Rescued Heart

by Georgia Beers

  It didn’t make sense that the noisy chaos of Junebug Farms would feel relaxed and calming compared to working in a bakery, but such was the case for Ashley and she smiled as she was bombarded with the familiar sounds and smells. Disinfectant, the buzz of conversation, endless barking. It hit her the second she opened the door, surrounded her like a fog, and she felt oddly at home. She waved to Maggie Simon on her way by the gift shop and then again at the two volunteers behind the front desk area of the lobby. Bill Tracey was precariously perched on a ladder doing something to an overhead light, so Ashley refrained from distracting him and stayed quiet as she walked by.

  The volume of the barking increased exponentially as she pushed through the double doors leading to the dog wing, and Ashley was happily surprised to see ten separate people meandering up and down the row of cages, stopping here and there to coo to a dog or read the chart attached to its cage door. There was a family of three, two couples, and three individuals, and Ashley simply stood next to Lisa’s desk and watched.

  “Wow,” she breathed after a few moments.

  “I know, right?” Lisa replied from her seat. Lowering her voice to just above a whisper, she asked, “See that woman near cage sixteen? The short one with the dark hair?”

  Ashley nodded.

  “She was here on Monday, too. Looking at the same dog. I think he might get lucky.”

  Ashley grinned. “That’s awesome.”

  “And the parents with the boy? They want to see Jax. Again. Tammy’s walking him, but should be in soon.”

  As if on cue, the back door opened and Tammy entered with Jax on a leash. It was as if Jax recognized that the family was there to see him, and his large tail began to wag, like a fur-covered baseball bat swinging back and forth. The boy was maybe ten, and Ashley watched in awe as he dropped to his knees so he could look the dog in the eye. Ashley turned to say something to Lisa, but the expression on her face stopped the words in Ashley’s throat.

  Lisa was smiling.

  Widely.

  Her green eyes seemed radiant, sparkling with a joy that Ashley hadn’t seen before. She looked undeniably beautiful. And when she lifted a hand, brushed it through her hair, and gently tucked a chunk behind her ear with her fingertips, her eyes never leaving the family and Jax, Ashley felt a sizzling jolt run through her. It shocked her so much, she took a small step back. Away.

  Lisa glanced up at her, and a sudden look of concern creased her face. “You okay?”

  Ashley raised her eyebrows in question, buying herself some recovery time by asking, “I’m sorry, what?” even as she felt heat flush her cheeks and her body break out in a sweat.

  “I asked if you were okay. You have a weird look on your face.”

  Nodding, Ashley replied, “Oh. Yeah. I’m fine. I’m good. I’m great. You?”

  Lisa squinted at her, but didn’t press. “I’m good.”

  “Oh, good. That’s good. Um…” She pointed in the general direction of the restrooms. “I just…I’ll be right back.” And suddenly, she couldn’t get away from Lisa fast enough. Thankful to be the only person in the ladies’ room, she threw a handful of cold water on her face—which felt like it was broiling—and looked at her reflection in the mirror. “What the hell was that?” she hissed. “Pull yourself together, for God’s sake. This is not the time or place to decide you have a crush. Geez.” The door opened, and Ashley was grateful to have an excuse to stop talking to herself. Tammy grinned at her in the mirror.

  “I think those people are going to adopt Jax.” She went into a stall and shut the door, but kept talking. “They were here on Sunday. He seems to really connect with the boy. Did you see them?”

  “I didn’t. But that’s great,” Ashley replied, and she meant it.

  Her voice echoing from inside the stall, Tammy said, “It’s a little bittersweet, though, I have to admit. I’ll miss him.”

  Ashley stopped with her wet hand halfway to the towel dispenser as she took in Tammy’s words. “Oh. Yeah, I hadn’t thought of that.” And she hadn’t. A flash of melancholy hit as she realized Jax could be leaving and she’d never see him again.

  The toilet flushed and Tammy bent over the sink to wash her hands. “It can be a tough part of the job. I mean, it’s not the same as it would be at a shelter that’s not no-kill, but it’s still difficult. You get attached.” She reached around Ashley for a towel. “You try not to, but sometimes it can’t be helped.” With a small smile, she left Ashley standing in the ladies’ room alone.

