Chapter 35: Chapter 35

Noelle was doing her best to keep from yelling. Clearly, Kelsey had made a mistake, and being angry at her wasn’t going to bring Pooch back or make her feel any better. “Do you remember what they looked like?” Brady asked, his tone much more controlled than Noelle’s would've been if she would’ve tried to speak at the moment.

The teen shrugged, as if she actually didn’t even care that she’d made a huge blunder. “No. They were kinda old. Maybe your age.”

Brady’s eyes widened, and Rhonda scolded her granddaughter. “Brady’s not old, Kelsey!” she said. “Would you say the couple was in their late twenties or early thirties?”

She shrugged again. “I don’t know. The lady had long dark hair and a big tummy. The guy had short brown hair and a black coat. That’s all I remember. Can we go now?”

“Why don’t we split up and go look for him?” Brady suggested. “They could still be here.”

“Good idea,” Noelle agreed. “Rhonda, can you stay here a little longer?”

“Of course,” she said. “I am so sorry, Noelle.”

“I know. It’s not your fault.”

“I should’ve waited to use the bathroom.”

“Don’t be silly,” Noelle said. “We’ll be back.”

Noelle hurried off back the way she’d come, Brady heading the other direction. She was glad he’d thought searching for Pooch. Surely, the couple hadn’t gotten that far. She’d just tell them there’d been a mistake, and they’d need to bring the dog back. Keeping her eyes open and her head turning quickly, Noelle surveyed the area around her, looking for dogs. She saw none, so she kept walking, thinking it might be a good idea to head to the closest parking lot, just in case the couple was heading out. She wished she would’ve thought to ask whether or not they had a leash with them, but she hadn’t, and she wasn’t going back to ask Kelsey anything. It was sad that Rhonda, one of the hardest workers she knew, had a granddaughter who didn’t seem to care about anyone but herself. Maybe Kelsey should be a volunteer for a while so she could learn to care about other people.

Knowing she was just bitter, Noelle tried to push those thoughts out of her mind. She continued to search the crowd for Pooch but still couldn’t find him anywhere. After twenty minutes of searching, she sent a text to Brady to see if he’d had any luck. He replied quickly. “No.”

“Dang it,” Noelle muttered, her eyes still searching the crowd. She found herself near a parking lot and scanned the cars. No sign of any dogs.

“Well, if it isn’t Miss Snow.” Mayor Jenkins’s voice grated on her nerves during the best of situations. At the moment, it sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

“Hello, Mr. Mayor,” she said, not slowing her pace. “I’m afraid I can’t talk right now. I’m in a hurry.”

“I’m surprised Mr. Rogers isn’t with you,” he continued, as if he hadn’t heard her. “Did the two of you have a tiff?”

“A tiff?” she asked, slowing slightly. “No… why?”

“Oh, I just figured you probably saw his plans for the animal shelter--or lack thereof. His budget doesn’t give any extra funds to the shelter. I just assumed, since you’ve been asking me for more money for years, you must’ve mentioned to him that you needed more funding.”

Noelle stopped walking now, not sure what to think of Mr. Jenkins’s words. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m just saying… perhaps Mr. Rogers isn’t as chivalrous as you think. Could it be that he just wanted your mom to help him look good in front of the town?”

“I don’t know, Mr. Jenkins,” Noelle said, trying not to let him see how upset she was. “But I have to go.”

“Sure, sure,” he said, his wide smile showing a gap between his front teeth. “Tell your boyfriend I said hi.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Oh.”

Noelle rushed off, trying to focus on Pooch, but the mayor’s words kept playing in her mind. Would Brady really do that? Refuse to increase her funding at all? After all of the problems she’d mentioned to him, he wasn’t even attempting to find her more money?

The fair was almost over, and she’d left Rhonda at the tent for far too long. It seemed apparent that Pooch was gone. Noelle fought tears, both at the loss of the little dog and the betrayal she felt from Brady, and headed back to the shelter tent, not sure whether or not she should say something to Brady or just put some space between them until she could sort out how she was feeling. Her temper had a way of getting her into trouble, and at the moment, all she wanted to do was yell at him and call him a fake, but she knew she shouldn’t cause a scene, and she had animals that needed her attention at the moment.

She was almost back to the tent when Martha Davis waved her down. “Noelle! Come here, dear!” the older woman shouted.

Biting back her frustration, she hurriedly approached the council member who was still running the tent with the knitted animals. It was clear they’d sold a lot as their stock was quite low. “Yes, Mrs. Davis?”

“Well, I just wanted to tell you, we’ve nearly sold out! Can you believe it? We’ve raised over four hundred dollars for the shelter.”

“That’s amazing, Mrs. Davis!” Finally, some good news.

“Yes, yes, and that’s not counting the donations we’ve taken in for Goldie’s medical expenses. That’s an additional hundred or so dollars.”

“Wow! That’s amazing, too.” It wasn’t nearly enough, Noelle realized. But it was a start.

“Yes, well, but on top of that, you see, an anonymous donor gave us fifteen hundred dollars for Goldie. That will more than cover her bills, won’t it? And you’ll have over seven hundred dollars more for the other animals.”

Noelle’s mouth hung open as she thought about what all of that money would do for the shelter. “I don’t even know what to say…” she stammered. “Who was the donation from?”

“It’s anonymous, dear,” Mrs. Davis reminded her. “If I knew, I couldn’t tell you.” There was a twinkle in her eye that let her know that Mrs. Davis knew exactly who the money had come from, but she wasn’t going to tell her.

“Well, thank you so much,” Noelle said, still glad about the money, but seeing Brady coming back over to the animal shelter tent, she suddenly felt sick to her stomach again. “The animals will appreciate you.”

“It’s been my pleasure,” Martha assured her, patting her arm. “Merry Christmas, Noelle.”

Looking at Brady, standing there talking to Rhonda, a sympathetic smile on his face, she wasn’t sure about that, but she did manage to say, “Merry Christmas.”