A New Leash on Life

by Suzie Carr

  After the family left, cat-less, I asked Natalie, “Do you go home and bawl after working this front desk?”

  “You get used to it, unfortunately. I used to leave here and think about the dogs shaking and shivering in their kennels alone all night long with no one to hug them or cuddle up to them. I wanted to take them all back to my house with me and spoil them with table scraps and Milk Bones and long walks on the carriage trails in back of my home. As it is, though, I already foster four of them. But too many are being dropped off, and even with the expansion, we’re still going to find ourselves running out of space.”

  “Sounds like you need more help in here.”

  “You think?” Her voice cranked out a soprano note. “Thank goodness for the foster families. They volunteer their homes, their food, and their time to care for these doggies until a family arrives to bring them home. If it weren’t for them, we’d never be able to remain no-kill. It only gets worse with time.”

  “Olivia said she had everything under control.”

  “Olivia always says that.” Natalie rolled her eyes. “She’s consumed with clinic visits from people who can no longer afford to take their dogs to their family vet office for routine shots. So, we now have a busy clinic on top of an overloaded no-kill shelter. Olivia can’t refuse any creature.” She pulled open the file cabinet and dug out a new folder. “In fact, this one time, this boy came in with a turtle and said he found it in the middle of his road and was afraid it’d get run over. The turtle was hurt and dehydrated and needed care. Most shelters as over capacity as we were would’ve turned the poor boy away. Not Olivia. She took the turtle off the little boy’s hands, reassured him she’d fix him up and return him to where he belonged, in the woods.”

  I smiled at the vision of this.

  “She babied that turtle, nursed him back to health, and we walked down to the creek behind the old drugstore on Main Street and released him into the wild. She cried when he crawled out of our sight.”

  I could see Olivia muddied up to her knees in a creek, releasing this turtle into the wild, hoping he’d become king of the creek. “She’s certainly committed.”

  “Too much sometimes,” Natalie said. “Though, she needs to wrap herself around a task during all waking hours or else she’d start pulling her hair out or banging her head against the wall. Some people just thrive in chaos.”

  She needed help, and I would help her. I would set up interviews and start hiring her some staff.

  So, the following week when I returned, despite her fighting me over placing ads in newspapers without her consent, I reassured her that the two interviews I had set up would be worth her while. I told her that if she disagreed with me after, I’d volunteer to clean the kennel runs for a week.

  She smiled at that one.

  God, I loved her smile. I loved her laugh. I loved her soft eyes. I loved everything about Olivia Clark. I wish I could’ve told her. I wished I could’ve told her the truth about Josh and have her tell me the years smoothed over the hurt and that she couldn’t wait to meet her niece.

  Later on that day, she granted me another peek at that smile when I lifted a leash from the peg and volunteered to take a very hyper Mr. Chipper for a walk. Two of the volunteers had called out that day and everyone else was drowning in tasks. Trevor and Natalie introduced families to some of the cats, and in between vaccinating dogs in the clinic, Olivia had been dashing in and out to check up on Snowball.

  “You’d make me a very happy woman if you could walk him,” she said, relaxing into a sweet smile. “That front door has been opening and shutting all day with visitors and vendors and drop-offs. I haven’t had a moment to eat a string cheese or pee.”

  “I’m glad to help whenever. Just let me know when you’re overwhelmed.”

  “It’s been busy, but, nothing I can’t handle.”

  I studied her twitching eye, her tense stance. “Hmm. Okay. I didn’t mean to insinuate anything. I’m just here to help, that’s all.”

  She pointed her eyes in Mr. Chipper’s direction. He wagged his tail and perked his ears. “Someone’s waiting for you.”

  I looped part of the leash through the handle to form a collar. “I best not keep him waiting, then.” We locked eyes for a moment, then Mr. Chipper barked. She smiled again before I tore away to unlock Mr. Chipper’s gate. I wedged my hips in between the gated door to block him from escaping as I looped the leash around his fluffy head and pointy ears. The two of us took off towards the waiting area.

