Chapter 34: Chapter 34

Getting all of the animals unloaded and in spots where they were both comfortable and warm had been a challenge, but Noelle managed with the help of Rhonda and a few of the other volunteers. Along with Pooch and Blacky, she’d brought six other dogs and four cats, animals she thought had a good chance of finding new homes. They were all bright-eyed and happy to be out of the shelter. A couple of them, including Blacky, barked at every person who came by, even on the road away from where they were set up in a parking spot next to the sidewalk on the main strip. The road was closed to cars now that the event was beginning, and the merchants had all had a couple of hours to bring in their wares--or their friends as was the case with Noelle. She was satisfied that they had a good spot for traffic, near the hot cocoa stand and the kettle corn. It smelled great, that was for sure. Now, all she needed was to find some animals a good home.

“Well, they sure are excited,” Rhonda said with a laugh. “I hope Blacky gets a new family soon. Otherwise, he is going to lose his voice.”

“Either one works for me,” Noelle replied. She looked around for Brady, but she knew he was helping with the town’s booth. They were raffling gift cards and other donated prizes from local businesses as a thank you to the city throwing this together so quickly. He said he’d be by later, though, and after the evening they’d spent together at the tree lighting ceremony the week before, she was anxious to see him. They had both been so busy throughout the week, getting ready for the fair, they hadn’t had much time to spend together.

The booth with the knitted animals was right next door, and Martha Davis and a few of her friends were already getting busy. They had a box set up to take direct donations for the animal shelter, but they also made it clear through signage that the proceeds from every purchase would go directly to the animal shelter. Noelle was hopeful that they’d raise enough money to pay Goldie’s medical expenses and be able to afford some of the other resources they needed. While the bigger problem of finding a new location or a means for the dogs to have access to the back yard would be great to find a solution for, she wasn’t holding her breath on either of those.

“All right, let's go over the application process again,” Noelle said to Rhonda and the other volunteers. There were three other adults, two of which had been volunteering at the shelter for a while, off and on, and Rhonda’s teenage granddaughter who was spending the weekend with her grandmother. Kelsey looked disinterested, and Noelle thought she might even have earbuds in, but since she wouldn’t ever be at the booth alone, she didn’t ask her to take the buds out and listen. Rhonda had a shift later in the day for about an hour alone while Noelle scheduled herself a late lunch. If Kelsey wanted to help her grandma then, that would be fine. Otherwise, Rhonda could handle it for certain.

“Remember, they have to complete an application before we let them take any of the animals, but Pooch isn’t going home with anyone today,” she said, putting her hand on the dog’s kennel. “I will review all of those applications thoroughly myself. If you get an application while I’m not here and you feel the pet is safe to go with the person, I will leave that to your judgement.” She met the eyes of each of the adult volunteers, and they nodded. “Just not this guy. Got it?” She smiled, and everyone nodded in agreement. “Okay, the schedule is right here. I should be in the tent most of the day, so no one will be on their own. Hopefully, we’ll get busy though, and if we do find homes for all of these fellows, I might make a run back to the shelter later and get a few more.”

“We’ll be back at one,” Rhonda said after a couple of the other volunteers cleared out, leaving just Noelle and Maddy.

“All right. Thanks for your help, Rhonda. Bye Kelsey.” The girl barely even acknowledged Noelle was talking, making her grandma roll her eyes, and then they headed out, toward the coffee stand across the street.

In the background, the Christmas music made the fair even more festive. The lights were off in the daylight, but the decorations still looked beautiful. People walked by, smiles on their faces, holding hands. Noelle couldn’t help but smile. She was so proud of her mother, who was still running around like a maniac checking that all of the booths were set up and no one needed anything, for pulling this off. Noelle settled into a chair near Maddy, but they didn’t stay there long. In a few minutes a family with two small kids showed up, wanting to pet the dogs. Of course, they immediately went to Pooch, where the sign read, “On hold. Please fill out an application.” Maddy talked them through the process while the kids looked at the other dogs. They had a few large dogs, Blacky, who was currently medium-sized, though he was growing every day, and some smaller dogs. She had a feeling they could be convinced to take one of the other little dogs since the children seemed pretty adamant that they wanted a dog, “right now.” Since Maddy was handling the situation just fine, Noelle let her go with it. A few moments later, a couple showed up asking about cats, and Noelle introduced them to a tabby named Bells.

The entire morning was busy with people coming to see the animals. Before noon, Noelle had left to go back to the shelter to get three more dogs, leaving a woman named Crystal in charge. Noelle was glad to see everything was as it should be when she got back. “A lovely older woman came by and was interested in Beatrice,” she said, talking about a black and white cat that had been at the shelter for a few years. “I let the woman have her.”

“Great,” Noelle said, glad Beatrice had found a home. She finished loading the last of the new dogs into a kennel and went over the application. Everything looked perfect. Crystal had made a great decision.

Pooch sat in his cage most of the day, looking a little unsatisfied. It wasn’t until just before 1:00 that he perked up, his tail wagging as he yipped. Noelle turned to see Brady coming their direction and couldn’t help but smile. He looked so handsome in his black coat, his red scarf a pop of color that made him look like he was in the Christmas spirit. He stopped by the booth next to them and said something to Martha. She jumped up out of her chair and hugged him. Noelle looked away, not exactly sure what was happening but thinking it might be a private moment between Brady and the older board member who’d helped them pull the event off.

Hearing his footsteps approaching, she turned to face him. “Hi,” Noelle said, not sure if she should hug him, kiss his cheek, or just stand there and beam at him.

“Hi,” Brady replied, smiling at her. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips to her temple, answering that question for her. “How’s it going?”

