“Luke didn’t bring Barney for a visit,” Myrna said. “He’s going to be staying with us.”
For a few seconds, Luke could tell Todd didn’t quite understand.
“He’s your dog now,” Luke said.
Todd just stood there, stunned. Then slowly his eyes filled with tears. He looked at Myrna. “I get to have a dog?”
“Uh-huh,” Myrna said. “Long as you take care of him.”
“I will!” Todd said. He squatted down and gave Barney another big hug, and for some reason, Luke’s own eyes filled with tears. Well, crap. He blinked rapidly, furtively swiping the shoulder of his shirt across his eyes.
“You and Barney go on inside, now,” she told Todd. “You need to get out of your school clothes before you play.”
“Okay. Come on, Barney. I’ll show you my room!”
As they went into the house, Myrna said, “Seems like a pretty good dog.”
“Yep. I think he and Todd are going to get along just fine.”
“Appreciate you bringing him over.”
“My pleasure.”
Myrna took another sip of her tea. “But you were a rotten kid, you know. No denying that.”
A tiny smile played across Luke’s lips. “Yes, ma’am. You’re absolutely right.”
“But that means I’ve got hope.”
“What do you mean?”
“That people can change.” She shrugged weakly. “Maybe someday my Belinda will come back.”
For all Myrna’s talk about how she’d said “good riddance” to her daughter and never looked back, Luke knew now that just the opposite was true.
“She’s probably just trying to figure some things out,” Luke said. “Sooner or later she’s going to miss you and Todd.”
“Maybe so.”
As they finished their tea, he could hear Todd inside the house chattering away to his new dog, and it occurred to Luke that lately, life had been good in Rainbow Valley.
Very, very good.
Chapter 18
Walking down Rainbow Way on the first day of the Festival of the Animals was like getting trapped inside a gigantic ant farm. People swarmed all over the square and up and down the length of Rainbow Way, taking in the booths, the food concessions, the arts and crafts displays, the midway games, and whatever musical group happened to be playing in the gazebo.
The late October air was crisp and cool in the morning. But rain was still scarce, which kept the soil so warm that by afternoon the temperature was well into the eighties. Summer flowers had been yanked up and replaced with the yellows and oranges of fall, but even those were starting to wilt. A hundred miles north, unseasonal wildfires reminded everyone that in this part of Texas, the longest drought in forty years was still in play.
The night before the festival, Shannon, Luke, and a couple of volunteers had erected a temporary corral for Clancy, Daisy the donkey, and one of the llamas who was less inclined to spit than the others. Beside that was the Puppy Pit, which they created by sectioning off a ten-by-ten area with bales of hay and turning loose five or six of the older puppies to entertain the people who came through. Next to that were cages full of adoptable cats and dogs, and visitors were encouraged to interact with any animal they thought they might like to adopt.
Shannon had arrived at the shelter early that morning, helped Luke feed the animals, and then they collected the ones they were taking to the festival and headed out. Angela came by to help as often as she could, given her responsibilities at the Cordero Vineyards shop on the square, and volunteers took shifts handing out brochures and completing adoption paperwork. Rita offered to help Freddie Jo man the office back at the shelter and greet visitors who showed up there.
They’d had the sign printed with Russell’s name on it, even bigger than the sponsorship sign from the year before. He came by once, told her it looked good, then disappeared again. And she hadn’t seen him since.
As always, Shannon held her breath, hoping for lots of adoptions and a flurry of donations. She needn’t have worried. By noon the first day, she could tell both would be superseding anything they’d achieved in prior years. And it was mostly because of Luke. He was a one-man public relations firm, drawing people in with a big smile and inviting them to meet whatever animal he was holding at the time.
Tourists loved him immediately. But Shannon also caught snippets of conversation from some of the townspeople.