Chapter 3
Paws, Claus, and Boundary Issues
Alyssa
Alyssa had to stop running her hand through her hair. The more she did it, the bigger her mane got. Unfortunately, it was her way of coping with stress, and, boy, was she feeling stressed.
Deciding to close her dog rescue sanctuary Four Paws over the Christmas period, starting the first of November, was causing her all sorts of bother. Mainly from irritated parents who wanted to get their kid a puppy from Santa.
That was the reason Alyssa decided to shut the sanctuary in the first place.
Alyssa was sick and tired of these poor dogs being carted back to the centre because the shine of owning a cute dog had worn off as soon as the calendar flipped over to January.
Even though Alyssa and her team did the best they could to warn prospective adopters that dogs were a lifelong commitment, and that they needed love and time, it still didn’t stop the poor buggers from being returned.
Everything came to a head eleven months ago.
January had just started and, sure as eggs are eggs, in waltzed a man who had adopted a beautiful collie mix called Benson.
Alyssa had personally seen to the adoption—which had happened just before Christmas.
The process was long and detailed, with Alyssa reiterating several times about Benson’s needs.
The time and monetary considerations the family would have to give.
How he and his wife would need to make sure their son understood Benson was still a young dog and therefore needed a careful hand.
The training it would require for Benson to become a well-rounded pooch.
The guy—Harry—had reassured her repeatedly that they were ready and that their son was more than capable of handling a new puppy.
So, Alyssa had allowed him to take Benson home after a house check had been completed.
Imagine her shock and anger when Harry came back with Benson a few weeks later, stating that his son couldn’t handle the pup.
That they didn’t have the time to get the dog into behavioural classes.
Alyssa had seen red. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Out of fifteen dogs adopted during the run up to Christmas, two-thirds had been returned.
That’s when Alyssa knew she had to do something drastic.
If she couldn’t talk sense into people, couldn’t get them to see the damage they caused to the animal when they so carelessly returned them, then she’d simply take the option away all together.
For weeks after her blow up, Alyssa brainstormed ideas.
Even though she planned to keep the sanctuary closed, she still needed to give the dogs daily stimulation, preferably the kind that involved socialising with people.
That’s when Lil, her co-manager and friend, had come up with a brilliant idea.
Her dad was chummy with the CEO of Crawford’s Pet Supplies, Richard Crawford.
Lil suggested contacting him to see if they could arrange some sort of partnership over the Christmas period.
What that partnership would look like was a mystery, but at least it was a step in the right direction.
The phone call with Richard Crawford had not gone how Alyssa imagined it would at all.
Richard was friendly, down-to-earth, and a really nice guy.
Not that Alyssa thought he wouldn’t be any of those things, but when she imagined the CEO of a multi-million pound empire, she automatically thought of an uptight powerhouse that wouldn’t give her the time of day.
On the contrary, though, Richard had been so enthusiastic about working with the sanctuary, he made Alyssa laugh.
He was like a school kid hopped up on sugar at the idea of it.
It was Richard who suggested the dogs be partnered up with workers in the company’s HQ building in London.
In fact, Richard threw himself into the organisation of it, leaving Alyssa with very little to do.
Now here she sat on the eve of November the first, arguing with another irate person who couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t let them come to the sanctuary and pick out a dog.
Even though Alyssa had put up posters and social media blasts warning the public that the Four Paws Dog Sanctuary would be closed for two months, it still didn’t stop her from getting daily emails and calls.
Instead of arguing, Alyssa should have been going over the schedule for the morning. The team had to transport twenty-six dogs to Crawford’s by eight a.m.
“As I said, Ms Brown, the sanctuary is closed until the beginning of January.” How many bloody times did the woman need to hear it?
“It’s just ridiculous. My grandson is expecting a dog on Christmas Day! What will I tell him when he’s crying because Santa didn’t bring him what he wanted?”
As if that was any business of Alyssa’s.
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Now, if you don’t mind, I do have to go. Take care, Ms Brown, and Merry Christmas.” Alyssa slumped in her chair, dropping the phone back in its cradle.
“How many times have you run your hand through your hair, Al? It’s bloody massive!” Lil laughed, sitting on the edge of Alyssa’s desk.
“How big are we talking?” Alyssa mumbled.
