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“She’ll need to be fed and walked. Thank you, Ray,” Rafe said, and then he took Abbe’s hand and whisked her out of the building.
Alejandro already had the car waiting out front. He stepped out of the driver’s side and went to the back to open the door.
“Take her to the shelter,” Rafe said putting Abbe into the back seat.
“Wait, how are you getting to work?” she asked.
Rafe gestured with his chin to a Porsche Panamera that was being driven up behind the Range Rover. “I’m driving myself this morning,” he said, ducking into the SUV to kiss her quickly. “I’ll call you later,” he said, and then shut the door.
She watched as Rafe strode to the elegant super lux sports car and traded places with the valet. He pulled out and around the Range Rover, already speeding off to the next part of his day.
Abbe sat back in the luxurious seat and let out a long breath, feeling very much like she had just been swept up into a tornado and put down in a strange new place that certainly wasn’t Kansas.
Twelve
Abbe saw the email from the State Department of Animal Welfare in her inbox as soon as she got to work. She took a deep breath, almost clicked on it, and then decided to do everything else she had to do that day before opening it.
After going about her rounds of feeding the animals, cleaning, and letting them out in shifts for sunshine and exercise, Abbe spent hours on social media, posting pictures and communicating with people who were interested in adopting. She scheduled appointments and fielded a few visits, and then even placed a call to her friend Rachel at another shelter to fill in for her over the weekend. She did literally everything she could to put off the inevitable, but eventually, she had to open the email.
We regret to inform you that your license to operate Furry Faces Animal Shelter has been suspended…
Abbe slammed her laptop shut. She stood up and paced around her office until the ringing in her ears stopped.No tears, she decided. She wasn’t done fighting yet. Abbe sat down and opened up her laptop, logged onto the state website, and began the process of filing an appeal.
Rachel called her back late that afternoon and Abbe told her about the suspension on her license.
“What a load of bullshit!” Rachel yelled down the phone.
Rachel was in her late fifties and had been in the animal rescue game for over three decades. She was a trained veterinarian, and her shelter, which was in a more rural part of Massachusetts, was ten times the size of Abbe’s. She didn’t take any crap from humans, although she was endlessly patient with animals, and Abbe often went to her for advice.
“I honestly don’t know what I’ve done wrong,” Abbe said.
“You haven’t done anything wrong!” Rachel yelled, getting fired up for Abbe’s sake. “They wrote you up on a load of ticky-tacky infractions that don’t matter at a little place like yours. Inter-species mingling only matters when you’ve got monkeys and llamas and pythons running around and somebody could get eaten, but one wacko cat who likes to sleep on top of dogs? You’re fine.”
Rachel had many exotic animals at her shelter because she was equipped to deal with them. Abbe had training to deal with all kinds of animals, but she never accepted animals that she didn’t feel confident handling. She’d taken in a ferret there once, and had since limited herself to cats and dogs.
“That’s why I think someone sent them after me. I feel like this is personal, you know?” Abbe said.
“Who?” Rachel asked.
“Someone who saw me on social media and decided they didn’t like me,” Abbe replied.
“Well, it’s bullshit,” Rachel said again.
“Rach—if they shut me down—” Abbe began.
“They’re not going to shut you down,” she said with determination. “But if they do, I’ll take as many as I can. I won’t be able to take all of them, though,” she finished quietly.
Both of them knew that if the state stepped in, most of those unplaced animals would have to be put down. There simply wasn’t enough room at other no-kill shelters to house them all.
“I know,” Abbe said around the lump forming in her throat. “I’m going to try like crazy to get as many adopted as I can. And I won’t be taking on any other animals. At least until this is sorted out.”
She heard Rachel sigh. “I’m sorry, kid,” she said. “Is there anything else I can do to help?”
Abbe chuckled. “Actually, yes. I’d really like the weekend off.”
Rachel was more than happy to come and fill in for Abbe, saying that it would give her a chance to look over the operation, maybe tighten up a few things, and help Abbe get her license reinstated.
“I really appreciate this, Rachel,” Abbe said.