“Wonderful,” she said. “I already had to go back and get more dogs. Oh, and we found a new home for Blacky!”

“That is amazing!” Brady said, looking just as happy as she felt about the fact that the dog who’d been dropped off shortly before Christmas would have a new family to spend his holiday with.

“The couple who took him had a large fenced yard and two teenagers, so he’ll have plenty of room to run around and people to play with.”

“That sounds like a storybook ending,” he said. “Do you have a few minutes to go grab some lunch?”

Noelle looked around and saw Rhonda and Kelsey on their way back. Crystal was supposed to be off at 1:00. “Yeah, let me just get Rhonda settled in, and then we can go.”

“I think I can find something to do for a few minutes,” Brady said, stepping over to Pooch’s cage. The little dog went nuts, lapping up the attention from one of his favorite people.

Once Rhonda and Kelsey were in place, and she’d thanked Crystal for her help, Noelle and Brady took off for the food trucks, hand in hand. “I’ve heard the baked potato on a stick is to die for,” Brady said as they walked along, smiling at the other people enjoying the fair, listening to “Jingle Bells” over the PA.

“How does that work exactly?” Noelle asked. “Doesn’t it just crumble and fall all over the place.”

“I don’t know,” Brady admitted. “But I can’t wait to find out.”

Noelle laughed and got into line with him. She was up for trying it. As they waited, they chatted about what a huge success the fair had been so far. Everyone was so happy, and the vendors seemed to have far less wares now than they had when they’d arrived in the morning.

They found a seat at a picnic table that had been set up across from the food trucks, scents from the other choices hitting their lungs. Tacos, turkey legs, and corndogs were also available, as well as burgers from the local restaurant.

“Well, what do you think?” Brady asked, a few bites into his loaded baked potato on a stick.

Noelle had gotten cheese, butter, and bacon only. “Not bad,” she said, taking a drink of her Coke. “A little dry, but not bad.”

“I guess if it was too moist it really would fall right off of the stick,” Brady said with a shrug.

“True,” she agreed. She took another bite, swallowed, and then asked, “Are Rob and Kayla here?”

“They are,” Brady said. “I saw them a little earlier. They wanted to go over and check out the knitted animals. Earlier today, she asked me if I was thinking about getting a dog for my new place. I told her I had to close on it first.”

“And you still don’t know when that will be?” The idea that Brady might be able to take Pooch hadn’t completely faded, but the longer it took for the closing, the less the chances were.

“They’re trying for Christmas Eve of all days,” Brady said, which was less than a week away. “I’m all for it, but I can’t imagine anyone wants to work that day.”

“Maybe they can do it early in the morning and then go home for the day,” she suggested.

“Possibly,” Brady said. “Anyway, Rob and Kayla are here, probably looking for baby related items. They likely won’t stay long because she doesn’t like walking much these days, not that I blame her.”

“I was hoping to bump into them. I haven’t seen them in a while,” she said. “Oh, well.” Noelle checked the time on her phone. “I should probably be getting back. Rhonda’s great, but we might get busy in the afternoon.”

“Yeah, I’ve got to be getting back, too. I don’t like to leave Mayor Jenkins alone for too long. He has a way of making everything merry and bright dark and grim.”

Laughing, Noelle pushed up from the table. Brady gathered their trash and tossed it into a garbage can before he reached for her hand. Noelle was in a bit of a rush to get back, but she didn’t want to let go of Brady’s hand either.

“After the holidays, we should have more time for… getting to know each other,” he said, smiling at her.

She nodded, although she felt like she knew him pretty well. Still, she understood what he meant. He was apologizing that he was about to leave her. “You’ll be busy moving into your house.”

“True, but I can always use some help decorating. I’m horrible at that.”

She laughed, imagining that would be the case. “It will be a lot of fun to decorate that old house,” she said.

“I’m not sure I’ll furnish the whole thing right away, though. That could be expensive.”

“I thought you were saving a lot of money,” she said before she realized that was rude. It wasn’t any of her business.

“I am, but I decided there was something else I needed to do with part of it, and I don’t want to completely deplete my savings when the furniture I buy will probably be… not right.”

She giggled, wishing she hadn’t been so nosy, but he didn’t seem to mind. They were almost back to the animal shelter booth now, but as she approached, she saw something was different. Something was wrong….

She saw Rhonda headed toward the shelter, too, from the direction of the diner and wondered who was watching the animals. Then, she remembered Kelsey was there. Still, why would Rhonda leave during her shift?

“Sorry, Noelle. I just had to run to the restroom,” she called, a friendly smile on her face.

Noelle nodded. That was fine, but something was still wrong.

“Where’s Pooch?” Brady asked, taking a few steps toward the empty kennel. The door was ajar.

Noelle tried not to panic. There had to be a perfectly logical explanation for why the dog was gone.

Kelsey stood up, pulling her earbuds from her ears. “What?” she asked, like she had been on another planet.

“The Havanese,” Noelle said, monitoring her tone so she didn’t sound angry. “Where is he?”

“Oh, that little black and white dog?” Kelsey asked. “I gave him away.”

Noelle felt the blood rush out of her face and had to put her hand on the nearest kennel to steady herself so she didn’t fall over. “You what?” she asked.

Kelsey smiled, like she’d done a good thing. “Yeah, these people came over and said they wanted him, so I let them take him.”

Feeling like she was going to be sick, Noelle fought the urge to scream--or cry--Pooch was gone? It didn’t seem possible. Her eyes went to the empty cage and then to Brady. He looked just as upset as she felt. How could he be gone, just like that? She hadn’t even had a chance to say goodbye….