Blending In

by RJ Blain

  “You’ll be so much happier in twenty minutes,” I promised.

  The horgi didn’t agree with me.

  While she didn’t enjoy her bath, she kept her protests to agonized howls, notifying every animal in the shelter she’d endured torture at my hands.

  “If you think this is bad, wait until you’re being brushed.”

  Fortunately, her coat brushed out better than I expected, costing me only an extra ten minutes to transform her from a drenched rat to a ugly yet cute mess of fluff. With the stubby legs of a corgi, the ears of a husky, and a muzzle the awkward mix of both, she wouldn’t place in a dog show, but I liked her black and tan fur, long enough to ensure her future owner would spend a lot of time caring for the pup.

  Leah had it right. A dog could be devastatingly cute yet uglier than sin.

  “Is that really a dog?” Chase asked, entering the grooming room carrying bags loaded with supplies. “I’m on collaring, walking, and helping with microchipping duty. Apparently, an aversion to injections isn’t a permissible excuse, and I will be trained in how to safely assist them with chipping each dog and registering them in the system. Leah wants to finish traumatizing them in one fell swoop. The vet will be coming in the morning to handle all their vaccinations. I have more shampoo for you, and Leah thought you might need the clippers for some of the dogs. There’s also medication if they have raw skin. Leah asked me to tell you to ask her if you need help figuring out which cream to apply. If you have to use the creams, you need to use the cones.”

  I worried what I would do if my night became any more complicated. “And Gavin?”

  “He says it would be cruel to force you to transform while covered in that mess, so you have a stay of curse until after you can take a proper shower. He seems to think I’ll be carrying you home sometime tomorrow, likely in the late afternoon.”

  Gross. “I’ll walk. One of us covered in this is bad enough.”

  He nodded and shuddered. “This isn’t what I imagined when I agreed to volunteer at an animal shelter.”

  “Oddly enough, this wasn’t what I had in mind, either. I definitely didn’t expect to give fifty rescues a bath.”

  “I’m relieved to hear that. Do you need any help washing them? I can try to figure out how to fit it in.”

  I grimaced at the thought of being covered in filth for hours. “I think I’ll be all right. Only one of us needs to sacrifice our dignity and cleanliness. I’ve been promised humanity until after a shower. Please tell Gavin thank you, but if I shift before I’m in clean clothes, he dies at my hands.”

  “You got it. Shout if you need me. I’ll check in with you and get the bathed dogs cared for and fed.”

  “Sounds good. And Chase?”

  “What is it?”

  “I’ll need to be restrained if I meet the mill operators.”

  “I’ll help you hide the bodies,” he countered before walking off.

  Was I supposed to add ‘will help hide the bodies’ to the con or pro list? I went with the pro column. It took real dedication to see a murder through to the very end.

  The last dog of the batch cowered in the corner of the playroom and whined. What was left of my bruised and battered heart shattered at the sorry state of the animal. However accidentally, I’d saved the dirtiest horgi for last, and I had no idea what I’d find under the muck and mats.

  I couldn’t even tell its gender. Once I cornered the pooch, I crouched. “Hey, baby. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  I’d lost count of the number of puppies I had needed to coax into cooperating with me since starting my mission to get them all cleaned so Chase and Leah could feed them and settle them into the kennels.

  Some rescued dogs cowered, some became aggressive, and others did anything they could to please so they wouldn’t be punished. The horgi wagged its tail so hard I worried it would hurt itself. I patted my leg. “Come here, baby.”

  I tried not to think too hard about what I’d need to touch to get the animal tolerably clean. When I finally coaxed the horgi to me, I discovered it—a she as far as I could tell—weighed far less than I expected.

  The premeditated murder of a puppy mill operator wasn’t really a crime, was it? If I got a good enough lawyer, could I swing a justifiable homicide conviction? I’d be happy serving years of community service in animal shelters as penance. Caleb would understand. He adored dogs. He’d scold me for taking the route of most violence, and I’d have to explain why he shouldn’t kill puppy mill operators, too, but I’d figure something out.

