Page 60

“You are adorable,” I said.

“Are you talking to the kittens or me?” he asked.

“Definitely the kittens.”

“Iampretty cute,” he said.

“Will you watch them for a minute?”

“Yes, for sure.”

I left the room and beelined for Bean, greeting other dogs as Iwent. Bean was lying on his cot. I stopped in front of the chain-link gate and he stood up and stretched. I let myself inside and sat against the brick wall closest to the gate, not sure what surprises would be toward the back. Bean walked up to me and lay beside my leg, putting his head on my thigh. I scratched him behind theears.

“Hey, boy. How are you?”

He let out a long whine.

“That good, huh? We’re working on it, I promise. What would you like to do for your second challenge? We have twelve participants ready.” My butt was still wet from the ocean and I was sure I was leaving a nice mark on the cement. “You like to be wet. What about a swimming race?”

My mind took me back to earlier, the feeling of being trapped under the water. My breath caught in my chest. Bean inched forward and put his head under my chin, calming me. “You’re a good boy. I won’t make you go in the ocean. What about a pool? You think the community pool would let us host a competition there?”

He licked my hand.

“I think so too.”

Barks echoed off the stone, and I leaned my head back against the wall. “I’m sorry you don’t ever get any real peace, Bean. I’d be grumpy too if I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep…for nine months.” Bean nudged my hand and I petted his head some more.

“I left a boy in the other room I should probably get back to,” I told him. “That’s a whole different story. I called myself his girlfriend today to another girl. It was to help him, he knew that.He won’t hold me to it. I don’t want him to, right?” I remembered the feel of Asher’s back under my hands and my pulse quickened. “I know how you feel about him, so you’re way too biased to give any opinions about this. He doesn’t even know me. Or he thinks half of me is a whole different person. That’s probably the half he’s drawn to. Because the other half…the real half is just closed off and full of rules.” I sighed. “I better go.” I gave Bean one last rub and stood up. He stood as well. “I don’t work tomorrow, but I’ll see you the day after, okay?”

I hated leaving all the animals here, but I especially hated leaving Bean, knowing it had been such a long time since he’d had a family, someone he could see every day and trust. It’s probably why he gave trust so sparingly. “I completely understand,” I whispered as I latched the gate and headed back to the medical room.

When I let myself in, Asher was still sitting on the stool but now he was staring at his phone.

“How is Bean?” he asked.

“How did you know I went to see Bean?”

“Just a hunch.”

I shrugged. “He seemed okay.”

“We’ll find him a home soon. Look at all the attention he’s getting and we only did one event.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Are we supposed to feed them again?” Asher turned his phone toward me. “Google says every two hours, but they didn’t get a lot in the first feeding.”

“You’ve been Googling kitten care?” I asked.

“How old do you think they are?” He swiped a finger down his screen. “It says the younger they are, the harder it is for them to survive without their mom.”

“They’ll be okay. They seem tough.” My voice cracked, followed by stinging eyes.Seriously?I cleared my throat.

Asher’s eyes shot up to mine.

I held up my finger toward him. “It’s nothing. Don’t read intoit.”

“What happened today? Out there in the ocean?” he asked, like he was the most insightful boy in the world.