My Fake Fling

THEA

Reese tried to talk me out of going into the shelter, but there was a lot to get done. I needed to get with my insurance company and get the glass people out. We couldn’t stay closed forever. The longer we did, animals wouldn’t be adopted and those that needed to be surrendered would end up on the streets or worse. I had to go in.

“You don’t have to do this,” I said to Reese.

“I’m doing it,” he said.

I rolled my eyes and followed behind him. He insisted on inspecting the place before he would leave me. I had Kona with me. I didn’t have the heart to tell him she would do a much better job ferreting out a trespasser than he would.

Ally came in a few minutes later. “What are you doing?” she asked.

I was leaning against the wall in the back-room area and waiting to be given permission to enter. “Reese is looking for intruders.”

“Shouldn’t Kona be with him?” she asked.

“We’re still training him,” I said.

She laughed and shrugged off her jacket. “I’ll give him credit. It’s very sweet that he cares so much.”

“I know.”

He returned a few minutes later. “All clear.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ve got to get to work. Call me if you need anything. You two stick together. I’ll send you lunch if you need it. Don’t leave each other alone.”

Ally was grinning ear to ear. “Yes, sir.”

He gave me a kiss and headed out the back door. Ally was looking at me with a goofy smile. “I might have been wrong about the man,” she said. “Maybe he is a grownup now.”

“He is,” I assured her. “I’m going to start making calls.”

“I’ll get everyone fed and watered. We have a few extra volunteers coming in today. Who would have thought after something like the other night, people want to come in? I actually had to reject a couple.”

“That is so sweet,” I said with tears in my eyes. “I love people.”

“No, you don’t,” she said as she walked away. “You love animals, and when people are nice to the animals, you love that.”

“Got me!”

I was lucky enough to get a company to come out to do the glass. I hated the boarded-up look. There were too many buildings on our street with wood covering the windows and doors. I didn’t want people to think we’d closed. It felt like a constant battle to keep our door open. I didn’t want them to think we’d given up.

When it was time to open, I propped the front door open to make sure people knew we were still operational. “Miss Hanson?”

I looked up from the application I was reviewing to see two policemen. “Yes?”

They handed me a business card with numbers written on it. “This is your case number for the other night,” one said.

“Oh, yes! Sorry, I didn’t recognize you.”

“No worries,” he replied. “We’ve picked up three men. They were positively identified as the culprits that broke in the other night. One of them even admitted to it. We have them charged with a string of crimes, including the assault on your boyfriend.”

“Really?” I asked with surprise. “You’re sure? Reese didn’t recognize them. Then again, he only saw them for a second.”

“They confessed in interrogation,” he said. “I think the exact words were ‘the douchebag with the Porsche jacked up my jaw’ along with some other information.”

I burst into laughter. “That sounds like Reese.”