“To a rodeo in Phoenix. Did you know he’s going to be competing in the World Championship bull riding competition in November?”
Shannon blinked. “No. I didn’t know that.”
“Yep. And he swears he’s going to win.”
Shannon couldn’t believe it. Luke Dawson? A bull riding champion? Then again, what did that take? Just a tremendous amount of physical ability, and Luke had never been lacking in that.
Shannon sighed. “Maybe I should have gone to the funeral.”
Rita thought about that for a moment. Then she shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s best just to let sleeping dogs lie.” She peered under the table at Goliath, who was still trembling. “Speaking of dogs, how’s this one doing?”
“Better. He can finally look at his own shadow without quivering, but thunder still scares him.”
Somebody had found him and dropped him off at the shelter several months ago, shivering and starving. Shannon didn’t know exactly what he’d been through, but his fear of sudden movements and loud noises gave her a pretty good idea. But if he’d been healthy and well-adjusted, he wouldn’t have landed on her doorstep in the first place.
“I thought if I called him Goliath, maybe he’d live up to the name,” Shannon said. “But so far, no. He’s such a sweet dog, though. He’ll come around.”
Bobbie came around to take their order. Rita went for her usual BLT, but Shannon decided to try Rosie’s new avocado and bacon burger. In Rainbow Valley, change came around about as often as Halley’s Comet, so she embraced it whenever she could.
“So how are things going with you and Russell?” Rita said. “I see you around town together every once in a while.”
“Good. We’re taking things slow.”
“Slow? Whose choice was that?”
“It’s mutual.”
“Mutual?” Rita made a scoffing noise. “I saw you having coffee a week ago. You might be taking it slow, but Russell wishes he already had a ring on your finger.”
Shannon slumped with frustration. “What in the world makes you say that?”
“Well, let’s just say you spent the whole time admiring the pretty foam pattern in your latte, and he spent the whole time admiring you.”
That was probably true. Sometimes she didn’t get why Russell was so interested in her when he could have just about any woman in town. As soon as he’d moved to Rainbow Valley and set up his dental practice, every woman of marriageable age had suddenly decided they’d put off that filling or crown long enough and it was time to get it fixed. But Russell had looked past all of them. Instead, he came to the shelter to adopt a cat and ended up asking Shannon out. They’d dated on and off since, though it was clear to Shannon that Russell would prefer it to be more on than off.
Shannon sighed. “I’m just not ready for the kind of relationship he is.”
“Then for God’s sake, stick to your guns. Don’t get roped into marriage if it’s not what you want.”
And if there was ever an expert on not getting married, it was Rita. She’d had three proposals over the years, and every time she’d made a list of pros and cons. When the cons won by a landslide, she’d continued to embrace single womanhood. Shannon had the feeling sometimes that she was destined to be like Rita in more ways than one.
“So how are things at the shelter?” Rita asked. “It’s been a little while since I’ve been out there.”
“About the same. It always feels as if we’re one minor disaster away from closing the doors.”
“Sorry. That’s the name of the game when you’re dependent on donations and fund-raisers. That Texas Monthly article about the shelter came out last week. What happened with that?”
“Our phone rang off the hook.”
“Good! Lots of donations?”
“Nope. Lots of people with homeless animals they wanted to bring us.”
Rita sighed. “That’s the problem with PR. Sometimes you get the wrong result.”
“They tell us how wonderful we are, and that’s really nice, but it doesn’t put food in bowls and buckets.”
“Sometimes you have to say no.”
“I have a hard time doing that.”
“If you don’t, the place will eventually go under. And then you won’t be able to help any of them.”
Shannon knew Rita was right. But if she didn’t take some of these animals in, nobody else was going to. Every time somebody came in looking for an animal to adopt, she was tempted to say, Great! I have a dog with three legs, two bad-tempered cats, and a llama with a spitting issue. Which one