Page 67 of Red Hot Roaster

“It’s based on a 2K running path around the park—not too long. That’s less than one-and-a-quarter miles.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. Oh yeah, right. Army. He knew kilometers.

“Katt’s set up a photo booth in that tent over there. Choices of two or three standing frames withTurkey Dog Jogpainted in fancy letters across the bottom. She’ll put the photos online this coming week, and people can buy print or digital versions. Super generous—donating all her time, materials and sales.”

Miss Ada wandered by, and Rafe barked out a laugh. “Are those hot dog buns on top of her girls?”

“You bet. Costumes are definitely a ‘thing’ today. That’s part of the reason for pictures, you know—recording the moment for posterity.”

“Don’t some of the dogs break ranks on the course?” He side-eyed a pair of passing Jack Russells as he asked. “Start barking or get combative?”

“Oh, sure, sometimes. But we count on their people to know their dogs and judge if this is the right place for them. Although, I shouldn’t talk.” I scrunched up my face before going on.

“One of our earlier Labs—Bonny Lass—got a case of the zoomies. She tugged her leash out of Mom’s hand and ran around like a loonball in the middle of the course. Mom tried to be embarrassed, but she was laughing so hard, I don’t think she succeeded.”

I pointed to another tent where a big sign proclaimedTHE DOGTOR IS IN.

“If any dog does need first aid—like for a cut or a sliver in the paw—Dr. Mica is set up over there. If it’s more serious, she’ll get them into her clinic, refer them back to their own vet or even call the animal hospital.”

Rafe swung back to me and pushed out, “Well, BZ, Rose, BZ.”

“Yuh-huh….” I squinted up at him. “We’ve all been busy with this event.”

“Nope,” he corrected. “BZ is short for Bravo-Zulu. Army-speak for ‘well done.’ So…BZ.”

“Ah. Okay. Thanks.” I rubbed the toe of my sneaker in the grass. “Me and an army of other helpers.”

“Yeah, but you were the general,” he stated.

I stepped closer and looked up to meet his warm, cobalt-blue gaze.

“Hey, Rafe, how’s it going? All packed for Boise?” Lauren piped up from beside me. We both jerked back.

She’d finished checking in Jean-Luc and Cab and was now eavesdropping. I frowned at her, and she widened her eyes at me.What a troublemaker. She knows I’m trying to work up my courage for a talk once Thanksgiving was over.

Finn saved the moment by walking up to hand Rafe a tiara headband, trimmed to an inch of its life with pink feathers and sparkly rhinestones.

“For Princess?” Rafe asked, eyebrows pulled together.

“No, for you,” my smart-aleck son answered. He waited a beat and said, “Ofcourseit’s for Her Highness. See—Pirate’s got his own headgear.”

Finn had engineered a pirate’s tricorn headband from one of his old Halloween costumes, complete with a skull and crossbones in the center and a tiny parrot plushie attached to the side. The creation hung lopsided off Pirate’s head as he nuzzled his girlfriend’s ears.Hmmm…how long is that hat gonna hang in there?

Finn must’ve had the same doubts. He clapped a hand on Rafe’s shoulder and said, “Let’s get over to the starting line, man. We’ll hit Katt’s tent afterward if things are still…intact.”

Princess graciously accepted her tiara from Rafe, and the four of them moved toward the starting area.

As soon as they were out of hearing, I turned to Lauren and started with “Why are you—” when Kenzo rushed up to the table with his sweet pittie mix, Nama, in his arms. Besides donating gift certificates for his chocolate shop to the treat bags sitting behind our table, he’d entered his girl in the dog jog.

“She threw up over there,”—he motioned with his head—“and tried to eat it!”

“Oh, poor baby!” we cried in unison.

“It’s probably just the excitement of so many dogs around, but I want to get her checked out. I need to clean up after her first though.”

He was torn. Touching to see the panic on the face of the big guy for the little pup in her bedraggled tulle tutu. We’d both been there with our own pups, so we got it.

“You’re in luck—we’ve got a veterinarian here today for that very purpose.” I nodded toward Mica’s tent. “Don’t worry—we’re experienced dog moms. We’ll clean things up in a jiff.”

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