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“I’ve heard so much about you. It’s wonderful to meet you,” she says, giving me a hug. “Well, come on inside.”
Hyla gives me a big smile as we follow Lana through the door into what feels like a private little wonderland.
“I think you’ve found your baby,” Lana says with a laugh. We’re sitting around the living room drinking coffee and loving on the pups. Although, I’ve really only loved on this one pup. Cocoa. She’s a retriever and pitty mix with the most gorgeous light brown shaggy coat.
As soon as I walked in the door, she came over to me, smelled me, and then followed me around. She put her head in my lap as we sat at the kitchen table while the coffee was brewing, and once we came out to the living room and sat on the floor around the coffee table, she snuggled partly into my lap and has become my best friend.
Yeah, I want her. I want this sweet girl snuggled like this on the couch with me every night.
Lana told me about Cocoa’s health problems, which mostly involve arthritis and needing some inflammation shots and pain meds to help. She also eats only fresher foods. She came to Lana preferring chicken, rice, and vegetables over any dog food, so Lana makes lots of chicken, rice and veggies in the slow cooker each week. She did say Cocoa will eat similar frozen packaged meals I can buy too.
No, this girl will be my pampered princess. I’ll cook for her and come up with an easy way for her to go up and down the stairs of the apartment.
“I’m sold. It looks like I better go buy some dog things.”
“There’s no rush. Take time to get everything you need, and then you can pick her up. She and Scout are friends, so I’m sure she won’t mind some more time with him.”
I smile at that. “I can bring her up every week or two to spend some time with him.”
Lana glances from Hyla to me. “You know, if you’re interested, I’ve actually been looking for someone to help me out here. I can’t pay much—not yet, at least. I’m working on starting a nonprofit to help care for senior and disabled animals. I want to be able to help find foster and permanent homes for them. It’s a lot of work, but I feel like it’s where this act of my life is calling me to be. I’m just starting to figure out the whole process—”
“I can help with that,” I say without thinking. Her eyebrows go up, and I continue, calmer. “I studied public services in college, so I know all about nonprofits and how they’re funded and run. If you need help, I’d be happy to help you. And our friend Amelia is a paralegal, and she knows the business side of things. She can help too.”
My eyes go to Hyla, who is suddenly fascinated with the cat in her lap.
“Oh, that’s very generous of you. I would love all the help I can get. Honestly, I’d love to have someone reliable to do this with. It’s daunting taking it on by myself. You seem like you’d be a good fit. But do you have time?”
“I work at my mom’s bakery and can make my schedule how I need it to be. I want to ease in to getting everything ready for Cocoa. Would you be open to me spending some time here this week getting to know her and you better?”
“I’d love that. We can talk more about everything.”
“Sounds great.”
I glance over at Hyla again, and this time, she’s smiling brightly at me.
I don’t know what’s going on between us, if we’re headed somewhere or not, but this reminds me of who we used to be. A better version of who we used to be, and that both excites and terrifies me.
“Cocoa is the sweetest baby,” Hyla says as we climb into her car.
She’s right. I hated leaving Cocoa, but I’ll be back, and my plan is to move her in with me next weekend.
Hyla moves to start the car, but I grab her hand before she can. “Hy, did you know?”
“Know what?” she asks innocently.
“That Lana wanted to start a nonprofit.”
She shrugs, her smile growing warmer and her voice softer. “She mentioned it at dinner, and knowing you love animals and have the knowledge in this area… I thought it might be a good fit. This suits you more than being a vet ever would have. You have great business sense and you have so much compassion. Seeing you with Lana and all those sweet animals today, I know I made the right call. You lit up in a way I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before.”
I swallow hard, pushing down the overwhelming emotion I feel as I look at her. “You remembered that I wanted to be a vet?”
“Of course I did.”
Her words are barely a whisper, and it sets my heart on fire.
Wrapping my hand around hers, I squeeze tightly. “Thank you.”
She looks down at our hands, then back at me. “I always want to see you happy, Kenz. You deserve that.”
