do a walk-through, but you can refer to it if you still have questions.” She handed that to Luke. “Did Freddie Jo give you an employee manual?”
“Uh…no.”
She reached into another drawer. “Here. This tells you what’s expected of you around here. It includes benefits. Safety issues. Your rights as an employee.” She stacked that on top of the other manual. “And this,” she said, reaching for a green folder in the same desk drawer, “is a copy of each of the forms that have to be signed by anyone who adopts an animal. Freddie Jo and Angela and I will handle most of the adoptions, but I want you to have something to refer to just in case.” She stuck that on top of the rest of the stuff he held. “Might want to look all this over in your spare time.”
Luke glanced down at the pile in his hands. “I don’t remember Rita having all this.”
“Different management style,” Shannon said, shutting the desk drawer. “I like everything spelled out so there’s no misunderstanding. Follow me.”
Luke dropped the notebooks and papers and other crap in his apartment and followed Shannon to the cat cottage. By the time she finished talking about cat litter and poop disposal and claw clipping and ear mite treatments, Luke felt like a private getting the boot camp rundown from a particularly anal drill sergeant. Even as a teenager, Shannon had been goal driven, but the woman she was now put the girl she’d been to shame. He guessed it was because she was in charge now, and responsibility only fueled her burn to get more done than ever.
Then they moved to the kennel, where the dogs barked like mad the moment they stepped through the door.
“We have more runs now,” Shannon said. “Fewer small cages. But we have to be careful which dogs we put together. We have plenty of volunteers to walk the dogs. It’s cleaning up after them that they’re not so thrilled to do. That’s where you come in.”
After a few words about feeding and grooming the dogs, they went to the barn.
“I think you have the gist of caring for the horses,” Shannon said. “The only one with a medical issue right now is Clancy and his barbed wire cut. Just twice daily antibiotic cream, gauze, and an Ace bandage until it’s completely healed. And I’d tell you to watch out for Manny, but I think you already know that.”
Then she filled him in on caring for the llamas. “Don’t get too chummy with them or baby them too much. The more they feel like you’re just another llama, the more likely they are to spit.”
As if he intended to baby a llama anytime soon.
“Angela will be helping you with all this. But she’s about to go back to school for the fall semester, so she won’t be here nearly as many hours a week.” Shannon took a deep breath and let it out. “That’s about it. Any questions?”
“Yeah. What’s with that guy you’re dating?”
Shannon drew back. “What has that got to do with anything?”
“You asked if I had a question. That’s a question.”
“What do you mean, ‘what’s with him’?”
“He’s wrong for you.”
Shannon blinked. “Excuse me? I don’t remember asking your opinion.”
“He spends all day with his hands in other people’s mouths.”
Shannon narrowed her eyes. “He’s a dentist. What do you expect?”
“And he looked like he spends a little too much time with crap like blow dryers and moisturizers.”
“It’s a problem that he likes to look nice?”
“Tell the truth. He gets manicures, doesn’t he?”
She glared at Luke. “What about the guy who spends his life in dirty rodeo arenas riding big, nasty animals who are trying to kill him?”
Luke gave her a sly smile. “Now you’re on the right track. Let’s talk about that guy.”
“That guy,” she said, “is sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
“Go ahead. Ignore my advice. See where it gets you.”
“Look, I know what this is about. You didn’t like the things Russell said to you. And I agree. Some of it was out of line.”
“Some of it?”
“He was just repeating things he’s heard.”
“Yeah? And where did he hear those things? At your mother’s house? When I was the subject of dinner table conversation?”
Shannon was silent.
“How is Mom these days, anyway?” Luke asked. “I’m betting she just loves Russell.”
“Okay. I get why you’re angry, but—”
“Nope. I quit getting pissed off by guys like him a long time ago. You’re the one who needs to think twice