Page 90 of Borrow My Heart

I didn’t want to cry. Not in front of my dad. Not at all, actually. I channeled my emotions into anger instead and adjusted my backpack as I headed for my room. “Get in line,” I said over my shoulder, then shut the door behind me.

The next morning, I was woken by my buzzing phone. I ignored it the first time, but whoever it was called back. I thought Asher’s name would be on my screen and I’d have to start blocking his number, but when I picked up my phone I saw it was Erin.

“Hello,” I answered, my voice deep from sleep.

“Wren, hey, Chad called in sick today, can you come in?”

I wanted to tell her I was still out of town, but she should’vealready known that, so maybe Chad had mentioned I was home when he called in. That little punk. I did not feel like working today. Just as I thought that, though, I pictured Bean. I hadn’t seen him in days and I was sure he was the only one who could lift my mood at this point. Plus, maybe he needed me too. He hadn’t been at the shelter through a Fourth of July yet, which could be a scary time for a lot of dogs. I wondered how Bean had handled it. Something familiar today would be good for him, and me. “Is an hour soon enough?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s perfect. Thank you, you’re a lifesaver!”

Her declaration reminded me of that stupidsave the daycomment Asher had left up on TikTok. I cringed. “Not really, but I’ll see you soon.”

We hung up and I checked my phone for any other notifications that might have come while I slept. There were none. None from my sister or Asher or even Kamala. I swallowed hard and went to get ready.

My dad had already left for work and I was glad we didn’t have to have an awkward exchange this morning. I kind of hated everyone right now and I didn’t need to say anything I’d regret.

An hour later I pulled into the parking lot of Petsacular, looking forward to hanging out with Bean and getting my mind off things. I must’ve already been in some kind of zone because I didn’t process anything in the parking lot and when I walked inside and saw Asher standing there with his cute goofy smile and his lanky frame and his floppy hair, my first instinct was to smile back.

But then every emotion I’d felt in the last forty-eight hours hitme at once and my smile fell. He rushed forward and hugged me, not seeming to notice that I didn’t hug him back. Why had it not occurred to me that he might be here?

“I missed you and I’m so excited! I have a surprise for you,” he said. “Come here.” He took me by the hand, led me across the mostly empty lobby and through the swinging door to the kennels. Erin was there. She gave me a wink and a thumbs-up. Had Asher asked her to call me in today?

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“You’ll see,” Asher said, stopping suddenly before we rounded the last row of kennels. He turned to face me, his smile still on his face. “Close your eyes.”

“No.”

“Come on, it will make it more fun.”

“Asher, I don’t want to do this. We need to talk.”

“That sounds serious,” he said in his fake-serious voice, but then his smile faltered. “Is everything okay?”

I pulled my hand out of his. “No, it’s not.”

Colorful streamers flew out from behind the wall, unfurling into long strips, followed by handfuls of confetti. The dogs, which had already been barking, redoubled their efforts. I could no longer hear Asher even though I could see he was talking. Realizing this, he leaned close to my ear, and said, “Sorry, they were supposed to wait until they saw us. We’ll talk after, okay?” He raised his eyebrows in a question.

I nodded and we rounded the corner. Rodrigo and Erin stood by Bean’s kennel holding the ends of streamer rolls and lookingsheepish. The dogs finally quieted a bit and Erin yelled, “Congratulations!”

Had Asher announced our relationship to the shelter? Were they throwing us a party? That didn’t make sense. “For what?” I asked.

“You did it! You both did it! Bean was adopted!”

My eyes shot to the kennel behind Erin and Rodrigo. It was empty, aside from a few pieces of confetti that had made it through the chain link and lay strewn across the cement. “He’s gone?” I asked, my voice so soft that I knew they couldn’t hear it.

“This weekend was crazy,” Asher said. “The line was out the door. We asked for an Arthur and we got one.”

“What?”

“You know, your post? The sword in the stone? Arthur was the one who pulled it out.”

Erin approached me and patted my arm. “Seriously, good job, guys. We should team you two up for other placements. You’re like the dynamic duo.”

Rodrigo gave Asher a high five and then he and Erin walked away.

I shuffled forward and grabbed hold of the chain links, peering into the empty kennel, not quite believing Bean was gone. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

---