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A clamor of barks echoed off the walls. Matt hunched his shoulders to block some of the noise as he scooped food into a dish for the new mutt that’d arrived earlier this morning.

He gave her a quick scratch behind the ears while Snarls, a Chihuahua mix in the cage next to them, jumped without bending his legs in a rat-a-tat motion. Matt squatted, holding the Chihuahua’s buggy-eyed gaze through the chain links. “You watch your mouth, pal. There’s ladies present.”

“I don’t think he cares,” a soft voice said behind Matt. So soft he almost missed it with all the barking.

Matt jumped to his feet. “Aimee. Hi. Hello. Hey.” Good grief, should he throw in an Hola while he was at it? He forced a smile that probably looked about as natural as a ventriloquist dummy’s grin. “What brings you by?”

He hadn’t seen her since they shared one of the world’s most awkward breakups a little over a month ago. Which in a way brought things full circle. Their entire relationship had been awkward. Probably because it had such an awkward beginning.

“I found this in my car.” She held up a coupon for a free two-liter soda with the purchase of a large Casey’s pizza. “It’s yours. Thought I should give it back to you. Since we’re not together anymore. And it’s yours.”

“Oh.” Matt took the coupon from her. “Thanks.”

“Do you have anything of mine?”

“What?” A cacophony of barks continued ricocheting off the concrete walls.

“I thought I might’ve left behind a sweater or something at your place?”

“Uh... no. Sorry. I can’t think of anything. Unless you want the cactus?” It was technically his cactus and technically a dead cactus—he shouldn’t have watered it so much—but after five years of dating he felt kind of bad they didn’t have a single thing to return to each other besides a coffee-stained coupon that had likely already expired.

“Can I ask you a question?” Aimee took a step back, bumping into the cage behind her. A shepherd mix jumped up to eye level and let out several deep barks. She flinched and plugged her ears.

“Jonesy,” Matt said, snapping his fingers. “Down. And you— enough .” He pointed his finger at the mouthy Chihuahua. “Sorry about that,” he said to Aimee once the dogs finally quieted down enough for them to talk again.

She unplugged her ears, shooting all the dogs a wary look. “Did you break up with me because of Rachel?”

“What?” Except he heard her just fine. “No, I—”

“People have been saying she moved back recently. And I just wondered if that was the reason why—”

“No. No.” And just because it truly wasn’t the reason he broke up with her, since he hadn’t even known Rachel was back at the time, he added another “No” for good measure.

“Okay.” Aimee nodded and started for the exit. “It’s just that I remember how close you two were in high school,” she said, spinning back to face him as she hovered in the doorway. “And when Rachel offered to set us up on that date for prom, she assured me you guys were nothing more than friends. But I’ve always wondered if there was something more. Was there something more? You can tell me. I can handle it. I just really, really need to know if there was something more.”

She stared, obviously waiting for some sort of confession. But all he could tell her was “No. There was never anything more between us.”

Aimee nodded, not looking all that convinced before she disappeared out the door. But it was the truth.

Matt shook his head, remembering how stupid he felt thinking there was more between them. Thinking Rachel was going to be his date for prom. Thinking the girl she talked about—the one who’d had a secret crush on him for years, the girl who was too embarrassed to say anything, the girl who’d never gone to a dance before, the girl who thought it’d be fun to be his blind date for prom—was her .

But all along she’d been setting him up with Aimee.

“You don’t know how close I came to telling you so many times,” Rachel gushed later, after prom, when Matt swung by her house to confront her. “But I didn’t want to spoil the surprise.”

Well, Matt had certainly been surprised. “It was Aimee,” he kept saying with a wooden grin. “You set me up with Aimee.”

“I know. Didn’t I tell you that once you saw who it was, you’d realize she was the perfect match for you?”

“You did say that. I remember.” And he’d been one hundred percent certain that Rachel had been talking about herself at the time. “It was Aimee.”

“I know. Isn’t she so sweet and gorgeous?”

She was so sweet and gorgeous. That was the problem. His mom loved the match. Aimee loved the match. Rachel clearly loved the match. Everybody loved the match.

So when Rachel told him a week later that she and her older sister were moving to Florida as soon as the school year ended to get away from her sister’s slimeball of a boyfriend, Matt wondered if Aimee was the best match he was ever going to get. He decided to make a go of it.

Took him five years to realize what his grandpa knew from the start. Their relationship never had any spark—as evidenced by the coupon in his grip. He shoved it into his back pocket. Hopefully that was the last of their awkward interactions.

By the time Matt finished feeding all the dogs, everyone had gone home except Gloria, the office manager. “We had another drop-off,” she told him as soon as he closed the door between the back kennels and the front office.

“Please tell me it’s not another mastiff.”

“It’s not another mastiff.”

Matt’s shoulders sagged with relief.

“It’s a St. Bernard.”

“What?” Matt squeezed the bill of his ball cap as Gloria’s lips spread into a mischievous grin.

“Gotcha.” She slid off her stool and bent over. “It’s only this little guy. How could I say no?” She hoisted a caged guinea pig in the air and plopped it on the counter.

“A guinea pig? Gloria, this isn’t a pet store. We’re here to find homes for stray dogs and cats. We can’t start taking in every Tom, Dick, and Harry that comes wandering through our doors. What next? Birds? Giraffes? This place can barely make ends meet as it is.”

He didn’t mean to harp at Gloria. She was here on a volunteer basis just as much as he was. The woman was a godsend, considering she manned the front desk twenty hours a week.

“I don’t mind answering the phones or doing the clerical work, just so long as I don’t have to do more than pet the occasional cat. My pooper-scooper days are behind me,” she’d informed Thad, the man who ran the animal shelter, straight from the get-go.

