by
Kaje Harper
Gabbi Grey
A Furever Home
Synopsis
Arthur
When I was squeezing seven rescue dogs and a horde of cats in my small house,
all I wanted was to not turn away a pet in need. Opening the Safe Haven Pet
Rescue was a dream come true. But when I get hurt, standing between a man with
a gun and a stray dog, I realize I still can't do it all.
My injured leg, a concussion, having to lean on my friends, and realizing how
helpless I feel, throws me back to my childhood when nothing I did ever seemed
to be enough. But there's one silver lining. Brooklyn West. He's the kind of
guy who holds a stranger’s hand in a crisis. He's great with my dogs, even
cranky little Chili, and really seems to want to help the shelter. I like
watching him be a protective big brother when his sister turns up on his
doorstep, even though I think there's pain underneath his sunny smiles. But as
we move toward friendship, I keep looking for the strings, for the catch, and
wondering how I'll pay him back, because nothing in my life can be that sweet,
or that simple.
Brooklyn
I went through a slice of medical hell, and came out the other side with enough
money to move to the opposite side of the country and start the doggie daycare
business of my dreams. The cherry on top of that good luck is meeting Arthur
Bjornsson. Big, wild-bearded, soft-voiced Arthur is the kind of guy my family
would've ridiculed. He's warm-hearted and willing to throw himself into harm's
way right in front of my eyes to save one pathetic stray dog.
He's the kind of guy who gives me back some faith in humanity. But when my
underage sister Cheyenne shows up on my doorstep, on the run from the family I
thought I'd escaped, my old life and new collide. I want to help Arthur, get to
know him, and, as he heals, I want more than just friendship. But Cheyenne
brings legal risks, a teen on the other side of my bedroom wall, and the threat
of retribution from our family. The simple relationship I thought Arthur and I
were building is suddenly messy as hell. I don't know how we'll get through
this to reach the furever home I so desperately want.
A Furever Home is a fur-baby-filled, hurt-comfort, small
town romance between two men whose only chance at a family is to build one
themselves.
Exclusive Excerpt
So
many flashing lights.
I’d
let go of Arthur—albeit reluctantly, though he was in good hands—and come to
find Kevin. Because that felt like a vaguely logical thing to do.
Smart
kid had finally run when Arthur ordered him to. Well, after multiple attempts,
but yeah, when the shot went off, the kid ran. He’d apparently sent the sheriff’s
deputy and her partner around to the back. While she and the other officer
dealt with Frank, Kevin had then flagged down the paramedics and, once Frank
was secured, they’d hustled to get to Arthur.
Now
the teenager paced back and forth on the sidewalk, phone in hand, glancing from
the side yard to the house behind us. “I can’t believe the guy shot Arthur. Did
you see that? Arthur has to be okay. Right? That Frank guy would’ve shot the
dog, too. That dog was not a coyote. Sure, they sometimes come to the
river, but they mostly stay in the forest over by the base. And there was a
fence. I doubt the dog was even attacking his chickens. Something else probably
did, so he had no reason to shoot at her. Or him. I didn’t get a good
look. Did you?”
Before
I could answer, he drew in a breath.
“I
still can’t believe—”
I
held up my hand. “Have you called your dads?” Dads…right? That’s what Arthur
had said? I’d been a little focused on the man who was putting himself between
the gun and the kid with the dog. “How old are you?”
“Thirteen.
And yes, I’ve called my dads. Well, I called Alec because I hoped he’d be a
little less angry. When I realized I’d miscalculated, I hung up and called
Dad.”
“Did
you hang up on him too?” I eyed his phone with the suspiciously dark screen.
“You’ll
be okay.” At the female paramedic’s voice, I spun to see her and her partner
wheeling the stretcher.
Arthur
looked deathly pale against the white sheet, and panic surged within me. I
wanted to stalk over and demand to know if he was going to be okay.
Except
they appeared to be very focused, and anything that might delay the trip to the
hospital would be bad.
