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CHAPTER13
Colton
My feelings were growing quickly for Annabella, but never before had I put a physical relationship on the backburner intentionally. This was new ground for me.Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?
Today I was getting to see another side of Annabella. She wasn’t afraid of hard physical work at all. She had promised my dad that she’d help him go through my mom’s things, but I never thought she’d be carrying boxes out to the back of the truck to be donated. When I tried to help her, she insisted that I go help my dad instead.
Annabella didn’t feel like a stranger in the house. It felt like she belonged. I wished so badly that my mom could’ve met her. They would’ve hit it off so well. Mom had met other women I had dated, but never really took to any of them.
Why couldn’t we have met earlier?
I heard a scream from the other room and I ran over to find Annabella looking at a box on the floor. “Look,” she pointed inside.
Inside the box was a family of mice. They weren’t moving. “It’s okay, they’re dead.”
“No, look,” she said. “One is moving.”
It won’t be for long.“I’ll go get rid of it.”
“What do you mean, get rid of it? What are you going to do with it?” she asked.
I was going to throw it in trash, but by the look in her eyes, I knew better than to say that. “We’ll let it go in the field.”
“You can’t do that. It’s just a baby. It’ll die. It needs to be fed and its mother can’t do it,” she pleaded.
She couldn’t be suggesting that I feed it. “Annabella, it’s a mouse.”
“It’s a baby mouse who needs our help. Maybe we can call a vet and ask what to do,” she suggested.
“We don’t have vets that treat mice here,” I said.
She pulled out her phone and started a search. Then she dialed a number and explained to the person on the other end what she had found.
“Okay. I’ll have someone drive me there. Thank you so much,” she said and ended the call.
“Who was that?” I asked.
“It was the Wildlife Preservation Agency. They said if I brought them the mouse, they would take it and try to save it,” she said.
I knew exactly where that place was. “Annabella, that’s almost a two-hour drive. Do you really think it’s going to live that long?”
Annabella rifled around and found an empty shoebox. Then she found a small towel and placed it inside. “If we get going and I can keep it warm, maybe it has a chance.”
“You are flying out tonight. Do you really want to spend what time you have here on the road caring for a mouse?” I asked.
“Yes. We found it. It is our responsibility to care for it,” she stated firmly. “If you don’t want to take me, I’ll ask your dad to give me a ride,” she said, reaching inside the box. She picked up the tiny mouse and placed it on the towel in the shoebox.
“I’ll take you, but I suggest you go wash your hands before we leave. Not that I don’t like mice, but they can carry germs,” I said.
“Good point.” She handed me the shoebox and went to wash up.
I headed downstairs to wait for her. My dad was standing in the living room.
“What have you got there?” he asked.
I couldn’t believe I was saying this. “A baby mouse. We’re bringing it to the Wildlife Preservation Agency. It needs care.”
“Where’s its mother?”
