She took a step backward. “And he’s under your desk?”
“He is.” She scooted her chair back and grabbed Porter and sat him on the blotter on her desk. “Meet Porter.”
“Ohhhhh. Isn’t he adorable? Is this one of Mike’s puppies?”
“Mike?” Just how much coincidence was there going to be on this job? “Are you serious?”
“I think he’s the only one that raises Labs around here. He’s awfully cute. Rein, that’s his female, the one that was on the wagon that night. She had a litter a month or two ago.”
“I don’t know. He came out of the woods next to the corporate apartment.”
“Oh. Yeah. Must be one of Rein’s pups. Mike’s farm backs right up to the other warehouse. Y’all are practically neighbors.”
“He never mentioned that.”
“No secret really. His horses are usually right out there in that pasture. Then again, it’s a big pasture. I guess if you’re not looking for them you might not see them.”
She remembered the horses running in the field while she was jogging last week. This town seemed to get smaller every day.
“I’ll give Mike a call, and let him know I have the puppy.” She should be relieved to know who the owner was, but part of her wasn’t really ready to let go of the little guy.
“You have his number?”
She nodded. “I do.”
“Okay, let me know if you need anything.”
Vanessa had almost finished aligning every resource from the current Porter’s staffing records to the new warehouse project or to their current position in Porter’s until they adjusted the processes when Misty walked in an hour later.
“Hi, Vanessa. I brought the old mail-order catalogs that Porter’s used to use, along with the mockups and social media plan for an online platform to revive that but on a more current level.”
“Great. Come on in.”
Porter scooted out from under the front of the desk and ran to Misty.
“Oh my gosh. How did you get here?” Misty looked confused, but she lifted the puppy in the air, then tucked him under her arm. “I’m so sorry. He runs away all the time. He doesn’t know he’s a dog.”
“He showed up at the apartment. I didn’t know what to do with him. He’s so sweet.”
“He is. We call him Scooter. When he was born, he was so little, and all of the other puppies bullied him. They wouldn’t let him eat. He was so weak. He just scooted around on his belly. It was so sad. Even Rein, she’s his mom, had pretty much pushed him out of the litter.” Misty cuddled Scooter. “We really didn’t think he was going to make it for a while there, but I started bottle-feeding him and working his legs and he got up on his feet one day and he’s gotten stronger and stronger.”
“I loved having him for the night.”
“You can come over and visit him anytime you want.”
“Really?”
“Sure. You can take him for a walk, or for the night. He obviously likes you.”
“I’ve never owned my own dog before.”
“Never?”
“Nope. My dad didn’t like dogs and then I started working and I guess I forgot how badly I’d wanted one all those years.”
“I can’t imagine being without a dog in my life. I better take him home real quick.” She lifted his paw and waved in her direction. “Say goodbye, Scooter. I’m going to get you back home. I won’t be long. I promise.”
“Bye, Scooter.” Vanessa watched them walk out of her office. If she bought that house back in Chicago, maybe they’d let her buy the puppy and take him to Chicago with her.I’d still call him Porter.
