by A. J. Norris
“How about a goat? No, just kidding, my fiancé would never forgive me. Plus, I’m kind of attached to both of them.”
Aubrey and I laughed.
“You’re engaged to Chance. Oh, my goodness—or crap, are you?” I asked.
“Yes. We’re engaged. Shall we go outside?”
“Sure. Can Pixy come?”
“Try and stop him.” Aubrey led the goat and me outside. There was a decent-sized grassy area with a chain link fence around the perimeter. “We call this the playground. The dogs really love it. Gives them a chance to socialize and be dogs.”
“How many animals can the shelter hold?”
“Depending on the size, about forty, give or take. Right now, we have fifteen. We have adoption events three times a year. This really helps keep the shelter from reaching full capacity, since we are a no-kill shelter.”
“Oh, good. That was my next question. Does Pixy live here full-time?”
“He goes home with me every night, but I bring him to work every day.”
“Awesome.”
Pixy jumped around the cement patio, kicking up his hooves and bleating.
“He’s showing off for you. Sorry, buddy, she’s taken.”
I giggled.
“Do you have any more questions for me?” she asked.
“No. I just wanted to say that I’m a hard worker and a fast learner.”
“I’m already familiar with your work ethic and I know you’re good with people. And Pixy likes you, which of course is the most important thing.” She winked. “So, welcome aboard. When can you start?”
“Monday?”
“All right, we open at eight. We’ll talk about your schedule then.”
“Thank you so much.”
Aubrey was walking me to the front door when Chance came in. “You remember Melanie from Starbucks?”
“Oh, yeah, hey.” His smile brightened up the room. “How’s it going?” he asked in his amazing Aussie accent.
“Good and you?”
“Couldn’t be better. Are you adopting a pet?”
“I just hired her as a volunteer,” Aubrey explained.
“Nice, so we’ll be seeing you around.” He looked at his fiancée and pursed his lips. “Maybe you should get an expresso machine in here now that she’s joining the team.”
She swatted his arm. “No, she will not be making you coffee, Chance.”
“Expresso.”
“That, either.” The woman rolled her eyes. “Don’t mind him. See you on Monday.”
We said our goodbyes and I floated out of the shelter and into my car. The floaty-free feeling lasted the entire ride to Jayce’s old house.
I parked my car behind his and next to another vehicle I didn’t recognize. I absently wondered whose Tahoe it was until I hit the porch. My throat tightened. Jennifer’s family must’ve still been there. On the other side of the storm door glass sat her parents and sister. They appeared to be talking.
Oy, Captain, she’s taking on water. What shall we do? (Since this was my life analogy, my ship, my crew, they all spoke with Australian accents.)
Plug the hole, that was what we’d do. It was the only thing to do. I steeled my shoulders and opened the door.
Jennifer’s mother noticed me first and came over. “I’m Leanne Regan. You must be Melanie.” My heart pounded and a sudden increase in my body temperature made me woozy. By sheer will, I managed to stay on my feet. The warm but tentative smile on her face took some of the edge off my fear. Although, I still nearly threw up on her shoes.
“Hi.” I heard the quaver in my voice. The next thing I knew, she was hugging me. “I’m so sorry,” I cried, unable to hold in my tears.
“Please know that we have never blamed you for anything. Jayce told us how you’ve been suffering. If we’d known, we would have reached out to you and told you not to blame yourself. Jennifer wouldn’t have wanted you to be in pain for even a second.”
Her sister joined the hug. When another hand touched my back, I thought Jayce stepped in until the person attached to the hand spoke. “Live your life in peace, and take care of our son,” Mr. Regan said.
The four of us embraced for a long time. Occasionally, someone would say something, then we’d all cry again. I sensed that this was just as cathartic for them as it was for me.
When we finally untangled from each other, we stood, smiling and mopping our eyes. Soft bubbles of laughter slipped out like we had all found some relief.
In the end, Jennifer’s family boxed up her grandmother’s silver, a few framed pictures, a photo album, and her jewelry box. They promised to be by next weekend to help sort and donate the rest of their daughter’s and sister’s things.
After the goodbyes and see-you-next-weeks, my boyfriend turned to me. “How are you?” We asked each other at the same time.
“I’m fi—”
“I’m fine.”
“I’m so sorry about the ambush,” he said. “After I told them about you, they insisted on staying to meet you.”
“You don’t need to apologize. I’m glad they stayed.”
“Cool. I’m relieved.”
I heard the words coming out of his mouth. However, his body language suggested otherwise.
“My ship got a little of its buoyancy back. I needed that.” I brushed his lips with a kiss to reassure him I really was doing okay. His expression and the tension in his body eased.
“How’d the interview go?”
“Fantastic! I got the position.”
“Congrats,” he said, picking me up around the waist and hugging me. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. Oh, get this, it turns out the shelter director and her fiancé had been regular customers of mine at the Starbucks I worked at in Temecula. And Jayce?”
“Yeah?”
“I wanna adopt a goat.”
“Uh, did you say a goat?”
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A.J. Norris writes action-packed, character driven stories. She likes her paranormal and romantic suspense dark and delicious with a touch of humor. Her favorite kind of protagonists are strong heroines who often become their own hero.
A.J. lives in Michigan with her supportive family and two adorable Yorkie mixes.
Check out other books by this author at:
www.ajnorrisauthor.com