  “Don’t forget poop bags are outside of the front door,” Olivia yelled.

  “Oh, I know. I placed them in there first thing this morning.” I winked and strutted forward, swaying my hips more than usual. “Come on, Mr. Chipper.” I pulled him closer to my side, walking tall and in full command of this furry, strong beast of a doggie who, no doubt, could easily take over as leader with a simple nudge. “We’ll be back in a bit.” I turned for one last wave. She stood in front of me, hands on her slender hips, with a small, sexy smile resting on her lips.

  I turned back and my tummy rolled in delight.

  ~ ~

  The artist had stuck to his word and arrived in time for Trevor to unlock the shelter’s door at eight o’clock the night before. He created a masterpiece, just as he had envisioned in our meeting. He painted happy, tail-wagging pooches enjoying lush fields with purple, yellow, and pink flowers in all sizes and shapes imaginable.

  About an hour after I received a picture message of the freshly painted accent wall near the kennels, I got a call from Olivia. “I don’t know whether to yell at you or lavish you in praise.”

  “You’re such a control freak, that I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to yell first and lavish second.”

  “I don’t know how to thank you.” Her voice drew out long and breezy.

  “Sure you do,” I teased.

  She snickered, and this sent my heart into overdrive.

  “Let me guess,” she said. “Peanut butter and banana on rye?”

  “Yeah,” I copied her long and breezy tone. “Something like that, sure.”

  “Mom,” Ayla yelled out running into the den. “I can’t find my new jacket.”

  I shushed her. “I’m on the phone.”

  “Is that your daughter?”

  “Yes, that’s Ayla.” I frowned at her and waved her away.

  “But Mom, Scott and Alexia are coming in like five minutes and you’re not even ready.”

  “Is Scott your boyfriend?” Olivia asked.

  I didn’t even like Scott anymore. He bored me now. “I guess.”

  “Well, I don’t want to keep you. Have fun, and thank you.”

  I wanted to stay on the phone with her all morning. I missed her. I wanted to work by her side tending to vaccines and socializing dogs all day long. “Call me if you get overwhelmed.”

  “We’ll be fine.”

  “Olivia?”

  “Mom,” Ayla begged me, pulling at my sweater. I pushed her away and pointed my finger like a real authority. She rolled her teenage eyes at me and stomped.

  “Yes, I’m still here.”

  “I’m going to be back up this week to check out the mural.”

  “I was hoping you would. I’ll have that sandwich waiting for you.”

  “Counting on it.” My daughter’s eyes bore into me.

  “Chloe?”

  “Yeah,” I said, pushing past Ayla’s patience limit at this point.

  “I’d like to meet her.”

  “Ayla?”

  Ayla shot me a dirty look.

  “Bring her with you next time,” Olivia said.

  “Mom, this is getting ridiculous.”

  “I’ve got to go,” I said. “I’ll talk with you soon.”

  I hung up and Ayla pulled me up the stairs and into her room to find her jacket. “Who was asking about me?”

  “The lady who owns the animal shelter.”

  “The lady?”

  I coughed. “Yes. Now shus
h and let’s find your jacket.”

  “I don’t see why you can’t just take me with you there,” she said, tossing clothes from her bed to the floor. “I’m not a little kid. I know how to deal with animals.”

  “It’s just been kind of crazy there. As soon as things calm down, maybe I’ll take you.”

  She stopped tossing. “Really?”

  You would’ve thought I told her we were visiting Disney World for a month. “Yes, really.”

  She jumped up and down like a five-year old.

  If I didn’t complicate my life, then my name wouldn’t be Chloe Homestead.

  Chapter Twelve

  Olivia

  Snowball improved each day. Melanie and Phil both attributed her miraculous second recovery to reiki. I couldn’t deny the treatments had benefited all three of them. Melanie and Phil looked more like a couple, looping their arms around each other’s waists and singing their high praises to the other’s resilient spirit. When I asked her about their status, she told me, “I was wrong about him before. He’s great to have around.”

