THEA
Ichecked my phone. There were no missed calls or messages. Reese was still giving me the silent treatment. I couldn’t believe he was pissed I told Rich.
If this scared him off, I was glad I found out now. One little hiccup and he hit the road. I was not going to give my heart to the man if he was going to play these games again. I had way too many other things to worry about. I had spent the last couple of days worried about what he was doing and thinking and feeling.
That was way too much energy. He was a big boy. If this was going to be the thing that destroyed us, so be it. I was just glad I found out sooner rather than later. I thought he’d changed, but maybe I was wrong. It was probably for the best at this point. I couldn’t really afford to be distracted. I needed to focus on getting a house. Fast.
“Thea!”
I popped my head out of one of the rooms with the mop in my hand. “What’s up, Lucas?”
“Did you feed Poppy?”
I smiled and shook my head. “Yes. She’s a pig. She’s already eaten. Just give her water.”
It was just me, Lucas, and Kona. All week, I had left with the rest of the staff. The shelter was suffering. I had to stay late tonight to get some of the extra cleaning done. I figured with Lucas and Kona, we were safe. There had been no signs of trouble since Reese’s attack. I hoped that was a good sign. I wanted to believe they were scared off. Maybe hurt.
The smell of bleach permeated the air. It felt good to have the place clean again. I pushed the mop bucket to the next room and started the process all over again. After finishing a complete mop of the front reception area, I went to find Lucas. He was taking an extra-long time filling the water dishes for the dogs.
I found him in the grooming room. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“I figured I would take care of a few of the nail trims,” he answered. “This guy’s are extra long. I figure it’s going to be busy tomorrow. I want to make sure everyone looks good. They’ll have a better chance of being adopted.”
I smiled and nodded. “Do you need any help?”
“Nah. This guy is cool.”
The dog was lying down and letting Lucas clip without budging. In fact, the dog looked like he was falling asleep. A lot of the dogs we got were not easy. They fought like crazy not to get their nails done. Lucas was a natural with the dogs. They all seemed to want to please him.
“Okay, finish him and then we need to get out of here,” I said. “Your mom did not want us to stay too late. I’m going upstairs to take care of the kittens.”
“Thea?”
“Yes?” I paused at the door.
“Thank you,” he said.
“For?”
“Letting me talk,” he said with a shrug. He continued to clip the dog’s nails. “I’m glad you didn’t give up on me. I’m going to keep trying. I like coming here.”
“You are a natural, Lucas,” I told him. “You don’t have to thank me. Just keep doing what you’re doing. Keep showing up and doing what you do. You’ve been a huge help to me. I don’t want you to let your school stuff go, but you are welcome to come and help out anytime you want.”
“Thanks,” he said.
“I’m serious, Lucas. Look at that dog. He trusts you. He knows you are not going to hurt him. He is lying down and completely at ease, which is pretty impressive. You are amazing. Never forget that.”
“I like when it’s just me and the dogs,” he said. “I know they don’t talk, but I feel like they understand me in a way.”
“Oh, I get it,” I said. “I feel the same way. Dogs are pretty cool. I’ll let you finish. I’ll be down in about fifteen minutes. Then we really need to go.”
“Okay,” he said.
Kona was sitting in the middle of the floor. She looked relaxed, but she was on guard. “Kona, keep an eye on things. I’ll be right back.”
Her head cocked to the side like she was listening to me. I headed upstairs and quickly took care of the little demons. The memory of the kitten hanging off Reese’s leg came to mind. It still made me laugh. The man was big and tough, but a little kitten had taken him to his knees. It made me miss him. I thought about stopping by his house, but part of me was afraid to. If he rejected me, it would crush my soul. It was better to just let this thing fade into the distance. If we had nothing going on, so be it. I wasn’t going to force something.
I collected my things from the office and went back downstairs. I left my purse on the desk and went back to find Lucas. He was just coming out of one of the kennels. “All done?” I asked him.