Chapter 13: Chapter 13

Cleaning out the kennels was usually a job Noelle disliked so much, she’d do just about anything to get out of it. On days when Rhonda was volunteering, she didn’t need to worry because the older woman didn’t mind it one bit. That Tuesday morning, as Noelle went from stall to stall making sure everything was tidy, she wasn’t paying enough attention to the job to be too upset. Her mind was on other things.

Brady would be bringing her lunch in just a few hours. It seemed strange to think of that as something special really. It wasn’t like it was a date or anything. He was actually coming by to see Pooch. Brady was just being nice, volunteering to bring her something to eat. He could probably see how hard she worked at her job and didn’t want to be rude, coming at lunchtime and not bringing her anything. So, being excited about it was probably pretty ridiculous.

Yet, that morning, she’d put on a special light blue sweater she only wore on special occasions, fixed her hair a little differently, twisting a few strands from the front up and fastening them in the back with a snowflake clip, and she may have sprayed a little more of her seasonal scented body spray as well. The scent of warm vanilla sugar was a nice contrast to the dog smell she usually wore. It might not be a date, but it was something different, something special, and the fact that she had something different and special to look forward to was enough to keep her mind off of the dirty work around her.

The night before, she’d felt a little bit like a high schooler, lying in bed awake, thinking about Brady. It was silly, really, she thought now, as she finished mopping out a large dog kennel. The German Shepherd mix in the corner, Chief, was older and had been with them too long. He lay looking at her with his big brown eyes, not even excited enough to get up and come over now, he’d been through this so many times. He was also really good about not messing in his kennel, if he could help it, which meant there wasn’t much to do but mop up just for the sake of mopping up. It was unfortunate that she couldn’t possibly take out all of the dogs when they needed to go so that they wouldn’t lose their memory of being housebroken, those who had been at one time, but that was just how it was. She dreamt of a kennel where every dog could go outside to their private piece of yard anytime they needed to and then come back in…. She didn’t have any means of making that happen and likely wouldn’t any time soon.

“Sorry, Chief,” she said, bending to scratch him behind the ears. “If I had all the money in the world, it would be different, buddy. Maybe we will find you a family to spend Christmas with this year.” Noelle smiled at the dog, but she was glad he didn’t understand much of what she said. It wasn’t as if she really thought there was a good chance of finding him a home. He was a great dog, but most of the people who would adopt dogs this year were looking for puppies, and Chief was about six or seven. He still had a great deal of life ahead of him. It was a shame he was likely to spend most of it in this kennel.

Noelle finished up with Chief’s kennel and checked the time on her phone. She had about ten more minutes until she needed to go back up front. She wasn’t exactly sure what time Brady would be there, so she’d already planned to do some paperwork while she waited, assuming no one came in to drop off a dog. The chances of anyone coming to pick one out were slim to none.

She moved to the next kennel and cleaned it out quickly before taking the mop and bucket to the back and rushing to the restroom near her office to make sure she didn’t look like she’d been cleaning up dog messes. She fixed her hair a little, re-powdered her nose, and put on some lip gloss. Part of her felt silly; she hardly even knew Brady. But… it wasn’t every day an attractive new guy moved to town. She may as well look her best while she got to know him.

Sitting down at her desk, which was right behind the front counter and within close enough range of the bell above the door she’d be able to hear it, she started opening the mail from the day before. In the stack, another bill from the vet clinic she’d taken Goldie to seemed to stare at her. Noelle sighed, wondering how she could change her budget around to find the money. It seemed impossible. Perhaps she could call the vet and see if they’d accept payments. She’d already tried to talk them down from their price when she’d brought Goldie in, and they wouldn’t budge.

A chime from the door brought her out of her thoughts. With a deep breath, she pushed her chair back and came around the desk. When she saw Brady standing near the counter, a bag in one hand and a drink carrier in the other, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Hi!” Did she sound too enthusiastic? She thought maybe she sounded too enthusiastic.

“Hi.” He returned her smile, though he didn’t seem to be quite as loud as she was. “How are you?”

“I’m good. How are you?”

“Good--thanks.” He stared at her for a moment, and Noelle fumbled for words, getting a little lost in his eyes. “Do you have a break room or someplace we can sit?”

“Oh, yeah! This way.” She shook her head, trying to clear it, and then gestured for him to follow her. She hadn’t expected him to eat with her. For some reason, she’d thought he’d want to take Pooch for his walk while she ate, that he’d just been being nice when he offered to bring her lunch. She was right to be prepared, just in case.

