The Unexpected Shelter

by Abby Tyler

  He sawed off a piece of meat. “I think that’s probably why that vet school letter is getting to you. You’ve got some hard decisions. And you know how hard it will be for her if you leave.”

  T-bone was right. Right now, he could stay there and help her on the small level forever. Or he could take a risk and leave for about two years to finish school and come back with a lot more options for them.

  But there were creeps like Billy Ray around, and she might be vulnerable during that time. And Boone could take another turn.

  He sure didn’t know what to do.

  Chapter 15

  Over the next few days, Savannah’s concern about Billy Ray’s accusations began to calm. T-bone had vouched for his son’s whereabouts, and nobody was going to question the Mayor. Half the town was afraid of him.

  For once, Savannah was glad. It was necessary in this case to avoid anybody falling for whatever Billy Ray was up to. He probably poured the paint on the car his own dang self, just to be spiteful.

  Luke was definitely more absorbed after that day, though. Savannah worried that he was finding Applebottom to be no good.

  She had an idea for what she thought might help. She knew Luke was still trying to work out a deal with Fisher College. She didn’t have any clout with the school, not anymore, but she knew someone who did.

  Luke agreed to hang out at the shelter and pop in on Boone for an afternoon, so Savannah could go meet with the director of the shelter in Branson about how to better promote the animals they often moved between them.

  While she was in town, Savannah would take the opportunity to also make a stop to see a veterinarian who had always been close to her family.

  When she popped into the clinic, she didn’t recognize the receptionist sitting at the desk. It wasn’t surprising, since a couple of years had passed since she last made it there.

  “Can I help you?” the woman asked.

  “I’m here to see Dr. Brigham.”

  The woman stood up to look for an animal, and seeing none, asked, “Do you have an appointment?”

  “Dr. Brigham is an old friend of my family. He said that this would be a good time to stop by.”

  “I’ll let him know.”

  Savannah walked around the foyer while she waited. The clinic operated a mini shelter, just a few dogs and cats who lived in a glassed-in area next to the waiting room. With the steady flow of pet lovers coming in and out, the animals here got adopted swiftly. And it was simpler paperwork, since the practice already knew most of the families.

  It was a great system, and sometimes when Savannah was overflowing at her shelter, she would take a few of her best candidates to Dr. Brigham’s office.

  The girl returned. “You can go on back,” she said. “Do you know where you’re going?”

  “I do. Thank you.”

  Dr. Brigham hadn’t changed, his fuzzy white hair and friendly features making him look like a grandfatherly Danny Glover.

  “So what brings you here today?” he asked, walking from behind his desk to envelop Savannah in a hug. “You know if you have some animals that need emergency shelter, you can always just call.”

  “No, it’s something a little more involved than that,” she said.

  They settled in their chairs.

  “How is your father?”

  “We manage okay,” Savannah said. “He doesn’t live in this time and place too often anymore, but we find ways to work around it.”

  “I miss talking to him,” he said with a sigh. “We would get in the liveliest debates about the most mundane elements of animal care. For a layperson, he always knew so much about the animals. I think he could set a broken bone better than I could.”

  “I learned a lot from him. And from you.” She shifted on the chair. “I seem to remember that you are on the advisory faculty of Fisher College in the veterinarian school.”

  “I am. Were you thinking about applying for the vet tech program? I could definitely put in a good word for you. But is that possible? With Boone?”

  “It’s not about me. I have a volunteer, a really good one. He comes full-time Monday through Friday.”

  “That’s a lot of hours.”

  “He’s very devoted. And he was in a program in Montana where you could combine a Bachelor’s in Animal Science with veterinary school. But then he moved down here.”

  Dr. Brigham nodded with understanding. “I know the one. Fisher College isn’t like that. It’s traditional. You finish your Bachelor’s Degree and then you apply to the veterinary school and complete the studies. Last I checked it was three hundred hours in animal-related work as well.”

  “I think he’s already done that just with me,” Savannah said. “Although since my relationship with Fisher has been severed, I’m not even sure they’ll accept my worksheets.”

  “They will. I’ll make sure they will.” He braced his elbows on his desk. “So what are you asking exactly?”

  “I just, I would hate to lose him. And I think he’s going to have to move back to Montana to finish since the schools are so different. They’re only accepting a semester of his work.”

  “But won’t you lose him when he finished anyway?”

  Savannah hesitated. “I don’t know. I like to think I wouldn’t.”

  Dr. Brigham sat back in his chair. “I see. So there is a romantic element to this.”

  “There is. And normally I would march right on down to Fisher and try to work out something, bringing all the hours that he’s done, his credits, and I’d sit there until we worked something out.”

  “I see the problem. But unfortunately, our hands are going to be tied here. Unless your friend finishes his Bachelor’s Degree first and then applies to the school, we’re pretty stuck. If he’s taking some specialized courses that work in combination, there won’t be any equivalent at our school. It’s not something we can just make a phone call and fix. It’s part of the degree plan.”

  “So there isn’t anything I can do?”

