Turn to Me (Misty River Romance, A Book #3)

Becky Wade

• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN:
  9781493425235
• Print ISBN:
  9780764235627

2023 Carol Award Winner

His promise will cost him far more than he imagined.

Guilt has defined Luke Dempsey's life, but it was self-destructiveness that landed him in prison. When his friend and fellow inmate lay dying shortly before Luke's release, the older man revealed he left a string of clues for his daughter, Finley, that will lead her to the treasure he's hidden. Worried that she won't be the only one pursuing the treasure, he gains Luke's promise to protect her until the end of her search.

Spunky and idealistic, Finley Sutherland is the owner of an animal rescue center and a defender of lost causes. She accepts Luke's help on the treasure hunt while secretly planning to help him in return--by coaxing him to embrace the forgiveness he's long denied himself.

As they draw closer to the final clue, their reasons for resisting each other begin to crumble, and Luke realizes his promise will push him to the limit in more ways than one. He'll do his best to shield Finley from unseen threats, but who's going to shield him from losing his heart?

CHAPTER ONE

JANUARY

This wasn’t the first time that Luke Dempsey had been burned by his belief in the concept of honor among thieves.

This was only the most recent time.

When he’d been burned in the past, he’d told himself he wouldn’t put himself on the line again. But in time, his conscience would butt in where it wasn’t wanted. He’d put himself on the line. Then pay the price. Then tell himself all over again that he’d learned his lesson.

This time he really had learned his lesson. For the final time.

On this cold, overcast Wednesday morning, Luke set his jaw and walked from his parking space toward Furry Tails Animal Rescue Center. A black metal roof topped the dark gray modern building that occupied several acres on the road leading east out of Misty River, Georgia.

He’d waited a long time to be free. In fact, he’d spent all seven years of his incarceration meticulously planning his future. The second he finished his obligation here, he’d move to Montana and build a house with a view of mountains and big sky. From his home office, he’d launch a career in software and website development.

He’d walked through the rooms of his Montana house in his imagination so many times, furnishing every square inch, that those rooms had become more real to him than the rooms of his childhood home. He needed to get to Montana and begin work. His old life had been stripped away, and his new start was the only thing left that mattered to him.

But thanks to his inconvenient sense of honor, he first had to keep his promise to Ed Sutherland. Until he made good on that, he’d be stuck here, in the hometown that reminded him a hundred times a day of the worst thing that had ever happened to him.

He let himself inside the building.

No one waited in the foyer. The Furry Tails logo—a stylized dog inside a circle—had been painted in white on the slats of wood covering the wall opposite him. Four chairs surrounded a coffee table. On top of that sat a few small pots of cacti and a stack of ASPCA Action magazines. The air smelled like pears and dog. A baby gate guarded the bottom half of a door that led to a concrete hallway and the distant sound of barking.

Frowning, he tapped the bell resting on top of the magazines. He hadn’t even started his first workday here, and irritation was already infecting his mood.

He waited. No one responded to the bell, so he punched it with his fist. It rang loudly.

“Coming!” a feminine voice called cheerfully from the back.

According to Furry Tails’ website, Finley had started the non-profit eight years ago out of her house while working a full-time day job. Six years ago, a local farmer had donated the use of his barn as her headquarters, and she’d become the organization’s first paid employee. Two years ago, Furry Tails had built and relocated to this facility—

A woman sailed into the room. She was young, beautiful, and dressed like a hippie in a strange felt hat with a wide brim. “May I help you?”

“My name’s Luke Dempsey. I’m here to see Finley Sutherland.”

She smiled. “I’m Finley Sutherland.”

His body tensed in surprise.

She extended her hand. He shook it.

“It’s great to finally meet you,” she said.

How could this be Finley?

“Welcome to the Furry Tails team.” Stepping away, she stuck her fingers into the tiny front pockets of her bell-bottom jeans. Her head tilted. “Were you expecting someone older?”

“Yes.” Much older.

