Free Stray Hearts by Jane Graves Page A

muster. “The animals thank you, and so do I.”
    As the ladies applauded, Mrs. Flaherty, the short, stout president of the McKinney Metropolitan Ladies’ Club, stepped up beside him, laid an envelope on the podium and leaned into the microphone.
    “Dr. Forester, I know I speak for all of us when I say that we find your establishment of the Westwood Animal Shelter worthwhile both to the animals and the citizens of this community. In light of that, we’d like to present you with a small donation.”
    Small? Lord, he hoped she was just being humble.
     “Dr. Forester, please accept this check from the McKinney Metropolitan Ladies’ Club in the amount of...fifty dollars!”
    Matt blinked with disappointment and groaned inwardly. Fifty dollars? Would the bank notice if he added a couple of zeros?
    He forced himself to smile as Mrs. Flaherty handed him the check, then thanked her profusely, which led to another round of applause, and Matt wishing he was anywhere else.
    By the time he extricated himself from the horde of chattering women and headed out of the building it had started to rain. As he ran through the downpour to his car, all he could think about was getting home, getting out of this suit, and maybe using the fifty-dollar check as a bookmark.
    Fifty bucks. Damn.
    He put the key into the ignition, then stopped and sat in silence for a moment. He had to stop this self-pity stuff. It wasn’t their fault he couldn’t say no to any misbegotten animal that wandered up to his door. And it wasn’t their fault his ex-wife was living it up on her income and half of his. Fifty bucks beat nothing, which is what he’d have gotten if he’d sat at home, cracked a beer, then fallen asleep on the sofa watching that trashy miniseries.
    Minutes later he turned onto Porter Avenue and headed down the street toward home. As he drew closer, he saw a car in his driveway. He pulled up behind it and got out ignoring the rain that had settled into a warm drizzle. The evening thus far had been pretty boring, but as he looked toward the house there was no doubt in his mind that the excitement level was getting ready to pick up considerably.
    Kay was sitting on his front porch—holding Rambo.
     

 
    Chapter 6
     
    Matt walked warily up the porch steps. Kay stood up, took a few steps forward and thrust the leash at him, which he could see now wasn’t a leash at all but a leather belt. At the same time Rambo leaped up and slapped his muddy paws against Matt’s chest.
    “Rambo! Hey, buddy!” Matt scratched the dog behind the ears, then glanced at Kay and felt a twinge of dread. Something was terribly wrong here, and from the homicidal expression on her face he could tell he was about to bear the brunt of it.
    “Where have you been?”
    Matt recoiled, wondering what in the world he’d stepped into. “Well...was there someplace I was supposed to be?”
    “Yes! You were supposed to be here two hours ago so you could put this mutt back in the shelter where he belongs!”
    Matt glanced around, bewildered. “How did he get out of the shelter?”
    Kay took a deep, angry breath and swiped her limp blond hair away from her face. “I took out the trash at the end of the day. He got loose. I went after him. He led me halfway across town before I finally caught him again. And when I got back to the shelter—guess what? Everyone was gone, including you.”
    “You’ve been waiting here with him all that time?”
    “No. Unfortunately, I took him home with me.”
    Matt glanced down at Rambo, who danced brainlessly at the end of the makeshift leash. “Hope you’ve got a big backyard.”
    “I don’t have any backyard! I live in an apartment—a beautifully restored 1930s apartment with arched doorways and plaster walls and wood floors and stained glass—” Kay’s fists tightened at her sides, and he thought for a moment she truly intended to use them. “He got me evicted. That monster got me evicted from my