand which Autumn took. Madison’s grip was more delicate than Autumn had anticipated, and she found herself softening her own hand’s pressure.

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to leave Autumn with you? Since this is her first time, take her with you on a couple of your last walks. Then next time you can start taking dogs out on your own.”

“I think I can handle that,” Madison grinned.

“It was so nice to meet you. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other as you settle into a volunteer routine,” Jordan smiled and gave Autumn’s hand one more shake. The woman turned on her heel with almost surgeon-like precision and walked back through the doors.

Madison started off by explaining their rules for how each dog should be handled.

Then she went over the leash protocols as well as which dogs could or could not be walked together.

When she was finished with her explanation, she walked Autumn to a kennel that housed a small wire-haired dog.

The dog was a light tan with extra bushy fur above the eyes and two protruding bottom teeth.

The dog seemed to have a natural inclination towards shaking.

Autumn gave the dog an appraising glance. Were they sure he would make it through a walk? Madison seemed to read her mind and gave the leash a tiny tug. The dog trotted forward and gave Autumn an appraising glance of his own.

“This is Nick. He’s not as old as he looks. And he loves his walkies,” Madison cooed.

“Fair enough. I’m sorry to have misjudged you, Nick.” Autumn watched as the dog trotted proudly at the end of the leash. He seemed to be flaunting his flawless leash manners.

“What’s Nick’s story?” Autumn couldn’t help but be curious.

“Nick was surrendered after his owner died. The owner’s kids didn’t want a dog and couldn’t find anyone else to adopt him. So here he is. He looks a bit gruff but he’s a real sweetheart.”

“Aw, poor little guy.”

“Exactly. There are some real heartbreakers around here.”

“Is this what you do for a living? Work at the shelter I mean?”

“No, not at all. I run my own flower shop. Last year I started volunteering here. I wanted to help out somehow. And I love animals, so here I am.”

“Oh, you’ll have to tell me the name of your shop. I’m always looking for a good florist to work alongside.”

“Rose and Thyme is my shop. What do you do for work that leads you to needing a florist?”

“I’m an interior designer. There are so many spaces that can be really brightened up with the right floral arrangement. Now whether the customer keeps up with the arrangements is another story. But for a big reveal, flowers always make a space feel more positive.”

“Wait a minute, did you say you’re an interior designer?”

“I did,” Autumn answered, a little taken aback by the woman’s enthusiasm.

“Do you work mostly on people’s homes, or do you also work with businesses?”

“I work with both. I’ve only been in business for myself a few years. I’m definitely still trying to build up a client base.”

“That I definitely understand and can sympathize with. My best friend is opening up a lesbian bar on the beach. She’s put in a lot of hard work to get the place functional. But when it comes to aesthetics,” Madison shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

“Let’s just say aesthetics aren’t her strong suit,” Madison finished with a laugh.

“I gotcha. I would definitely be interested in at least meeting with her. If we seem like a good fit, then I’m definitely in. Tell me about your friend.”

They walked down a sloping path until they were finally standing on the beach. Autumn watched as Nick’s excitement noticeably grew, his tail wagging at near double the speed as before. Madison smiled down at the dog, walking him to the waves.

“My friend’s name is Quinn. She’s just moved here after a bit of bad luck.”

“Oh, that’s unfortunate.”

“It is. She was engaged and ready to buy a house when she found out that her girlfriend was cheating on her. They broke up and the girlfriend moved into the house with the new woman.”

“Okay, ouch,” Autumn gasped.

“Exactly. She didn’t have anyone left in Vegas, so I told her to move out here with me. She was looking for a job and found this beaten down bar. Immediately she decided it needed to be a lesbian bar. So, she bought it.”

“Your friend sounds either lucky or impulsive,” Autumn laughed.

“She’s both in equal measure,” Madison answered.

“What else? What’s her personality like?”

“She has an amazing heart. Though she is a bit disorganized and spacey.”

“I’m guessing that’s one of the reasons she needs someone to help her professionally?”

“Yes, I think having a direction will help her immensely. She and I have both been looking for someone to take on the job for a couple of weeks now. But we haven’t had much success. Either people are charging too much. Or a couple haven’t wanted to take on a lesbian bar as a client.”

“Well, I think my prices are pretty reasonable. And as a lesbian myself I’m excited to have another option for places to go for a good drink on the weekends.”

“See, I knew I was going to like you,” Madison chuckled.

“Well, if it means a beachside lesbian bar, who am I to refuse? Let’s set up a time for me to get together with your friend. Maybe I can at least point her in a helpful direction.”

“You’re a lifesaver.”

“I mean let’s not be hasty. But I do try.”

The two of them watched as Nick ran back and forth into the waves.

He was such a happy guy. It was almost enough to reignite Autumn’s dog fever.

Almost. But she wasn’t quite ready for that much commitment.

So far, she had to count today a success.

She’d signed up to volunteer with cute animals and gotten a lead on a possible client.

All in all, this lunch break was a success.

Internally she could hear her parents cheering.

Her parents had always gauged a successful life based on the economics of a person’s life.

When she talked to her parents on the phone it wasn’t her new home, her friends, or even her love life they wanted to know about.

It was business. Both James and Moira Kingsport were big names where she’d grown up.

They’d each created their own businesses and scaled them successfully.

As far as Autumn was concerned her parents were convinced, she had too much potential for a typical nine to five.

They’d been skeptical about her decision to open an interior design business.

Both had suggested real estate as the best investment in the future.

But Autumn had sold them on the fact that everyone who bought a new home wanted to style it.

They had been cautiously optimistic after that.

Since starting Autumn had gotten some pretty big clients.

And a beachside bar would do nothing but punctuate her portfolio.