  The next couple of hours went by quickly as Ashley walked several dogs and made an appearance at the goat pen just for a change of pace. Back inside, she watched as the dark-haired woman filled out paperwork to adopt the terrier mix. Lisa called that one, she thought with a smile. Then she helped mop out a couple of empty cages. It was nearing six by the time she realized how hungry she was and decided that once she finished mopping, it was time to pack up and go home. Tammy was putting the last of her walkers back in his cage when Lisa spoke from her desk as she set down the phone.

  “It’s official, ladies,” she said, and the rare smile on her face was gorgeous, Ashley couldn’t help but notice. “Jax has been adopted. They’re coming back tomorrow morning to pick him up.”

  “Fantastic!” Tammy said, clapping her hands together. “I was pretty sure we’d have him here for the duration.”

  “So was I.” Lisa walked down the aisle to stand next to Tammy at Jax’s door. The Lab/shepherd mix stood proudly, enormous head up, tail wagging, as if he knew he’d just accomplished something major. “That boy is going to love you to pieces,” Lisa said to him.

  Ashley watched all of this from two doors down, and it was true that she was beyond happy for Jax. She was ecstatic. This was huge for him. Dogs his age and size? They were rarely adopted. Most spent their remaining days here at the shelter, and though they were well-cared for and loved, it wasn’t the same as having a forever home and their very own family to love and protect. This was great news. It was a very, very happy day for Jax.

  Ashley quietly leaned her mop against the wall and headed to the employee break room, which was thankfully empty. She tried to keep herself quiet, to get her emotions under control, but a small sob escaped from her throat before she could clap a hand over her mouth. Her eyes filled with tears just as a warm hand lay on her shoulder.

  “Hey,” Lisa said softly. “You okay?” Gentle pressure from her fingers slowly turned Ashley to face her. One look at the shimmering wetness in her eyes was all it took.

  “I’ll miss him,” Ashley whispered.

  “I know,” Lisa said. “So will I. It’s okay. Come here.”

  Before Ashley could say anything more or launch any sort of protest, she found herself enfolded in Lisa’s arms, and the warmth of that embrace melted any barriers Ashley had put up to keep her emotions penned in. Once the tears spilled over, there was no stopping them and she cried quietly against Lisa’s shoulder. She could feel Lisa’s hand on her head, the other on her back, stroking gently. She could hear the tender murmurs close to her ear, telling Ashley she understood, promising that it would be okay, that Jax would be very happy, that Ashley being sad to see him go just proved what a big heart she had. She was pretty sure she felt Lisa press a gentle kiss against her hat, but she chose not to think about it too hard. It was all a bit surreal to Ashley, being held by this woman she’d always labeled as a bit cold, a bit removed. And oh, my God, did she smell good. That same mixture…honey, vanilla, and something slightly different this time. Jasmine? Ashley didn’t know for sure, but what she did know was that she could stand right there, wrapped up in Lisa’s warm, soft embrace, until the end of time and be perfectly, amazingly content.

  It was that thought that finally made her extricate herself. Slowly. So she could remember what it felt like, as the likelihood of it happening again was slim. It had to be slim. Ashley wouldn’t survive it a second time, which she realized when she had trouble pulling her eyes away from Lisa’s m
outh.

  With a loud clearing of her throat, Ashley took a step back and gave a weak smile. “Sorry about that.” She wiped at her face, glad after all that she had no mascara on. Glancing around the room, she located a box of tissues and snagged a couple, wiped her face, blew her nose. Lisa watched her the whole time, a mix of sympathy and amusement on her face.

  “No need to apologize. I completely get it.” There was that smile again.

  Why don’t you smile more often? God, you’re gorgeous when you smile. Lisa reached out and squeezed Ashley’s shoulder, but didn’t step any closer. “I don’t want volunteers who feel nothing for the animals. You know?”

  Ashley nodded and blew out a breath. “Yeah, I do. I’m happy for Jax. I really am. I’m just…a little embarrassed now.” She shrugged.

  “It’ll be our little secret.” Lisa made a show of twisting an imaginary key in front of her lips and tossing it over her shoulder. “No worries.” She held Ashley’s gaze a beat longer, then winked at her and left the room.

