by Molly Fitz
We reached the shelter a few minutes before six and were greeted with a firmly locked door.
“Crud,” I muttered, rattling the handle just in case.
I looked toward Nan just in time to catch her ducking around the side of the building and out of view.
“What are you doing?” I whisper-yelled, chasing after her.
“Why, looking for another way in, of course,” she said, tapping a long fingernail against the window and then turning to me with a devilish smile.
“This isn’t one of your spy movies, Nan. We can just come back tomorrow. No need to sneak about. Now c’mon. Let’s go,” I hissed as I attempted to yank her back toward the parking lot.
Nan shook me off, then raised a finger to her lips and sank to the ground, motioning for me to get down, too. “Wait. Someone’s in there.”
Despite my better judgement, I did as Nan instructed.
We both carefully peeked our heads over the brick ledge and peered through the window. Inside, a thin blonde woman riffled through a tall stack of papers. She muttered something to herself, but I wasn’t able to make out the words.
Nan pinched me. “Will you look at that? I knew there was something fishy going on here.”
Sure she did. Really, she just got lucky this time and every other time she wanted to have herself an adventure. These days, Nan was never disappointed when it came to uncovering crime and drama in our once sleepy small town.
We both watched as the blonde woman inside pulled a sheet of paper from the middle of the stack with shaking hands and pushed it through a desktop shredder. For a brief moment, she glanced up as if sensing that someone—or rather, someones—was watching her, then cursed under her breath and hurried out of view.
“C’mon,” Nan said, duck-walking toward the next window.
I waddled after her, and Paisley pranced after me. What a merry band of spies we made.
We didn’t see the girl again until we reached the very end of the building and the room I easily remembered as Mr. Leavitt’s office. Once there, the blonde pulled open the bottom left drawer of his desk and shoved the remaining papers inside, took another quick look around, and fled.
“Shoot. Is she leaving?” I asked, short of breath from the excitement of our discovery coupled with the grueling physical task of the duck-walk. “She’ll see our car in the parking lot and know that someone’s here.”
“Ooh, you’re right.” Nan popped up and sprinted back toward the main entrance, beating the blonde girl by a solid thirty seconds.
If she was surprised to see us waiting outside the doors for her, she did a great job hiding it. “Oh, hello. Can I help you?” the girl asked.
“Yes, dear. Thank you,” Nan answered in her over-the-top grandmother voice that she took on whenever she wanted to appear extra frail or needy. “I’ve come to make a donation, but I’m afraid I may not be in the right place. Is this the Glendale Community Animal Shelter?”
The blonde smiled with what appeared to be relief. “Yes, that’s us, but I’m afraid we’re closed now.”
“Oh, bother,” Nan chirped, sounding far too upbeat given the words she’d just spoken. “Well, that’s what I get for nodding off during my stories.”
“Aww, it’s okay,” the girl said, shooting Nan a placating smile. “We open again tomorrow at eight. Or, if you prefer, I can take your check now and make sure it gets into the right hands tomorrow.”
“Oh, bless you, dear,” Nan said with a gracious smile. “That would be wonderful. Now what’s your name? I want to make sure I can mention to my followers on the Facebook how helpful you were to me this evening.”
“I’m Trish,” the girl introduced herself with a laugh. “And thank you. We can use all the volunteers and all the donations we can get.”
“Well, Trish.” Nan extracted her checkbook from her purse. “It isn’t much, seeing as I’m on a fixed income, but I hope it gives you the help you need.”
“No amount is too small. Believe me. I don’t have an extra two pennies to rub together, which is why I donate my time instead,” Trish explained as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
“They’re very lucky to have you,” I said, when Nan didn’t.
Trish and I watched in silence as Nan wrote out a check for one hundred dollars and tore it from her checkbook with a flourish.
“On behalf of the animals, thank you very, very much for your generosity,” the girl said, holding Nan’s donation close to her heart.
“Oh, it was nothing,” Nan responded with a dismissive wave. “I just wish it could have been more.”
“Every small donation makes a huge difference.” Trish folded the check in half and stuck it in her front pocket. “I’ll be sure this gets added to our coffers tomorrow. Good night, and thank you again!”
We returned her goodbye, waited for Paisley to take a quick potty break, then headed back to the car.
“Who was that?” the little dog asked. “I’ve never seen her before.”
“Trish,” I explained. “She’s one of the volunteers. Are you sure you haven’t seen her before? She’s obviously not new if she’s in charge of closing up.”
“Nope, never,” Paisley answered without the slightest hesitation. “She was really pretty, though. I like her.”
“Wait,” I said with a creeping grin as I thought of the early days with Octo-Cat back when he was simply upset about me providing him with the wrong brand of bottled water as opposed to threatening to murder a Chihuahua. “Do you maybe not recognize her because all humans look the same?”
Paisley’s long pink tongue lolled from her mouth as she panted in amusement. “Why would you say that? Humans don’t look the same at all, and you smell very different, too! Nope. I definitely would have remembered seeing—and smelling—her before.”
I quickly caught Nan up on the dog’s and my little side conversation.
