After the dogs had settled into their kennels, and Alyssa was satisfied she’d gotten everything done, she hopped on her bike and rode down the lane. The ride home was quiet. Alyssa pedalled slowly, savouring the chill and the hush that followeda day of noise and motion. Her phone buzzed with a text from Joy. “You did great, thank you again!!” along with a photo of Gemma’s collie sprawled across a pile of HR files.
She replied: “No problem. I’ll tell the collie to shred only the unnecessary paperwork tomorrow.”
As she reached home, the familiar barks and howls from the sanctuary echoed through the night. She thought about the next few weeks—how many dogs might get adopted, how many would come home, what would happen to the humans after the novelty wore off.
She went inside, poured herself a whiskey, and drafted her next day’s to-do list on the back of a pizza flyer. Her handwriting was awful, but she didn’t care. It was just for her.
She’d think about tomorrow, tomorrow.
5
Uninvited Guests (Four-Legged and Otherwise)
Evelyn
Today was not going to be a good day. Nope, not at all. Not only did Evelyn have a board meeting to get through, she also had two disciplinary hearings and a budget meeting that was sure to get heated once she informed the relevant managers they wouldnotbe getting all the money they’d applied for.
The flip calendar on Evelyn’s desk tormented her. November was the official start of Crawford’s Christmas season. Ugh. Worst of all, every member of the HQ tower would decorate their offices with gaudy tinsel and plastic ornaments. Even worse thanthat, Evelyn would be expected to decorate and join in the festive cheer with the rest of her colleagues.
“Morning, sunshine,” Maggie sang. “How are you this fine day?”
“Well, you’re chipper,” Evelyn mumbled, her face buried in her hands.
“You know, Evie, every time I come in here, you’re looking more and more distressed.”
“That’s because the longer I sit here, the worse my day gets!”
“What’s happened now?”
Evelyn sighed. Nothing had happened—well, nothing out of the ordinary. As per usual, she’d turned up at the office before the sun was awake. Her in-box was overflowing and no matter how many of those little bastards she replied to, ten more took their place. It was a never-ending cycle of electronic torture.
“Nothing, ignore me. It’s just been a day.”
“Evelyn, it’s nine in the morning. The day hasn’t even begun. What time did you get here?” Maggie’s tone oozed exasperation.
“A little after three-thirty. I couldn’t sleep, and honestly, I didn’t want to chance Mindy showing up piss drunk again.”
For the past three weeks since Evelyn had caught Mindy red-handed, she’d had to deal with Mindy rocking up to her door in the early hours of the morning, drunk as a skunk, begging for forgiveness.
“Dear Lord. Did you call the hunky security man?”
“Yes, and his name is Harvy.”
“Oh, hunky Harvy, that just rolls right off the tongue, doesn’t it?”
“Do you need to take a cold shower, Mags.” Evelyn laughed at Maggie, who was fanning herself, clearly worked up. “You should just ask him out. He’s single, you know.”
“How the hell do you know that?”
“I talk to him, you goose! Something you should try.” Evelyn had watched Maggie swoon over Harvy for over a year now. Maggie, a woman whose confidence melted into a puddle whenever she came within ten feet of the man. It was laughable and a little cute.
“I’ll make you a deal.” Maggie smiled, raising her eyebrow. “You make it out of the office by seven every night for a week and I’ll talk to Hunky Harvy.”
“How does that in any way benefit me?” Evelyn laughed.
“Trust me, it will do you a world of good to remember there is a world outside these four walls.”
Evelyn scoffed.
