“Good idea.” I turn and indicate the patio. “Here there will be a much nicer set of table and chairs, mainly for staff taking a break, and we’re thinking of fencing off a training area for the dogs over there.”
“I was thinking we could build a small assault course,” Cullen says. “The dogs enjoy it, it keeps them fit, and it’s good for training purposes.”
“That would be amazing,” I say with enthusiasm. I turn back to the others. “I see this business as a triangle—it has a therapy side, an animals side, and then an administration side. So, with staffing, our idea is that Isla is Practice Manager, so she’ll run the administration side, including the office staff, coordinate the animals’ medical care and routine treatments, and oversee their daily wellbeing.”
“I’ll be organizing the animal training side,” Cullen says, “so feel free to come to me if Archer’s busy and you have something dog-related to talk about.”
“Yeah,” I continue, “and I’m thinking of Dane as our in-house vet, and… Beth as our Senior Veterinary Nurse.” I look at her, and she nods and smiles. She’s definitely decided to work here. I’m so happy, I could burst. “We’ll hire a couple of others eventually as we grow,” I say, trying not to grin like an idiot.
“Not sure what I can offer,” Tyr says. “I’m not a vet.”
“We need someone under Cullen to help train the dogs and organize them while they’re at the center,” I tell him. “Our plan is to encourage all members of staff to have a dog and bring them to work. But of course they’re not all going to be seeing clients at the same time. They’ll all need regular walks and trips outside. Keeping fit in the assault course, if we build one. And training is important—all the dogs have to be trained not to jump up, to come when called, and to obey all commands so we can control them in the center. We want relaxed—we don’t want chaos.”
Tyr nods, his expression lightening for the first time. “I can do that.”
“You’ll be perfect,” I tell him.
“What about the therapy side of things?” Natalie asks. “How many therapists are you thinking of?”
“We’ll have six rooms that can be used as therapy rooms, workrooms, meeting rooms, whatever. We can work it out as we go. I’d like it if we could find people to cover a wide range of therapies and disorders. I’m a bit of a Jack of all trades but I lean toward clinical psychology. You specialize in marriage and family therapy, and child and adolescent therapy. We could do with someone who has an interest in addiction counseling, and someone else who can cover geriatric counseling, and I’d like to make sure we cover most of the main types of therapy like CBT, DBT, EMDR and so on. I’ll start advertising in a few weeks.”
“How long before you’re up and running?” Tyr asks.
“Isaac the builder says six to eight weeks. I have the budget to employ you all from today, or as soon as you want to start, and thought that way we can all be involved in getting the center set up. Cullen, you and Tyr can sort out what you want for the assault course and get it set up, and begin the dog training when you’re ready. Isla and Beth canwork on a plan for animal care, and organizing the office. Dane, we can talk about the Healing PAWS therapy bus—I was hoping you’d help me source the vehicle and fit it out.”
He nods. “Sounds great, happy to help.”
“Nat, you and I can talk over how we want the therapy part of the business to look, and maybe interview candidates together.”
She smiles. “I’d like that, thank you.”
Beth’s eyes meet mine, and she gives me a small, private smile, the kind she doesn’t give anyone else. My heart warms; it’s nothing and it’s everything.
“To be safe, I thought of planning the grand opening for Monday the twentieth of April—just over eight weeks.”
Beth’s gaze slides past me, and her eyes widen. I turn to see Jude walking through the front door. Damn, I’d forgotten that I’d told him to drop by.
As he walks up, Jude glances at Beth, his eyes briefly registering surprise—he hadn’t expected her to be here. He obviously spots where she’s standing by my side, and his jaw tightens. Beth obviously spots it too because she moves away from me. But it’s too late. Jude saw.
Well, we’re not doing anything wrong. So I smile and say, “And here’s our Ark go-between. Jude, come and say hi.”
He nods to everyone. His gaze slides over Beth, but he just gives a general smile and says, “Hey.”
“Most of you know that Jude works in the Ark’s Forever Home,” I say. “He’s going to be our main contact for sourcing any rescue dogs who look as if they might be suitable therapy dogs. If at all possible, if you don’t have a dog and are thinking of getting one, it would be great if you could rehome one.”
“I was clearing out the old storeroom,” Jude says, “and Cullen had mentioned you’re starting from scratch here, so I have some bits and pieces for you.” He backs away and gestures with his head. “Come and take a look.”
Everyone exclaims and follows him back outside. I glance at Beth as we walk. “You okay?” I murmur.
She nods. “We’ve got to get used to this.”
“Yeah.” I reach out my hand, though, and she looks at it, then slips hers into it. I squeeze her fingers, and she smiles at the touch before we separate and head outside.
Jude’s parked in front of the center, and he has a trailer attached to his Toyota. Tyr helps him undo the tarpaulin over the top, and we crowd around and investigate the stash.
There’s a fold-out trestle table and a set of fold-up chairs that would be great for events where we don’t need permanent furniture like training workshops. There are half a dozen dog crates of various sizes, and four baby gates that’ll be useful for sectioning off the kitchen and other no-go areas. A basket contains leads and harnesses, and there’s a pile of towels and blankets.
There’s also one box with things like snuffle mats, lick mats, puzzle feeders, Kongs, and tug toys, and another box with a dozen packs of treats and six of the biggest, fifteen kilogram packs of dry Royal Canin food. “Donated by the Ark,” Jude says, and I can’t stop the surprised sound that escapes me.