  Ashely waited until the door closed, then dropped forward, bracing her hands on her knees, and a groan escaped her lips. “Oh, my God,” she said aloud, albeit quietly. “What the hell was that?” It didn’t take long for her sadness to morph into total mortification. She covered her face with both hands as she straightened back up and shook her head back and forth slowly. “I cannot believe I did that. I am such an idiot.” She finally dropped her hands and blew out another, bigger breath. Near the bank of lockers was a small mirror, and she used it to clean herself up. She blew her nose one last time, downed a paper cup of water from the cooler, and shook her hands out at her sides, willing herself to pull it together. She smoothed her hands down her shirt, straightened her hat. Deep breath in, slow breath out, and she was ready. She needed to say goodbye to Jax as he’d be gone the next time she was here. It wouldn’t be easy, but she knew if she didn’t, she’d regret it. Plus, he deserved to know how much she cared about him and how happy she was for him.

  As she pushed the door open, she tried not to notice that she could still smell Lisa on her clothes.

  ***

  Lisa wasn’t sure what to make of those five minutes in the employee break room, and she was still rolling it around in her head an hour later as she packed up her things to head home.

  It was completely out of character for her and she knew it. The emotions of other people were not things she enjoyed getting wrapped up in. In fact, she stayed as far away from them as she could manage. She’d done more than her share of taking care of people in her young life. She had no desire to do it again. But something about Ashley, about Ashley’s sadness—it called to her, tugged at her, and she’d had no choice (which kind of ticked her off). She’d understood exactly why Ashley had excused herself and regular Lisa would have shrugged in indifference. This new, weird Lisa hadn’t even thought twice before following. And holding her while she cried? How the hell had that happened? Lisa couldn’t remember the last time she’d been the pillar of support for somebody. Definitely not her forté. And also, not anything she wanted to do. Why would she? People did nothing but take from you, why hand over a shining opportunity? But it had felt…right. Ashley was only an inch or two shorter than Lisa and her head fit naturally against Lisa’s shoulder like that’s where she belonged. Lisa could still feel the warmth of Ashley’s body, the solid softness of it, Ashley’s hand at the small of her back. And the smell of cupcakes. Always cupcakes. Lisa squinted in confusion at the memory.

  What a weird freaking afternoon.

  She shook herself back to the present.

  Both Tammy and Ashley were scheduled for another half hour. Lisa put on her jacket, shouldered her bag, then found Tammy to let her know she was leaving. She didn’t purposely avoid Ashley, but not seeing her again tonight was probably best for both of them. For Ashley so she wouldn’t be embarrassed all over again. For Lisa so she had some time to purge her brain of the day’s nuttiness.

  The avoidance wasn’t total, however.

  On her way to her car, Lisa could see Ashley some distance away walking one of the pit bulls. But who was that walking next to her? A quick glance at the parking lot and Lisa’s gaze landed on the black Mercedes coupe, confirming her suspicions. Goddamn Clark Breckenridge.

  “Ugh, I hate that guy,” Lisa whispered into the evening air. She kept walking toward her car, but had trouble pulling her eyes away from the couple. Clark was walking rather close to Ashley, who laughed at something he said. Lisa could hear it from where she stood, fumbling with her keys, trying to find the right button to unlock the door so she could get inside and not listen to that blowhard playboy make Ashley laugh again. Even though it was a really, really nice sound.

  “Goodnight, Lisa,” she heard Ashley call to her. She looked up to see Ashley waving at her. She gave a half-hearted wave back before throwing herself into her car and pulling the door shut, suddenly overwhelmed by the need to escape.

  So she did.

