When Audrey’s feet hit the ground, Josh didn’t release his hands from her waist immediately and Audrey didn’t lower her arms from behind his neck. She stared up at him as their breaths both came in short pants. If they weren’t in a yoga class, Audrey would have thrown caution to the wind, lifted up on her toes and pressed her lips to his, consequences be damned. She was getting to the point that she would risk the awkwardness for the slim possibility that he might kiss her back.
“Okay, great now let’s both step to the edges of our mats and take a deep breath.”
Tiana started taking them through the cooldown when Audrey heard her phone vibrate in her bag several times, but she ignored it as she focused on her breathing at the end of class. But as soon as they namasted she went over and pulled it out.
She opened the text and Josh must have seen her reaction to what she saw because he asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Um, it’s the shelter. We had a dog come in the other day, Thor, who is terrified of men and apparently, he’s not doing well with the storm. Pete can’t get near him to get his thunder vest on. I need to go.” She quickly threw on her layers and pushed her feet into her Ugg boots. “Thank you, Tiana! The class was great! I’m sure that Viv will be in touch to get you on the schedule for singles week.”
Audrey flew out the door before she remembered that she’d come here with Viv.
“Shit,” she cursed under her breath.
Normally, she would just run home and get her car. But it was pouring rain.
The next thing she knew, there was something over her head and she heard Josh’s deep voice say, “Come on.”
She glanced up and saw that he was using his jacket as a make-shift umbrella for her. She walked beneath the cover and Josh was able to open the driver’s side door and let her in while still keeping his coat above her.
When she climbed inside the truck she inhaled, and warmth spread through her. The truck’s cab smelled like Josh. He started the truck and headed in the direction of Hope Falls Animal Shelter instead of toward her house.
“Oh, you don’t have to take me to the shelter. You could just run me home to get my car.”
“It’s fine.”
A flash of light lit up the inky night sky before there was a crash of thunder. Audrey checked her phone to see if Pete had sent any more updates. He hadn’t.
“Everything okay?” Josh asked.
“Yeah. I was just checking to see if Pete messaged me again.” Audrey took a deep breath. She needed to calm herself before going into this situation. Dogs reacted off of energy and if she was stressed and tense then Thor would pick up on it.
When he’d come in the other day, it had taken her a couple of hours to build trust with him. He came from an abusive situation. A neighbor had called the police to report it. He was such a sweet boy and she hated thinking of him having to endure any more trauma. If she didn’t have Frank and Liza at home, she would have adopted him the day he was brought in.
The truck had barely come to a stop in front of the shelter when Audrey jumped out. She didn’t wait for Josh as she rushed to the front door. Pete opened it before she made it up the walk.
“Thanks for coming. He’s having a really rough time.” Pete must have noticed Josh behind Audrey because his eyes widened. “Hey, J.”
“Hey,” Josh greeted him.
As Pete handed Audrey the thunder jacket, his eyes widened giving her a what’s-this-all-about look. Even though Pete was not what Audrey would classify as a gossip, this was Hope Falls. She was sure that the entire town would know Josh had come with her to the shelter by tomorrow. She wouldn’t be surprised if it made the front page of the paper.
Pete buzzed the trio into the back room where the kennels were. Some of the dogs started barking when they entered from excitement. Pete hung back and Audrey turned to Josh who was following her. “He’s scared of men, so you should probably stay here.”
Josh nodded.
Audrey walked between the gated kennels and when she got to the end, she saw that Pete had put up towels over the sides of Thor’s kennel. It was something they did to try and lessen the stimulants around the dogs to keep the environment calm.
She moved the towel, lifted up the latch and opened the door.
Thor was huddled in the corner shaking uncontrollably.
“Hey, sweet boy. It’s okay.” Audrey took deep breaths as she entered, making sure that her energy was calm and confident.
The closer she got to him the more audible his shallow breathing was. He was panicked. She crouched down and ran her hand over his head. His panting continued and his eyes darted wildly.
“You’re okay, buddy.” She continued speaking in a calming tone, doing her best to assure him. “You’re safe. Everything is okay.”
His breathing had just started to even out when there was bright flash in the room followed a few seconds later by a deafening crack of thunder. Thor let out a heartbreaking yelp of fear and he started shaking even worse than he had been a few moments before. She wanted to get the jacket on him before the next crack of thunder.