  Once the puppy trusted me enough I could pick her up, I carried her to the grooming room and set her in the tub, taking my time soothing her before subjecting us to the tedious process of trying to salvage her fur. She cowered through her bath, which took two bottles of shampoo before I surrendered to the inevitable and got out the clippers.

  I hated muzzling her as much as she hated being muzzled, but I’d learned my lesson early: shaving a dog in such a condition hurt, and dogs in pain would bite to defend themselves. The only way to help her heal was to get rid of her matted fur and let it regrow.

  Beneath the mats was raw, tender skin, and as I’d been instructed, I put a cup of warm water out with tea bags in them to brew, and once they were ready, I filled the spray bottle marked for tea and spritzed it all over her until Leah could administer the oral antibiotics.

  She cried through the whole process, and so did I.

  “All right, Miriah. It’s time for us to go home. It’s nine in the morning,” Chase said from somewhere behind me. “A few volunteers made it in despite the storm. They can handle the rest. We’ve been here all night. Dad brought his SUV over, and he won’t mind having it cleaned.”

  No. I didn’t want to leave the horgi to go through the next stage by herself. “I have to cone her and she needs antibiotics. I had to shave her, and she’ll get cold if she stays in the kennel.”

  “Blankets can take care of that, and I can help you get the cone on her. She’ll be okay.”

  I didn’t want to let her go, and I petted her head to reassure her. “She’ll get cold,” I repeated.

  “Easy there, karma chameleon. I’ll wrap her in my coat. She’ll be fine on the walk to reception. Leah can take care of the rest, I promise. There’s a displaced three-legged cat I’m taking home to foster so one of the smaller dogs can stay in its cage. If Leah can clear it, I don’t mind bringing the puppy home, too. You can hold her in the car, but Leah wanted me to have her microchipped.”

  I shook her head. “Her skin is too raw. It could get infected. She’ll have to be chipped later.”

  “Miriah, Leah still needs to see the dog.”

  “Later.”

  The woman in question laughed. “You’re not winning this battle, Chase. That’s one tired woman on a mission. What’s this I heard about antibiotics?”

  “Her skin’s bad. I had to shave her.”

  Leah came over and examined the horgi. “I’ve got the antibiotics, I see you already treated her with tea. She’s right, Chase. The microchip could abscess with her skin in this condition. She’ll definitely be better off in a foster situation than trying to keep her warm in the kennel. I’ll fill out the form and let the boss know I let a rescue out without a chipping. Take the muzzle with you in case you need it, and get her into a good cone. Don’t worry about coming in tonight. I’ll find someone to cover your shift. You need to get ready to go home so you can take a shower.”

  “I deserve a shower and a bath,” I muttered.

  “Let me take the puppy for a few minutes,” Chase said, holding out his hands to take her.

  While I grumbled curses, as the puppy didn’t seem to object, I handed her over. The horgi tried her best to lick Chase’s hand despite the muzzle. I couldn’t tell if she wanted affection or was afraid.

  “She’ll be okay. The vet arrived ten minutes ago, so I’ll jump this little lady to the front of the line and make sure she’s cleared to leave the shelter. She won’t be va
ccinated, so you’ll need to be aware of that when you’re keeping her at your house, Chase. She’ll need to come in for her vaccinations as soon as her skin has healed and she’s off the antibiotics. Bring the puppy, Chase. Miriah, you’re a mess. Hose yourself off. There’s a towel by the door that’s clean, and you can use the blow dryer.”

  Chase snorted. “Don’t worry about cleaning off, Miriah. Wait till I get you home. Dad needs to clean his SUV anyway. If you hose yourself off, you’ll freeze to death walking across the parking lot. I’ll ask Dad to help you get ready to go while the vet checks the puppy over, okay?”

  It would do. I doubted I could handle hosing myself off in the grooming room anyway. “Okay.”

  “It won’t be long,” he promised.

  Silly man. Hadn’t he ever taken a pet to the vet’s before? We’d be waiting an eternity. I looked over my filthy clothes and sighed.

