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I waitoutside the shelter for Kenzie, but she hasn’t answered any of my texts or calls. I’m tempted to call her work until Joyce finally comes out, tugging on my arm.
“I called my daughter. Kenzie is on her way, but she left her phone on her desk. Come on in and we’ll get started.”
I glance down at her with an inquisitive look. “How’d you know I was waiting for her?”
She laughs. “I’m not senile. Why do you think I paired the two of you up? You did exactly what I hoped for. It’s been far too long since you’ve had a proper reason to smile, my boy.”
The way “my boy” falls so naturally from her lips fills an empty space in my chest. I reach for her without thinking and hug her tightly. “Thank you, Joyce.”
I’m thanking her for so much more than sticking her nose into my business, and I hope she knows it.
She pats my back softly. “You’re welcome. Now come on. We’ve got a lot to do this afternoon.”
Joyce teeters a little when she turns to walk back inside, so I grab her elbow. “Easy there. Are you okay?
She waves me off and steadies herself. “Nothing more than old lady syndrome. You’ll be here one day. Enjoy your youth while you still can.”
Her following laughter alleviates some of my unease. I don’t like the thought of Joyce getting old, but her words are also a reminder that life goes by too quickly and I’m thankful for the recent changes in mine.
Thinking about Kenzie again, I give one last glance to the road before following Joyce inside. At least I know she’s on her way now.
The dogs and cats are noisier than usual today, but I ignore them and head to the meeting room. Joyce is already sitting at the head of the table, and I take my normal seat next to her.
She taps her pen on the plastic tabletop. “We’re less than two weeks away from the carnival. I know you all have been working hard in your spare time and it shows. We’re ahead of schedule on everything, but this meeting is to make sure all of our puppies are where they should be. Sandy, how about you start?”
Sandy adjusts her glasses and reads from her notepad, going on about the list of games and events that will be happening the day of.
Next up is Dakota with pricing and ticket sales, followed by Mary going over scheduling for the bigger items like the music and pony rides.
Joyce turns to me. “Can you cover all of the items you and Kenzie worked on together?”
I nod. “Of course. We will have two food trucks and a beverage truck that will serve smoothies and sodas during the day before adding beer to the evening menu. The food trucks promised to be there all day, which helps to assure that people aren’t drinking on empty stomachs if we can help it. Kenzie confirmed schedules with all three vendors just yesterday via email that I was copied on.”
“And donations?” Joyce asks next.
“All promised monies have been received and deposited into the fundraiser account as of yesterday. We exceeded our pre-carnival goal by thirty thousand.” I watch Joyce’s face, because this is something I hadn’t shared with her yet.
Tears well up and quickly fall down her cheeks. She reaches for my hand and squeezes hard. “I knew you’d do great being more hands-on with this. Thank you, Bentley.”
My chest constricts. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m glad I could help.”
Kenzie rushes into the room, and all eyes fall on her. “I’m so sorry.”
She looks frazzled and crazed. Our eyes lock and she gives me a slight head shake, telling me that something happened, but we’re not going to talk about ityet.
Joyce gives Kenzie a wide smile with her eyes still glistening. “It’s okay, dear. I talked to Joslin.” Joyce grabs another sheet of paper. “Now, we need to finalize what volunteers are working what stations. I know we have some requests, so let’s see if we can make those work.”
She goes on and on about how many people we need for each task, but I’m having a hard time listening. Kenzie’s chest is still heaving, and she won’t look at me.
I’ve never seen her this shaken, and I’m not okay with it. Not in the slightest. My hands tighten into fists under the table and thoughts of pummeling whoever—or whatever—upset her into nothingness fills my mind.
Kenzie gives her opinions on the volunteers, especially the ones she’s recruited herself, like Ella and Piper and some co-workers.
I try to listen and be helpful, but nothing I try gets Kenzie’s scared eyes out of my mind.
The meeting finally ends, and Joyce is smiling. “Thank you all so much for your efforts this year. This is already our best event yet and it hasn’t even officially begun. Now, let’s hope we find perfect homes for all of our deserving animals out there, so we can make room for more furry friends who need our help.”
Kenzie is smiling again, but I’m not. I get up once we’re dismissed and grab her hand, leading her out the door.
