“I try to give people things they need.”
George pointed to the black Lab resting on the floor of the cabin. “That was a good gift.”
Todd sank down beside the dog. “I agree.”
“What would you like this year?” George asked his son.
“I think I would like to stop worrying all the time. About work, friendships, where to live … stuff like that.” Todd paused. “Sometimes I feel like I don’t know where I belong.”
This statement bothered George. “Todd, I hope you know you’ll always belong here with your mom and me. This is your home just like it’s ours.”
“Dad, can I ask you something else?” Todd looked at his father and gave voice to something he had been thinking about for days, probably for weeks—maybe even months. “What does it feel like to be in love?”
As prepared for Todd’s bluntness as George usually was, the question surprised him. He wondered if this was what was lingering behind Todd’s concern about where he belonged. Here was an area of discussion that the two of them had never explored. George felt a little uneasy. He tried to remember how it had felt for him when he was a young man and experiencing romantic love for the first time.
“I guess it feels pretty scary at first. When you get it right, it’s very nice. When you get it wrong, it can really hurt.”
Todd’s face lit up, like he knew exactly what his father was talking about. “How do you make sure you get it right?”
Todd deserved to know the adult answer, but it was a hard truth. George put his hand on his son’s shoulder and did his best to answer. “Most of us spend our lives trying to get love right. We go through periods when nothing could be easier than being in love, and then there are times when getting it right seems almost impossible. We make mistakes. I did. You will, too. The main thing to remember is that it’s always worth the effort—trying to get it right.”
Todd put his hand on Christmas. Love seemed to trickle up from the dog’s black fur. “With dogs, getting love right is easy.”
“Getting love right will be easier for you than it is for the rest of us. Just like being a good gift giver, when it comes to the love department, you’re a natural.” George helped Todd get where he suspected his son was headed. “Are you asking me this because of Laura?”
“Yes—maybe I’m in love with Laura.”
George tightened his grip on his son’s shoulder. It was his turn to feel protective toward Todd and to worry about the inevitable heartbreaks of romantic love. He had to admit he felt a little anxious about confronting another milestone of his son’s development. George loosened his grip and said, “Love is like the prairie grass in the meadow behind this cabin—if you give it time, deep roots will take hold. Once that happens, it’s nearly impossible to dig it up, and it will grow strong and spread till it chokes out all the weeds. So take your time with this, Todd. Don’t rush it. Let the roots of your love grow strong.”
Todd thought another moment and then asked, “Did Mom still love you while you were gone in the war?”
“That she did. There’s a whole box of letters up in the closet to prove it. She wrote me every day.”
Todd looked at his cell phone and George could tell that Todd was about to shut down. It had been a good conversation. There was no need to push it any further.
Then George remembered the reason for his visit. “I want to show you something,” he said, taking the old framed photo out of his pocket and handing it to Todd.
Todd studied it for a few minutes. “Who is that man?”
“That’s your great-grandfather, Bo McCray. You would have really liked him.”
Todd continued to look at the picture more closely. “I know who he was—Grandpa Bo. But I never got to meet him. Who’s the little boy?”
“It’s me, Todd.”
“That’s you!” Todd exclaimed in the astonished way only Todd could.
“Yep. We were coming up from the barn. Just finished the milking. I was hitching a ride on his shoulders. He liked to carry me that way. I always felt I was riding on the back of a giant.”
“Grandpa Bo sure looks happy. I think he liked having you on his shoulders.”
George missed his grandfather, and he felt a moment of heavy loss. He looked away, afraid that a tear might appear. He exhaled long and slow and then looked at his son. “I suppose he did. He was pretty good about loving dogs and people—just like you. You two are a lot alike.”
George let another minute or two of silence set in. It had been a privilege to ride on the shoulders of Bo McCray. He wondered if he could ever be such a figure for his own son.
Todd looked at the grainy black-and-white photograph. “It looks like a long time ago.”
