And brutal.
That’s what that smile was.
She’d wreck my world if I wasn’t careful.
17
Morina
We got to the humane society just as Dr. Nathan was locking the doors. With a grin, he swung the door open again, but his smile faltered when he saw I had a posse in tow.
“So, I brought extra volunteers tonight.” I began introductions immediately so that he wouldn’t worry. “Ivy’s almost five years old. She has eight more months to go, but she really wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up and loves dogs. Bastian and Cade are, erm, good friends and they’re Ivy’s uncles.”
Dr. Nathan’s shoulders relaxed when he heard that Ivy’s relatives were with her. “Nice to meet you all.”
Technically there was paperwork each person would have to sign to see animals, but Dr. Nathan looked tired and we rarely printed copies of those forms anymore. We had a town of about two thousand people and most of them brought their kids in every now and then just to pet the dogs.
“Dr. Nathan, if you need to get home to your family, that’s fine. We’ll feed the pups and do a walk through. I need to check who needs nails clipped and it was Moonshine who was having some issues right?”
“She just needs some love. She’s young and confused. I would have stayed with her longer, but it’s actually my wedding anniversary tonight.”
“Wonderful. Congratulations.” Was it wrong of me to not ask how many years?
and I had too many thoughts of grandma’s letter running through my head.
She truly wanted to haunt me in some way and that letter with its judgements on my ability to commit was a perfect example of why I couldn’t get on board with marriage.
“Thanks. I like to tell her it’s a feat she’s stayed with me this long, and she likes to tell me that if it weren’t for the humane society taking up a good portion of my day, she would have divorced me a long time ago.”
The candidness had me giggling. Maybe I wasn’t the only one not completely on board with matrimony and yet they were making it work in a way I envied.
He patted my shoulder. “Thanks for stopping by. The animals miss you.”
He shook hands again with Bastian and Cade and told Ivy she could grab some dog treats from the bowl on the counter.
Ivy skipped over to the rounded front desk, ringlets bouncing with her.
“So.” I grabbed two boxes of toys from a side cabinet and shifted. “You guys can play with a couple of the dogs in the visiting area. I just have to do some quick checks on a couple of our rockstar dogs.”
“Rockstar dogs?” Bastian raised his eyebrows.
“They need and get a lot of attention, hence the name. Secretly, I call them our problem children, but most get adopted.” I waved them along so we could get moving. The motion sensor lights flickered on down the speckled tile hallway, setting off the puppies barking and the cats meowing. “This is the visitation room. There’s toys and more treats on that table.”
“Do you know which animal will be best for Ivy to play with?” Cade asked, his eyebrows pulled together. The brothers’ stares were completely serious and I melted as I witnessed two very good looking men unleash their protective dad stances on me.
Inside, my ovaries woke up after being in hibernation for a very long time.
Ivy with her uncles would do that to any female. She was cute and bouncy and had so much positive energy vibrating through her that you just wanted to soak in as much innocent love as you could.
“I have the perfect girl for her to meet. She’s a rockstar, but only because she wants constant love. She’s the one the doc was worried about. He texted me that she’s been really depressed, but I bet it’s only because she’s lonely. She was the last in her litter, we think. The family that owned her…” I hesitated. “They had a rough time after a car accident.”
As I rambled, Bastian and Cade sat in the metal chairs and Ivy bounced excitedly with her little fingers threaded together.
“As long as she’s safe,” Bastian said, his eyes on his niece.
“I’ll be right back.” I rushed to the back kennel and grabbed a sleeping little rottweiler mix. We’d calculated she was probably only seven weeks but she was already chunky. Her short legs, big belly, and sweet brown and black markings, she had us all cuddling her right when she came in.
The pup cuddled into my chest as I brought her into the visitation room.