I don’t bother pretending I want to stay and chat with everyone after we’re done. I know this is my event and I should be schmoozing for donations and adoptions, but all I can think about is Bella.
The entire hour I was in that barn smiling for photos, my skin was practically itching.
And I ran out of there when the photographer said he got it like my ass was on fire.
It doesn’t take me long to find her. I spot Layla rolling her eyes at something Kieran says while Bella bites her lip to stop herself from laughing.
As happy as I am to see her, I’m devastated that her hand is still wrapped around Bambi’s leash. The golden retriever perks up, her tail thumping wildly when she spots me.
“Hey, gorgeous girl,” I coo, bending down to pat her. “No takers?”
The mood sobers. “No,” Bella answers. “We even stuck a volunteer shirt on Layla so people didn’t think we had adopted her.”
That explains that, then. I was worried Kieran had something to do with the changed shirt. I open my mouth to speak, but I stop as I find Bella assessing me.
That look in her eye is new.
Did Kieran say something?
“Why don’t you adopt her?” Bella declares. “She adores you. Look at her.”
I follow Bella’s line of sight to Bambi, her full puppy dog eyes on display, Lamb Chop hanging out of her mouth as she slowly sets her head on my lap.
“I’d love to, but it would be cruel. She has separation anxiety and I’m away a lot.”
“I can look after her.”
My head snaps up. “You’d have to sleep at my place at away games. Shuffling her back and forth would be harsh and only add to her anxiety.”
Bella bites her lip before shrugging. “Okay.”
My brain short-circuits.
Bella just said yes…tosleeping at my house.
Images of her sprawled across my bed come to mind, only to be doused with a bucket of ice water.
But what if she doesn’t stay around after the arrangement is done?
As if she had the same thought, Bella bends to my eye level, Layla and Kieran’s bickering forgotten. Those honey brown eyes, similar to Bambi’s, pin me to the spot. “Whydon’t we take her back as a foster? Most of the dogs got adopted, and those who didn’t have been fostered. Everyone has a place to sleep tonight. She can’t be the only one to go back to a kennel, and I’m guessing the anxiety she feels locked in that cage is horrendous.”
The knowledge that nearly everyone has been adopted has joy filling my heart, only to be closely followed by dread at the thought of Bambi being alone tonight. It’s the reason I never visit the animals in the evening because even the thought of leaving them all there with no home makes bile rush for my throat.
I’d take them all back to my house and have a petting zoo if I could.
“Okay, I’ll take her in if you’re okay with helping out while I’m not at the house. It will be an adjustment to a new space for Bambi, so her anxiety will be high.”
Bella is beaming, glowing with how radiant her smile is, and I wish I had said yes sooner just to see that smile.
“I’ll also make a social media post about Bambi. Someone will want her. How could they not?”
Bella places her hand on top of mine. “I’d hold off.”
“Why?”
She looks from me to Bambi, who is currently staring at me. “Because she loves you. Give her some time with you.”
Except I think there’s more to it that she’s not voicing, especially as she gets a calculating glint in her gaze.
