Page 25 of Pugs & Kisses
Bryson walked out toward Odessa’s desk. “Hey, Odessa, are there cones that will fit the stray I just worked on?” He stopped short at the sight of his mentor standing near the reception desk. “Doc, I thought you said you wouldn’t be able to make it in today?”
Doc looked up at him and the hair on the back of Bryson’s neck immediately stood on end.
“What’s wrong?” Bryson asked.
“Someone has finally decided it’s time to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” Odessa said. “Where’s Evie? She needs to hear this.”
Bryson’s stomach bottomed out. He’d known there was something Doc wasn’t telling. He’d felt it in his gut.
“I’m right here.” Evie walked over to Odessa’s desk. “Hey, Doc! I didn’t expect to see you today.”
“Mm-hmm,” Odessa murmured. “You ready to tell them?”
“Tell us what?” It had taken Evie a few moments longer to recognize the situation, but Bryson could tell she saw it now.
“What’s going on, Doc?” Bryson asked.
“Odessa’s right. It’s time I give you the whole story.” His mentor settled his backside against Odessa’s desk and folded his hands in front of him. “You both know the mentorship program was partially funded by the endowment left by Marsha Lawrence, right?”
“I still have the stethoscope with her name etched into it that we received that summer we volunteered,” Evie said.
“Well, before Mrs. Lawrence became a benefactor, Dr. Stanley Shepard had already made a huge contribution. In fact, The Sanctuary would not have a home if not for him.”
“You need to give them the abridged version,” Odessa said.
“I’m getting there,” Doc said. “Stanley owned this building. He’s rented it to The Sanctuary for a dollar per year.”
“I didn’t know that,” Bryson said.
Evie shook her head. “Neither did I.”
“It’s how we’ve been able to operate even in lean years, when there were hardly any donations. He kept it in his company’s name for tax purposes but always meant to gift it to the rescue.” Doc blew out a deep breath. “Stanley suffered a stroke last year and passed away just before Thanksgiving.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Evie said. “Were you two close friends?”
“Not really. Stanley was a hard-ass. We were more competitors than friends.” He hunched his shoulders.
“Anyway, I discovered about a month ago that Stanley never got around to changing his will. Everything is still tangled up in the succession and probate process, but as soon as his estate is done making its way through the courts, his grandson plans to sell the building.”
Evie gasped.
“Sell it?” Bryson asked. “Even though he knows his grandfather wanted to gift it to The Sanctuary?”
“Stanley’s grandson doesn’t care about The Sanctuary, or his grandfather’s wishes. Stanley cut him out of nearly everything he owned, but he forgot about this building.”
“Shit,” Bryson cursed under his breath. This was even worse than he’d imagined.
“What about the rest of his family?”
“There is no one else. The grandson is an only child. Stanley’s daughter, the boy’s mother, was killed in an auto-mobile accident years ago.”
“Is there a way to fight him in court?” Evie asked.
“As far as I know, there isn’t anything stating that Stanley planned to leave the building to The Sanctuary.
It’s just something we talked about while trying to best each other on the golf course.
Based on Louisiana’s estate laws, any assets that were not assigned in the will are automatically inherited by the legal heirs.
That’s Stanley’s grandson. Besides,” Doc said, “the money that would be spent on lawyer fees trying to fight it in court would be better put to use on the animals.”
“Or buying the building,” Bryson said.
“Or that,” Doc said.
“Do you know his selling price?” Evie asked.
“The market value is just over one-point-eight million,” Doc said. He let out a gruff laugh. “Stanley bought this place for a hundred thousand dollars back in the eighties.”
“Times change,” Odessa remarked.
“I guess they do,” Doc said. “I considered buying it—even putting up my house as collateral—but the purchase price is more than I can afford.”
“Well, this definitely changes the ball game,” Evie said.
As far as Bryson was concerned, this ended the ball game.
It pained him to come to that conclusion, but it was the truth. He went into this thinking they would have to raise maybe thirty or forty thousand in order to keep up with The Sanctuary’s operating expenses and bring back the mentorship program.
The fundraising ideas he and Evie had begun tossing around—the carnival at Ashanti’s place, soliciting raffle donations from local businesses, setting up a crowdfunding campaign—were good, but they were not raising nearly two million dollars on GoFundMe.
He didn’t care how viral the campaign went online.
Maybe he could buy the building. It would be the kind of flex he had only dreamed of being able to pull off.
He couldn’t afford to purchase it outright—he’d just bought a million-dollar condo—but he could take out a business loan.
He knew how to talk a good game. He would be able to convince a bank this was a solid investment.
And how in the hell are you going to pay it back?
Even with a loan, and maybe taking on more speaking gigs to cover the payments, the ongoing operating expenses would continue to climb. There would be maintenance on the building, staff salaries, and he hadn’t factored in the cost of bringing back the mentorship program yet.
“So, what does this mean?” Evie asked. “Do we try to find another place to house the animals?”
“That isn’t a viable solution,” Bryson said.
“The cost of outfitting another location with the equipment that would be needed would be just as cost prohibitive. And as someone who just dealt with the residential real estate market, I can only imagine how outrageous the commercial market is these days.”
A somber pall fell over the room. It was so oppressive Bryson could practically feel it on his skin. They all knew what this meant, but no one wanted to say the words out loud.
“I should have told you both sooner,” Doc said. “I just… I got so caught up in your plans to save The Sanctuary that I thought maybe it would all work out. What better duo to pull off the impossible than my two best veterinary students?” He sighed. “But I don’t think it’s meant to be.”
Bryson hated to hear that defeated tone in his mentor’s voice, but at this point they were all feeling defeated. This rescue had played a pivotal role in his life. Accepting that this was the end hurt like hell.
“It was still nice to see the two of you working together again,” Odessa said. She lifted her sweater from where it was draped on the back of her chair and threaded her arms through it. “Remember that I’ll be an hour late tomorrow, Doc,” she said.
“Is there an extra key?” Bryson asked. “I want to come in early to check on the stray whose wound I cleared today.”
“I can do it,” Doc said. “I want to spend as much time here as I can, now that I know it won’t be operating much longer.” He pushed up from his perch on the desk. “Let me go check on the animals now.”
Bryson stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I guess there’s no need to go to Ashanti’s,” he said.
“Actually, she texted me about ten minutes ago, postponing our brainstorming session. Her little sister Kendra has some after school awards banquet she didn’t bother to tell Ashanti about.”
“It’s just as well,” Bryson said.
“Yeah.” Evie’s brows pulled together, the corners of her mouth dipping in a pensive frown. After a few moments, she asked, “What are your plans for dinner?”
“Um, leftovers,” Bryson said, taken aback by the unexpected question.
“Let me take you to dinner. We have some things to discuss. I’ll text you the address. It’s another dog-friendly spot, so you can bring Bella.”
“I would have to go get her from home,” he said.
“You leave her home alone all day?” She asked it in the same tone one would ask whether someone tortured live goldfish.
“Not all the time,” Bryson said. “She comes with me to the hospital when I’m working, but she also is just fine at home.”
“Go and get that dog,” Evie said. She lifted her phone from her pocket and typed something into it. “Meet me at the address I just texted you in an hour.”