Chapter 11: Chapter 11

Brady pushed the door open for her, and Noelle went through, thanking him. Goldie didn’t seem encumbered at all, now that she was out in the fresh air. Noelle realized she hadn’t put her coat on and immediately wished she’d been thinking clearly. “Would you mind taking her leash for just a second?” she asked.

“Sure,” Brady said, his forehead wrinkling as he puzzled over what she was doing.

Quickly, Noelle took a few steps back into the building and grabbed an old coat from a hook near the door. She kept it there for occasions just like this one. Back in a moment, she took the leash from Brady who gave her a knowing nod. “Do you want to borrow my scarf?” he asked her as she zipped up the old black coat.

“No, it’s okay. It’s not that cold.” She smiled at him, glad for the offer but truly not needing it. She did slip her hands into some black gloves she kept in the pocket of the coat, shifting Goldie’s leash from one hand to the other as she did so.

They walked around the back yard for a few moments, Pooch and Goldie setting the pace, which was a bit quicker than Noelle would’ve chosen for a leisurely stroll, but she was glad to see the two little dogs enjoying the crisp winter air. “So… did you always want to run the animal shelter?” Brady asked as they walked along.

Noelle had to hide a laugh, it sounded like such an absurd question, though she couldn’t blame him for asking it. Still, when she said, “No,” it was emphatic enough to make his eyebrows arch. She decided she’d better explain herself. “I wanted to be a vet.”

“Really?” he asked, a crooked grin taking over his face. Not for the first time, she noticed just how handsome he was, how even though it was early afternoon, he already had a five o’clock shadow. It was sexy and made his eyes even more dazzling than she’d remembered them to be the other morning. “What made you decide not to be a vet?”

It took Noelle a moment to decide whether or not she wanted to give him the honest answer or the excuse she often made up when people asked that question, which wasn’t often, not anymore. When she’d first come back to this small town from college, all sorts of people thought it was their civic duty to question what had become of Dr. Snow. Now, most people assumed she didn’t even have a college degree. Why would a person need that to do what she did all day? Sometimes, she wondered that herself.

Brady had an honest face though, and it made him easy to talk to. She found herself telling him the shortened version of the truth before she had given it as much thought as she normally did. “I grew up thinking being a vet would be a lot of fun, that I’d get to spend my days with dogs and cats, helping them to feel better. Once I started veterinarian school, I realized that it wasn’t at all what I thought it would be.”

Pooch did a little skippy step in front of her, making Noelle have to dodge to the side. Brady put a hand out to steady her, but she was all right and didn’t need it. She’d have to keep an eye on this pup. He might just be a tripping hazard.

“So… it wasn’t all that glorious?” he asked, still smiling at her.

“I don’t even think it was necessarily that. I mean, I realized before I actually got to veterinarian school that it was going to be a lot tougher than I had thought when I was a little girl. I guess what I didn’t realize until I’d taken those first few classes was how much of it wasn’t about cats and dogs. I was in the middle of a quiz about bovine anatomy when I realized this wasn’t what I wanted. Don’t get me wrong, I love all animals, but I don’t need to know the precise location of all four compartments of a cow’s stomach to be happy in this life.”

He chuckled, a rich noise that sounded sort of like a melody. It made Noelle laugh, too. This might’ve been the first time she’d ever reflected on her past decisions with anything other than embarrassment or regret. “I’m assuming you didn’t change your major to animal shelter director or something. Is that even a thing?”

“No, but it should be,” she muttered. “Business. I started over and got my bachelor’s in business, thinking I would become a dog breeder, since they are my favorite animals, after all. I had this perfect plan in my mind.” She shook her head, remembering how badly that had gone as well.

“Do you breed dogs?” He was confused; she could tell by the V that formed between his eyebrows.

“No--and I wouldn’t now. Not when I know what happens to most of those dogs. Or what happens to non-purebred dogs because of those dogs. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have anything against dog breeders. I believe there are a lot of them that are doing good work. But I couldn’t do it in good conscience now.” A shiver went down her back as she thought about all of the dogs across the country that lost their lives every day in other shelters, ones that were not no-kill. How many of those dogs had died simply because they were not purebred? She didn’t like to think about it.