I
heard shouts of, “Kevin. Kevin!”
The
young man and I pivoted to see two men being held back by a female police
officer from one of the four patrol cars now parked haphazardly along the
street.
“You
can’t go down there, sirs.” The woman couldn’t be more than perhaps twenty-four…so
a couple years younger than me. Not much of a force to be reckoned with,
against two determined guys a decade older.
“Dad!”
Kevin waved.
The officer
glanced at us as I encouraged Kevin to move toward two rather harried-looking
men. The shorter and slimmer of the two kept running a hand through his
straight brown hair. The taller and broader guy waved agitatedly at Kevin. And
despite Kevin being skinny and not tall for thirteen, he really did favor the
bigger guy with matching snub noses and wavy hair and something about the shape
of their eyes. Dad, I presume. And the other one must be Alec.
“Officer—”
I called.
“Branson.”
“Right.”
I tried to smile even as the ambulance pulled away, siren blaring.
Using
that momentary distraction, Kevin’s fathers slipped past Officer Branson to
snatch the young man into their arms, the likely bio dad sweeping him into a
hug while the shorter guy hugged them both and clutched the kid’s sleeve like
he wasn’t ever going to let go. After a moment, the bio dad said, “Let’s get
you home.”
“Hey—”
Branson shouted, striding toward the huddled family.
“Officer
Branson?”
She
met my gaze.
“He
just saw someone get shot—”
“Which
makes him a witness. We’ve got officers who’ll need to take his statement.”
“I’d
prefer you start with me. I saw what happened.” Whether I could be a great
witness was an entirely different story. Everything had happened so fast.
“And
you are?”
“Brooklyn.
Brooklyn West. I was walking down the street, and I heard a gunshot, and—”
“Sir.”
She held up a hand. “I’ll need to take your statement as well, but perhaps not
at this exact moment.” Even as she said the words, the front door of the house
opened.
The sheriff’s
deputy and the other officer guided a handcuffed Frank down the driveway and to
their car.
Frank
whined, “Someone’s got to look after my chickens. That damn coyote will come
back and eat them—”
“It’s
not a coyote!” Kevin actually yelled the words. “That’s what I was trying to
tell you. The dog’s a pittie—”
“Kevin.”
The dad who had his arm protectively around the boy squeezed his shoulder.
“Maybe let’s let the police do their job. He had a gun.”
Links:
Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/AFureverHome
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0FD8NX9DT
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/a-furever-home/id6751341547
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/a-furever-home-3
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=K7Z_EQAAQBAJ
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-furever-home-kaje-harper/1148093812
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1837744
***********************************
Bio – Gabbi Grey
USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in
beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the
nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her
early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances.
While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her
characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances
as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.
Newsletter
sign-up: https://sendfox.com/gabbigrey
Website:
https://gabbigrey.com/
Bio – Kaje Harper
I
get asked about my name a lot, but it's not something exotic. “Kaje” is
pronounced like “cage” – it’s an old nickname; my pronouns are she/her. My books are
primarily M/M romance, often with added mystery, fantasy, historical, SciFi,
paranormal… I also have a few Young Adult stories.
After
decades of writing just for fun, my husband convinced me I really should submit
something, somewhere. My first professionally published book, Life Lessons,
came out in May 2011. I have a weakness for closeted cops with honest hearts
and teachers who speak their minds, and I was delighted and encouraged by the
reception Mac and Tony received. I now have a good-sized backlist in ebooks, print, and some
audio, including Amazon bestseller The Rebuilding Year and Rainbow
Awards Best Mystery-Thriller Tracefinder: Contact. A complete list with
links can be found on my website "Books" page.
All
my social media links can be found at https://linktr.ee/kajeharper
And if you like free
short stories, check out the weekly Sunday Stories on my FB Group - Kaje's
Conversation Corner - https://www.facebook.com/groups/208207893795147/
