Her Christmas Pregnancy Surprise

“You’re worrying me. Please tell me there’s nothing wrong with Daisy.”

Silence was the only response.

Pepper’s heart lurched. Daisy was so sweet and had so much love to give if she would just learn how to trust people again.

And then a worrisome thought came to her. What if someone had seen Daisy, even though she wasn’t ready for adoption yet? What if they’d bonded with Daisy and wanted to take her home?

Pepper’s heart sank. She knew that was the danger of volunteering at the animal shelter. Each and every stray that came through that door just wanted to be loved. And Pepper loved them all. If she could, she’d take them all home. But there was something about Daisy that truly tugged at her heartstrings.

Stephanie kn

ew how she and Daisy were starting to bond. Of course, Pepper would drop everything to be there for the beagle pup. Besides, she doubted that a face-to-face meeting with her insurance agent was going to produce any faster results than her daily phone conversations.

“I’ll be right there.”

After a quick, apologetic phone call to her agent, Pepper rushed to the shelter, not sure what sort of problem she would find. She prayed Daisy was all right.

She stepped inside the shelter and didn’t notice anything amiss. She moved toward Stephanie’s office. “What’s going on?”

“It’s Daisy. She has to go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“Daisy can’t stay here any longer.” She looked as though she had the weight of the world upon her shoulders. “Greta has demanded the dog be gone.”

Pepper immediately frowned. Nothing good could follow the mention of Greta. In fact, she was quite certain that woman lacked a heart. If ever there was a Grinch, it was Greta. And sadly, the woman was in charge of the shelter. Pepper never did understand how that had happened.

Stephanie stood, moved around her desk and stepped to the doorway. She glanced up and down the hall before closing the door ever so gently, as though not to make a sound.

Pepper’s worries increased. She’d never seen her friend act so oddly. She couldn’t imagine what was wrong, but if Greta was involved, she knew it had to be bad. That woman was a menace.

Stephanie spoke in whispered tones. “Greta is claiming that Daisy bit her.”

“What?” Pepper couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Sweet Daisy wouldn’t hurt a fly. Sure, she growls, but that’s just because she’s scared. She doesn’t mean it.”

“I know that. And you know that. But Greta doesn’t like her.”

“She doesn’t like her because I like Daisy.”

“I don’t know. I just know Greta is claiming the dog is dangerous.”

“Daisy is a puppy.” With every passing moment, Pepper was growing more and more defensive about the puppy. “And she’s not dangerous.”

“The thing is, Greta says Daisy has to go. Today.”

“But this is a shelter. This is where homeless dogs are supposed to go.” This couldn’t be happening. She was finally making headway with Daisy. The puppy was learning to trust her. “She isn’t ready to be adopted.”

“That’s the thing. With Greta claiming she was bit—which I checked and I couldn’t even see a scratch on her—I can’t adopt out Daisy.”

“What...what will happen to her?”

“I told Greta I would make sure Daisy is gone before tomorrow. Otherwise, she says she’s taking matters into her own hands. And you know that won’t be good.”

Chills ran down Pepper’s arms. “I don’t know why that woman even works here, much less is in charge.”

“You know and I know that it’s for the money. And the fact she pulled strings to get the job.”

“It’s not fair to the people who work here and certainly not the animals. She doesn’t even like animals.”