No Final Destination (Happy Endings Resort Series Book 17)

by Penny Harmon

  Realizing that there wasn’t anything he could actually do about it, Clark turned the volume back up on the television and grabbed his beer. Taking a swig, he thought about tomorrow. He’d be seeing Paige again and the thought made him smile.

  Chapter 3

  The next morning, Paige crawled out of bed at six. She’d always been a morning person and never needed an alarm. She was thankful of that, especially now, as she wanted to take some special time with her appearance.

  Susan didn’t tell her she had to tone down her appearance, but she’d suggested it. She was going to try to see what she could do without changing too much.

  Two hours later, she was satisfied with the compromise. Her hair was still purple, but instead of in a Mohawk, it laid flat against her head, was parted on the side, and hung longer in the front than the back. She still wore makeup, but she had only highlighted her eyes lightly, and she wore a paler shade of a purple lipstick.

  Her clothing she picked out carefully. Instead of wearing her normal black, she wore her favorite pair of jeans and a short-sleeved white tee. Hopefully, Susan would be happy with the changes. She liked it here and wanted to stay.

  It wasn’t until she drove into the parking lot that she began to panic. These people she worked with had gotten used to her appearance. She didn’t want to be noticed or be the center of attention.

  Once she stepped in the door, she realized she panicked for nothing. The receptionist, Tina, was on the phone and just gave her a quick little wave. When she went to put her things in the locker, Susan just gave her a thumbs up and kept walking. Thank God!

  In the office, she sat down and logged onto the computer as Susan had taught her to do yesterday. She found two emails requesting details about volunteer opportunities and quickly answered them. Just as soon as she was done, she twirled around in the chair to discover the deputy standing guard at her door.

  “Oh…I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there,” she said and, to her horror, felt her cheeks burning again.

  “No problem. You looked busy, so I figured I could wait. Just bringing my application back.” When he smiled, she felt it all the way down to her toes and, not wanting him to see the effect he had on her, she quickly turned her back to her computer.

  “Um, give me just one sec,” she told him. One sec? She’d need more than that. His smile was intoxicating. Realizing how cheesy her thoughts were, she let out a sigh. It was a good thing he couldn’t read her mind. Besides, she wasn’t interested in anyone. All she wanted was to do her job.

  When she turned back around toward him, he asked, “Do you want me to come back? I don’t want to interrupt you.”

  “No, I’m sorry. Just having one of those mornings,” she said. “However, let’s get you processed and signed up for training.”

  “Yeah, I hear you…don’t think I slept more than an hour last night,” he laughed. “Training? How hard can it be to walk a dog?”

  “Well, we have to go over general safety and a bunch of stuff you will probably find pretty boring…it’s all routine,” she told him, not once meeting his eye. She thought she was best to avoid it if at all possible.

  “Sounds like fun. Now, I did notice that training is available during the week. Is there a class available on the weekend? Right now, I have weekends off.”

  Paige looked at the schedule on her desk. “Yeah, we probably will, depending on how many people sign up for it. I think Susan said that we have to have at least three in a class. I’ll make sure to check with her.”

  “Not really a problem if you can’t. I could probably switch shifts with one of the other guys,” he said.

  “It’s not a problem. We want…need…volunteers. You wouldn’t believe how many dogs we have right now.”

  “I can imagine. I know I’ve brought two strays in here myself just over the last month.”

  “Oh, that’s right. I’ve seen your name on the forms,” she admitted. “Did you already get a tour of the place?”

  Clark shook his head. “Not yet.”

  “You got time now?” she asked and then regretted the words immediately. When he told her he had to get back to work, she was instantly relieved. “No problem. We can do it another time. I’ve got your number so I can give you a call about when the next training class is…I’m guessing it should be within the next week or so.”

  “Great. I look forward to hearing from you,” Clark said and leaned in closer. “Are you the one teaching the class?”

  Paige nodded her head, daring to meet his eyes for the first time during their conversation.

  Clark then winked, turned around and walked out the door, leaving her absolutely speechless. Was he trying to flirt with her? She couldn’t imagine it, especially with her purple hair, but he did wink at her. Maybe he was actually flirting with her? She wasn’t sure if it made her happy, though. The last thing she needed right now was a relationship. However, this was not the time or place to worry about it.

  Toward the end day, Susan called her into her office. “Is it possible to stay a little later today? We have a situation that we may need some help with.”

  “What’s going on?” Paige asked, concerned because the first thing she was told when she started working here was that there was never overtime.

  “We just got a call in from the Sheriff’s Department. They went out on a call for domestic violence and found a puppy mill. Not sure exactly how many there are, but at last count it was forty. I’m heading over there right now. I need someone to stay here and get cages ready. The vets going to meet us here in an hour.”

  “Absolutely. How can people do this?” Paige asked. She’d never understood how people could intentionally hurt animals, whether the hurt came from a kick across the room or not getting the care that they so desperately needed.

  “I don’t know, but it makes me sick. I’m going to head out now with the van. I’ll call to let you know what time to expect the first ones in.”

  “Great. I’ll get started on getting things ready.”