The break room was small--just a round table with two chairs wedged into a space in the back near a sink, a small refrigerator, and a tiny storage closet. “This is it,” she said, crossing to the sink to wash her hands. Brady set the bag and drinks down on the table and followed her. He was standing right behind her in the small space. Even over the scent of the antiseptic hand soap she was using to wash her hands, she could smell pine and a mixture of manly spices coming from him. She cleared her throat, trying to keep her head together. Why did he have to be so cute and smell so darn good?

Noelle stepped aside, drying her hands on a paper towel. She had to wedge her way around him so that he could get to the sink. Both of them gave a little nervous laugh as they bumped hips. Noelle tossed her paper towel in the trashcan and took the chair that faced the door. She should be able to hear the bell in here, unless they were talking or laughing too loudly.

Brady finished washing his hands and sat down across from her. “I should’ve asked you what toppings you wanted. I just got it plain with everything on the side. Hope that’s okay?” He was opening the bag as he spoke.

“That’s perfect,” she replied, inhaling the scent of greasy cheeseburgers. He handed her a wrapped burger and a few napkins before pulling out a side of fries and then a small box. Popping it open revealed tomato, lettuce, onion, and pickle. He also pulled out packages of condiments. Noelle took a slice of tomato and lettuce and a packet of mayo, noticing Brady didn’t put anything on his burger. She thought maybe he had ordered his how he wanted it but then saw there was nothing at all on it, other than cheese, that she could see. “Do you like your burgers plain?”

He had just taken a bite so she had to wait. “Usually,” he said. “Unless they’re dry. Which this one definitely isn’t.”

“It’s certainly not,” she agreed with a giggle. Bennies Burgers were anything but dry.

“Oh, I didn’t ask what you wanted to drink either. I know a lot of women drink Diet coke….”

Noelle couldn’t help but make a face. She had water in her office.

“But…” he continued, “you don’t seem like most girls. So I got you a regular Coke.”

That made her smile--assuming he wasn’t saying she looked like she drank regular Coke but needed to drink the diet kind. She didn’t think that was the case. “Perfect.”

“How has your day been?” Brady asked her just as Noelle took her first bite. The burger was great, but she rushed to chew so she could respond.

“It’s been fine,” she said. “Nothing too glamorous. Just cleaning out kennels. What about you? I’ve never even asked you what you do.”

Brady raised his eyebrows at her, giving Noelle pause. She popped a french fry into her mouth and waited to see if he would tell her, or if she actually needed to phrase it in the form of a question. Instead, he asked, “Your mom didn’t tell you?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “She knows what you do?”

“Yeah, I told her the other day in the park, when I bumped into her a couple of days after I found Pooch.”

“Huh.” She picked a straw up off of the table and stuck it into the lid of her Coke. “No, she never mentioned it.” She hadn’t even mentioned running into hm a second time. “Why? Do you work for the FBI or something?” He was being awfully secretive about his job. She took a sip of her drink and nearly smiled, it tasted so good. Most of the time, she didn’t drink sugary beverages, but they were good for a treat now and again, and if she was going to have one, this was the brand she preferred.

“No, it’s not that,” Brady chuckled, taking another bite and chewing much more slowly than Noelle had when he’d caught her with food in her mouth. After he swallowed, he sort-of shrugged and said, “I am the new city planner.”

Glad she didn’t have any food in her mouth at the time, Noelle gaped at him in shock. “You are?” She’d had absolutely no idea. While she was aware the board had hired someone else, she didn’t know anything at all about the person. She’d realized a long time ago it didn’t do her any good to go to the city council meetings. They never did anything to help the shelter whether she was there or not. “Well, I’ll be.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry--I just figured you knew that.”

A realization dawned on her, and she nodded. “You figured my complaining about the state of the shelter was because I was hoping you’d do something to help?”

“Sure, I guess. Believe me, I want to help. I just… don’t know what I can do. Yet. I’m working on it.”

She smiled and looked down at the table, not sure how to respond. “Thanks. But, no. I didn’t know. I just told you those things because… you’re easy to talk to.” Color rushed to her cheeks. She looked back up at Brady to see him reddening as well. Perhaps she’d said too much. Again.

“Thanks,” Brady said with a small grin. “I’m glad you feel that way. I do want to help, though. I’ve got some ideas. We had an impromptu meeting yesterday afternoon to talk about some possibilities that should help the overall budget, but I’m not sure I can convince the mayor to go along with it, though.” He scowled, and Noelle understood his pain. She’d had enough of Mayor Jenkins--both the elder and the younger--over the years and wished the citizens would elect someone else.