  The next day handed Lisa a pounding headache the moment she opened her eyes. She’d slept fitfully, unable to find a comfortable body temperature, and when she had slept, her mind had been plagued with strange, exhausting dreams that should couldn’t remember. All she knew now was that she felt like she’d slept for a grand total of fifteen minutes and she was running dangerously low on Motrin. One of the cats had left her a lovely present of a pile of vomited hairball, though nobody was ratting anybody else out. And worst of all, she was out of coffee. She briefly thought maybe she’d just go back to bed to avoid the disaster this day was obviously going to be, but at the last minute, decided against it. She took the last handful of Motrin, cleaned up the puke, and headed to work. A stop at Dunkin’ Donuts on the way in cured the coffee problem, and she was pleasantly surprised to see Tammy Renner there before she was. The woman might as well be a full-time employee; that’s how much time she spent at Junebug Farms. Too bad every volunteer didn’t have such dedication and unlimited amounts of free time…not to mention the love for the animals.

  “Morning, boss,” Tammy said with a warm smile. She wore jeans and a flannel shirt over a white T-shirt. Lisa made it a point not to be friends with her employees as she felt it undermined her authority, but Tammy was easily one of the kindest people she’d ever met, and she felt her mood warming up almost immediately when she saw her grinning face.

  “Hi, Tammy. How are you?”

  “Can’t complain.” Tammy’s stock answer. “I mopped out the empty cages—boy, I love seeing those.”

  “Me, too.”

  “And I gave Jax a bath.”

  “Oh, right,” Lisa said, remembering that the old boy was heading to his new forever home this morning. “Fantastic.”

  “I swear he knows what’s going on. Prancing around like he’s Mr. Big Shot.”

  “Funny how that happens, isn’t it?” Lisa asked. “I think he does know. Dogs are so much smarter than we ever give them credit for.” She watched as Tammy nodded, a different thought entirely poking at her brain. As Tammy started to walk away, Lisa asked, “Hey, how late was Ashley here last night? Do you know?”

  Tammy furrowed her brow and pursed her lips. “Hmm. I’d say maybe an hour after you left?”

  “Was Clark Breckenridge here the whole time?” Lisa tried to ask it innocently, but wasn’t sure if she’d succeeded.

  Tammy rolled her eyes with a scoff. “He was. Followed her around like a puppy. Lucky for him, she’s polite. I’d have told him to take a hike.” As if remembering exactly who Breckenridge was and what he did for Junebug, she added, “Gently, of course.”

  “You said Ashley was polite.” Lisa again tried to feign only vague interest. “You don’t think she’s interested in him? That maybe they’d make a good couple?”

  “Ha!” Tammy laughed. “Um…no.”

  “Really? Why not?”

  A beat went by as Tammy studied her before saying, “Oh, honey, I don’t think Mr. Breckenridge is…” She seemed to search for the
right words, scanning the ceiling before finishing simply with, “Ashley’s type.” With a wink, she headed down the aisle to the golden retriever mix in the last cage.

  Lisa could do nothing but stare after her for a full thirty seconds.

  What the hell did that mean?

  CHAPTER SIX

  Katie Stanger was incompetent.

  Okay, maybe that was harsh. Maybe “not terribly competent” was better. Ashley didn’t like to judge. In fact, she preferred to keep her head down, her mouth shut, and just do her job. But Katie was a menace to the bakery without meaning to be. And that was the hardest part for Ashley: she liked Katie. Katie was bubbly and enthusiastic and cute as a button and nice. And she always tried so hard. But she was a klutz, constantly tripping, spilling, or dropping. She didn’t follow directions well because she was so excited to get started that she didn’t fully listen, and she was making Ashley’s day a living hell that consisted of picking up slack and correcting mistakes that were not her own. Her patience had worn as thin as the phyllo dough the pastry chef used to make the baklava and she couldn’t wait until the end of the day.

  Which was another five hours away.

  “I might not make it,” she said to her friend Stella as they worked together frosting the half-moon cookies. “I might dive headfirst into the vat of cake batter and just end it all.”

  Stella gave a snort of agreement. “I get it.” Lowering her voice as she looked around, she said, “I hid in the walk-in freezer for almost twenty minutes to avoid her constant questions. I still can’t feel three of the fingers on my left hand.” She held up the hand in question and tried to wiggle her fingers. They stayed immobile.

  From one steel work table over came a quiet chuckle. Ashley turned toward Martha, who was decorating a cake. “Are you talking about you-know-who?” she asked quietly, jerking her chin in the direction Katie last bounced. At their nods, she shook her head. “She dropped an entire container of frosting this morning.”