“It was. Sometimes it seems farther away than I can imagine.” George remembered the reason for the trip down the hill. “Todd, I just want you to know that you did great finding something decent on the job menu and jumping out there and trying to get it.” He stopped just short of telling Todd that he wanted him to go into the dairy business. Like Bo, and like George, Todd would make his own way in the world. “I thought you might like to have the picture to put on your wall.”
“Thank you, Dad. I think you’re a good gift giver. I like the picture.”
George stood up. “Your mom and I are planning on driving to the mall on Sunday. Let us know if anything changes.”
WHEN THE McCray family arrived at the shelter on Sunday, the Channel Six News truck was already in the lot. Brenda Williams had asked her crew to drive out to Crossing Trails to get some shots of the dogs and cats in their cages and of the volunteers loading them up for the trip. The crew complained about driving for two hours to get fifteen seconds of footage, but Brenda was in charge, insisting that before-and-after shots would be powerful. “We can open with the shelter shots and then show pets with their new owners, after the adoptions take place. And wait until you meet the shelter director.” Still they grumbled. But once they went inside the shelter, saw the dogs and cats, and met Hayley, they decided the Problem Solver, once again, was spot-on.
Hayley was nervous about their kickoff event. An hour earlier she had finished one of a series of exhaustive meetings with the mayor and the city manager to work out the details of closing the shelter. The city manager confirmed the year-end date for vacating the building. Each little step taken made the unimaginable seem painfully real. The shelter was really going to close. The mayor tried to soften the blow. “You know, Hayley, even if the county had not pulled out of the shelter partnership, we were going to have to make changes. Every city department has had to cut its budget so we can keep our expenses in line with our revenues. Things were going to be tough either way.”
Haley shook her head. “Is that supposed to make me feel better, Mayor?”
Arriving at the shelter later, Todd called out, “Hayley? I’m here. Are you ready to go?”
She’d been there since 6:45 that morning, grooming and feeding dogs, gathering supplies, cleaning out cages, and double- and triple-checking her master “to-do” list for their event. Hayley and Todd had selected the fifteen most adoptable dogs for the event, as well as two cats. Hayley made an effort to get each of them taken outside for one last potty break before setting off on the long drive to Kansas City for the day’s event.
“Ready as I’ll ever be, Todd.” Hayley ran down her list one last time and let out a deep breath. “Let’s go.”
As all the shelter volunteers, among them George, Mary Ann, and Laura, gathered in the lobby, Hayley and Todd handed out directions to the Mall of the Prairie and reviewed the plans for how they would set up once they arrived.
Laura slipped her arm around Todd’s shoulder and gave him a friendly squeeze. “This is going to be fun!”
He squeezed back. “It’s not just fun, Laura. It’s work!”
“Work that you love doing, Todd.”
George took note of what she’d said and exchanged a look with Mary Ann.
Hayley wr
apped a red and green scarf around her neck as she rallied her troops. “Let’s load up and get on the road!”
Less than two hours later the shelter caravan converged in a parking lot at the Mall of the Prairie, just as great big white snowflakes began falling from the sky. The mall had been built in the 1980s and was located in an affluent neighborhood. Although the place was slightly dated, its interior was well maintained, with polished tile floors, lush green plantings, fountains, and public seating areas. Besides large, upscale stores like Macy’s and Saks, there were smaller shops, as well as a busy food court and plenty of kiosks that sold everything from calendars to cell phones to roasted chestnuts. Because it was one of the last shopping weekends before Christmas, the place was packed. Part-time mall security officers were assisting with the parking, and traffic was backed up all the way to the interstate.
The guys from the news truck set up the TV cameras inside the mall while Todd and the others unloaded the pets outside in a zone that had been set aside for them. When mall security arrived, they led the entire group of ten humans, fifteen dogs, and two cats to their assigned mall space. A few months earlier the area had housed a boutique filled with high-end designer clothing; now it was showcasing a far more valuable inventory.
