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I looked at her now and it was as though I was looking at a different dog. She was healthy, cuddled with me, and was friendly to most people. Tennis balls were her favorite thing in the world and during the summer she would spend hours laying on the dock in front of the house.
“I just figured...” Logan said now, bringing me back to the present. His scrubbed a hand over his face and I couldn’t help but notice that his fingers looked swollen. I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t spent hours looking at his hands last night. Long fingers, some scars on his knuckles. I wondered how he got the scars. Fighting? Broken window?
“You just figured…”
“After you left last night I couldn’t stop thinking about Conlon. I don’t like the fact that he showed up at the farm looking for Mac. Or the fact that you were alone with him. None of this has anything to do with you and I don’t want you in the middle of it. So, for my own piece of mind, could you please just let me drive you to work?”
“Logan, that’s really sweet of you. But I wouldn’t have a way of getting home and-”
“We’ll pick you up.”
“We?” I responded. I had to admit that the offer was sweet and my belly warmed at the fact that he was feeling a little protective. But it wasn’t specifically toward me or anything, that was how he was with everyone.
I wasn’t getting special treatment.
Relax, Plain Jane, I thought to myself and hooked Sadie’s leash to her collar.
“Me and Mac,” he said proudly and gestured to the puppy who was on his back and kicking his paws up at my dog’s face. “He loves the car. I brought him to my sister’s place yesterday and he spent the entire drive with his paws on the steering wheel. And he likes the radio. Don’t you? You’re such a good boy.” he bent down and cooed proudly, scratching Mac’s belly.
I stared at him like he had ten heads and when he straightened his cheeks were tinted a light shade of pink. “He’s, you know, a pretty okay dog. I guess. Other than the fact that he shit on the kitchen floor.”
I found myself laughing a real belly laugh as I hooked my bag over one shoulder. “I get out of work at six. But this is a one time deal. Deal?”
He gave a wide grin and showcased some seriously cute dimples before nodding. “Whatever you say, J.”
“I ALWAYS RECOMMEND Diamond Naturals or Blue Buffalo as a dry dog food,” I said to Erin and Roger Andrews, Wyatt the pug’s new forever family. “Wyatt specifically had a hard time switching foods and getting on a healthy diet. So, be sure to bring him back here regularly to have him checked by Dr. Kells.”
Erin leaned down and scratched the top of his head and Wyatt looked up at her with his pinched face, tongue still lolling out of the side of his mouth. “It’s okay, buddy. We’ll diet together.”
There had been fifteen applications for Wyatt and many of them were hard to choose from. I finally decided on Erin and Roger after doing a house visit and seeing their yard. They lived in a quiet, suburban neighborhood with a fenced in yard that looked like it was about half the size of a high school football field. They had two young children who had been on their best behavior when I visited, one of them even drawing a picture of the whole family with Wyatt. I knew before I left that they would be the perfect family for him and I said as much. The look on their faces was priceless and reassured me that I was making the right decision.
Violet and Rose were only slightly amused by the fact that I was so serious about the adoption process. They loved the dogs as much as I did and appreciated the fact that I took my job so seriously. Some of the dogs were so traumatized from whatever they went through in the past that I knew I needed to make sure they would be put into a safe space with owners who would love them.
I leaned down and gave Wyatt a gentle thump on the side of his round belly. “I’m gonna miss you, buddy.”
Later on in the day I was eating lunch at my desk when Violet walked in. She had the same black hair as her sister, but where Rose had a creamy complexion like their mother, Violet had inherited the dark, Cherokee look that she shared with her father. Always made up with perfectly winged eyeliner and hair that was cut into a styled bob, Vi looked like she belonged in a fashion magazine rather than working on the farm.
“More salmon?” she asked as she plopped unceremoniously into one of the chairs in front of my desk.
“Spicy salmon,” I corrected her with a laugh.
She made a face. “Jesus, I don’t know how you do the whole pescatarian thing.”
I shrugged. It had been years since I touched chicken or red meat. I hadn’t really meant to stop eating it, but red meat upset my stomach and I read way too much about the antibiotics and chemicals that they put in chicken. It just sort of happened, but fish was filled with Omega III’s and Gran always raised me to be conscious about what I put into my body.
“Wyatt’s gone?” Violet asked. When I nodded my head she frowned. “I’m really gonna miss that fat little bastard.”
I laughed and took a sip of water. “He’ll be back in two weeks for an appointment with Dr. Kells. Don’t be dramatic.”
Violet kicked her legs up on my desk and leaned back, folding her arms over her ample chest. Seriously, the girl had amazing breasts. “So, I actually have an alternative reason for being here.”
“You mean to tell me that you aren’t just here to make fun of my eating habits and get dirt on my desk? I’m shocked.”
“I love when you get all fiery redhead on me,” she wiggled her perfectly arched and penciled eyebrows. “Who was that hot blonde that dropped you off? Mr. Leather-Jacket-That-Probably-Smells-Like-Sex was making eyes at you when you were walking towards the house.”
My back straightened and I shook my head. Logan wasn’t making eyes at me, that I knew to be a fact. He was making sure I got to the house okay. Apparently, the whole Conlon thing spooked him enough to the point where he refused to pull out of the lot until I was safely inside. He’d spent the whole ride assuring me that he would be there a little early in case I was finished earlier than six, and Mac spent the entire time switching between our laps, wagging his little tail and looking out the window. The truth was
if Logan hadn’t kept Mac I would have. There was something about the hyper, floppy eared dog that just sucked me in.
