shelving his DVD collection, him lighting up with pride when he figured out that “McQueen” came before “Master.” It was a trick I’d thought of to help him with reading.
I got the sense that Eve’s manner, all businesslike and bossy, wasn’t something to take personally. She acted that way with everyone in the office, except the clients, for whom she adopted a more supportive persona, and the pets, for whom she became a sweet, silly, cooing thing. Besides, Eve didn’t know she was supposed to treat me any differently. Being with her, always sensing her critical eye on me, actually felt good.
I’m just like anyone else.
I finished the charts and she asked Robert, one of the techs, to cover the phones while she walked me back to the kennels.
“We have just three dogs at the moment,” she said as we stepped into the room. It had a high ceiling and open skylights, and reminded me of a public restroom where instead of toilet stalls, there were cages. The barking started the instant we opened the door, as if we’d tripped a wire.
“These two guys are boarding for the week,” said Eve, crouching down to eye level with a pair of cocker spaniels sharing one kennel. “They’re a little hyper. When you walk them, they’re capable of pulling you over. I’ll show you how to keep them in line.”
Eve let the dogs lick her face as she murmured, “Hi, babies . . . yes . . . yes . . . you’re beautiful . . . I love your kisses . . .” and I actually had to look away.
I turned to the third dog, alone in a kennel across the aisle. It wasn’t any recognizable breed, just a medium-sized mutt with short, silky brown fur.
“That’s Ophelia,” said Eve.
Ophelia stared sadly at the two cockers, and it seemed a little cruel that she had this view, like the lonely girl forced to share a lunch table with a pair of BFFs. Then she noticed me watching her and thumped her tail.
Eve came over and crouched down again to gently grab Ophelia’s muzzle through the chain-link door. “We’re hoping to find a home for her, if you know anyone.”
“What do you mean?”
“About a month ago, one of our clients found her lying by the side of the road. She’d been hit by a car. No collar, no tags. Totally skinny and practically starving. She had a broken leg. Look at her, she’s the biggest sweetheart.”
“Dr. B just fixed her up for free?”
“Yes. He does that occasionally. There are too many animals like Ophelia out there. People just suck sometimes.” She spat that last part out, as if wanting to erase the bad taste of it, then added, “Dr. B is amazing that way. He knows I do everything I can to adopt them out. We’ve had pretty good luck.”
A wistfulness came over Eve, who was clearly crushing pretty hard on our employer. After a moment she said, “Wanna see the kitties? I have two angels I’m trying to place.”
On the bottom row of the “cat room,” as it was called, was a large cage occupied by tabby twins. They weren’t kittens, but they weren’t quite full-grown cats. As soon as they saw our legs step into view, one reached out its paw through the bars and the other pressed itself against the metal so its fur pushed through in little squares.
“Dumped on our doorstep in a sealed box. With duct tape.”
“That is horrible,” I said sincerely.
“Like I said, people can suck.”
“Why didn’t they just take them to the shelter?” I asked as Eve opened the cage and handed a cat to me. It started purring the second we made contact.
“I’m glad they didn’t. The county shelter’s a hellhole,” she said. “They’re overcrowded this time of year and putting down animals after just a few days.” Eve looked at the cat, ecstatic in my arms. “That’s Denali,” she said. “You sure you don’t want one?”
I thought of Elliot and Selina. We’d gotten them by pure chance. Elliot was part of a litter born to one of Toby’s friend’s pets, and Selina came crying on our doorstep one rainy night with an open wound in the scruff of her neck. It was like how people find other people to be in love with, all random and accidental and lucky.
“I have two already who would kill me,” I said. “But I’ll spread the word.”
“That would be great. Dr. B is very patient but he gives