“Hmm,” she said with a dramatic huff. “That’s a bit odd.”
“It is,” I agreed. “What do you think Trish was doing in the shelter all by herself? Does she actually volunteer there, or no? And what did she secretly shred?”
“Good questions,” Nan answered as she navigated the roads that would lead us back toward our home. “One thing’s for sure, I’ll be keeping a close watch on my bank account to see where that check actually ends up.”
I nodded to show my agreement. “Smart.”
“Maybe tomorrow night we can go back and try to break in,” she added with a completely serious expression on her wrinkled face.
“Nan,” I scolded. “We’re trying to stop someone else from breaking the law, not break it ourselves.”
“Well, you’re no fun,” she groused.
Maybe I wasn’t fun compared to my wild grandmother, but one of us had to be the level-headed one in this investigation.
And with Octo-Cat out of commission, apparently that job would fall to me.
Chapter Eight
We returned home to find my boyfriend Charles waiting on the front porch. As soon as I parked the car, I ran up the short set of steps and straight into his outstretched arms.
“What are you doing here?” I asked after a quick peck hello.
“Well, I missed seeing you yesterday when the petaversary celebration got cancelled. And when we talked earlier today, you just seemed so down. You know I had to come by and cheer up my best girl.” His eyes held mine as he spoke, making me feel weak in the knees. Even though we’d been dating for a few weeks now, I still couldn’t get over the fact that we were finally together. I’d crushed on him for so long, and now? He was my honest-to-goodness boyfriend—and a really great one at that.
Once I had my strength back, I pulled away and studied his handsome features. “Your best girl?” I asked with a giggle. “That sounds an awful lot like something Nan would say.”
“Okay. Fine,” he confessed with a breathy laugh. “So maybe she did call and put me up to it, but the important thing is that I’m here n
ow and I have something special planned for us tonight.”
I hugged Charles tight and pushed my face into his chest in an attempt to hide my nervous expression. I was still pretty new to this whole relationship thing and terrified I’d do something to mess it up at any minute. We were especially tricky, too, given that we’d become such good friends before ever getting romantically involved.
Because of our unusual timeline, I feared we were dangerously close to the “I love you” stage even though we’d only been dating for a little less than a month. I also feared the “Will you marry me?” stage might quickly follow once the first three little words were out of the bag. And as much as I adored Charles, the thought of becoming somebody’s wife—of living with anyone other than Nan—made me break out in goose bumps and a cold sweat all at once.
One day at a time, I reminded myself as I so often did. The now was very good indeed, and I needed to take some time to enjoy these early puppy love days of my first real adult relationship.
Swallowing down the last dregs of my anxiety, I asked, “Am I allowed to know what you have planned, or is it another one of your famous surprises?”
Charles kissed my forehead, then released me from his embrace. “This time, I’ll tell you,” he answered with a smirk. “But next time, I’m keeping whatever I plan for us a surprise until the last possible moment.”
I nodded, still focused on the now and eager to find out what we’d be doing that night.
Charles put both arms around my waist and pulled me close. “There’s a new day spa that just opened up on the edge of Dewdrop Springs, and they’re running a special on couple’s massages. I figured we could go check it out. What do you say?”
“I say, sign me up for that!” I squealed and gave a happy little leap into the air. I’d never had a massage before, but I’d heard good things—mostly from my grandmother. Truth be told, the whole idea made me a bit nervous, but I appreciated Charles’s gesture too much to let him in on any of the hesitation or worry swirling through my mind.
“Bye, dear,” Nan called after us as Charles led me to his waiting car. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
I laughed so hard at that I almost choked. Nan would do just about anything with hardly a moment’s thought first, definitely not the model for chaste behavior. Then again, maybe that was the point she was trying to make here.
“Thanks for getting me out of there,” I told my boyfriend as he backed us out of the long driveway.
“Any time,” he promised me with a smile that made me want to kiss him right then and there. “Is Octo-Cat still pouting about the new arrival?”
I sucked air in through my teeth. “That would be putting it mildly.”
He chuckled at this. “Remember Yo-Yo?”
Ahh, Yo-Yo the Yorkie, the only witness to his owners’ double murder. That was the case where Charles and I had first become good friends, even though the whole thing started with him blackmailing me and threatening to expose my secret to the world.
“Of course I remember Yo-Yo,” I said with a smug grin. “I also remember how Octo-Cat never quite got used to him for that whole time they were together.”
“That was only the better part of a week. Paisley will be around for the rest of his life. Even he can’t wage his silent protest for that long.”
“Oh, ye of little faith,” I quipped, then rolled my eyes for good measure.
We drove for another half hour before reaching our destination. The swanky new spa was part of a run-down strip mall, which didn’t inspire much confidence on my part. Once we pushed through the doors, however, we were greeted with a beautiful office space, painted in a tranquil green with a large stone fountain bubbling near the welcome desk. Soft classical music piped through hidden speakers, and the woman waiting to greet us wore all white from head to toe.
Her red hair shone even in the dim lighting, and her pale skin appeared flawless to my untrained eye. “Welcome to Serenity,” she said melodically. “How may we improve your world today?”
