She blinks rapidly before her head bobs. “Yeah. I’ll come to you when I need you.”
I smile before resuming my walk. “Good, because I’m retired at thirty-two and mostly bored out of my mind. I love it when I have something to do.”
After piling her groceries between the back hatch and her back seat floor, I turn to her, head inclined. “You’ll still let me help you at the house? I promise I’m trustworthy.”
She laughs quietly while closing the hatch. “If you really want to, sure. But I warn you, there’s a gaggle of dogs and cats at the house, and even a horse and a donkey.”
“In the house?” I feign shock, making her laugh again.
“Thankfully, those two have their own house.” She pauses on a little gasp and pulls out her phone, then sighs with relief. “I have someone coming later this afternoon to help with Pie and Gator, actually, so I have to be there to meet them.”
“Pie and Gator?”
“That’s the horse and donkey. There’s even a dog named Fruitbat.”
Now, I laugh. “Those are some names.”
She smiles, but I think it’s sad around the edges. “Uncle Jim would never re-name them once they came into his care, and neither will I. All their names are good names, chosen for them for a reason by people who loved them.”
The conviction in her tone makes me feel a little guilty for poking fun, but I hadn’t really meant anything by it.
Adley takes the sanctuary and her work there seriously. And I’ll remember that.
“Please, excuse the mess and chaos,” Adley shouts over the barking chorus when we get inside the house.
There are a good handful of dogs here.
“Watch your feet, please. There’s a little cat who’s blind named Odin. He loves hanging with the dogs.”
I freeze, look down to make sure my path is clear, then take careful steps to follow Adley into the kitchen. She’s opened the sliding glass doors into the backyard, and the herd of dogs funnels out, and all the barking stops as they snoop around.
I help with the rest of Adley’s stuff, placing her new pet items on the table while she puts things away in the fridge and freezer.
I look around at the interior of the house, dark and dated, then look at Adley’s designer jeans and sneakers, think about her shiny new SUV, and things don’t fit. I know this wasn’t her place, it was her uncle’s, but it’s hers now. I have a feeling renovations are on the horizon, but I keep it to myself.
A little meow rings out at my feet, and I peer down to see the cutest little cat, gray with brown stripes and a little white patch around its mouth. It dips its head down to pick up a fuzzy blue ball toy, and my heart constricts. I’m crouching down before I even realize it, ignoring the pain in my knee, letting the cat sniff me, then rub its soft cheek against my knuckles.
“That’s Odin.”
I look up at Adley’s smiling face and grin back at her. “He’s a cute little guy.” I use the chair beside me at the table to help me stand back up, letting out a hiss as I exert pressure on my left leg.
Adley rushes over and takes my arm to steady me, which I both love and hate. I don’t want to need anyone’s help to simply exist and get around, but it’s may fault. I’m the one who didn’t want to go back under the knife.
“Thanks.” The word is a breath as I watch little Odin scamper off with his little toy proudly in his mouth, knock into the dividing wall head-first, then rebound in the other direction. I wince at Adley. “Is he going to be okay?”
She smiles at me a little brighter. “He’s going to be fine. My uncle kept diligent notes about each of the animals here, and Odin is a fierce warrior who doesn’t let a little wall get in his way.”
I laugh and shake my head. “I grew up with cats. I haven’t had one since I was a kid, but my parents still have one. Sonia is her name. Some combination of Siamese and demon.”
Adley bursts out laughing. “Sounds like a rare breed.”
She later shows me around the rest of the house, the backyard, and the fenced-off barn area. I notice the trailer that’s in a terrible state of disrepair just beyond the fence, and Adley’s gaze follows mine.
“I have a lot of work to do. That barn and fencing are the nicest things on the property now.”
“I’m here to help however I can.” I turn to her, taking a couple of tentative steps closer. We’re still essentially strangers, and there’s an awkward tension between us that borders on discomfort, and I can’t stand it. I long for some kind of connection with Adley, and I take her small hand in mine, maneuver our palms to join flat between us. Her fingertips rest at the bases of my fingers as I hold her gaze, those chocolate eyeswide, a slight pinch between her brows as her hand begins to tremble against my palm. “You know what we are to each other.” It isn’t a question.
She swallows hard. “I do know. I was born into a scent-matched pack. I come from a long line of them, actually.”
