Page 5

I took the bag from her as she handed it across to me after I paid for all my goodies. The moment I walked back outside, I realized the error I’d made. Ms. Shelly had been very nice and seemed like she knew a lot of people in town. Maybe she was the right person to ask about the owner of the animal shelter.

Unease settled over me again as I continued down the sidewalk on Maple Lane. A warm breeze pushed my hair from my face. The day was warming up nicely, almost to the point that I could take off the light sweater I’d put on.

And that was when I saw it. Ahead was the sign for Maple Lane Falls Animal Shelter. Suddenly the sun didn’t feel so warm, making me pull my sweater around me a little tighter. It was so stupid to have a response like that because I knew nothing about the man who owned the place outside of being told he wasn’t the friendliest.

The building itself didn’t seem intimidating. It was a brick, single-story storefront with a big window in the front, much like most of the stores along the main strip of town. There was a cute little sign above the door with a picture of a cartoon dog sticking its tongue out. For all intents and purposes, the place was inviting. But for a place that people were supposed to be able to go and find their new furry companion, there wasn’t anyone going inside. In fact, the place almost looked deserted.

Chapter 4

Truman

Scrolling through my phone didn’t make me feel any better. The downtime was normally nice. It meant that the dogs were happy and didn’t need anything, but I could have been using that time to find other animals in need of rescuing. Though it didn’t seem to make much of a difference if all that happened once I had my hands on them was that they ended up staying with me.

I had more dogs than I knew what to physically do with. The kennels were in poor shape, and the struggle to get enough food for them all was becoming a real issue. It sucked that I couldn’t convince more people to give these dogs the loving second chance they deserved.

The last family that came in had left when their eight-year-old wouldn’t stop crying when I told him he wouldn’t be able to handle the gorgeous boxer mix he was eyeballing.

Boxers were great dogs, but Artie had been rescued from the fighting ring he was bred for. When raised properly, they were some of the best and most gentle creatures, but all I could picture was this little boy playing a little too rough with him and the dog biting him, causing so much damage that the family would ultimately end up having to put him down. It was the last thing I’d wanted for Artie. He’d made so much improvement since I’d brought him to the shelter.

It was hard not to think of all the negatives. Most people didn’t seem to understand that I was only trying to be protective. Instead, I was made out to be an asshole who didn’t really want to give up the dogs in his care. What, would they rather I lie to them like the other shelters, get the dogs out the door, only for their new owners not to be prepared for what they really had to take on.

Keeping the dogs was never what I wanted; they all deserved a good home with people who knew how to care for them. There were days I couldn’t give the dogs the attention they needed, and it broke my heart. They deserved so much more than living every day in cages and being fed separately with the bare minimum of socialization. These dogs needed love, someone to pay attention to them, to play with them, someone to care about their health and well-being.

Daisy ran to the front door, her little claws clacking against the cement floor of the lobby. It reminded me I needed to finish the flooring project I started over a year ago, and I needed to trim Daisy’s claws. It wasn’t like her to get excited, either, so when she let out a small bark, I knew someone had to be at the door.

Most people coming into an animal shelter weren’t afraid of the animals they were coming to see, so it didn’t even cross my mind that I should have gotten up to gather Daisy so she didn’t attack the woman the moment she walked in the door. It wasn’t as if the tiny dog would harm her. If anything, she’d smother her with tiny licks and kisses.

The dog jumped and barked excitedly as the blonde woman, who had no business being as gorgeous as she was, leaned down to let her sniff her hand.

“Why, hello,” she greeted Daisy before scratching her back and standing to her full height again. I’d never seen her before, which meant she was visiting or new in town. In the back of my mind, something about her seemed familiar. When she approached the counter, Daisy ran up behind her, standing on her hind legs and placing her front paws against the woman’s boots.

And that was when it hit me. I’d seen those same boots back at the cafe. The woman wearing them was the same one that Mrs. Dewing had tried to warn me about. She didn’t seem all that threatening, but the moment she swung her camera around, my defenses went up.

“No.” Even I was shocked the moment the word fell out of my mouth.

“Excuse me? I’m Allison Hendrix—”

It was beyond rude, but I didn’t care what she had to say. If she truly was some kind of social media influencer, that wasn’t the type of attention I needed at my shelter. I worked damn hard to protect the dogs in my care, and they didn’t need some woman coming in to take pictures of them to turn them into a spectacle.

“I don’t know what you’ve heard about me or the shelter, Miss Hendrix, but you are welcome to leave.”

Her pretty pink lips dropped open, and while I wanted her to turn around and walk out the door... she didn’t. Of course she didn’t. Why would she? This woman had no idea who I was, and the moment she’d walked in the door, I’d been an epic asshole to her.

Instead of walking out, she bent back down to play with Daisy. It was hard to be pissed that she wasn’t listening to me when she was giving some attention to one of my favorite dogs.

Daisy rolled onto her back, exposing her belly. Allison laughed and scratched at it, a laugh that only got stronger when Daisy kicked her little legs in glee.

How the hell was I supposed to continue being a jerk? I needed this woman out of my business.

“Miss Hendrix—”

Now it was her turn to cut me off as she stood abruptly. She lifted the camera to her face. I stared in horror as the sound of the shutter going off in rapid succession reached my ears.

“Next time, it would behoove you not to cut me off. I was sent here by Lisa LeBlanc, who organizes the fall festival. She just got your application and asked me to check things out.”

Fuck. I needed to backtrack in a hurry. If I truly wanted to use the fall festival as a fundraising opportunity, maybe pissing off someone who was helping organize it wasn’t the right way to go. It didn’t change my not wanting her snapping random photos in my shelter. The place was a mess on the best of days. If she wanted to do something to make it shine, I wanted a little warning first.

“Please don’t use those photos.” Nah, that wasn’t the right thing to say at all.