“That’s a common response when people meet my dad before they meet me.”

“He was in his eighties.”

“I was born when he was fifty-two. You’d think that more children would have resulted from all of those passionate love affairs of his.” She shrugged. “But no. He only had me. And fairly late in the game.”

Ed’s nickname had been Mountain Man. He’d had thick white hair. A white-gray beard. His features were strong and even, but his skin had been deeply lined and permanently tanned.

Luke would never have expected Ed’s daughter to look like this. Skin as pale as the moon. Bright blue eyes. Long black hair. Around five foot eight with slender limbs. Her beige sweater looked like it had been knitted by a person instead of a machine. She wore brown clogs and gold rings on almost every finger.

Why would anyone wear a hat indoors to work with animals? Her body was perfect, though. And those lips—

Stop it. He needed to think straight. It’s just . . . How could this be Ed’s daughter? “How old are you?” he asked bluntly.

“I’m about to turn thirty.” She beckoned him to follow. “Come. Let me give you a tour.”

They walked past the baby gate, which she clicked closed behind them.

“This is a big day for us because you’re Furry Tails’ fifth official employee,” she announced. “For the most part, we function thanks to a large number of volunteers.” She gestured right and left. “Our offices are through there. This is our meeting and training room. This is the classroom for the after-school program. Here are the restrooms. This is the equipment room. This is where we bathe the dogs.”

Through a doorway, they entered a wide space lined with kennels on both sides. About half were occupied with dogs.

“Hello, sweethearts,” she said to them as they made their way toward a door marked with an exit sign.

Luke had only had one dog in his life, when he’d been in elementary school. A golden retriever named Caramel. She’d been very laid-back and he’d gotten along with her fine. But he definitely hadn’t been an animal-crazy kid and wasn’t an animal-crazy adult.

“The rest of the dogs are outside having recess,” Finley told him as they stepped into a large fenced yard. Beyond, forested hills arched toward the sky. Here, toys littered the ground. So did short tunnels and equipment for the dogs to climb.

Dogs of all ages ran around, yipping. One of them was missing an eye. Another had three legs. Another had wheels strapped to his hips, which functioned in the place of his limp back legs.

Mentally, he tried to count how many hours he’d have to work here before he could fulfill his promise and quit.

“When I started Furry Tails, I rescued all kinds of animals near and far,” she said. “But I quickly figured out how important it was to concentrate my mission. Now we focus on dogs in Rabun County. Specifically abandoned puppies, senior pets who’ve been surrendered by their owners, and dogs with special needs. As you probably noticed, several of the dogs here are pugs.”

He hadn’t noticed, nor cared.

“I’m very involved with pug rescue,” she said.

“I see.”

One of the pugs approached, and she knelt to scratch under his chin. “Hello, Harry, you gorgeous dog. You’re gorgeous, aren’t you? So gorgeous!”

Harry was not gorgeous. And Furry Tails was a lame thing to call a shelter. The pugs’ tails weren’t even very furry. They reminded him of pigs’ tails.

“Do the dogs . . . get along okay?” It couldn’t be a good idea to put a lot of rescue dogs in a yard together, could it?

“We can accommodate sixteen animals here at the shelter. The animals who stay here all have the ability to play nicely with others. We release half of them to the playground at a time. We know from experience that these eight, and the eight who are inside and will have the next turn, get along great.” Harry reached his nose upward to give her better access. Based on Harry’s breathing, it sounded like he suffered from allergies. “The large majority of the dogs in our program don’t stay here.”

“Where do they stay?”

“Foster homes. We have a wonderful network of foster parent volunteers who support our primary mission.”

“Which is?”

“To place every dog in a loving forever home.”

An old dog waddled over and put her paw on Luke’s shin. Awkwardly, he gave her a couple of head pats.

“Our secondary mission,” she continued, “is to stop the needless killing of animals. We do everything we can to keep them out of the pound. We offer a food pantry for owners struggling to afford the cost of dog food. We also organize spay and neutering clinics.” Harry and the old dog lay down near their feet. Finley straightened, rattling off statistics about how many dogs and cats were euthanized each year.

