I understood on some level that he was staying away for those reasons, but he’d told me that the next time we talked, we could discuss getting a dog.
That, more than anything else, was testing my patience.
The animal sheltersmelled like bleach, wet dog and fear. Behind the reception desk, I could hear the lonely and persistent barks of dozens of dogs, as if they were all desperately calling for their lost owners.
The receptionist looked overworked. “The cost of adoption covers basic vaccinations, spaying or neutering, and a microchip, which we register to the new owner. Every adult inthe home needs to fill out an application and meet the staff before we allow an adoption to proceed.”
“My husband works a lot.”
“We will still need to meet him.” She pushed papers toward me. “You can set up an appointment now.”
Without asking Axel, I signed him up to come to the animal shelter the following afternoon.
“Can I see the dogs?”
She nodded and motioned with her head to the door behind her. “You need to ask the staff back there if you want to interact.”
I looked over my shoulder at Anton. He gave me a resigned look and sat down in one of the waiting chairs.
The main kennelarea consisted of three long rows of sturdy enclosures that housed one dog each. The sound of barking was deafening, and I felt tears well in my eyes before I even saw my first dog. There were dozens of them, all shapes and sizes, but they all had the same glazed, stressed look in their eyes. Some barked at me in anger, and some immediately came toward me with wagging tails and pitiful looks of desperate need.
Every single dog tugged at my heart, and I wished that I could take them all home. There was a kennel with five puppies, all chubby rolls and cuteness, looking for a new home two weeks from today, and there were two kennels that had dogs that were only six months old.
The kennel farthest from the door looked empty at first, but then I saw a dark pile of black and brown fur tucked in the corner. I wasn’t even sure he was alive.
A staff member behind me was dragging a hose along the floor.
“Can you tell me about this dog?”
“Bandit’s been here nearly four months because of a couple of failed adoptions.” They looked regretful. “Some dogs just don’t take to a second home that well, which is too bad, because underneath all his trauma, he’s a good dog.”
I looked back at Bandit, who still hadn’t bothered looking at me. “What kind of trauma?”
When Antonand I got back into the car, I said with determination, “Take me to Axel.”
He looked at me in the rearview mirror. “I’m not sure if I’m allowed.”
“Anton, he’s my husband. No phone calls, no warning. You drive me to him right now.”
Anton lookedanxious when he pulled our vehicle past the large bay doors of a warehouse. I looked around in surprise. I didn’t expect Axel to be working in a warehouse.
Before Anton could speak, I stepped out of the vehicle. I was halfway across the tarmac when Giselle stepped out of the door at the back. In contrast to my jeans and white sneakers, she was fully decked out in a white and black power suit and killer heels.
“Mila,” she greeted me in her cool French Canadian accent. “Axel didn’t mention you were stopping by.”
I scanned her beautiful face, trying to look for evidence of her being Axel’s mistress, but I saw nothing that resembled guilt. All I noticed was how her porcelain skin, wide eyes and perfectly shaped lips added to her beauty.
“He didn’t mention you’d be here either.”
She studied me back with an expression mixed between curiosity and confusion. “How do you like being back in Canada?”
My eyebrows shot up at the fact that she knew anything about my life. “It’s fine.”
She reached out and touched my arm. “Axel told me that you were in Russia for four years.”
I shoved my hands in my back pockets, feeling young and unsophisticated in her presence. I didn’t particularly like the idea of Axel discussing me with her, especially when my own husband had been deliberately avoiding talking to me for days.
Part of me wanted to be really rash and dramatic and ask Giselle to her face if she was sleeping with my husband, but I doubted she would tell me the truth. Plus, if they thought I suspected them, then they’d be even more secretive.
