Chapter 6
Sam
The next morning, I sipped on the warm liquid. While I closed my eyes to enjoy my cup of coffee, I knew it wasn’t as good as what I’d drunk at the Percolator.
My cell phone rang. “Hi, Sam. Sorry to call so early, but I’m gonna have to cancel our session for today,” Eva explained. “I volunteer at an animal shelter, and someone there requires my immediate help today—a task I was supposed to do tomorrow.”
“Oh no. Well, how about I meet you and we can do the session there? I can even help wash dogs and clean up after them,” I said, hoping to see her today. There was no denying it; I found Eva attractive.
“Oh, okay then. I’ll send you a text with the address. Meet there around eleven.”
I ended the call and went back to drinking my poor man’s mocha. I was impressed. She hadn’t seemed like the type of person who would volunteer. I wanted to know more about the girl behind the matchmaker’s facade.
The animal shelter was a small, old building with worn wooden shutters surrounding the windows. I could hear dogs barking as I slammed the car door and headed inside. The lobby was also a little rough around the edges, with beige walls and white linoleum.
“Sam, I’m glad you made it,” Eva said, popping around the corner. She was wearing a bright-yellow shirt with the animal shelter logo on it. Not that I was a fashionista or anything, but yellow was not her color. Eva still looked hot with the hem tied up, revealing a sliver of her tan midsection.
“Yeah, I’ve never been on this side of town. I had to use the GPS,” I said, looking around at the posters of animals and several flyers on a bulletin board.
“It’s one of those places you would just drive right by, which honestly, makes it hard because people don’t know about it. We are a no-kill shelter, so we try to keep them as long as we can. But because of space, we have to move them to other shelters in some neighboring towns. That’s why they brought me here.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, leaning against the counter.
“Well, I mean, I’ve volunteered, but I’m in charge of the marketing efforts and trying to boost our city,” Eva said.
“I think you’re the perfect person for that,” I said with a smile.
Eva’s bubbly personality and social skills made her the perfect choice to promote pet adoption. She clapped her hands and said, “Okay, we are going to start with something simple, like washing some dogs. Come back here, and I’ll show you the way.”
She lifted the flip-up countertop and I stepped through the small opening, just grazing her chest as I passed. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking of Eva’s breasts, but I couldn’t help thinking what they would feel like in my hands. Giving them a firm squeeze or, better yet, a suck.
Back in reality, Eva guided me through the different kennels and showed me where the kittens in the cat cottage were. There were fewer cats than dogs. She said cats’ low maintenance contributed to their higher adoption rates, a point I agreed with. Growing up, I never had a dog, but we’d had a few cats. My mom had said that they were easier, and we could still go on vacations. The cat would be just fine at home for a few days.
“We have a few dogs we need to wash, as we have some people interested in meeting them. We always like to give our animals the best chance they have. First impressions are super critical, especially when getting a dog from a shelter. We want them to be well-behaved, so we have an on-site trainer who comes in and works with them so they know the basics, like sit and stay and how to walk on a leash,” she said, looking at me with her piercing green eyes.
“How long do they get trained before they’re able to be adopted?” Not that I was interested in adopting, but if the time ever came, I would want to make sure the dog was well-behaved. I’d heard stories of dogs not transitioning to their new home life well.
“Our shelter has a thorough evaluation process for each new dog. First, we have a one-week observation period where we monitor the dog’s basic behavior and temperament. During this time, we introduce them to our well-behaved resident dogs to assess their socialization skills and check for any signs of aggression.
“Next comes a detailed evaluation period lasting two to four weeks, where we assess their specific training needs and behavioral patterns. Once we understand each dog’s requirements, we begin targeted training. After about six weeks of working with the dog, we list them on our shelter website for adoption.
“While this may seem like a long process, it has proven extremely successful. Our adopters consistently report having well-behaved dogs, and we have not had any dogs returned to the shelter since implementing this system.”
“Wow. That’s pretty intensive,” I said. “And enjoyable. Do you just do the washing or… What other aspects do you take care of?”
“Yes, I do grooming, feeding, and clean up. The only thing I don’t do here is the training. However, I’ve been taking some classes so I could be a fill-in if needed. But now with just taking over the family business, I don’t know if I’m gonna have the time to do that,” Eva replied.
I nodded. Eva opened one kennel and clipped on a leash to a big, burly mountain dog. He jumped on me, placing his enormous paws—the size of my hand—up on my chest and licked my face.
“Whoa, boy… or girl.”
“This is Shirley,” Eva said, pulling the dog off my chest. “She is super affectionate. She loves everyone she meets. And as you see, she has a thick coat, which is the bane of my existence. We need to brush her and bathe her and then we’ll put her back and move on to the next one.”
“Sounds good. Lead the way,” I said, fanning out my hand for Eva to take Shirley ahead of me. As Eva guided me through the kennel and into the backyard, I noticed she had a bounce in her step. Her ponytail swayed in sync with it.
Eva was mesmerizing. I couldn’t describe what was different about her, but she was unlike any other girl I’d ever met. With her being my dating coach, I knew I was in trouble.