“Big, big. Here, tie it up. You can’t go outside looking like you’ve just been freshly…”
“Freshly what?”
“Well, you look like you have sex hair.”
“Ha, I wish. No, this is my freshly stressed hair. Nothing amorous about it at all.”
Lil grinned. “Either way, you need to tame the beast. You’ll scare the dogs.”
Alyssa took the proffered hair tie and wrangled her mane into something more manageable. Maybe she should finally get it chopped off. Could she get away with a pixie cut?
“Did you brief everyone about tomorrow?” Alyssa studied the list of jobs she needed to complete before they set off tomorrow morning.
“All briefed and ready. Don’t worry, Al. We’re only sticking the dogs in a van for twenty minutes.”
“It’s not the van that’s making me anxious. It’s the bit after. We must make sure all the employees that are signed on to take a dog know what’s expected of them.”
“Richard assures me everything is ready, and everyone at Crawford’s is well aware of their duties. Alyssa, just relax. It’s all going to be great.”
Alyssa nodded, calming herself down. Lil was right, everything was in hand. Richard had made everything so easy, and for once Alyssa could go into the festive period happy her dogs would have a good time.
“Alright, I’m chill. Let’s wrap up and get out of here. We have an early start.”
“That we do, my friend. Sure you don’t want to nip to the pub for a quick pint before calling it a night?”
“Nah, Hannah’s staying over tonight.” Hannah was a friend who occasionally shared Alyssa’s bed.
They had good chemistry, but Alyssa couldn’t see herself committing to Hannah—or anyone else, for that matter.
Not anytime soon, at least. Four Paws took up all of her time, and unless the person she got with could fully embrace that, then there just wasn’t much point. Sex with no strings was much easier.
“You need to move on from that girl, Al,” Lil huffed. “She’s completely besotted and you are playing with fire, leading her on.”
“Hey, I’m not leading anyone on. Hannah has always known it’s a bit of fun.”
Lil shook her head. “Not anymore she doesn’t, and her ‘sleep overs’ are becoming more frequent. You’ve been so busy here you haven’t noticed.”
“Noticed what?”
“That Hannah is getting comfortable. This is more than just friends with benefits to her, Al. Just saying.”
Alyssa rolled her eyes. Lil always liked to make a mountain out of a molehill where her love life was concerned.
Lil Barnes was a one man kind of lady, which Alyssa fully respected.
Lil wanted to find “the one” and settle down, which was great.
What was not so great was how Lil couldn’t—or refused to—understand why Alyssa didn’t want the same thing.
“Stop fretting. It’s fine.” Alyssa closed her laptop and stowed it away in her messenger bag. “Let’s go.”
With all the dogs settled for the night, Alyssa and Lil bid Gary the night worker adieu. The carpark was empty save Lil’s little hatchback and Alyssa’s push bike.
“See you in the morning,” Lil sang, climbing into her car.
Alyssa wasted no time slinging her leg over her bike and pushing off.
The commute home would take her roughly three minutes.
The air was frigid as she cycled down the lane.
It was times like this Alyssa was glad she’d bought a small plot of land near the sanctuary.
The light in her mobile home was already on and there was a car parked out front.
Lil’s voice echoed through Alyssa’s head as she pulled up, resting her bike against the side door.
Was Hannah getting a little too comfortable?
Sure, she’d been around a little more than usual lately, and yeah, she kept a few items of clothing in the wardrobe.
Goddamn it! Lil was totally right. How had Alyssa not seen it?
Oh, that’s right, because as usual she’d been focussing all her efforts on the sanctuary.
The smell of roast chicken assaulted Alyssa’s senses as soon as she stepped inside. Her mobile home wasn’t exactly palatial, so it took little for the entire space to absorb smells from the kitchen.
“Hey,” she called, dumping her bag on the sofa. The style of mobile home Alyssa had chosen was an open plan unit. She watched Hannah pull out the chicken from the oven and set it down.
“Hi, glad you’re home,” Hannah called. An uneasy feeling was swimming around Alyssa’s stomach. The more she thought about it and the more she observed, the clearer it became. Hannah was acting like her girlfriend.
“I thought I was going to call you later?” Alyssa said, scratching the back of her head. This was so uncomfortable.
“Well, I was coming over anyway, right? Thought a nice cooked meal would be welcomed.”