6
“You’re kidding, right?” Finn asked as Oscar finished explaining what had happened at the dinner, looking up from where he was tying off the last stitch on a dog that’d been brought in for neutering earlier.
The sanctuary ran a free neutering program for local pets and no-kill shelters in the area, although by that, they meant thatFinnran it, and often donated his time to the cause. The reasoning was that less unwanted kittens and puppies would mean less feral cats and dogs, and less feral cats and dogs meant less wildlife injury.
Oscar felt like every other bird that came through their doors when they still had the resources to handle birds had been injured by a feral cat. This was the kind of thing that would meanlessof that happened in the future.
The kind of thing that was in jeopardy if he didn’t go along with the whims of a rich middle-aged woman who’d leveraged him into hanging out with her.
Oscar sighed. She was probably very nice once you got to know her. Her family probably loved her.
He didn’t have to likeeveryone, and it wasn’t as though he’d chosen to work with animals instead of people for no reason. Animals, he got.
People were a goddamn mystery.
“I wish,” Oscar said. “I genuinely… wish I was kidding. How can someone so pretty be so oblivious?”
“He was trying to help.” Finn shrugged, snipping the thread and giving the little terrier that was still out cold on his table a soft pat to the head.
Oscar pulled his surgical mask off after Finn did, not wanting to be yelled at for the thousandth time for doing it too soon or forgetting to put one on in the first place when he walked into the room. He always hovered in the corner, but Finn was… a stickler. When it came to his job, anyway.
For everything else, he had no trouble loosening up.
Ryan, on the other hand…
“I know.” Oscar sighed. “That’s the worst part. I can’t even really be mad at him.”
“Is it really gonna be that bad?” Finn asked, washing his hands. “I’m asking sincerely, not… trying to sound like I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t know?” Oscar said. “I was mad at him for just… making decisions for me, even though he… did you know we only had three months worth of funds left?” he asked, remembering what Ryan had said.
“I knew we weren’t in great shape. I think we all knew that. Three months is… a little worse than I thought.”
Great. Everyone had known but him. “I just figured we’d… get by. Like we always do.”
“Maybe we would have,” Finn said. “I can’t say for sure. I haven’t seen the books, and even if Ihad, I wouldn’t know what they meant. That’s why we’ve got a real live accountant now.”
“I don’t think he’s just an accountant. Accountants do taxes, right? He’s making business decisions.”
“Heisthe boss’ nephew,” Finn pointed out.
“So you think this is, what, good old-fashioned nepotism?” Oscar asked. “And maybe he’s an idiot and we don’tactuallyneed the money?”
“Do you believe that?” Finn raised an eyebrow as he packed away the last of his surgical tools. Oscar watched him peeling his gloves off, momentarily distracted and needing a moment to gather his thoughts, anyway.
“No,” he said eventually. “No, I think I just really don’t want to believe that he’s saving all our asses. I’d like to think we didn’t need the help. And I feel selfish for being mad about losing a weekend. Other people lose weekends to their jobs all the time.”
“You’re not mad about losing the weekend. You come in here on the weekend all the time when we’ve got new volunteers or special needs cases or… whatever. You’re mad about feeling helpless. First over being dragged into this, and second about being beholden to big donors.”
Oscar blinked.
That… made a lot of sense, actually.
“You’re so much cheaper than a therapist,” Oscar said after a moment. Finn chuckled, finally flicking off the over-bright light over the table and turning the normal overhead ones on, forcing Oscar to close his eyes for a moment while he let them adjust.
“That’s what friends are for.”
“Free therapy?” Oscar asked.