“I’m sorry, Gloria. I don’t mean to—”

“Don’t say another word. After being married to Stan the last forty-five years, I’ve developed a pretty thick skin when it comes to taking a man’s griping.” She grabbed her purse and keys from a drawer in the desk. Patted Matt’s arm on the way past. “I know finding good homes for these animals means a lot to you. Which reminds me. Is it true Noah’s back in town?”

“He’s been helping out with my Aunt Gracie, yeah.”

“Interesting. Interesting. Well, maybe Mr. Baseball wouldn’t mind helping the town dig a little deeper into their pockets to support this animal shelter while he’s back.”

“What did you have in mind?”

Swinging open the front door, Gloria made a show of shrugging her shoulders. “Honey, do I have to be both the looks and the brains of this outfit? I don’t know. Think of something. And while you’re at it, watch the wet floor. I just mopped. Mind putting the bucket away for me? Thanks, doll. See you Saturday at the Pumpkin Festival.” She tossed a wave over her shoulder.

Matt caught a glimpse through the window of Gloria tossing another wave at someone before she pulled out of the parking lot.

Matt stepped closer to the window to see who she’d been waving to. The shelter sat a few miles outside of town. People didn’t usually swing by unless they were dropping off or picking up animals.

He didn’t see anybody. Which was good because the shelter was already filled to the brim. If somebody came in with another stray, he had no earthly idea where to put them. Matt couldn’t wait for Thad to get back from vacation, so he could stop pretending to be in charge of this place and hand the reins back over.

“What’re you looking at?”

Matt jerked backwards, spun, slipped on the wet floor, and caught himself with his elbows against the windowsill. “Good night, woman. You trying to give me a heart attack?”

Rachel smiled triumphantly. “Ha. Now you know how I felt when you snuck into my house the other day. At least I didn’t come in breaking down the door and screaming like a fool.”

“Hey, there’s no fool to be seen here.” Matt stepped forward, kicking Gloria’s bucket. A gush of soapy water flooded the floor.

“My shoes!” Rachel squealed and jumped onto the reception desk. “Mouse!” She squealed a second later, jumping off the reception desk when she noticed the guinea pig.

“Careful.” Matt caught her by the elbows before she slipped and fell, then hefted her back onto the desk. “This floor’s going to be a skating rink until it dries. You’re safer on the desk.”

“With the rodent? I don’t think so.” Rachel peered into the cage. “Though I guess he’s not completely horrible to look at once you get past the whole mousey aspect of him.”

“Make you a deal.”

“What sort of deal?”

“Pick out a cat and a dog, and I’ll throw in the guinea pig for free.” He scooted onto the desk next to Rachel and patted the cage.

“And where exactly is the deal in that?”

“You get a mouse catcher, a security guard, and a cute little cuddle-bug all for free.”

Rachel wrinkled her nose. “I thought I was just here to clean litter boxes and take dogs for walks in exchange for you fixing doors, setting mousetraps, and giving me a ride to work this past week.”

“True. But if you want me to keep doing all those things, these are my new terms.”

“Well, seeing as my insurance finally coughed up a rental until my car is finished getting repaired, I actually don’t need any more rides from you. So if we’re going to be throwing out new terms, then my new terms include helping me replace my entire front porch and ridding the house of every species of arachnid and varmint. Deal?”

He jutted a thumb over his shoulder. “No deal until I see you start cleaning out some litter boxes first.”

“Watch me.”

“Watch me watch you.”

Without thinking, they both hopped off the desk. Then immediately smacked against the wet tile floor the very next moment. Well, Rachel hit the floor. Matt mostly hit Rachel.

“Ow,” Rachel groaned.

“I am so sorry. Are you okay?” Matt asked. His right arm was somehow pinned beneath her back while his left hand was caught in her curls. “You didn’t hit your head, did you?”

“My head is fine. My rib cage, however—” She wheezed dramatically.

“I’m crushing you, aren’t I? I’m so sorry. I don’t know why Gloria insists on mopping every day she works. It’s not like the floors get that dirty. I think she just likes to mop.” The more he attempted to free his right arm, the more tangled her hair became with the watch on his left wrist.

“Ouch.”

“Sorry. If I just get my other arm—”

“Nope. Worse. And why is my sweater unraveling now?”

Matt followed her gaze down to his waist. “Because your sweater is putting the moves on my belt.”

She gasped. “Don’t talk about my sweater like that. If anything, your belt is seducing my sweater.” She winced. “Okay, my hair. Can we get back to focusing on that? Although I really do like this sweater. Okay, forget the hair. Save the sweater.” She began to unclasp his belt.

“Hey now, tiger.” He chuckled uncomfortably and tried shifting away from her. “Let’s keep our hands off my belt and get back to worrying about your hair. Our new terms can include me buying you a new sweater, okay?”

When Rachel giggled, Matt made the mistake of meeting her eyes. Of smiling back. Leaning in just a little bit closer. Close enough to kiss her if he wanted. But was that what Rachel wanted? She assured me you guys were nothing more than friends.

He could hear Aimee’s voice as if she were standing right in the room.

It took Matt a second to realize she was standing right in the room. With possibly more coupons in her hands. He couldn’t tell for sure. “So you breaking up with me had nothing to do with Rachel?”

“This isn’t what it looks like.” He and Rachel started speaking over one another.

“My belt’s caught in her sweater and—”

“Can’t get my hair free and—”

“Such a slippery floor and—”

“I was just on my way to clean the litter boxes!”

Aimee flung the pile of papers in the air—yep, they were more coupons—and slammed the door shut on their words, leaving Matt and Rachel in an awkward tangle of unclasped belt buckles, unraveled sweaters, and now, fluttering coupons.

“Well, glad we got that straightened out,” Rachel deadpanned.