I fought back any number of sarcastic comments that were teetering right on the edge of my tongue and gave this would-be world-improver a tight-lipped smile.
Charles, however, seemed far more in his element. Perhaps because he’d grown up in California. He forged right ahead in the direction of the woman and the desk, grabbing one of my hands and tugging me along as he went. “We’re here for a seven o’clock couples massage,” he informed her.
“Ahh, last spot of the day. Excellent.” She paused for an unnaturally long time before adding, “You’ll rest well tonight.”
Another awkward pause.
Charles and I glanced at each other questioningly, then back toward the woman.
“Stone is just finishing up with his previous appointment, if you’ll please have a seat.” She floated out from behind the desk and guided us toward a pair of giant exercise balls set around a small area rug.
“Um, thanks.” I sank awkwardly onto the dark green ball, leaving the tan one for Charles.
The welcome desk lady smiled at us for slightly longer than was comfortable, then let herself into the back room, leaving Charles and me by ourselves. Well, Serenity was certainly a strange place, if the greeter was any indication. This made me more nervous than I’d been before. Of course, Nan would like this whole dog and pony show. She liked everything, the weirder the better. Me? I preferred to stick to what I already knew and loved.
“You don’t think Stone’s that guy’s real name?” Charles asked, making a funny face.
I was about to ask him the exact same thing, but instead I hit him playfully and giggled. “It all contributes to the ambience.” I over pronounced that word so much it sounded like it belonged to another language. French, maybe.
“It’s all part of improving our world,” he added with a quiet chuckle as he bumped his giant exercise ball seat into mine.
I rolled back to gain some momentum, then nudged his even harder than he’d bumped mine. A flirtatious game of bumper balls followed, each of us making up the rules as we went along.
We didn’t even notice at first when the attendant returned—not until she cleared her throat loudly and stared unforgiving daggers our way.
“Stone is ready for you now,” she alerted us, forcing a smile for Charles’s benefit, I would guess.
Just then, the door to the back swung open and a lithe, blonde figure emerged.
“Trish?” I asked, unable to believe I’d managed to run into the shelter volunteer twice within the span of about an hour—especially considering the distance we’d all had to travel to arrive at the shopping center from Glendale.
Trish blinked over at me, then smiled. “Oh, you came with your mom today to make a donation. Right?” she asked sweetly, so sweetly that it seemed very, very fake.
“My nan, actually, but—yeah—that was me.” I smiled graciously to show I meant her no harm. “What are you doing here?”
“N-n-nothing,” came Trish’s shaky reply. “Just headed home.”
And before I could ask anything else, she flew out the door.
Well, so much for making small talk.
Chapter Nine
I’m not exactly sure what I’d expected from Stone, but it wasn’t the new-age Irish lumberjack who greeted us a short while later.
Though he wore all white like the front desk attendant, he had a completely different vibe. A gigantic toothy smile peeked out from behind his thick red beard. “Good evening,” he said as he pushed through the room, his long arms dangling as he moved toward the cabinets that lined the back wall. On his way, he turned up the music track; the soothing sounds of an exotic stringed instrument filled the room, adding to the otherworldliness of this whole experience.
“I’ll return in five minutes to begin your massages.” Stone handed us each a fluffy white robe, then left to give me and Charles the chance to change into them privately.
Whoa. He’d hardly exchanged five words with us before instructing Cha
rles and me to take off our clothes! It’s not that I was a prude, but I’d always been modest about my body.
I’d never even been naked in front of Charles before, but thankfully he was a gentleman about the whole thing. He turned his back to me and promised not to look until I told him it was okay. Still, I tore off my clothes and yanked on that thick robe with record speed. The unfamiliar garment seemed to swallow me whole, but at least it was comfortable against my bare skin.
“You can turn around now,” I called sheepishly. In fact, I felt like a sheep, too, as I stood swaddled in that overly fluffy cotton robe.
And if I was a sheep, then Charles was definitely that cartoon wolf, sizing me up. He let out a low whistle and remarked, “You look extra cuddle-able right about now.” Closing the short distance between us, he then wrapped his arms around me and swayed to the meditation music in a ridiculously misguided romantic gesture.
“I’m naked under here,” I whispered, embarrassment setting in.
He just laughed and continued to dance with me until a soft knock sounded on the door.
“Come in,” Charles called as I clutched my robe even more tightly.
Stone had returned with the front desk attendant in tow. “This is my colleague, Harmony. We’ll be massaging you together. Please make yourselves comfortable.”
Charles widened his eyes playfully and rubbed his hands together, then made his way to the first of the leather massage tables, slowly lowering himself and lining his face up perfectly with the hole at the top.
“Now you, Angela,” Harmony coaxed. Her voice sounded different than it had upfront. Perhaps it was the different acoustics, or maybe she truly had a different voice for working the front desk versus working on a client. Whatever the case, it seemed mighty weird to me.
Apparently sensing my discomfort, Charles reached out and touched my arm as I passed. He was such a good boyfriend, and so much more cultured than me.
