Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Michelle tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she walked. It was a beautiful day, but unusually windy, and the breeze off the ocean seemed to be determined to get her hair in her eyes.
She’d been feeling strangely restless and moody ever since the conversation that she’d had in the garage with Theo.
She kept telling herself it didn’t matter, and that how he behaved wasn’t any of her concern.
No matter what she said to herself, however, a tight feeling in the pit of her stomach remained.
She wished she’d handled the situation differently, and that she knew why Theo had said the things he had.
She’d decided to go for a walk that morning, hoping that some fresh air and sunshine would be enough to take her mind off the matter and that being outdoors would lift her spirits.
She’d soon realized, however, that with nothing to occupy her mind, her thoughts returned to the situation with Theo with a vengeance.
I need something else to distract me, she thought, after she’d caught herself slowing down for the seventh time and staring into space, thinking of the way Theo had shrugged while sitting on the floor of the garage, avoiding eye contact with her.
She felt frustrated and confused by the whole thing, and she didn’t know how to stop thinking about it.
She kept walking along the sidewalk, considering stopping at Townsend’s for a pastry or the library for a good, engaging book. A moment later, however, she caught sight of the animal shelter and grinned.
That will be just the thing, she thought. Nothing like some fur therapy to totally occupy my mind and make me feel better.
She scampered up to the front door of the shelter and pushed it open. She found Harper sitting in her office, scribbling down notes in a pink notebook.
“Hey!” Harper looked up and greeted her with a grin. “Welcome back.”
“Thanks.” Michelle smiled at her, glad that Harper was always happy about her visiting, instead of finding it an inconvenience. “I need some cat and dog therapy. Can I pet some of the babies for a while?”
“Please do.” Harper set down her pen. “We just got in a couple of new dogs. They’re total sweethearts, but we haven’t put them out into the main room yet. They’re basically teenagers, based on their ages in dog years. A couple of St. Bernards—big and fluffy.”
“Oh yay!” Michelle clapped her hands together. “One of my friends in grade school had a St. Bernard. I love them.”
“Good. These boys need some love—right now they seem stressed out. They came to us from an owner who had to move overseas for their job, and I think the dogs are having separation anxiety.”
“Oh, that’s so sad,” Michelle said, feeling her heart ache for the animals.
Already, she was feeling better about her situation.
A little confusion about a boy wasn’t the same thing as having your whole world change overnight.
Getting to comfort the dogs would help take her mind off her own troubles, she felt sure of it.
Harper led her to one of the back rooms, which was comfortably set up for dogs to spend time in. There were several dog beds, bowls of water, and numerous toys strewn across the floor.
“Officially, we call this the playroom,” Harper said, “and we’ll take all the dogs here if it’s raining outside and they can’t use the dog run. But sometimes we use it as a room to keep new dogs in if they seem to be having a tough time adjusting.”
In the corner of the room, the two teenage St. Bernards were cuddled up together on the same dog bed. They half-heartedly lifted their heads when they saw that they had visitors, but neither of them got up to say hello.
“Are they sick or something?” Michelle asked.
Harper shook her head. “No, just sad. I’m really glad you showed up today. I think cuddles are just what they need. Then, once they’ve perked up, we can play with them for a while.”
Michelle held her hand out to one of the St. Bernards, and he sniffed it eagerly.
“We’re going to call that one Cookie,” Harper said with a chuckle.
“Aww, Cookie, I love that.” Michelle laughed. “What about the other one?”
“Cream,” Harper answered decisively.
Michelle saluted her, impressed and amused by the imaginative names for the dogs.
She crouched down on the floor next to them and began to pet them with all the affection she could muster—and it wasn’t hard to muster it.
The dogs looked at her with big adoring eyes and soon started to lick her hands and forearms.
“Hi, babies,” Michelle said. “Hi. Yes. Aren’t you precious?”
Clumps of shedding dog hair floated away as Harper and Michelle continued to pet the dogs, who started wagging their tails and grinning with wide open mouths.
Finally, they were energetic enough that Harper started a game of tug-of-war with Cream.