  “Thanks, Paige. It means a lot and, by the way, I love your hair that way,” Susan said before walking out the door.

  Paige’s hand flew to her hair. She’d forgotten all about it. Two minutes later, it was out of her mind again as she started preparations.

  At seven o’clock, Paige finally got the call from Susan. Thirty of the most critical dogs were on their way and the vet would be there in fifteen. She was sending someone else in with the dogs, because she was still packing up more. She told Paige there would be another thirty coming in about two hours.

  Paige glanced at the clock and couldn’t imagine what a long night it was going to be.

  When a Sheriff’s Department van pulled into the parking lot, Paige quickly propped the doors open and walked out to meet.

  She was shocked to discover Clark behind the wheel. “Hey, I see you’re working late, too,” he said.

  “Yeah. This is horrible. Did you find them?” she asked, while waiting for him to open the back door of the van.

  “Fortunately, I did. Damned domestic assault case and then we discovered this.” Before he opened the back door, he told her, “Be prepared…it’s awful.”

  The stench that came out of the van when he opened the door made her gag immediately. A quick glance and she knew why. What dogs she could see were covered in feces that were caked on and little paws that should have been white were stained yellow with urine.

  Paige couldn’t stop the tears that gathered in her eyes. “How can people do this?” she whispered.

  Clark reached out and patted her on the back. “I don’t know, but we’re going to help them,” he said as he pulled out the first cage containing three, very underweight Pomeranians.

  Chapter 4

  Clark wiped the sweat from his brown and took a glance at Paige. They had just started with the last dog they were assigned. When the team of volunteers had shown up, Clark had made sure that he had been paired up with Paige. Now, at two o’clock in th
e morning, he couldn’t imagine helping anyone but her.

  Sixty-two dogs had come into the shelter at the same time. The more critical dogs had been sent to the veterinarian’s hospital, leaving them with forty-eight to clean up. With twenty volunteers and staff, things had gone smoother than he expected, but he was now exhausted. Thankfully, one of his buddies had agreed to cover his morning shift.

  His was quickly jarred out of his thoughts when was suddenly the victim of a dousing by dog. The Pomeranian might have been small, but when she shook, she’d covered him. Laughing, he said to the dog, “Gee, this is the thanks I get for bathing you?”

  Paige had giggled and he was shocked. It was the first laugh he’d heard from her all night. Before now, he’d only heard muttering and curse words and watched as she occasionally wiped a tear from her eye. At least he now knew she could laugh and he wanted to hear more of it.

  “Find that funny, do you?” he laughed.

  Paige became serious again. “Sorry.”

  Reaching out, he touched her arm. He was shocked when she pulled her arm away quickly. “Don’t be sorry. I thought it was funny, so I was just joking.”

  Paige looked nervous and said a little too quickly, “Sorry. I’m just tired and hungry. I’d complain, but I bet you are just as tired and hungry as I am.”

  “Yeah, I’m famished. How about we go see what we can find to eat when we get out of here?”

  Susan came around the door just as soon as the words came out of his mouth. “That’s the plan people. I’ve already called ahead to the diner…just wanted to let them know we have a big group coming in. My treat!”

  Clark laughed, “Sounds good to me. How did you manage that?”

  Susan smiled. “Let’s just say I know the owner!”

  Paige just nodded her head to Susan and went back to work trying to soak some of the filth off the small dog.

  Clark had been with her since he’d brought in the first batch of dogs at seven and he still didn’t know her any better than he had. She certainly was quiet. However, he’d seen her show emotion over the animals and knew that anyone who cared this much about animals was a good person.

  He had wanted to compliment her and tell her how pretty her hair looked, but didn’t dare. In fact, he’d like to tell her that the Mohawk was ridiculous now that he’d seen her like this. He wouldn’t, though. He knew it would be the worst thing he could do.

  Instead, he complimented her on how she well she worked with the animals. Her voice was soothing and immediately put the animals at ease, as much as it was possible considering the circumstances. Hell, she’d almost hypnotized him several times tonight with that voice.

  Once Paige had finished washing the dog, he grabbed the towel and picked it up. The dog, obviously feeling better after getting all that filth removed, started lapping at his jawline. Paige let out a giggle. “Looks like she likes you!”

  Clark loved that laugh. He smiled and pulled the dog closer. “You’re a good girl. I wish like heck I could have dogs, because I’d take you right home with me.”

  “Me, too. Out of all of the dogs we took care of tonight, she seems to be the most appreciative, that’s for sure,” Paige commented. “I really wish you could take her…she seems to like you.”

  “Well, that’s because she’s smart,” he teased and watched Paige try not to smile.

  “Smart, huh?” Paige replied and he watched as her face quickly became a shade of crimson.

  She was definitely a shy one and he wasn’t talking about the dog. The dog was proving to be anything but shy and was reveling in all the attention she was getting.

  “Think I could sneak her into my apartment? Probably not. I’d end up living on the street. Sorry, Buttercup, but it looks like I’m not available,” he said to the dog and then laughed when the dog yipped in his arms.