  “Well, like you said, we can ensure that the hours that he’s working out there applies when he does get into the veterinary school. We can write some letters and make sure that even if it’s been a year or two, they will accept them. He won’t have to do it again.”

  “But as far as getting old school credits…” She trailed off.

  “I’m afraid we really can’t do anything about that. There are only a couple of schools in the country that do what his old one does. Now it’s possible that he could bump his timeline a little shorter, and maybe we can come up with some work-study for some of the things that he’s doing with you, and I could fudge a few things as an advisor since he’d be so ahead of the others.”

  “But still, he would have to start over.”

  Dr. Brigham sighed. “I’m afraid so. If he stays here, he’ll be set back all the expense and the time that he put into his other studies.”

  “Well, that’s terrible,” Savannah said. “Although I know you’d help me as much as you could.”

  “I absolutely would.”

  A young man leaned in the open doorway. “Doc, we need you back here.”

  “I’m coming.” He stood up. “It was so good to see you again. And let me work on Fisher for more help for you. They have a new volunteer coordinator, and I can almost certainly get you reinstated. The other girl was quite heartless for her position, and I think I can work on this one.”

  “Thank you. That would be very helpful.”

  Even with that assurance, Savannah walked out to her car with a heavy heart.

  She knew now why Luke had been so serious last week. It wasn’t the Billy Ray issue. It was that school. It was his dream. He knew that to stay in Applebottom with her meant giving up all the work he’d done.

  And now she knew it too.

  But he was loyal. She’d seen that. He wouldn’t leave without a strong push from her.

  It was pretty clear what she had to do now. She had to let Luke go, and make it convincing, n
o matter how much it hurt.

  Since the wedding and the shift in his relationship with Savannah, Luke had gotten in the habit of coming out to the shelter even on the weekends, at least for a few hours. He usually did this closer to the end of the day, so that he could help with evening chores and then have dinner with Savannah, and sometimes, her father.

  This particular Saturday, Savannah had been more distant than usual. He went over everything he’d said to her the day before, and the text messages they sometimes exchanged late at night, wondering if he had done something wrong.

  He’d told her about the problems with the veterinary school, of course, and maybe that was on her mind. He tried to play it off and had not mentioned that he was considering going back to Montana. Not that he was hiding it from her, but he wasn’t sure he wanted her to worry about it unless it was actually going to be something he decided to do. He wasn’t sure it was.

  The fact was, he had a home here. And a father. He was building a group of friends, mostly regulars at the RV Park, but a few of the locals who liked to hang out at T-bone’s man-made beach. He worked on a couple of cars a week, which provided him a bit of an income and made a contribution to the town.

  The only thing that would really make his world better would be at least a little bit of life with Savannah outside the shelter. Because she was so stuck out there, she was unable to engage with the other young people he was starting to meet. He had no idea how to change that, only that she was more important than anything else.

  When all the dogs were fed, he headed to the door between the kennel room and the kitchen. He was still a little uncertain about just storming in, so he often stood there and rapped on the doorframe.

  Luigi tried to push past his feet.

  “No, puppy dog,” he said. “You can’t go in.” He blocked the pug with his boot. Luigi plopped on his belly in protest.

  Savannah stood at the kitchen sink, looking pretty upset.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I can’t do dinner tonight,” she said. “I have plans.”

  This was new. “Is Flo coming out? Or do you need me to stay with Boone?” He hoped she was getting to see Anna, who was back from her honeymoon, or maybe one of the other bridesmaids. It would be good for her.

  “No, my plans are here.”

  He didn’t know what to say to that. “Then I guess I should just clear out?”

  “Billy Ray is coming,” she said. “I asked him to dinner.”

  Her words hit him like a punch to the gut. He couldn’t believe it. What had changed? They were fine Thursday. And Friday morning. Then she’d gone into Branson without him.

  Maybe what she’d really done was meet Billy Ray. And they decided to get back together.

  “I see,” he said, even though he didn’t. “Does that mean I shouldn’t come around anymore at all? You need the help.” It would kill him to be around her, knowing she was with Billy Ray again, but he couldn’t leave her to do all this alone.

  “I won’t need help anymore, not yours,” she said, her voice shaky. “You remember the trip I took yesterday?”

  “Yeah, you went to Branson to talk with the people at that big shelter.”

  “Well, I met with a vet who has promised to get me some more volunteers. So I thought maybe, I should let you go. And let you pursue things. Wherever you needed to do that.”

  Now, wait a minute. Something seemed fishy here. Despite what she had said about Billy Ray, and the fact Luke wasn’t invited in the house, he walked into the kitchen. Luigi trotted in behind him, but Luke let it go.

  “Have I done something wrong, Savannah? I thought we were okay.”

  “Well, we’re not. I’ve got to be here and run the shelter. And you see Boone’s clearly going downhill. I just, I just need to do this.”

  Luke braced his arms on the counter, staring down at the toaster. He couldn’t meet Savannah’s eyes. This was tearing him up inside, and he didn’t know what to do about it.

  “You would tell me if I did something wrong, right?”

  Her voice sounded strained. “I would,” she said. “You didn’t do anything wrong at all. This is just what needs to happen.”