“What prevented you from doing it then?” Brady asked, dodging Goldie as she decided to tackle Pooch and knock him to the ground. They both got a chuckle out of the dogs’ antics, but Noelle also realized neither one of them was very good at walking on a leash. It was too bad she had no time to teach them.

“My stepfather’s allergies,” she said in summation. “I had to move back in with them when I graduated, out of my childhood bedroom and into the apartment above the garage.” She knew it was more of a tiny living room with a small bedroom and attached bathroom than an actual apartment. There was only a small kitchen, no dining, nothing like that. It was a studio apartment at best. “I would’ve had to build a kennel in his back yard because I couldn't keep four to six dogs in that small space, not hygienically anyway, not even if they were a toy breed.”

“His allergies are so bad he couldn’t tolerate them in the back yard?” Brady was still puzzled. It seemed everything that came out of her mouth had him stumped.

“I think it was more a hard pass than his allergies, if I’m honest,” Noelle admitted. “But it was his house, his yard, so what could I do?”

“How does he do around hypoallergenic dogs? Pooch is hypoallergenic, right?”

“You’ve been reading up on Havanese?” She had to stop her own trip down memory lane to comment, she was so impressed.

He shrugged. “Sure. I wanted to know how best to embellish the story when I tell everyone how I captured this wild beast and brought him in to be tamed by the enchantress.”

Noelle stopped to look at him. It was her turn to stare in wide-eyed amazement. “Enchantress?”

A bit of crimson not far from the shade of the scarf wound around his neck began to fill his cheeks. “Well, it is a fictional story, of course. Hence the word ‘embellish.’”

She giggled and started walking again, not sure what else to say. He was a little odd, but that was okay. So was she. The best people were. “Anyway, I obviously didn’t start my dog kennel. Back then, about three years ago, though it seems like a lot longer, we still had a few part-time positions at the shelter. One of those was open, so I took it. A year after that, the director quit. I got that job… and then everything went downhill from there.” Her eyes were focused off in the distance at the hazy winter sky, a faint shade of blue. Noelle shook it off and then refocused on the man next to her as they turned to head back to the shelter, having reached the end of the yard about the time she neared the end of the time she had left in her day to walk as many dogs as possible. It looked like her count would only be two.

As they walked back, she asked, “What about you? Where did you move here from?”

“Oh, uh, Milwaukee.” He said it like he didn’t want to talk about it. “I’m staying with some friends while I try to find my own place. I met Rob in college, and his wife Kyla is cool enough to let me crash in their guest room for a week or two.”

“Kyla and Rob Parson?” Noelle asked, her ears perking up. “I know them.”

“Oh, yeah?” He looked surprised as he turned to face her.

“Well, it is a small town. When only eight thousand people live in a place, you’re bound to know just about everyone. But, yes. I went to school with Kyla. High school.”

“Small world,” Brady said with a smile. “Anyway, I hope to find my own place shortly after the first of the year, but there aren’t a lot of rentals in town, and the only apartments are for senior citizens.”

“Right. That has been a bit of a problem since the meat packing company closed. It put a lot of people in a financial bind, and a few of them ended up having to sell their homes or take out a second mortgage. Thankfully, a lot of them were able to find new jobs at the toy factory that opened up in Lucas, but that’s a drive. It sure would be nice if we had another factory here in town.” She had gone far off track from her original topic and needed to steer the ship back on course. “Anyway, I have a friend who is a realtor. She might be able to help you find something. I don’t know if you’re thinking of buying or just renting. I guess it depends on how long you’re planning to be here.” She knew it actually depended upon a lot of things, but this was a sneaky way of finding out his long term plans.

“Oh, I plan to be here for a while. I just thought it would be easier to rent a place for a few months while I looked for a house to buy.”