Brenda had gone above and beyond her commitment to help get the space ready. She had taken photographs of the shelter animals, enlarged them to poster size, and plastered them on the former shop’s plate-glass windows. The boutique was strategically located in one of the busiest wings of the Mall of the Prairie, and the posters were attracting considerable interest from passing shoppers, who watched with curiosity through the locked front doors as volunteers arranged crates for the cats and some temporary pens for the dogs.
By noon a small crowd of holiday shoppers was converging in front of the space, eager to see what was attracting the attention of the Channel Six News cameras. The cameramen encouraged them to hang around and find out.
Five minutes before their scheduled opening, Todd grabbed the leashes that were attached to the little Tibetan Terrier, Westin, and the pit bull–Lab mix, Earl, and he walked them both into a small fenced-in space the volunteers had assembled, complete with its own little gate, onto a red circular rug that Brenda had provided as the place where they planned to “show” the dogs. Taking out the note card Hayley had given him, he tested his lines in the microphone they’d set up. “Two great dogs. All adoption fees waived today.”
Hayley decided that was not enough. “When the people come in, show them some tricks. We need something else,” she said nervously.
“Hayley, I almost forgot!” Laura exclaimed.
When Laura’s mother had ordered a new guide harness for Gracie she could not help herself and also ordered two dog vests that said ADOPT ME on one side, with the phone number for the shelter on the other. Laura pulled them out of her tote bag and handed them to Hayley, who took one look and said, “Perfect! Just what we needed.” She rushed over and put them on Earl and Westin. Now they looked show ready.
At the appointed time, Brenda Williams, a familiar face to many shoppers, flung open the doors and welcomed the shoppers. “Come on in and see some really special dogs and cats!” Two dozen children and their parents gathered instantly around the fenced-in area where Hayley stood.
Todd handed Earl’s leash to Mary Ann and stepped through the gate and onto the red carpet with Westin following close behind. The terrier had fully recovered from his infection and seemed very pleased to prance about and be the center of attention. When he was near the microphone, Todd commanded, “Sit!” The dog politely took a seat and looked up at Todd. He reached into his pocket and gave the dog a small reward. “Down, Westin.” The dog immediately went down.
Todd then addressed the gathering crowd through the mic. “Westin needs a home. He can do a lot of wonderful things for you. Would you like to see?”
“Yes!”
Todd ran Westin through a series of exercises they had practiced many times—fetching, sitting, begging, barking, tugging, kissing, and rolling over—all to the crowd’s pleasure and general amazement. “He’s so cute!” a dozen people seemed to say at once.
Someone yelled out, “How much is he?”
Hayley stepped up to the mic and said, “He’ll cost you lots of love, but no money. We’re waiving all adoption fees. Our shelter is being closed, and we have to find these guys new places to live.”
Mary Ann slipped her fingers into George’s hand and squeezed as hard as she could. When she had George’s attention, she threw a glance at Todd. “Your son is pretty awesome.”
When Todd finished with Westin, he handed the dog’s leash to Hayley, who walked the terrier closer along the edge of the crowd. She saw several adults copying down the shelter phone number. She returned to the microphone. “If you’re interested in Westin, you can fill out the adoption paperwork at the table behind me.” Westin lasted less than a minute before someone cried out, “I’ll take him!”
Next Todd introduced the crowd to Earl, who had his own unique repertoire. Earl’s patented reverse-spin move garnered the largest audience response, particularly among the children. After Todd worked with each dog, he gave the leash to one of his volunteer handlers, who walked the dog out into the audience and eventually out and around the mall. Each shopper was greeted with an affectionate tail wag and a warm set of longing eyes.
By three-thirty the shelter crew was really warmed up. It was then that they realized they had made one very terrible mistake. It was every merchant’s nightmare. They had failed to bring along sufficient inventory and had to close up shop early. Earl, Westin, and all their pals would have a new Christmas home that year. Within a few days, these fine creatures would be perfecting their own magic trick. Todd did not have to teach them this one. With great stealth and cunning, each animal would steal away with its new family’s heart.
