Page 5 (1/1)

1

Finley

It’s Colorado

We’re supposed to be cold this tiot to tell Mother Nature about that Clearly, she’s hot flashing—which explains why I’ like a hooker in church at altar call Still, I can’t coet to wash up allthem adopted to their forever homes this week

Valentine’s Day is a ift is usually diaiven out along with the ad I’e people to give the gift of adopted fur babies instead

“Coiant—y, which has been in the shelter for three weeks now He’s adorable, but he’s also older He’s at least five or six, and his hopes of being adopted are slie hiave him, but purely out of affection—just whines His paws and head are lying flat on the cee

I’ve bathed every single dog here, but I saved Stinker for last because I know he hates baths I also kneould fight me What I didn’t knoas that he would lay down on the cement and soht body at two-hundred-fifty-eight pounds is now dead weight, feeling uy that helps ht I could handle it all on my own

Clearly, I was an idiot

I could just wait until tomorrow, but I really want this done If there’s any hope at all for Stinker to get his forever ho I can I’d really like to keep hi to stick around I took the job with the Sweetheart Animal Shelter, because I wanted to help the abandoned pets find forever hoave s out

Sweetheart is a great town, I guess I just don’t feel like I belong here I keep trying, but I don’t think this cheerful town that seems to have overdosed on Cupid is for me

It’s not that I’m depressed or even sad I just don’t believe in happily ever after and Sweetheart, Colorado definitely does

I work for thirtyhi Stinker whine while letting out a big wave of gas

Yep, that’s how he got the name

I shen this dog lets gas out, it s my breath, but some smells can’t be blocked I decide to reat, but anything is better than what I’ I bend over and securemy best to pull him toward the water It takes et a little movement

“Jesus, Stinker, we need to put you on a high protein diet or so away Stinker, for his part, just breathes out and , but Stinker resists My legs hit the back of the tub, which startles ress It must surprise Stinker, too, because he jerks backwards The es my hold I’m already off balance because I hit the tub of water and it splashed out on my pants When Stinker moves like that, I fall backwards so abruptly that I can do nothing but cry out, landing into the tub of soapy water I blow soapy bubbles out ofthe rest with the back of my hand

Suddenly, I hear laughter and look up to see a really tall guy standing overa leather vest with a plain white undershirt His arlasses on His hair looks like it was more on the dark blonde side of life at one tiray here and there He’s tall, but not overly so, maybe somewhere around five-eleven to six foot Of course, I’m five-nine, so that could just be ym rat, which I can definitely appreciate I’d probably enjoy the show he’s offering if I wasn’t soaking wet and cold—not toto the oldtree where he likes to lay when I let him run free in the fenced-in yard of the shelter