She nodded, secretly glad he wasn’t just here for a month or two. “Her name is Jennifer Morris. Her office is downtown. You can tell her that I sent you. If you want.”

“Thanks.” Brady gave her that small, sheepish smile again, and she could tell he wasn’t quite sure what to make of her, much the same way as she wasn’t sure what to think of him either. If first impressions counted for anything, she should’ve been in trouble, but it seemed like he’d managed to let her awful showing go.

They’d reached the shelter. Brady pulled the door open for her, and they walked the dogs back to their kennels. Neither of them looked too happy to be back, but they were tired, especially Goldie, so when they went back inside their kennels, both of the dogs laid down, panting a little.

Brady patted Pooch on the head. “I’ll see you soon, buddy,” he said. “Unless your family comes for you.”

“Wouldn’t that be nice?” Noelle said. While she did hope that Pooch’s owners showed up soon, she did like the fact that Brady might come back to see the dog. She might not know what was happening between them, but she did know that she liked it--she liked him.

Noelle went to take off the old coat, and Brady pulled the back for her, helping her slip out of the sleeves. It was another nice gesture. He was a gentleman. She thanked him and hung the coat up as he put the leashes back where they’d found them.

“Well, I guess I should go. Gotta get back to it.”

“Right,” Noelle said, not wanting to see him go. But she had a ton of work to do. “I’ll walk you out.”

As they walked past the kennels, the dogs serenaded them with barks. From the cat room, not far away, the kitties joined in with their meows. She could hear Rhonda singing to them as she freshened their litter.

At the door, Noelle paused, not sure what to say. It seemed like there were a lot more questions she hadn’t gotten a chance to ask, important ones, but she didn’t know what to say, and he was clearly on his way out. “Thanks for coming by.”

“Thanks for joining me on the walk.” His smile was warm and easy. “Maybe I’ll come back tomorrow? Do it again?”

“That would be great,” Noelle said, trying not to show her enthusiasm.

“Perfect. Can I bring you some lunch?”

Surprise had her eyebrows rising again. “Oh, I don’t usually get much of a lunch break.”

“Well, you’ve gotta eat.”

She thought back to the sandwich she’d shoved down a few hours ago, between a million other tasks. She almost always brought a sandwich and a piece of fruit and just managed to get it down while she was working.

Undeterred by her expression, Brady continued. “I hear that burger joint downtown is good. Bennies? Can I bring you a burger and fries?”

Noelle couldn’t hold back her smile at the idea of having a burger with a nice, handsome man the next day. “That would be great. Thank you.”

He nodded. “See you tomorrow, Noelle.”

“Bye, Brady.”

He gave her a little wave and headed out to his truck. Noelle watched him disappear and then let out a deep breath she’d been holding, unbeknownst to her.

“He sure is nice. And handsome,” Rhonda said over her shoulder.

Noelle turned to see her standing there, a broom and dustpan in her hand. “Yeah. He’s a good guy. He sure seems to like Pooch.”

“Uh huh,” Rhonda said with a knowing smile. “I’m sure that’s why he came--and why he’s coming back tomorrow. Too bad I won’t be here to see it.” She shrugged. “What does he do?”

Noelle was about to make a comment about her friend feeling free to volunteer tomorrow, too, if she wanted to, even though it wasn’t one of her usual days, but she paused at the question, her forehead furrowing. “I have no idea.” How had she not asked that question?

Rhonda wanted to know the same thing. “You didn’t ask him?”

“I guess not. We were so busy talking about… everything else. It just didn’t come up.”

“That seems odd,” Rhonda replied, heading back toward the kennels she was cleaning.

“It does.” Noelle’s response was more to herself than anyone else. Was she so self-absorbed that she hadn’t even thought to ask Brady what his job was? What had brought him to Holiday Hills from Milwaukee? Maybe. Or maybe he was just so good at making the conversation about her that she hadn’t even noticed they hadn’t spent much time talking about him. Either way, she was glad she’d get another chance to talk to him the next day. What he did for a living would be the first question she would ask.