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“No, it’s okay. We’re going out for coffee,” Abbe said.
Charles looked at her with an artfully shaped eyebrow raised in supreme disdain. “Ah—why?” he asked.
“He just wants to talk,” Abbe said.
Charles made a doubtful sound. “No, girl, he wants you back now that you’re happy. Need I remind you that Rafe is a dream-come-true-knight-in-shining-armor, and this guy is trash.”
A snicker burst out of Abbe. “Don’t worry. This is not a thing.”
“It better not be,” he warned.
“It’s not,” she said just as Danny joined them.
“What is this? A fire sale?” he asked, gesturing at the empty kennels and the people leaving with cats in carriers.
“We’re having a big adoption day,” Abbe said. “Charles, I’m just going to pop out for a second. Is that okay with you?”
“Mmm-hmmm,” he said in a way that made it clear he did not approve.
“It’s good to see you, Charles,” Danny said.
“Mmm-hmmm,” Charles said again with even more disapproval.
“Okay, we should probably just go,” Abbe said, ushering Danny out. “And hi! You’re inside the shelter!”
“And onallthe antihistamines. Every. Single. One,” he said, holding the door open for her.
“Well, you didn’t have to. You could have texted me and I would have met you there,” she said.
He narrowed his eyes at her. “I can make the extra effort to pick you up,” he said.
Abbe knew he was trying to impress her with how much he’d changed, but rather than make her appreciate what he was doing, it only emphasized the fact that he never did anything like this for her before. His comfort always came first, and if it didn’t it was because he was making a supreme sacrifice. She shook her head, wondering why she had never noticed things like this before. She decided it was because when she got together with him at nineteen, she hadn’t known enough about what good relationships felt like to understand that the one she’s had with Danny had been so bad.
“So, I really don’t have long,” she said. “You saw how busy it was.”
“I did!” Danny said, walking next to her as they went to the Chipped Mug, their feet taking them there automatically. “You’re not going to have any animals left at this rate,” he said.
“That’s my hope,” she said as he opened the door for her and let her go first.
“What do you mean?” he asked, looking genuinely troubled. “There isn’t a problem, is there?”
“Several,” Abbe admitted as they got in line. Danny waited for her to continue. “No, don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out,” she said, brushing it off.
She wasn’t trying to hide what was happening to the shelter, it’s just she knew from past experience that Danny had a very short attention span when it came to anything related to her work. He’d never wanted her to talk about any of her challenges there for very long.
But this time, Danny shook his head, looking sad. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. I know we aren’t a couple anymore, but I still care about you and I want to hear how you are. How youreallyare.”
They got their drinks and sat down, and he still wanted to know. She decided it wasn’t that big of a deal and started talking.
“Well, it all started really suddenly about two weeks ago. My main donor cut their funding. Then they turned it back on. Then they cut it again. Then the animal welfare department raided me and pulled my license over something that normally would only get you a slap on the wrist, maybe a fine, but it was certainly not something that would cost you your ability to operate.” She frowned at the thought. The list of events was rather incredible when she laid it all out like that.
“This all happened in two weeks?” he asked, just to clarify. She nodded in response.
“And the strangest thing? They only gave me until the end of the month to get all the animals re-homed before they come in and take them away. That never happens unless the animals are in danger, which they clearly aren’t.”
Danny looked absolutely dumbfounded. “Can they even do that? Is that legal?”
Abbe shrugged. “I’m going to fight it, of course. I already put in an appeal to get my license back, but in the meantime, I only have a little over a week to place all my animals.”
