Page 10 of Here Comes Santa Paws

My feet didn’t get that memo because they carried me to him. “Need help?” I’d asked it with the same lack of enthusiasm as “yes, I want anchovies on my pizza.”

He scrambled to his feet and wiped his butt, drawing my attention to it.

“I don’t suppose you missed that.” He jerked his thumb toward the ground.

“Saw it all.”

He groaned and tilted his face toward the sky. “This day keeps getting better.” Then his face snapped toward me. “Wait. Did you offer to help? Really?”

“It’s either that or listen to you try to reason with the thing outside my window all night.”

Elias lit up like I’d just offered to decorate my half of the duplex. I ignored the swirling in my gut. Earnest guys like him were trouble because they expected others to be as thoughtful as they were.

“Did you say her name is Carol? Who names a dog Carol?”

“Like Christmas Carol. Get it? Most of the animals have festive names at the shelter.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course they did.

He leaned in conspiratorially. “And you’ve gotta admit, human names for animals are hilarious. Imagine yelling, ‘Carol, quit shitting in Esther’s rose bushes!’”

“Maybe Esther deserves it.” I wanted to snatch the words back because he looked at me, delighted, like I’d just tap-danced naked.

“Now that you mention it, I haven’t met an Esther who wasn’t trouble.”

My lips twitched with an almost-smile, but I caught it in time. Time to get this over with so I could continue my evening. “I’ll grab her if you get the door.”

Elias’s attention landed on my arms. I flexed reflexively, which was fucking ridiculous on so many levels. Not least of which was the fact I had on a goddamn coat.

“Thanks!”

Carol’s attention snapped to me when I neared her. She reminded me of that sweet dog next door when we lived in a great town in Oregon. Roxy, that was her name. Sweetest dog I’d ever met.

Damn, I hadn’t thought of Dahlia Springs in forever, but it was like my brain had opened Pandora’s Box, and memories flooded to the forefront of my mind. Not only of Roxy, but of my friends and the forest we explored after school every day and the cul-de-sac we rode our bikes in.

An image of my ten-year-old best friend, Warren, flashed in my head. He was eager, adventurous, and never met an animal he didn’t want to adopt. Elias had probably been the same at that age.

Of all the places we temporarily lived in when I was young, Dahlia Springs stuck out the most in my memory. We’d lived there longer than anywhere else, and I thought maybe we’d stay there for good. I’d wanted nothing more than to live there forever and keep playing with Roxy and Warren, but Dad hadgotten a new job, and we’d moved away right before Christmas. That was the year I’d painfully learned the lesson that it was easier to move if I wasn’t leaving anyone important to me behind.

Carol had a similar mix of black, white, and rust coloring to Roxy. When we made eye contact, her tongue fell from her mouth, almost like a smile. Roxy used to do that from the other side of the fence. My heart twinged.

“Carol, let’s go.” I wasn’t sure why I’d made the command, but she obediently hopped down and sat at my feet.

Elias gaped at me. Carol eagerly watched me like she was waiting for more directions.

“What?” I felt self-conscious with his eyes on me.

“She’s never responded like that to anyone.”

I shrugged because I had no clue what to tell him. I’d never had a pet and had no fucking clue what to do with animals.

Elias clipped a leash on her collar. “She’s been through a lot. She was brought into the shelter after Halloween, and we’ve had to keep her isolated since she’s so stressed.”

“And you’re bringing her into a home with all your other animals? Won’t that stress her out more? Your dogs aren’t exactly quiet.” I pointedly glanced at his place, where his dogs’ muffled barks were clear as day.

Elias’s eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms, and fuck me, it was cute.

“I don’t have a choice. We had a massive water leak at the shelter last night, and I’m scrambling to find another place for many of our animals. She needs special care, and I don’t want to pawn her off on someone who won’t give it to her. We’re working on fostering out a lot of the animals, but I wanted to get Carol out as soon as I could for her well-being. At least in my place, she can have a private room instead of being crated in the shelter’s break room.”

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