Michelle stood up and chose a red rubber ball for Cookie, who danced in excitement when he realized what was going on.
They played with the dogs for a full fifteen minutes, until all four of them were tired out. Harper and Michelle sat on the floor with the dogs’ heads lying on their laps. Michelle stroked Cookie’s ears, delighted by the way his tail was still wagging with happiness.
“They just need to know they’re going to be loved again, you know?” Harper said, her voice catching slightly. “Cuddling with them like this helps.”
“Good.” Michelle bent down and kissed Cookie’s head. “How soon do you think it will be until they’re adopted?”
“Not long at all.” Harper smiled. “St. Bernards are popular dogs, and these boys are purebreds. The only tricky thing will be keeping them together, which I’m determined to do, but we’re spamming social media about these boys and the posts already have a lot of traction.”
“Glad to hear it.”
The women lapsed into silence, both of them becoming lost in their own thoughts. The only sounds were the whirr of a fan in the distance and the thumping of the dogs’ tails wagging against the floor.
Michelle’s mind snapped back to Theo almost instantly. She wanted to groan, feeling hounded by her thoughts of him. Was there no dodging the man? If he wasn’t showing up in person unexpectedly, he was dogging her thoughts.
I’ve got to talk to someone about this, she realized. If I don’t talk it out with someone who can give me advice, I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to stop thinking about it. I need to get it off my chest.
She cleared her throat gently. “Can I talk with you about something?” she asked quietly.
Harper turned to her with a warm smile. “Of course.”
Michelle smiled back, grateful for Harper’s enthusiasm.
Although Harper was her mother’s friend, Michelle felt a strong bond with the older woman.
Harper’s age was in between that of Michelle and Audrey, and Michelle felt almost as though the animal shelter owner was a kind of older sister to her.
She felt glad that she could confide in the other woman, since she didn’t want to share her thoughts about Theo with her mother and grandmother.
They were sure to tease her and make a whole big thing out of it.
“You remember when Theo showed up here that one time, and it was kind of weird, right?” Michelle said, feeling her cheeks get hot.
“I absolutely do,” Harper said, a hint of a smile on her lips.
“Well, he kept doing that. He was popping up randomly in places where I was all the time for a while there. And yeah, it was getting really suspicious. I was starting to think—”
She shook her head, not wanting to say out loud what she wasn’t even admitting to herself.
“And then he showed up at the library when I was doing research with a librarian named Marcus. We were acting friendly and having fun, and the next thing I know I look up and there’s Theo, watching us.
And then he just kind of dropped off the face of the earth.
I didn’t see him anywhere anymore. That’s like, you know—whatever, not a big deal—but then I went to the auto shop to ask if they’d put up one of the posters announcing The Birchwood House’s grand opening.
I saw Theo there, and when he saw me, he looked… disappointed.”
Michelle’s heart sank at the memory. Seeing Theo look at her as though he didn’t want to engage with her had stung more than she was willing to admit.
“Huh.” Harper scratched Cream’s ears, staring thoughtfully into space. “What did he say when you talked to him? Maybe he’s just going through something right now, and it’s totally unrelated.”
“But that’s just it.” Michelle shook her head. “He was acting like me talking to Marcus bothered him.”
“Like he was jealous?” Harper looked gleeful.
“I—” Michelle felt her cheeks burning. “Yeah, I guess so. But that’s crazy.
” Her words spilled out of her in a rush.
“I mean—does he really like me like that? I can hardly believe it, but he was acting so weird, showing up places where I was all the time. But it’s so unfair of him to get upset about me talking to Marcus.
I mean, if he is jealous, that’s totally on him.
Like, it’s not like I knew he liked me. I mean, I couldn’t—I still don’t.
He never expressed romantic interest in me.
Not officially.” She let Cookie lick her hand, feeling comforted by the dog’s warmth and affection.
Acknowledging out loud that Theo probably liked her and was jealous of her hanging out with Marcus made her heart race wildly.
Harper rolled her eyes and sighed. “That’s men for you.”
