Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Noelle’s eyes bulged as she realized her mistake. She felt color warming her cheeks and wished she could go back in time about five minutes--before her rant--and ask that pertinent question first.

The man continued, speaking as much to Clara as to her. “I found him in the park. Well, he sort of found me. He stole my scarf.” Despite the tongue lashing, he still managed to force a chuckle. “Anyway, I ran into a woman named Doris Snow, and she suggested I bring him here, since this is a no kill shelter. She said to ask for you.”

Noelle shook her head as Clara reached for the dog. “I am so sorry,” she said, not quite able to meet his eyes. “I shouldn’t have….”

“No, it’s okay,” he said with a shrug. “I guess you have a lot of people dropping their dogs off?”

She nodded as Clara gushed over the little fellow, looking at his collar. “Oh, isn’t he just the cutest. Pooch, is it?” she asked. The dog’s ears perked up again. “Too bad his tags are so worn off. It shows he’s up to date on his vaccines, but no owner’s name or address on either of the tags. Just his name.”

Noelle studied the dog for a moment. He truly was adorable. She wouldn't have any trouble finding this dog a home. Unlike Blacky, this small, fluffy purebred would be snagged probably the same day he was released from hold. She reached out and patted his head. His fur was soft and fluffy. He was well groomed, only a bit of mud on his paws, probably from his earlier run. Chances were, someone was missing him.

“I’ll find him a holding pen,” Clara said.

“Holding pen?” The man’s eyes followed the dog as Clara began to take him back. She paused.

“Yes. His owner will have a couple of weeks to claim him,” Noelle explained, trying to infuse her voice with professional calmness. “After that, we’ll let people know he’s available, if he’s still here. He’s so cute, I don’t think it’ll take us long to find him a new home. People love small breeds, like Havanese.”

“Havanese?” he repeated, leaning in slightly. She nodded. “I’ve never even heard of that breed.”

“Oh, well, that’s what he is. Purebred, I’d assume. He’ll be fine.” Clara started for the back again, and the man waved at the dog that followed him with his eyes until he couldn’t see him anymore. “Listen, I’m sorry I yelled at you, Mr.…?” Had she actually called him Mr. Mister earlier?

“Brady,” he provided.

“Mr. Brady,” Noelle said with a nod.

“No, I mean, my first name is Brady. Brady Rogers.”

“Oh. Mr. Rogers then.”

“Hence why I gave you my first name,” he said with a nervous smile as Noelle realized she’d just said the name of a famous children’s television star.

She giggled and then offered her hand. “I’m Noelle Snow.”

His eyes widened again and then he gave a knowing nod. Apparently, her mother had not bothered to explain that he’d be asking for her own daughter “It’s nice to meet you,” he said, shaking her hand.

His palm was warm. Noelle chalked up the cozy feeling touching her palm to his created to him holding the dog recently and nothing more. “It’s probably not that nice to meet me,” she said, still feeling bad about her outburst. “It’s just… did you happen to see those kids’ faces, the ones that were leaving as you were coming in?”

“Yeah, I did,” Brady said. “That was terrible.”

“And the dog was even more distraught.” She decided she didn’t need to say more, to go into the state of the shelter at the moment, to tell him how worried she was that they simply weren’t going to have enough money to make it through the end of the year, much less into the next. “Anyway, I am sorry I was so rude.”

“Passionate,” he said, a crooked smile pulling up one side of his mouth. “Let’s call it passionate.”

She gave him a sheepish grin. It was kind of him to be so forgiving. “All right then. Passionate.”

“It was nice to meet you.” He seemed to mean it. Brady looked into her eyes for another second and then walked out the door.

It chimed again, leaving Noelle alone for a few moments. She took a deep breath, held it, and let it go, not sure what to think of any of that. Maddy shouted her name from the back, and Noelle remembered that she had other dogs to take care of. The never ending work beckoned to her. Putting Brady Rogers out of her mind, Noelle hurried to the back to get on with her daily chores and see to her most important clients, the cats and dogs that called this place home.

The slam of the door to his Silverado seemed final in a way Brady couldn’t quite accept. He glanced at the empty seat next to him. It seemed like Pooch should still be there, despite the fact that the dog had occupied the passenger side of the vehicle for only a few moments, just the one time, on the drive from the downtown area to the dog shelter. Still, it had been nice to have a companion with him, a cute one, one that pressed his nose to the window and watched where they were going with interest but didn’t ask a lot of questions.

Realizing he was being silly, Brady started his truck and backed it out. Had it been all that long since he had a companion of sorts? Not really. He’d broken up with Charlotte only a few months before he moved to Holiday Hills, so it wasn’t that long ago, in the grand scheme of things. She definitely didn’t sit there quietly, though. And while she was cute, it wasn’t in the same way as Pooch.

Brady shook his head and ran a hand through his brown hair, heading back to the parking lot he’d been surveying before the excitement with the little dog had gotten him off track. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to take a good look at the situation, and he needed to. Solving the parking problem downtown should be relatively easy, compared to some of the other items on the list. Exactly why Mayor Joe Jenkins thought the small town needed a parking garage instead of just resurfacing the existing parking lot, possibly fitting in some more spots if they marked them a bit more creatively, Brady couldn’t say, but that’s what he tried to keep in mind as he traveled back through town, not on the cute little dog. Or the woman.

It wasn’t Charlotte who had his attention as he stopped at a stop sign, waiting for another vehicle to go. It was the woman from the shelter. Man, was she a firecracker! Noelle Snow was not at all what he was expecting. But then, her mother had been a bit outspoken in the few moments they’d conversed in the park. She had basically demanded that he take Pooch to the shelter himself, rather than volunteering to take the little dog to her daughter’s place of employment. Noelle was pretty, he’d have to give her that. With the sort of blonde hair he imagined looked almost white in the sun, and a pair of blue eyes that seemed to change color with her mood, he could only imagine she had her pick of any of the guys in town. So… it was silly for him to give her much thought, other than to question why she’d been so angry about him dropping off a dog at a shelter.