Page 25 of Truth or Spare

“We’ll see,” Dewey said as he shooed Theo. “It’s a block behind us on 5th Street. Stay out of trouble.”

Theo cast him an impatient look as he headed for the door. “Why do you always assume I’m up to something nefarious?”

“Because normal people don’t use the word nefarious and they have checking accounts with direct deposit,” Dewey called after him.

“Ciao!” Theo shouted back as the doors closed behind him, then headed in the direction of the shelter. “It’s for a checking account!” He laughed under his breath at himself for not guessing. “No wonder my accountant laughed.”

Theo had never had a job or earned a paycheck before and he didn’t have a typical checking account. He was worth a great deal of money, but very little of it was liquid. He had a card attached to an expense account and most of his bills were handled by his accountant and the Foundation.

As Leo’s brother and heir, the Foundation paid Theo to act as the Margraviate’s ambassador. As long as he behaved.

Theo winced at the thought. He hadn’t been on his best behavior on Saturday night, but Dewey seemed to have put the episode behind them. Which was for the best, Theo reasoned. One of them had to show a little self-control and it probably wouldn’t be Theo, if that first kiss was any indication.

“I can’t imagine I’d get into any trouble here,” he said as he considered his destination. It was just a bland, brick building with a simple sign: Oslo Animal Welfare.

Inside, Theo was immediately greeted by muffled woofs and distant keening as he approached the large, bald gentleman at the front desk. Behind the desk, Theo could see rows of cages through a window as a woman in overalls mopped the dingy-looking, gray linoleum floor. The shelter smelled clean, like pine and bleach, despite its sad state.

The top of the man’s head was aimed at Theo as he read from a worn-out paperback. The cover was folded all the way around and the pages were ragged, making Theo curious. He wondered what the clearly beloved book’s title was and if he’d read it yet.

“Hello, my name is Theo and I work at the bowling alley up the street,” he said cheerfully, only to earn a faint grunt.

“Come on in!” the woman in overalls shouted and waved from behind the window.

“Pardon me,” Theo told the man as he made his way around and pushed open a heavy metal door.

He bit back a groan at the long room and all the crates lining the walls. Most of the inhabitants were sleeping while a few pressed their noses against the grates of their cages as they barked and wagged their tails excitedly.

Guilt and a desperate sense of pity welled within Theo and he was about to reverse out of the room when the woman grabbed his hand and pumped it aggressively.

“You must be Theo. Although, I can’t imagine who else you’d be. We haven’t had anyone new around here in ages,” she said and clapped him hard on the back. “I’m Lidia Wells. What can I do for you?”

“I have the day off and some time to kill so I thought I’d do a little exploring,” Theo attempted but changed his mind when Lidia planted a hand on her hip and gave him an impatient look.

“Try again, fancy man.”

Theo laughed but a sad pair of eyes in a cage at the end of the row caught his attention. “You’ve got me, Lidia. Brooks kicked me out because it’s my ‘day off’ and he suggested I visit your shelter. Who’s that?” he asked her as he pointed at a basset hound with the most pathetic, droopiest face Theo had ever seen.

“That’s Walter, our newest resident. He belonged to Eddy Harvey. Eddy passed away three weeks ago and his only son is in a home up by Syracuse so there was no one to take poor Walter.”

“Schade,” Theo said as he went to Walter’s cage and lowered so he could stick a finger through the wires and rub his snout. “You poor, old thing,” he murmured, noting Walter’s graying face and coat.

“Why don’t you take him out and hold him?” she offered but Theo shook his head.

“I really shouldn’t!” He already wanted to cry as he took in all the dogs and the cats in their bank of cages. They were all watching him with sad, searching eyes and waiting for a turn to be held or possibly rescued. “This was a mistake!” he whispered to Lidia.

“Oh no it’s not!” She put an arm around Theo’s shoulders and squeezed tight, making him feel better. “We can’t save them all, Theo, but we can care for them and keep them safe and comfortable here. And they’re happy with any attention you can spare.”

“Das weiß ich,” Theo said and nodded, discreetly wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. “But how do you handle it? I want to take them all home,” he told her and she chuckled softly.

“This is home for me. I can’t take all these babies to my place, so I work here. I get to look after and love on all the dogs and cats and other critters people don’t want.”

“You are a saint, Lidia Wells,” Theo stated with a decisive nod and scanned around to see how he could help the best.

“Nah,” she waved him off. “Let’s take Walter out. He could use a walk.”

Theo shook his head and backed away but she had Walter out a moment later and dumped him into Theo’s arms. “I probably shouldn’t,” he murmured, promptly kissing one of Walter’s ears. “You really are a sweet, old thing, aren’t you?” Theo said to him and followed Lidia out the door to a long, flat, sparsely grassed yard. The ground was frosty and littered with faded, chewed-up toys. Theo thought it was an even more depressing sight as he imagined Walter waddling around the cold, empty yard without any kind of coat or vest.

“You can go ahead and put him down,” she said to Theo, giving him a nudge.

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