That night, the Channel Six News featured the Mall of the Prairie and all the fun the shoppers were having visiting Santa and his reindeer, riding the holiday carousel, and checking out some unusually furry inventory. The Problem Solver urged her viewers to visit their local animal shelter and help some displaced dogs and cats find a home. Her piece brought about a flurry of phone calls and visits to shelters over the next few days. For at least a while, demand was up and supply was down.
While the other shelter workers were bringing pet adoption to the big city, Doc Pelot kept busy at home making sure the small town of Crossing Trails did what it could. He sat at his desk and pitched dogs to each member of the local chamber of commerce. By the end of the day on Monday, the shelter was turning into a ghost town of empty cages. All the cats were gone, and there were only twelve dogs left. All the hard work was beginning to pay off.
MONDAY AFTER work Todd stopped in to see his parents on his way home. George and Mary Ann wanted to be sure he was prepared for his big interview at the dairy scheduled for Tuesday morning.
George tried to reinforce for Todd what he had said earlier, that the dairy was a business, and Mary Ann reminded Todd to dress neatly. “Being nicely dressed is a great way to show that you care and really want the job,” she said. “This is not the time to be sloppy.” To emphasize her point she teasingly pulled at his T-shirt, adorned with a full day’s worth of pet dander, and kicked at his red Converse tennis shoes, stained by six months of swabbing the shelter deck.
“Should I wear my suit?”
Mary Ann thought about it and decided a suit would be too much. Besides, the one he had fit him poorly. “We bought that for your graduation, and you’ve filled out quite a bit since then. It doesn’t fit you anymore. Just wear those nice blue dress pants and the green sweater you wore at Thanksgiving.”
George playfully put Todd in a headlock. “In two weeks, you’ll be wearing Brooks Brothers suits and running that dairy. Old Ed Lee will be looking for a new job.”
Todd laughed and landed a fake uppercut to George’s midsection.
“Nice one, Todd,�
� George said, releasing his grip and brushing enough copper-colored dog hair off his son to weave a good-sized area rug. “Good luck tomorrow. You’ll do great.”
Later that night Laura and Gracie were making their last rounds at the Wellness Center. She enjoyed spending the end of her shift chatting with Hank about Todd, the dairy business, and, of course, the shelter. That night Hank was already asleep when she arrived. Laura sat in the side chair for a few minutes. She tried to send Hank her strongest and most healing sentiments. She pictured him in a clear healing light.
Gracie whined and her white tail wagged, breaking Laura’s concentration. The dog seemed to be pleading. “What’s wrong, girl?” Laura asked.
The dog seemed agitated, like she wanted to be released from her position. Laura gave the “good girl” signal she used to release Gracie from the stay or neutral position where she was trained to stay when she was working. The dog eagerly went to Hank’s bedside and sat down, her bushy white tail still wagging. She whined and pawed at the bed frame repeatedly. Laura noticed that Gracie’s tail wag was entirely different. It reminded her of the much slower and more purposeful movement of a large cat, like a tiger or a leopard.
“Gracie, Hank is sleeping, but don’t worry, we’ll come see him tomorrow.” The dog persisted, and Laura was afraid she was going to bother Hank. “Gracie, quit it, get back over here.”
The dog continued to whine, so Laura pushed herself out of the chair—a task that was a little more difficult without Gracie’s help. Once on her feet, Laura moved bedside. Although the monitors that were strapped to Hank did not register a problem, Laura thought his breathing seemed forced, so she tried to wake him, “Hank, are you okay?”
He didn’t respond.
Laura gave him a firm push. He finally opened his eyes and looked at her. But he seemed unfocused and quickly closed his eyes again. Laura pushed the emergency help button on the side of the bed and the Crossing Trails Wellness Center lost its sleepy demeanor.
A Christmas Home: A Novel Page 10