  “I found Jacqueline on Facebook.”

  I’d never seen my friend pale. “Oh wow.”

  “She’s adorable.”

  She looked ready to pass out. She clung to Max’s kennel gate. “Why did you do that?”

  “Are you mad?”

  “Well, things are good now with Phil. He’s got my heart fluttering all over again.”

  I loved that my friend’s heart fluttered, but the playful side of me wanted it to be because of Jacqueline. So, I had to press. “I could send her a quick message about you if you want.”

  “Absolutely not.” She shook her head, as if knocking the fluttering right out of it. “Now, don’t we have a spay/neuter program to organize for Sunday?”

  I laughed, swinging an arm around her. “You are the most complicated woman I know. One minute you’re in love with a woman, the next a man. You’re spinning my head.”

  “Don’t get involved with a bisexual. We’re all fucked up.”

  “I thought you said love had nothing to do with sexual preference.”

  “I don’t know what I feel anymore.”

  I leaned into her as we walked. “I’m sorry,” I said, swallowing a chuckle. “But, really, at least one of us is getting some flutters.”

  She stopped. “What are you talking about?” She scoffed. “You’re fluttering all over the darn place when Chloe’s here.”

  “She’s out of the question. She’s got a boyfriend.”

  “Yeah, and so do I. That doesn’t stop my curiosity from piquing over a woman I haven’t seen in over twenty years.”

  ~ ~

  The day the construction started, Chloe showed up at the shelter armed with a smile and a take-charge attitude.

  Trevor, Natalie, Chloe, and I stood arm-to-arm out in the fenced yard staring at the enormous hole in the ground where the foundation for the addition would be poured. The contractor showed his blueprints again, and my heart leapt. I stared at the proposed new space with pride swelling from every pore. Sixty new kennels all equipped with doggie doors that led to fenced in runs. The blueprints swaddled me in hope, renewing my dreams and erasing all fear.

  “Now all they need are comfy beds and flat screens, and I might be banging on the door asking if I can move in.” Chloe wrapped an arm around my shoulders and hugged me to her. She smelled like fresh shampoo and mint gum.

  “Can I give you a hug?” Natalie asked already throwing her arms around Chloe, knocking me from the embrace.

  Once Natalie backed down, Trevor shook her hand. “You freaking rock.”

  “I adore what you do here,” Chloe said, her face brightening. “I’m just glad I could become a part of it.”

  “We’re thrilled to have you a part of our team,” Natalie said.

  Too shy to admit out loud just how much I enjoyed her being a part of our team, I simply nodded.

  Over the course of the past weeks, she had remained friendly and helpful, always eager to jump in, roll up her sleeves and get her hands dirty if need be. The dogs and cats and ferrets adored her, possibly as much as Natalie did.

  I no longer filled the position of Natalie’s crush. That baton passed rather quickly over to Chloe once she began shadowing Natalie. Chloe wanted to learn everything and anything that had to do with the shelter, from inventory, to watering, to feeding, to cleaning, to socializing, to training, to walking, and even to assisting me on vaccine days.

  As we neared closer to the concrete pouring and walls going up, I started to let my guard down. I no longer circled in search of myself when with her. I found my footing.

  We were friends. I could trust her in that way.

  When she asked to help with hiring new staff and planning new educational programs, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. She jumped right in and followed my lead, eager to spread her help around to me, to Natalie, to Trevor, to Melanie.

  As the drywall and plaster went up, and the artist came back in and painted a second colorful mural, we were able to start piling up new inventory.

  “Here, let me help you with that.” Chloe secured her hip under the forty-pound bag of kibble and carried it in like a construction worker heaving a bag of cement. I hid my laughter under the weight of my own forty-pound bag of kibble, following her to the new storage room.

  “We can place these at the far end,” I yelled to her.

  When she arrived at the empty shelving, she opted to drop the bag at her feet. I dropped mine on top of hers and we both sighed as if we’d just trekked a mile hauling them.