Michelle waited for Harper to say something else, since she was almost always optimistic and encouraging about whatever her friends were going through. A few beats passed, but Harper simply stared into space, frowning pessimistically.
She does feel really negatively about men, Michelle thought, I know that. And I remember the way she reacted to that social media post she saw when I was with her! She’s still hurt about her ex-boyfriend, that’s clear.
Gently, Michelle cleared her throat. “What do you mean ‘that’s men for you’?” She didn’t want to come right out and ask Harper about her ex-boyfriend in case the animal shelter owner didn’t want to share that information.
“You know I have an ex, right?” Harper said slowly.
“Yeah.” Michelle nodded. “He treated you badly, right?”
Harper laughed bitterly. “Yeah, you could say that. And he’s not the only one. The woman that he’s dating now is my sister.”
Michelle’s jaw dropped. For a second she stared at Harper, unable to imagine the pain she must still be going through. “I had no idea,” she whispered, squeezing her friend’s hand. “I’m so sorry.”
Harper shrugged. “It is what it is. It’s just something that I have to deal with.”
Michelle shook her head. “But I wish you didn’t have to deal with it.” She bit her lip, not sure of what to say. “Do you still have contact with your family?”
Harper sighed. “Not really, but that’s for another reason.
Well, both reasons, I guess. My father wanted me to go into the family business, but I didn’t want to.
My dream was always to run an animal shelter like this one, and that’s the path I chose.
He never understood, and neither did my mother.
I hardly have any money at all, and I think they can’t understand why I would give up the lucrative career they were offering me for a life of cleaning stinky messes out of cages. ”
Cream lifted his head and blinked adoringly at Harper, and both women laughed.
“I think if he saw you here with these animals, he would understand,” Michelle said.
“I mean, just look at these sweethearts. You’re making a difference for all these animals, and you’re also making a difference in the lives of the people who are going to adopt them.
People need pets just as much as pets need people. ”
Harper beamed at Michelle. “I totally agree with you. Unfortunately, I don’t think seeing the animals would be enough to get my dad to change his mind.
Besides, I think he’s offended. It’s not just that he thinks I made the wrong choice, I think he feels disrespected by the fact that I didn’t do what he wanted me to do. ”
Michelle shook her head. “That’s not fair. You shouldn’t have to do what he wants you to do with your life. It’s your life, not his.”
“I agree,” Harper said, sighing. “And I’m so thankful that I’ve been able to pursue my dreams like this.
I wouldn’t want any other life. Still—sometimes I can’t help feeling that I got the short end of the stick.
The animal shelter is everything I could hope for, but the other things in my life are definitely not the kind of things I used to dream about, you know? ”
Michelle nodded, and she squeezed Harper’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry about your family,” she said softly.
“And your stupid ex. But hopefully things with them will get better in the years to come, and all the other areas of your life are still growing and changing. Think of your life as a tree, always expanding outward. There might be short sticks, sure, but they don’t have to stay that way forever. ”
Harper’s expression brightened. “I like the way you think.”
“Thanks.” Michelle smiled. “Grandma said something like that to me once. I’ve never forgotten it.”
“Your grandmother is an amazing woman. I hope I can be half the woman she is when I’m her age.”
“I’m sure you will be. Look at everything you’ve done with your life so far.
” Michelle wanted to encourage Harper that she might find love again, with a wonderful man who would treat her right, but she didn’t want to overstep.
Harper seemed to be decidedly anti-men, and Michelle had a feeling that stronger forces than her words were going to have to change that.
Love sure is a tricky business, she thought. Heck, I’m terrified of getting hurt in this whole Theo situation, and I’ve never really had my heart broken before. I can’t imagine how scary the idea of romance must seem to Harper—and how scary it was for Mom.
She scratched Cookie behind the ear, her brain whirling with thoughts.
She didn’t know what on earth she was going to do about Theo, but she felt comforted by the sense of comradery that she felt with Harper.
She knew that whatever happened in her life, she wouldn’t have to face it alone, and that brought her a priceless sense of relief.