Chapter 4 #3
She dragged herself and the heavy bag toward her back door and hauled it out into the back alley. Holy smokes, the thing weighed a ton. The sky was just starting to lighten, that soft, hopeful gray-blue right before sunrise.
She heaved the heavy bag up and over the rim of the dumpster. It hit the bottom of the dumpster with the thwump of a felled tree. The second it did, something shot out from behind the dumpster as the lid slammed shut with a loud metallic crash.
“Shit!” Junie stumbled backward, heart leaping into her throat, as a skinny cream, peach, and light-gray puppy stood several yards away from the dumpster. Poor thing had evidently had a hard night. It stood wild-eyed and panting, then scrambled back behind the dumpster.
Junie slapped a hand over her pounding heart.
“Oh, sweet baby Jesus… you poor thing.” She inched closer to the edge of the dumpster, moving slowly so she wouldn’t startle him.
A few seconds later, a small, matted face peeked around the edge, trembling, watching her with big, wary eyes.
For a long, quiet moment, neither of them moved.
Her chest ached as she glared at the world in general.
Someone had to have thrown the little guy in that dumpster.
No way could that tiny dog have made it inside there on its own.
She was sure it would have died if the side-door hadn’t been slightly ajar.
Despite the poor thing’s escape, whoever had abandoned him should be ashamed of themselves.
The puppy peeked out again, ribs prominent under the matted fur. She couldn’t blame him. He’d clearly been abused. He watched her with guarded eyes, shining with the tiniest spark of hope.
She shouldn’t. She really, really shouldn’t.
“Don’t think I’m keeping you,” she told him sternly, “because I’m not. The last thing I need right now is another mouth to feed.”
But her feet were already carrying her back inside anyway. She quickly scraped together some leftover scraps from the kitchen, her hands moving faster than her brain could argue with her.
“What are you doing?” Kenzie glared at her from the sink. “You’re supposed to be resting.”
“Uh… I’ve got a bit of a situation I need to take care of,” Junie mumbled.
“From taking out the trash?” Kenzie asked, her foot tapping.
“It’ll only take a minute.” Junie darted out the door with the scraps before Kenzie could stop her.
The door closed behind her on her friend’s exasperated gasp. Moving slowly and carefully, Junie set the scraps on the ground near the opening on the dumpster’s side and waited, barely breathing.
Inch by inch, the puppy crept forward on shaky legs, tail tucked tight between his legs. His wary gaze shifted back and forth between Junie and the plate. But once he reached the food, he wolfed it down like he hadn’t seen any for days.
Junie’s heart squeezed so tight that it hurt. He was adorable. And sleeping on the hard concrete. That wouldn’t do.
She slipped back inside. There were blankets and things in her office.
“Finally,” Kenzie said. “I’ll make sure you’re not disturbed. Hey, where are you going?”
“Situation!” Junie called as she exited her office, an old blanket and a couple of clean towels tucked under one arm as she reached for the back door again.
Working as fast as she could, she made a little shelter bed behind the dumpster, out of the wind. “You stay warm, okay? Now you can sleep,” she whispered, crouching down low. “I’ll bring you more food later. But you can’t stay. I mean it.”
The puppy thumped his tail once, slow and hopeful, those big eyes locked on her like she was the best thing he’d ever seen.
Junie sighed as she straightened up, brushing flour from her apron. A reluctant smile tugged at her lips anyway.
Don’t get attached. You can’t keep him.
Now, time for some well-earned shuteye.
When she turned, Kenzie stood in the doorway watching. She had a smug look on her face and was shaking her head.
“What, I can’t be nice to animals, now?”
“You know this is just going to be trouble. If the health inspectors or even a customer complains about a dog in the bakery, they’ll shut you down.”
“That’s not going to happen. I’m just being a nice person.”
“Right. That’s the way it always starts.”
Junie slipped back inside, her body heavy with exhaustion, but she couldn’t resist one last glance over her shoulder before heading to the cot. Kenzie stood at the open back door, smiling like a fool and waving at the little dog.
Junie cleared her throat.
Kenzie whipped around, guilt written all over her face. “I was just… waving at a friend I saw on the street.” She quickly closed the door and marched toward the front of the shop. “I’m needed up front.”
Junie bit back a smile. Yeah, right. Kenzie was just as big a sucker for a needy animal as she was.
She couldn’t wait to tell Tanner about the puppy. Nobody knew better than her how soft that big, tough man was when it came to taking in strays.
With a tired sigh, she climbed onto the cot in her tiny office and curled up under the blanket. The faint sound of Poppy and Kenzie chatting up front drifted through the doorway as her eyes grew heavy. A small, secret smile lingered on her lips even as sleep pulled her under.