  A trash can, some gasoline, and a match would solve the problem, as I doubted I’d ever get my outfit clean enough to wear again.

  Chapter Eleven

  True to Chase’s word, I got to hold the shaved puppy on the ride to his house. I exchanged her muzzle for a cone, and she flopped on my towel-covered lap and fell asleep without a fuss. I stared out the window and admired the sunshine glistening off the snow. Any other day, the two to three feet covering everything might’ve annoyed me, but Chase’s father handled the SUV like a champion, taking his time navigating the slick roads and sticking to the routes the plows had already cleared.

  To keep me from shedding dirty everywhere, I wore a rain poncho over my clothes and sat on a towel. Father and son found my precautions ridiculous, but I’d won the battle with a few sniffles and a refusal to budge until I got my way.

  The poncho and towel also kept me from getting dirt on the puppy’s skin.

  In defiance of Gavin’s prediction I’d need to be carried, I marched to Chase’s front door, took my shoes off at the threshold, and set them in the trash can in the entry.

  “I’m going to assume you don’t believe your shoes are salvageable,” Chase said, cradling the sleeping puppy in his arms while his father hauled the cat carrier into the house. “The bathroom is down the hall past the kitchen. Take your time.”

  While I’d already discovered the bathroom during my explorations, I played dumb and tiptoed across his home so I wouldn’t make too much of a mess. Once inside the safety of the bathroom, I shed my clothes, which I immediately wrapped in the poncho and stuffed into the garbage can.

  Someone knocked on the door. “Miriah?”

  Damn it, I didn’t want to deal with Gavin and his curse. “I’m about to take a shower. You’re not invited.”

  “I brought clothing for you, and Chase offered a bathrobe as I forgot to grab yours.”

  Huh. Miracles could happen. “Thank you. Please crack open the door and leave everything inside. I’m going to take my shower now.”

  Gavin chuckled. “If you’re not out in twenty minutes, someone will be coming in to check on you.”

  “Can that someone be Chase?” I wouldn’t mind if Chase interrupted my shower. I could show off my tramp stamp to a desired audience that wasn’t me for a change.

  “I’ll think about it. By the way, you’re so tired you’re not thinking before you speak. At all.”

  The pesky divine capable of reading minds would know. Damn, damn, damn. “I want a bath, but honestly, I’d drown right now.”

  Gavin sighed. “I’ll ask Chase if he’ll be a gentleman and monitor you in a bath. I’ll also be a gentleman, and as a reward for your good dog-helping deed, I’ll refrain from restoring the curse until you’re in your favorite pajamas and have had a chance to watch it snow while sipping hot chocolate. You might even get to have a cat on your lap and a puppy at your feet.”

  Gavin described my personal heaven, and I wanted it so much I almost cried. “You’re being frighteningly nice.”

  “I’m proud of you for pulling an all-nighter to help those dogs and make them more comfortable and a little happier. Selfless acts deserve reward.”

  More miracles. Who knew Gavin could be useful in the miracle department? If I asked him for a few on purpose, would he be nice to me? “Thanks.”

  He chuckled, probably at my thoughts rather than my modest display of gratitude. “You didn’t pick a bad man this time, but can you convince him to love you back?”

  Wait. To love me back? I blinked. Oh. His comment made sense when I considered how often I thought of Chase as having possession of my heart and needing him to give it back. It made sense that somewhere along the way infatuation had taken a turn into the not-good category of flat out love.

  Damn.

  “You really are tired. Miriah, I cheat. It’s what I do. But I don’t cheat in the way you think. When I was with you, I was only with you, just like I was only with the other women I spent time with. I just didn’t wait for long before moving on, that’s all. That’s my nature. I know it’s not yours. How do I know? It’s always at least a few months before you’ll look at another man before you’ve had your heart broken yet again. It’s like I actually pay attention to these things. That’s all.”

  That’s all. That was Gavin. I could accept that.

  “Hey, you haven’t yelled at me yet. That might be the real miracle here. I’ll take it. Anyway, I’ll tell Chase you could use some help and have him deal with your bath problem. You couldn’t lift your arms over your head at this point even if you tried.”

