Chapter 5

FIVE

WILLOW

“W hat was I thinking?” I had my hand on the door to Snuggle-In Rescue. “I’ve never taken care of a living creature.”

“Are you giving yourself a pep talk out here?” Mackinac was behind me.

“Mack.” I turned around. “Hi.”

“You’re here bright and early.” She unlocked the door and opened it. “I have a feeling your future bestie awaits just beyond those doors.”

“I thought you were already here.” I stepped into the lobby and immediately noticed the smell of wet hair, a cleaning agent, and the intense sounds of barking and meows echoing off every wall.

“Nope.” She patted my shoulder as she passed by. “There are people here working, but in a small town, there’s no reason to start at the crack of dawn.”

I stood motionless in the middle of the space and glanced around. It was weird; I felt so nervous. How was it possible to feel so much unease about a tiny living creature?

The thought sparked a memory.

“Whose cat is that?” My mom pointed to the black cat sitting on the sidewalk.

“I don’t know.” The cat always stopped by to say hi when I came home from school. It never attempted to go on our porch or in our house. “It’s so sweet.” I ran my hand over the soft fur.

“Until it bites you,” she harped.

“It’s never bitten me before.” I shrugged and continued to pet it.

“You have homework. Get inside.” She groaned and walked back into the house.

I patted its head and hopped up. “See you tomorrow.” I waved at the cat as I hopped up the steps.

The black cat eventually stopped coming around. I don’t know if something happened to it, but I remember feeling sad when it didn’t greet me every afternoon.

“Willow.” Mack’s voice brought me back to the present.

“Huh.” I shook my head free of the thoughts. “Yeah.”

“You ready?” She rubbed her hands together in anticipation and hopped up and down twice.

“Why do you look like you just received an award that consists of cake?” I pointed at her hands.

She pulled me closer. “Willow.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know how much I love animals?”

“I think I can ballpark it.”

“Okay, good.” She squeezed my hands. “So, when I know someone has never had an animal but wants to explore options…”

“You are like a kid in a candy store right after they refilled the supplies.” I nodded in understanding.

“Exactly.” She jumped up and down again and turned to walk down the hallway while still holding my hand. “I think I know what’s going to happen today, but I don’t want to jinx it.”

“How could you possibly know?” I laughed. “Never mind, pretend I didn’t say that.”

She stopped at a door that read kittens. “Okay. Are you ready?”

“I think so.” I took a deep breath and let it out as we walked into the room. The sound was almost deafening. The kittens were crying their disdain for being locked up. Several of them stretched out their paws and tried to grab onto whatever was within reaching distance. My shoulder was a perfect object for one of the kittens. The contact made me pause, and something happened; my mood shifted.

“Uh oh, they’re already fighting over you.” Mack grabbed the kitten’s paw and kissed it. “Hey, cutie.”

I stood before the kitten’s cage, which demanded my attention, and stared at the dark gray and white baby for several long seconds.

“What’s this one’s name.” I played with its paws as the kitten continued to reach toward me.

Mack pointed to the paper right below the cage door. “Frank.” She laughed. “This little man was found all alone behind the hardware store.”

“How is that possible? Could there be siblings somewhere?” I beeped his nose, and he attempted to bite the tip of my finger.

“We suspect because Crystal Shores is a small town, people will dump the animal and keep driving.” Mack took a few steps to the right. “I found these three in a dumpster behind a clothing store.” She opened the cage to lean in and play with the calico kitten. “I’m still trying to decide if this one is going home with me.”

“How many animals do you have at home?” I had this vision of animals running wild all over her house.

“Just one dog.” She shrugged. “I lost a few in the last couple of years.”

“Well, in that case, you have to adopt it.” I scratched behind the kitten’s ears. “What happens if you separate them? Won’t they miss each other?”

“The calico is a loner. It’s always doing its own thing. “These two–” she tickled their tummies– “are besties.”

I slowly turned around in a full circle to get a full picture of who was in the room. At the opposite end from where I stood, in a bottom cage, a kitten was cleaning its paws. This particular kitten caught my attention because it sat next to a puppy playing with a chew toy.

I walked over and squatted down in front of the cage. “There’s a puppy in the kitten room.”

“Crazy, right?” She laughed and bent down beside me. “They were owner released and bonded to each other.”

“How long have they both been here?” The kitten stopped cleaning and stared at me. I placed my hand on the cage, and it lunged forward and tried to attack my hand. The puppy lifted its head in curiosity.

“Um, about a week.” Mack sat on the floor and crossed her legs in front of her. “They are so chill but still so much fun.” The cat was all black and reminded me of the cat who visited me as a child. “Do you want to hold them?”

“Yeah, I do.” I sat down beside Mack.

She pulled the kitten out first. “Hold on.” The kitten squirmed in her hands. “Someone wants to meet you.” She turned and placed her in my lap. Then, she grabbed the puppy and sat down beside me. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I ran my finger down the bridge of the kitten’s nose and sighed. “You could say that,” I told her about the cat from my childhood. “It’s silly, I know.”

“Nope, not at all.” She kissed the top of the puppy’s head. “That’s why I encourage people to give themselves time when finding a new animal.” The puppy jumped out of her lap and onto mine. “Sometimes a bond is made long before you even meet.” She laughed. “I think this is one of those moments.”

The kitten licked the dog’s head, and they both snuggled together on my lap. “I’ve never taken care of a living creature in my life. Not even a fish.”

“You did bond with that black cat, though.” She smiled.

“That’s true.”

“And you moved here because it was time to make a few changes in your life, right?”

“Yeah.” Mack knew about my strained relationship with my mom.

“What if they’re a part of that change?” She pointed at the two animals, now sound asleep on my lap.

“That thought should freak me out.”

“But it doesn’t?”

I shook my head no and placed my hands on their backs. Me, caring for not one but two living creatures.

Moving to Crystal Shores was about letting go of my past and creating new beginnings.