Luke crossed his arms. Expressionless, he watched her cheeks turn pink as she got riled up about her topic. She moved her hands to underscore what she was saying. Clearly, it made her furious that senior, special needs, shy, stray, and aggressive animals didn’t stand a chance at the pound.

“We rescue as many as we can off death row.”

He’d always thought bleeding-heart animal activists were eccentric, and Finley was proving him right. She was odd. Probably entitled, if her dad had handed her everything in life. Soft. Idealistic and naïve. A dreamer.

She finally paused long enough to take a deep breath. “Do you have any questions about our mission?”

“No.”

“Well, when questions occur to you, feel free to ask.” She met his eyes. “My dad really wanted you to work here while you’re getting back on your feet. It’s fulfilling to see his plan come to fruition.”

He didn’t tell her that he didn’t need this job to get back on his feet. He had both plenty of money and plenty of direction. “How much do you know about my friendship with your dad?”

“He talked about you a lot, so I know quite a bit. I know that you arrived at the penitentiary not long after he did.”

“Right.”

“How long had he been there when you got there? A year or so?”

He inclined his chin.

“Dad’s fellow inmates knew that I lived in Misty River. So they told Dad you were from here. He made a point of introducing himself to you and liked you from the start.”

“He was a good man.”

“Yes, he was.” Above, the clouds shifted. The first sunbeams of the day moved across the yard, sparkling against her rings. “Last summer, he told me that you’d be coming up for parole in the fall. He knew that you’d gotten a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in computer science while in prison. He also knew that Furry Tails was in the market for a new website. You see, we need a more sophisticated way of matching available animals with people looking for certain criteria in a dog. We want to sell merchandise from our site. We want a platform for online fundraisers. We could really use more effective SEO, newsletters, ads, and social media. In my dad’s eyes, you’re a tech genius.”

“Your dad was over eighty. I think he viewed everyone my age as a tech genius.”

“No. He was hard to impress. If he thought someone was a genius in an area, he or she probably is a genius.”

He grunted.

The small dog with three legs stopped and gave Finley begging eyes. She scooped it into her arms. “Are we agreed that you’re enough of a genius to handle Furry Tails’ tech needs?”

“We’re agreed.”

“Excellent.” Carrying the dog, she led him back inside. After she pushed open the door marked Offices with her foot, they walked into a room with three desks on one side, facing windows. An island with storage below and a worktop above was positioned at the center of the space. A printer, copier, fax machine, water cooler, coffee bar, and mini fridge filled the wall across from the desks.

“This is our central work area. And this desk will be yours.” Supporting the dog with one hand, she indicated the desk farthest from the hallway with the other. “Do you have a computer, or do you need me to supply one?”

“I brought my own desktop computer. It’s in my truck.”

“Perfect. These two desks belong to Kat and Trish. They’re working today, but not in the office. They’re out doing home visits for prospective adoptive parents.”

Home visits? Was the bar to adopt a one-eyed dog high? He couldn’t imagine how she found homes for any of these animals.

“Kat handles adoptive parent training, volunteer committees, grants, the spay and neuter clinics, and all the paperwork and financials. Trish is the liaison for veterinary care, fundraisers, and the pet food pantry.”

“And what do you do?”

“I communicate with everyone who reaches out to us, which takes quite a bit of my time. I get more than a hundred daily emails and phone calls. I speak at events. Meet with donors. Stay in contact with the county pound. We all split the care and training of the animals.”

“You said I was the fifth em...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Books by Becky Wade
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Prologue
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21
• Chapter 22
• Chapter 23
• Chapter 24
• Chapter 25
• Chapter 26
• Chapter 27
• Chapter 28
• Chapter 29
• Chapter 30
• Epilogue
• Discussion Questions
• About the Author
• Back Ads
• Back Cover