  I tried and failed, as my shoulders throbbed from the motion. Ouch. “What did I do to deserve this?”

  “No good deed goes unpunished. Consider it the price of admission for a shower with your current infatuation.”

  Love went beyond infatuation, but I’d worry about my love life problems later. Until Chase returned my heart through nefarious deeds and assholery, I was stuck. I’d just have to cope.

  “You’re something else, Miriah.”

  Life always found some way to screw with me. As Gavin always kept his word, I must have gotten into my favorite pajamas and had hot chocolate while watching it snow.

  I remembered nothing of my shower, the following bath, if there had been one, or anything else of importance for that matter. While resigned to my frequent stays as a chameleon thanks to my inability to ignore Chase, I resented my inability to remember my hard-earned prize. Tricksy Gavin. No wonder he’d been so cooperative. He likely had known I was an incoherent mess and wouldn’t remember anything. I refrained from hissing, snuggling into my warm nest to indulge in a proper sulk.

  My nest purred.

  Nests weren’t supposed to purr.

  I opened my eyes to a sea of gray fur. The purring intensified, and the three-legged cat Chase had opted to foster dragged its rough tongue over my nose.

  Chase laughed, and he stroked his finger down my head and along the length of my back. “He cried until he could cuddle with you. He came from a household with a lot of lizards, and he was surrendered after his owner’s death two years ago. He’s six, and it seems his favorite thing in life is to sleep curled around lizards.”

  Right. No good deed went unpunished, and I was slated to become the pet—or appetizer—of a cat. A three-legged cat. With a lizard fetish.

  Chase had picked his new pet well.

  I’d have an interesting tombstone, that much was certain.

  Chase smiled, and I decided potential death by cuddly three-legged feline was worth the risk.

  “Good morning. You slept through most of the day and night. If you can get yourself together, Dad will bring the SUV over and take us to work. I packed a bag for you in case you shift again. I also took the liberty of ordering chicken for you. Dad’s picking it up. The cat and dog are also coming into the office with us. They suckered me.”

  I needed half the luck of the two fostered pets. I foresaw Chase adopting them both in the near future. I stretched and yawned. The gray cat rolled onto his belly and batted me with his front paws. While curious how
the cat had lost his back leg, I’d have to wait until I returned to human to ask—and prepare with a box of tissues, as I’d inevitably cry because the cat was short a leg and I couldn’t make it better.

  I couldn’t blame Chase for being suckered. The trap of an exposed kitty belly couldn’t be resisted, not by me. I risked life and limb to pet the belly.

  The kitty didn’t eat me.

  “Miriah? Are you up for going to the office?”

  My work wouldn’t finish itself, and until I finished my work, I couldn’t ensure Chase’s company was secure against whomever was trying to financially destroy it from the inside. The sooner I finished, the faster I could forget the little I remembered of my talk with Gavin. One question remained: how was I supposed to convince Chase to love me?

  Life sucked sometimes.

  Since assault with a glass of ice water and allergens hadn’t worked, someone decided a Molotov cocktail tossed from a nearby roof with the help of some magic might do the trick. Instead of smacking into Chase’s face, it hung inches away, its flame frozen in time.

  When I grew up, I wanted a talent like the one Chase’s father packed.

  The horgi yipped and circled Chase’s leg, tangling in her leash and the jury-rigged sweater meant to keep her bare skin protected from the cold. The cat, contained in his new fleece-lined carrier, hissed.

  Chase’s father stepped out of an SUV parked on the curb, and it wasn’t the same one he’d brought the last time I’d seen him. Why did crazy rich people insist on having more than one vehicle of the same type? As far as I could tell, the only difference was color, and the bright red blinded when showcased beside sun-touched snow. “You all right?”

  “We’re fine.” Chase stared at the mess of dog and leash wrapped around his legs. “Mostly. I might need a hand with this. I don’t want to drop the cat.”

  Bye-bye, heart. At the rate I kept wishing my poor heart off on its latest journey longing for Chase and his sweet ways, I’d be even more of a mess by the end of the week.