Page 25 of Hound Dog
Only you would call a bunch of people helping homeless, helpless animals ‘bullies.’
It wasn’ttheirfault they were at capacity and couldn’t take Aunt Meryl’s pets in.
Still, that didn’t change the fact that I needed their help. Desperately. I needed to get these animals out of Meryl’s home andfast.
Guilt burrowed inside of me. After what happened between me and Finn, I’d never come to Maple Grove to visit. She’d always come back to Rochester to stay withme. And sure, she’d mentioned her dogs—how she needed to get dog sitters when she visited. Sometimes on visits, she’d even bring one of her dogs. But I’d assumed she had two dogs. Maybe three, tops.
I hadnoidea there were fourteen.
Fourteen freaking dogs. Six cats. And a hedgehog. All in one house.
No wonder she tripped and fell. Whether it was the steep stairwell or the dogs getting tangled underfoot, Aunt Meryl needed me.
And I was going to be there for her.
I had a job where I could work remotely. I could teach my students over Zoom. And I had the whole summer to help her clean, pack, and list her house for sale.
If only I could convince her to downsize.
A voice from above startled me. “Mind if I sit with you? There’s no empty tables.”
I glanced up at the woman in glasses who’d been chatting with Finn right before he ran off. I thought she had left with him, too, but it turned out that she’d just taken a call outside.
“Yeah, of course,” I said. “I won’t be here long, anyway.”
“Oh, me either.” She was already seated and pulling out her laptop from her bag. “I just need to check something for work really quick.”
Her fingers flew across her laptop keys with a speed that F1 drivers would envy.
“Whoa,” I said without thinking. “I don’t know what you do or where you work. But whoever is lucky enough to employ you better appreciate what they have with a WPM like that.”
She grinned at me from over her laptop. “I like you. What’s your name?”
“Haylee,” I said, offering my hand to her.
“Enzo,” she replied and took mine in a firm shake. “And trust me, he knows how damn lucky he is to have me as a partner.”
I blinked, surprised. Who was the ‘he’ she was referring to? Was it Finn? And what exactly did she mean by ‘partner?’ Business? Romantic? Life?
God, my thoughts were running away with me already.
“Are you here on vacation?” Enzo asked, barely taking her eyes off the screen.
“Not exactly. I’m here taking care of my aunt. She fell a couple days ago—”
“No shit,” Enzo said, pausing her typing. “Ol’ Lady Meryl is your aunt?”
“GreatAunt.” I drew back, surprised and a little wary of how quickly she recognized who I was talking about. “You know Aunt Meryl?”
She shrugged. “Everyone knows Meryl. It’s a small town, and if you’ve lived here more than a couple months, chances are you’ve met everyone. But Meryl especially is like a town staple. She’s awesome.” Enzo paused long enough to take a sip of her iced coffee. “How’s she doing? After the fall?”
“She’s okay,” I said, feeling the weariness in my bones. It was exhausting caring for an elderly family member. Not that she was super old or anything. But in her late sixties, she was old enough for the doctors to be worried that another bad fall could really set back her health.
“Luckily, no broken bones, only a sprained ankle. But I’m trying to convince her that it’s time to sell her house and downsize.”
Enzo made a cringing face. “That can’t be going well. She’d have to walk away from her garden. She lives for that damn garden.”
Tell me about it. “Exactly. At least she’s agreed to find homes for most of her dogs, though. That’s a start.” I gestured to the box of animal-decorated cupcakes. “That’s what these are for. When I called the Maple Grove Animal Rescue, they told me they’re not accepting any more animals at the moment. I’m hoping I can schmooze them into taking at least a few.”