  He wasn’t going to let this go. Not without a fight. He turned to her and held onto her shoulders.

  “Look me in the eye and tell me you’d rather be with Billy Ray than me,” he said. “Because I find it hard to believe that, not when you did everything you could to avoid being around him at the wedding. It doesn’t make any sense. Did he put you up to this? Does it have to do with his car? Is he blackmailing you somehow?”

  She wouldn’t meet his gaze, staring down where Luigi sat between them, whining in concern.

  “He’s not blackmailing me,” she said. “I’m mainly seeing him again because I know that’s the surest way to get you out of here.”

  What? Why was she doing this?

  Luke tried to pull himself together. He tried to stay calm. But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t lose her if she wouldn’t even say why.

  “Look at me, Savannah. You have to tell me what’s going on.” He gripped her shoulders and pulled her a little closer. “Look at me!”

  Luke didn’t see Boone until the man had entered the kitchen at full tilt.

  “Get your hands off my daughter!” he bellowed.

  Before Luke knew what had hit him, Boone’s fist smashed into his jaw. Luigi took off for the kennel room with a frightened bark.

  Luke let go of Savannah and stumbled back. There was no way he could fight this old man. But Boone was coming at him, swinging again.

  “Boone!” Savannah cried. “Stop!”

  She tried to grab for him, but he was intent on following Luke as he backed away.

  Luke held up his hands. “I’m leaving,” he said. “I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

  He kept backing up until he was in the kennel room.

  Boone wrapped his arms around his daughter. “Are you okay, baby girl? I’m right here. Dad is right here.”

  Luigi whined at his feet. Behind him, Sergeant stood on full alert, his ears pricked. He let out one sharp warning bark. Luigi whined again, then closed his teeth on Luke’s pant leg to pull him back.

  He could still see Savannah and Boone. He was only a few feet out of the kitchen.

  “Just go,” Savannah said. “Thank you for everything you’ve done.” She led Boone back to the living room.

  So this was it. Luke turned away, Luigi on his heels. Sergeant watched him with a tense expression as he passed by and headed out the back door.

  All this time out here. Caring about her dogs. About the shelter. About her.

  For what?

  For nothing.

  Chapter 16

  The next week was a lot harder for Savannah, trying to manage all the chores alone after having Luke’s help for so long. But she did it. She had no choice. The animals needed her.

  Sergeant picked up on her distress and began following her all over the house. She didn’t stop him. He’d been around long enough now that she should treat him like a personal pet.

  Delilah emailed to say that a couple had stopped by after seeing the puppies Tom and Jerry on the adoption site, putting in an application, and never hearing back. She thought they were the perfect fit.

  Savannah knew she’d dropped the ball on that. Tons of applications had come in, and she had been merciless about who would get the puppies, turning down everyone as not good enough.

  But she was going to have to let them go.

  Tears dripped down her face as she wrote Delilah back to say okay, she trusted her judgment. When she pushed away the old laptop, Sergeant did a very-un-Sergeant-like thing and laid his long nose in her lap. She petted his head until she felt better.

  If all that wasn’t enough, Boone stopped talking completely. It was as if overnight, all his words just vanished. The doctors had told her that every person progresses differently, and there would be lots of forward and back motion in his abi
lities. But when things started to go downhill, it often happened quickly.

  Savannah blamed herself. The big upset with Luke must have been part of it. She’d never seen Boone charge somebody like that, much less punch him.

  She called his doctor and booked an appointment. She didn’t know how she was going to be able to leave the animals for half a day to drive to Branson, but in the end, Flo took off to take him instead. She told Savannah that she didn’t need to be worried about this, and that Flo would help out with her brother.

  On Wednesday morning of that terrible week, Flo came out to fetch Boone. He brightened considerably as he spotted his sister, and the words Flo Bo were the first thing he’d said in days.

  Flo looked at Savannah sympathetically as she helped Boone into his shoes. “I heard your feller was headed back to Montana. You doing okay?”

  “I’ll be all right.” Savannah knew that Luke was leaving. She’d asked Candace and Anna to check around town. She needed to know that he was doing what she wanted, the whole reason she’d split with him. To learn that he would finish vet school was both a relief and a cause for despair.

  She was pretty sure she’d fallen in love just to let him go.

  Flo patted her back. “I ordered pizza from Louisa and Boone’s favorite pie from Gertrude. We should be back in town at about one o’clock, but I’ll text you if we get off schedule. If you could go pick those things up before we get back, it’ll be a nice surprise for Boone. If you can’t, we’ll do it.”

  “I can get away for an hour.” She’d have to kennel the dogs midday, but it could be done.

  The two of them helped Boone out to the car. The shuffle in his step was even worse than usual. His worn loafers dragged in the dirt, kicking up dust. He sat heavily in the seat of Flo’s Oldsmobile as if he was finally resting after a marathon, not a short walk from the porch.

  When they left, Savannah treated herself to a good hard crying session, something she hadn’t been able to do with Boone in the house. It upset him too much if she cried. So she held it all in until now.