been there to see him get punched. That would have been very cathartic.”
Logan pointed. “Turn right at the light. We can make a quick stop by his house and make it happen.”
“Unlike some of us, I don’t want to go to jail.”
He grinned over at me. “Admit it. You’re thinking about it.”
I smiled back at him. “Maybe a little bit.”
We drove back to the farm. The other guys were still there, based on the trucks parked along the driveway… But they weren’t the only ones. There were nine, ten, eleven, twelve other vehicles parked at the farm.
“What the…” I said.
Logan chuckled. “Oh, yeah. I forgot about this part.”
“What part!”
“You’ll see.”
We parked close to the house and walked out back. Clusters of families were spread out in the field, watching the dogs run around and play. Bubba was on the ground by the barn, wrestling with one of the German Shepherds.
“I want him, daddy!” a little girl said while hugging the chocolate lab. “I love him!”
Her parents looked at each other and nodded. “If he’s the one, then let’s go fill out the paperwork.”
“YAY!”
Riley and Harper walked over to me. Riley said, “We spent the day at the mall telling customers about a Christmas adoption special. All adoption fees are waived today.”
“Apparently word traveled fast,” Harper added.
Bonny was sitting at a table by the gate to the field. She wore a smug smile when I approached.
“When the boys told me about their plan, I knew I had to come help. We’ve done a lot of good work this afternoon.”
“What about your big Christmas Eve dinner!” I asked.
She shrugged. “It can wait until tomorrow. The family’s eating pizza tonight instead. I figured this was more important.”
“How many have been adopted?” Logan asked.
Bonny leaned forward to look at a piece of paper. “Nine altogether. Probably ten when that family over yonder adopts Muddy, the chocolate lab. They haven’t made up their minds yet… But I can tell.”
We had never had that many adoptions in one week, let alone one day. The number was so high that I was immediately skeptical. Adoptions were high around the holidays, but a lot of people abandoned pets in January when they realized they couldn’t take care of them.
“Are they going to good families?” I asked. “There’s a reason we pre-screen families before allowing adoptions…”
“Today we’re allowing same-day screenings,” Bonny explained. “We’ll make up for it with house check-ins over the next couple of weeks. To make sure the animals are where they belong.”
“We’re volunteering to help with that,” Riley said with a grin. “I figured we’d have plenty of time now that the gift-wrapping fundraiser is over.”
“This… This is amazing,” I said. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Nothing to say,” Logan replied. “We’re just helping out.”
“As long as y’all don’t sue for back-pay in a couple of years!” Bonny said.
“Too soon!” I said, but we all laughed anyway.
I looked at the list of dogs that had been adopted. My heart skipped a beat when I saw one name.
“Slinky! Slinky got adopted?”
“Sure did,” Bonny said.
A swirl of emotions threatened to overwhelm me. Shock, then happiness that the old dog had finally found a home. And then I was profoundly sad. Slinky always felt like my dog because I never expected him to get adopted. For him to suddenly be gone…
Bonny looked at my three men. “Well? Are y’all just gonna stand there, or are you gonna tell her?”
“Tell me what?”
Riley ran a hand through his chestnut hair. “I told you I’m a dog person! So I adopted Slinky. To make sure nobody else scooped him up.”
“All three of us are adopting him,” Logan corrected. “Not just you.”
“My point is that this proves I’m not a cat person. I’m officially a dog person now.”
“Uh huh,” Logan said skeptically.
Harper put a comforting hand on my back. “The only problem is we can’t have pets at the Ranger Station. So… Is it cool if we keep Slinky here?”
I grinned. “Only if it means the three of you come visit all the time.”
“Does this mean…” Riley shoved his hands in his pockets sheepishly. “Does it mean you’ve forgiven me? For what I did?”
“No,” I said with a smile. “But it means I’m getting there.”
40
Christie
We spent the next hour finalizing all the paperwork for the adopted dogs. All ten of them, including Muddy the chocolate lab, who did get adopted just like Bonny predicted. Once that was taken care of, Bonny and Bubba went home and the rest of us carried the jars