Page 45 of Forever & Always You
As I enter my second week of being back in Durham, I’ve developed a terrible, terrible habit of obsessively checking on the Saving Paws Animal Rescue’s website to see if any of the dogs Austin and I visited have been adopted. Teddy, the Labradorwe took outside into the agility field, has now been there for nine hundred and forty-three days. The thought of that number reaching one thousand makes me want to cry.
“Carly,” I say, setting my phone down on the bar, “I don’t suppose you’d like to adopt a Labrador named Teddy?”
Carly flatly answers, “No.”
“Buck, you look like a man who could use a companion,” I say, smiling sweetly down the bar at Buck, who does not, in fact, look like a man who could use a companion. “Oh, oh, oh! We could have a bar dog!”
“And who will look after this bar dog when the bar is closed, hmm?” Buck challenges.
“Me.”
“Your lease agreement allows for dogs?”
My shoulders sink, because my lease strictly states no pets allowed, which is neither here nor there, because there’s no way I can adopt a dog, anyway. I’m going back to school soon. It wouldn’t work. But Teddy .?.?.
“I’ll be back in five,” I say, then grab my phone and disappear into the back.
An idea has been forming in my head for days now, and I can’t bear the thought of Teddy never finding a home for a second longer. The shelter’s website needs a serious overhaul, because the photos of the dogs are, honestly, awful. The shelter runs entirely on donations, so I know their budget is tiny and they’re doing the best they can with such limited resources, but I have a trust fund gathering dust and a charitable legacy I’ve decided I want to continue.
I sit on the stoop at the back door and press my phone to my ear as the sun beats hot against my face. My knees bounce anxiously as I listen to the dial tone.
“Saving Paws Animal Rescue,” a voice eventually answers. “Fiona speaking. How can I help?”
“Hi, Fiona!” I say, relieved it’s the exact person I wish to talk to. “My name’s Gabrielle. I came by a few weeks ago with Austin Pierce, if you remember me?”
“Oh, yes, hello! How are you doing?”
“Good, thanks.” After a deep breath, I explain. “I’ve been thinking about the dogs, and it’d really make me happy if we found them their forever homes. Especially Teddy. Can I run an idea by you? It’ll be worth your time, I promise.”
*
Then that weekend, as I’m elbow-deep in the sink washing glasses, Austin Pierce walks into the bar.
15
“Austin!” I gasp in surprise.
It’s Saturday night, the only time of the week Buck’s Tavern is packed, yet Austin is so distinguishable through the crowd of faces that I’m drawn to him the second I glance up from rinsing shot glasses.
He slides onto an empty stool at the bar, wedging himself between the biker with a raging attitude problem and the wasted divorcee who’s been snapping at me all night for not topping up her double vodkas quickly enough. Brave man, Austin Pierce.
“Can I just get a soda from you, please, Gabby?” he asks, waving his car keys.
I shake my head in disbelief at his presence as I immediately default to autopilot, grabbing a glass. “What are you doing here?”
“I know you’re taking some time to get things together, but it’s been two weeks since you pouted at me and it’s becoming unbearable.” He smiles, and it’s so innocent and simple and really damn gorgeous, I think I might die.
“So, you drove two hours to see me pout?” I ask, the butterflies in my stomach batting their wings.
“I’d drive ten.”
How?How does he make me blush so easily with only a handful of words?That’swhat’s truly unbearable. Although I’ve missed Austin the past couple weeks, I haven’t missed the feeling of being one smoldering wink away from a heart attack. We call each other every day, but it’s not the same as having him sat here in front of me now.
My chest squeezed tight, I set his soda down on the bar between us. “On the house.”
“Excuse me!” the divorcee next to him wails, slapping her hand on the bar to steal my attention. “My glass is empty, Abby!”
“It’sGabby,” I remind her for the third time tonight. “With a G.”
