Chapter 29
29
T hanks for the great coffee, delicious pastry, and the bright smiles. You’re the best ! ~ Fia Nicco
I t’d been all he could do to not hang out on Coffee Loft’s patio again today. It hadn’t helped him yesterday. Ginger, if she was there at all, had stayed out of sight.
He was thankful for a full schedule today, including an initial interview with a new client. Then he’d put the finishing touches on a report to send off, and he had taken an emergency conference call to troubleshoot a network issue. He’d hung up just in time to walk the dogs, change clothes, and head to Hearts Fur Love for the monthly board meeting.
Discussing a new property acquisition for the shelter was on the agenda. Scrambling to find options, Charleen had enlisted the board members as well as volunteers to reach out to anyone with options for a new location. It was Cal’s lead which looked most promising.
One of his clients was moving to a larger building across the river, and the current property included an adjacent wooded lot. He’d toured the building already with Charleen and a few of the board members, inspecting it for compatibility to retrofit their current kennels. Trouble was, buying the property would take some creative financing. The board planned another meeting within the next few days to explore loan options.
Charleen pulled out the chair next to him and sat as the meeting concluded.
“Thanks so much for everything you’ve done for us, Cal. I feel that I can never thank you enough. You always seem to come through for us.”
“I’m happy to, you know that.”
“I have a good feeling about this,” she said, tapping her fist on the table. “Can you believe the gala brought in almost three times what it did last year? That’s the upside of social media. And your Ginger sure is a sweetheart, collecting donations for us last week, too.”
Your Ginger .
He almost corrected Charleen. She’s not my Ginger , he wanted to say. Wishful thinking didn’t make it so. But saying that sounded so final. He held out hope that Ginger just needed time, but his heart ached that he wasn’t the person she sought for comfort.
“Did she bring the donations here?” With the flurry of events between the fall festival and his last-minute travels, he’d forgotten all about collecting the donations from Ginger to give to Charleen. “I’m sorry. I told her I’d get them to you.”
Charleen waved away his concern. “I paid her a visit, which worked out well because it’s been a minute since I’ve been in that cute little place. I’m still stunned she collected that much through the shop.”
“Well, the word’s been on the street that you need help. It’s easier to fundraise when the shelter already has a strong community presence.”
Charleen nudged his hand. “That’s a testament to you for bringing your pups to Coffee Loft. Did I tell you that the people who adopted Rocco yesterday mentioned meeting you on the patio?”
“Rocco got adopted?” Chalk up another dog going to a forever home, thanks to Ginger’s dog-friendly patio.
“He did, the lucky boy. The family has three kiddos and a big backyard, too.”
Cal smiled. “All the stress and paperwork and meetings are worth it when we get news like that.”
“You bet,” Charleen said as she pushed up from her chair. “It’s time to wrap things up here. Fingers crossed that we can make this new building ours soon.”
He took out his phone on his way to the car and tapped out a message as soon as he was behind the wheel. Ginger needed to know the impact she continued to make, even by simply setting out a water dish daily and displaying the “we love dogs here” sign on the patio.
Another dog found a home because of you .
He held his breath, waiting for the dots to show that a reply was on the way.
But that was wishful thinking, too.