  At that moment, Susan came back in and took the Pomeranian with her to get her settled into her temporary home. Paige turned around and started to clean up the wash station. She was exhausted, but he could tell she wasn’t the type to leave anything undone. Grabbing the dirty towels off the floor, he threw them into the laundry basket.

  “What else can I do?” he asked.

  Paige turned around and looked at the mess. “Um...let me think. Do you know how to mop?”

  “Do I know how to mop? You are talking to the mopping champion of 2002!” he stated with the most serious face he could muster at almost four o’clock in the morning.

  Paige rolled her eyes. “Mopping champion?”

  “Why yes! When I was a teenager, I used to go to Maine for the summer to stay with my Aunt and cousins. I helped out in the lodge and my duty was mopping the kitchen and dining room floors. Let’s just say I was better at it than anyone else!” Clark said.

  “Oh really? I just moved here from Maine. What part?” Paige asked.

  “Up north…Moose Valley. Where did you live?”

  “Portland. I never went further than Camden, though.”

  “Camden is a beautiful area, but nothing beats Northern Maine. Portland is a nice area, too.”

  “Yeah, it was, but I have to say I like the weather here better,” she smiled and when she did, he knew he was done for.

  “The weather is much better here, but I do miss my winters. I used to love going up there for Christmas. Snowmobiling. Skiing. I haven’t done that in ages.” He’d never realized just how much he missed it until now. Maybe next Christmas, he’d take a short vacation.

  Paige shrugged her shoulders. “I didn’t get a chance to do any of that stuff in Maine, but when I was a kid, my mother used to take me to this place where we could slide down a huge mountain. Well, when I was a kid it seemed like a mountain, but now that I think about it, it was probably just a big hill.”

  “Yeah, funny how your perspective changes as an adult.” Wow, he couldn’t believe he’d told her something so personal and he couldn’t hide the smile on his face no matter how hard he tried.

  It hit him right in the gut when Paige didn’t hold back her smile. Before he could say something stupid, Susan yelled out, “You guys almost finished?”

  Paige answered, “Almost.”

  “Well, hurry up. By the time we get to the diner, it will be open and ready to serve us.”

  “Be right there,” Paige told her and then hurried to pick up the rest of the towels and wipe down the sink while he mopped the floor. Ten minutes later, they both looked around the room and nodded their heads.

  He was hoping like hell that Paige would ride to the diner with him, but before he could even ask, Susan had told Paige that she could ride with her because she wanted to talk to her.

  More than a little disappointed, Clark just hoped he’d get another chance to spend some time alone with her without making it look too obvious.

  Chapter 5

  Paige pulled into the drive, put the car in park, and turned off the engine. She honestly couldn’t remember the drive home. She didn’t think she’d ever been so tired before in her life.

  Oh, she’d worked overnight before, but she’d always managed to get a little bit of sleep before going in. She’d now been up for twenty-six hours and it was taking its toll on her.

  As soon as she walked into the trailer, both Tom and Jerry started circling around her feet, making it difficult for her to even walk. Anyone else might look at them and think they were happy to see her, but she knew better. They only wanted food.

  Once the cats were fed, Paige stripped off her clothes in the bathroom, used the makeup remover to take off the layers, and got into the shower. It was then that the tears started.

  She couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for these poor dogs. Sixty-two in total and Susan had told her on the way to the diner that at least ten would have to be put down. She still couldn’t believe it. In her eyes, people who committed crimes against animals should receive the same sentence.

  Before her mother had died, Paige had dreamed about becoming a vet. After all was said
and done, though, she had no choice but to give up that dream. Her dream had now changed. One day, she hoped to be able to afford her own piece of land where she could operate a small sanctuary for abused animals.

  Of course, the jobs she qualified for didn’t pay the best and her savings amounted to less than five grand. Five grand was nothing when it came to buying property, but she wasn’t giving up on another dream, no matter how long it took.

  After her tears subsided, Paige threw on her robe and dried her hair. Looking in the mirror, she wondered what Clark would think if he could see her without makeup. Would he think she was pretty?

  Looking at herself in the mirror, she groaned. Why was she even concerned with what Clark thought? It wasn’t like he was interested in her or anything. He was there because of the dogs. That’s it.

  She remembered his wink, his smile, and his teasing. At the diner, he had been sitting just a couple seats away from her making it difficult to talk to him. However, she had noticed him watching her and, while it had made her nervous, it did make her smile.

  As she crawled into bed, she glanced at the clock. Eight-thirty and she now had the day off. She was going to use every single second that she could to sleep. That is if she could get Clark off her mind.

  Paige opened her eyes with a start. Unsure of what had woken her she rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock. Four o’clock. Then she heard it again. Someone was knocking on her door. Nobody ever knocked on her door. Nobody ever visited her.

  Grabbing her robe off the door, she looked out, surprised to find Rory standing there waiting. She cracked open the door. “Hey, Rory.”

  Rory smiled. “Sorry to disturb you. I heard about all those dogs. I should have realized you would still be sleeping.”

  Paige laughed. “Yeah, but it’s okay. I need to get up anyway or I won’t sleep tonight.”