I knew better. Her brother was still the talk of the news after a teenage girl turned him down for marriage, and their family was struggling financially. Maybe there was more I didn’t know.
As I entered the shelter, I didn't see Lorelei sitting at the front desk, which wasn't that big of a surprise since she was usually working with animals or out trying to gain funding. I hurried back to the kitten room and found Merritt covered in cats. Well, at least her feet were. Four of them circled her, a kitten crawled up one pant leg, and she looked absolutely horrified.
I giggled as I walked closer and began peeling them off of her. “Just keep doing your work,” I advised. “They'll get bored of you eventually.”
She rolled her eyes. “Is that before or after they maul me?”
I looked down at the kitten climbing her legs and picked him up. “This little guy? I think you’ll survive it.” I rubbed my nose on him. “You’re a big, scary kitty, aren’t you? Aren’t you?”
She gave me a sardonic look and continued cleaning the windows.
For a second I watched her, struggling with what to say, and then finally, I set the kitten down and said, “Hey, Merritt?”
She continued scrubbing and let out an irritated, “What?”
“I, um...” I absently scratched at my arm. “I'm sorry about yesterday.”
Her hand froze on the windowpane. “It's okay,” she said slowly.
“It's not,” I said, “but I promise I won't do it again.”
She began rubbing her rag in a circular motion again. “Well, I probably shouldn't have insulted your boyfriend like that. Or said what I did at the diner.”
Merritt actually owning up to the fact that she did something wrong? This should be written in the history books, marked as the day everything turned upside down.
Still reeling from her almost apology, I said, “Okay, well, I'm going to go feed the dogs.”
She nodded.
And that was that. I went to the dog cages and immediately got Barbie out. She'd been in the shelter for about a year, and even though she was a sweetheart to people she knew well, most visitors could not get over the fact that she had a tough exterior or advanced medical needs. If she didn’t have to take daily insulin shots and have to be watched so closely, I would have brought her home to foster myself.
I held her in my chest as I continued doling out the right amount of food and water for each animal according to their dietary guidelines. I was happy to make sure that they had it and that they were in as good of shape as possible when they went to their new forever home.
When I was done making sure each of their dishes was full, I put Barbie back in her kennel and went to see where Lorelei was. I found her at the front desk now with Merritt, training her on the computer system. Roomba lay in a neatly trimmed pile at her feet. I smiled and went to him, scratching him behind the ears. “Looks like he'll make a lap dog yet.”
Lorelei smiled down at him. “I'm starting to become very fond of him. But I'm not sure he would like the other four dogs at my house, though.”
I shook my head. It was so crazy to me that Lorelei could have so many pets at her house. And she wasn't even mentioning the bird, turtle, mini pig and sugar gliders she owned. She was an animal lover through and through, and it was easy to see why. Sweet Roomba here, turning his big brown eyes up at me, was just one example.
Lorelei said, “Callie, any tips for Merritt before we start having people come in today?”
I tried to think about my encounters with potential adoptive families. “Becoming more comfortable with the animals is really important,” I offered. “If you act afraid, the families will be too.”
“That's a good point,” Lorelei said. “But Merritt’s not exactly an animal lover. Let's think about ways that she can contribute outside of positioning them or preparing them for adoption.”
That made more sense. “Honestly, the paperwork is something I'd love to hand off, but I don’t know how Merritt would feel about pushing paper all summer long.”
“That’s thoughtful,” Lorelei said with a proud smile. “Why don't we start out with Callie showing people around, and Merritt completing the paperwork process? That way she can get skills on the back end of things before going more hands-on with