“Dog? Cat? That’s mostly what we have, but we also have a few bunnies and even a chinchilla.”
“Dog.” The word was out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying.
Trent clapped his hands together as if my answer was very exciting for him. “That’s wonderful. We have a lot of really great pups here that could use a good home.”
I’m sure they could, but unfortunately, that’s not going to be mine.This was fine. I was sure people came here every day without any intentionof actually buying an animal. I would look around and I’d leave. No harm done.
At least, that’s how I expected it to go until we walked into the room lined with cages, and every single dog in the room stared at me with their big puppy dog eyes as if they were putting a spell on me and summoning me to take them home. One dog in particular caught my eye. His cage was all the way on the end, and he was the only dog in the whole place who hadn’t stood up when I walked in the room. He was watching me like all the others, but he didn’t go through the trouble of pushing up against the cage to get my attention. He didn’t need to. He had my attention without doing any of that, because he looked so much like the dog I had when I was little. I didn’t remember a ton about Patch since he died when we were still pretty young, but my moms had plenty of pictures of him, and this dog was a spitting image of him. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought itwashim. He was tan and white, and according to the sign on his cage, around twelve pounds.
I instinctively walked over to his cage and put my hand against the bar as I stared in at him. “What kind of dog is this?” I asked Trent.
“Definitely partly Pomeranian. He’s mixed with a few other things, but I’m honestly not sure what. His name is Speck. He’s a great dog. Completely potty trained to either go outside or use one of those indoor grass mats that so many people in the city have. He doesn’t chew. He doesn’t bite. Pretty perfect, honestly. Poor thing’s been here for over a year.”
“What?” My eyes shot over to Trent to see if he was kidding, but the forlorn look on his face told me he wasn’t. “How is that even possible?”
Trent sighed and lifted his shoulders, before letting them drop. “He’s six and a half. His owner died unexpectedly a little over a year ago and no one in his family wanted a dog. Unfortunately, most people who come to a rescue are looking for a puppy. As morbid as it sounds, they want a dog who will last longer.”
I could feel my heart splitting in my chest. I didn’t understand how anyone could look at this ridiculously cute face and not fall in love immediately. “What happens if no one adopts him?”
“I guess he’ll live out the rest of his days here. Luckily, this is a no-kill shelter, so he’ll get to live his full life.”
His full life stuck in a cage surrounded by animals getting taken home to their forever families.“I’ll take him.”
The words were out before I could stop them, but I oddly didn’t regret them. This dog needed a home, and I needed to buy something on a whim. Plus, having a furry companion would probably help to keep me from latching on to Jax even more. The fact that I was looking for companionship was most likely the reason for my confusing feelings. This was the perfect solution.
“Really?” Trent sounded so giddy with excitement, it confirmed my decision even more. He clapped his hands together and did a little jump. “This is so great. I just need to have you fill out the adoption application, which our system should hopefully immediately approve. If it doesn’t, barring anything particularly worrisome, I should be able to override it.”
He led me back to the lobby, leaving Speck behind, but promising him that we would be right back. He went behind the desk and pulled out an iPad, which he hit a few buttons on before handing to me. “It’s kind of a lot, but I promise it’ll be worth it. Once that’s approved, all you’ll have to do is sign a few things and Speck is all yours.”
I grabbed the iPad and took a seat across the room. It took almost a half hour for me to complete the form, but seconds after submitting it, a message popped up telling me I was approved. I gave the iPad back to Trent, who hit a few more buttons, then had me sign it in multiple different places. It was hard to keep up with everything he was telling me, but I did catch that I had thirty days to return him and get half of my adoption fee back, which turned out to only be one-hundred-fifty dollars. There was no way I was going to return him, but it was nice that they offered that.
Less than an hour and a half after walking in the door with no plans of actually adopting, I was leaving with Speck and a bag full of toys and food. I moved the bag onto my shoulder and used my hand that wasn’t holding Speck’s leash to take out my phone and send Jax a text. Jax—the girl I really should have asked before getting a dog that would live with both of us. I had never seen Jax mad, but I hoped this wasn’t the time it happened.
Carter: So, I kind of did something crazy. I hope you’re not mad…
Jax: Mad?! Definitely not. I love crazy.
Carter: Okay… but this is CRAZY!
Jax: I’m intrigued ;)
Jax: SO, WHAT IS IT?!!!!
Carter: Are you home?
Jax: Yes!!
Carter: I’ll be there in about fifteen
Jax: YOU’RE MAKING ME WAIT?!
Carter: Patience…
Jax: Can I get a hint?
Carter: I fulfilled a list item
Three little bubbles appeared and disappeared a bunch of times before Jax’s next response finally came through.