  “Please tell me you have a cart back here.” She blew a wisp of her hair off her flushed face before bending over at her knees.

  My mind wandered. I imagined throwing my arms around her back, cradling her to me and her looking up at me with those brownie eyes, a tease in them.

  “I never purchased dog food in massive bulk like this before, except for before the dreadful storm.”

  She rose. “No cart?”

  “I’m afraid not.”

  “I know what I’m buying you for your grand opening gift.” She patted my back, like one friendly sister to another.

  ~ ~

  Chloe walked into my office one day as I checked my Facebook for a message from Jacqueline. Still none. I told her about my secret quest to get them in touch.

  “Jacqueline LaFleur,” she said. “That is such a pretty name. It sounds like she should smell like a garden of flowers, wear bright pastels and write memos on delicate, flowery cards.”

  I loved how she embellished the world. “She’s into leather, mostly.”

  She curled up beside me and whispered, “Mmm, even better.”

  I squeezed my legs together, enjoying the tremble.

  ~ ~

  Trevor helped me work a spay and neuter presentation at the Howard County Festival a few days later. I dredged up ruthless details about the sad consequences of not spaying and neutering pets, sparing no emotion in my voice as I talked about overcrowding, euthanasia, and animals suffering on the streets from malnutrition as a direct result of overpopulation. Mouths hung open as I dispelled facts, and Trevor forwarded through slide after slide. I always set out to point out the truth at these educational events, especially the ugly truths. People sometimes walked out, huffing and disgusted that I would go into such details, others wiped their eyes the entire time, and others thanked me profusely at the end. I always ended on the point that we needed to take care of the animals in need now and not add to the issues by purchasing pets through puppy mill supporting pet stores. I emphasized the importance of spaying and neutering our pets to avoid bringing more puppies into the world that could be potentially abandoned.

  Howard County thanked me in a follow-up call a few days later and asked me to join them at their next county executive meeting so they could gift me with a community award for my work in ensuring positive lives for all domesticated animals. In addition to the plaque, they also donated five thousand
dollars to fund additional educational programs and advertisements aimed at communicating the truth to those who would be willing to listen. Within an hour, I called the reporter who first interviewed me and asked her to line me up with a sales rep. I spent the entire donation on a commercial spot to target households with the intent to breed their domesticated animals for money and at would-be purchasers of puppies from dishonorable pet stores who supported known puppy mills.

  After that call, I visited Melanie at her home reiki studio so I could tell her the good news.

  She was reading Jacqueline’s letters again.

  ~ ~

  Chloe invited us all out to dinner to celebrate my award from Howard County. Melanie had called me up to warn me that I had better wear something nicer than cargo pants and a t-shirt because Chloe had planned something downright awe-inspiring. Melanie refused to elaborate.

  When Chloe arrived at my condo, she sizzled, wearing a sundress with large colored beads on the shoulders and rainbow splatters of springy pinks and greens and yellows. She looked like she belonged on the set of 90210. She had sleeked her hair back and the ends curved up just above her shoulders. Long silver strands that resembled tinsel hung from her petite ears down to the ends of her hair. She wore a pair of platform sandals and her toes glimmered in a sparkly pink.

  Thanks to Melanie’s warning, I had run out to the mall and, with the help of a few clerks at Nordstrom’s, I purchased a respectable outfit: taupe silk pants, a collared blouse that buttoned just low enough to expose a little tease, and a fitted navy blazer. When the clerk handed me a matching clutch bag, I refused. “I’ll just stick my wallet in my pants pocket,” I said to her.

  “Wow,” Chloe said, circling me, tracing a finger along my fitted jacket. “Lecture a few hundred people on the importance of getting their pets fixed and I get this gorgeous sight? Sign me up.”

  “This doesn’t happen often.” I massaged one of the shiny colorful beads on her shoulder, admiring the way it balanced on her soft golden skin. “You look so elegant.”