Page 33 of Daddy's Little Matchmaker

The following week Tessica had some downtime at the shelter and set up her laptop at the front counter to do some accounting work.

An older man came in holding a crate. She caught a glimpse of a toy poodle before he set the crate on the floor.

“Welcome to Fur-ever Friends. How can I help you?” she asked.

“I saw online that you take unwanted animals?”

“We do.”

“My brother passed away last week, and I’m the only family he had.”

“I’m so sorry,” Tessica said.

The man nodded and continued. “This is his dog, but my apartment doesn’t allow animals. And even if they did, I’m gone for weeks at a time.” The man pulled some papers out of his jacket. “I have some of Toby’s vet records. He’s fixed, he’s got all his shots, and he’s real friendly. But I can’t take care of him.”

Tessica could tell the man was genuinely upset. “Well, you’ve brought him to the right place. I’m sure we’ll find Toby the perfect home.” She pulled an intake form out from under the counter and slid it over to him along with a pen. “Just fill out this form, leave the vet records with me, and I’ll take care of everything else.”

An hour later, Tessica had Toby settled in a kennel when Gwen arrived for her usual Wednesday afternoon veterinary check in.

“Hey,” Gwen greeted her with a cheerful smile.

“You seem chipper today.”

“I’m feeling chipper. How are you?”

“Busy.” Tessica gestured to her laptop. “I’m trying to close the fiscal month for one of my clients before tomorrow morning, but there’s a four-thousand-dollar error somewhere, and I can’t find it. On top of that, a new dog was brought in today. And Connor’s supposed to be here this evening to check on the shelter.”

She didn’t mention that she and Connor were supposed to go on a date after work. She wasn’t sure she was ready for that bit of info to be public.

“Well, I can’t help with the accounting, but I’ll check out the new doggo. Which kennel is he in?”

Tessica waved her toward the back and kept her eyes on the numbers in front of her. “Kennel two.”

When Gwen didn’t move, Tessica glanced up from her screen.

“How much sleep did you get last night?” Gwen asked, eyes narrowed.

Tessica gave Gwen a somewhat patronizing smile. “I got plenty of sleep, thank you.”

“Yeah, sure you did,” Gwen scoffed. “Tell you what. I’m going to check out the dog, and do a quick looky-loo at all the other inmates. Then I’ll watch the front desk while you go upstairs and focus on your accounting. I can stay until closing.”

“Don’t you have to go back to the clinic after lunch?” Tessica asked.

Gwen shook her head. “I switched with one of the other vets who needed the weekend off. I have today and tomorrow off, and I’m working Saturday and Sunday.”

“You didn’t have to come in today if you have the day off. You should?—”

“Tessica.” Gwen walked over and put an arm around the older woman’s waist. “I’m here because Iwantto be here. I want to help you. Please let me.”

Tessica sighed, patted Gwen’s shoulder, and nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”

Four hours later, Tessica closed her laptop. She had figured out where the missing money was for her client, and she’d closed their fiscal month. One less thing to do meant she could focus on her date with Connor without worrying about work.

She walked downstairs to the sound of voices, and saw Connor and Gwen talking at the front counter.

“Connor.” Tessica checked the clock as she went to join them. “I didn’t realize it had gotten so late. Sorry about that.”

Connor shrugged. “It’s okay.”

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