“I’m sorry. That’s gonna be a tough sell,” she said. “I’ve beaten that dead horse to death enough times to know that there isn’t much a person can do to convince them to actually try to raise more revenue, as opposed to just cutting everything.”

“But why is that?” Brady asked, setting his burger down so he could use his hands to gesture. “There are some things that could definitely be done to increase revenue, especially for the things citizens want to have--like a better senior citizens center, library, and Christmas decorations. Not to mention, I’m sure people would want to help if they understood the situation here. But the animal shelter is so far away from the main part of town, most people probably forget all about it, unless it’s brought to their attention consistently, which it hasn’t been. In fairness, how would you have time for that when you’re busy actually trying to run the place practically on your own?”

Noelle grunted--every word he said was true. She took another bite of her burger and chewed, thought of an answer, swallowed, and then asked, “What sort of ideas do you have to raise revenue?”

“For one thing, your mom told me about all of the events that used to take place here around Christmas time. She said it brought in a lot of people from out of town. Not only would having those visitors in Holiday Hills help the businesses, it would also increase tax revenue through sales tax. Part of that goes to the town. If we had more hotel rooms, bed and breakfasts, places like that, for them to stay while they’re here spending their money, revenue would go up even higher because there’s an enormous tax rate on hotels.”

Understanding what he was getting at, Noelle began to nod along with him. “We would also have more people in town who might be interested in adopting a pet.”

“Exactly. We could bring back some simple, inexpensive draws--a craft fair, the tree lighting ceremony, eventually maybe even the pageant they used to have to crown Miss Merry Christmas before the parade. We might have to ask people to donate decorations for the downtown area, the tree, and the park, but I bet people would be willing to do it.”

His excitement was catching. “That’s a great idea. I do think there are plenty of people who would be willing to help, too. If we had a craft fair, we could bring some of our pets there to help them find new homes.” She wasn’t sure how she’d manage that and running the shelter. The last time she’d taken pets out to the community, she’d had a lot more volunteers to help. Still, if the opportunity presented itself to her, Noelle would find a way to take advantage of it. Finding people to adopt the animals was a lot easier in person than it was through pictures on social media.

“Those are just short term solutions, though. We need to attract those small business owners back to town, the ones who ran the B and Bs, the restaurant owners. We need to get this shelter a better facility, one where you have enough room for all of the animals, but it’s also convenient for more volunteers to come on a regular basis. We have to fix the situation with the senior citizens center, too.”

An idea popped into Noelle’s head. “You know, in some towns, the senior citizen center and the school are big helps to the animal shelter--and vice versa.”

He arched an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, the facilities are close enough together so that the kids can come and read to the dogs, and so can the seniors. Or… the dogs can be taken over to the senior citizens center to be petted and played with every day. Not all of the dogs, of course, but some of them. The ones that are best suited to such activity.”

He stared at her for a moment, and Noelle wasn’t sure if he thought she was crazy or on to something. “The kids come to the shelter--and read to the dogs?”

She nodded. “Yes. It’s the sweetest thing you’ll ever see. The dogs love it, and so do the kids. Even if each class only came once a month, there are twenty-four classes at the elementary school alone. That’s at least one per week day. And then on the weekends, we could visit the senior citizens center and have other seniors come here and visit the dogs that can’t leave, whether it’s because they’re sick or too dangerous.” She’d have to make sure the older folks knew not to try to pet the dogs in the back, the ones that weren’t keen on humans these days, but that wouldn’t be a problem with the proper training and supervision. “It could be a wonderful thing for all of us.”

A smile broke across Brady’s face. “I absolutely love those ideas, Noelle. It’s just… where could we move the shelter to so that it’s close enough to the school so that the kids could walk? I’m sure they wouldn’t want to pay for bussing.”

She shook her head. “That… I’m not sure about. But the town does have several properties in town that are not being used at the moment.”

Brady didn’t blink for a few seconds, his eyes fixated on a spot behind her head. Noelle almost turned to see what he was looking at, but then he began to speak. “That’s it,” he said. “The factory.”

“The factory?” Noelle repeated. “The factory building? But don’t we need that to be a factory again?”

“I don’t know. Maybe not if we fix Christmas. We won’t need it.”

“But I don’t think Mayor Jenkins will ever consent to giving the animal shelter the meat packing building.” Even the thought of having that sort of space made her breath catch in her throat. She didn’t dare to imagine all of the space and other perks that would go along with having that large building for her animals, not until there was a chance of it actually happening.

“I don’t know if he would either, but it’s worth a try, isn’t it?” Brady asked, the sparkle in his eye giving Noelle new hope.

“Yeah, it’s definitely worth a try.”