Page 40 of A Room By the Sea

“Oh, that’s so sad,” Michelle said, feeling her heart ache for the animals. Already, she was feeling better about her situation. A little confusion about a boy wasn’t the same thing as having your whole world change overnight. Getting to comfort the dogs would help take her mind off her own troubles, she felt sure of it.

Harper led her to one of the back rooms, which was comfortably set up for dogs to spend time in. There were several dog beds, bowls of water, and numerous toys strewn across the floor.

“Officially, we call this the playroom,” Harper said, “and we’ll take all the dogs here if it’s raining outside and they can’t use the dog run. But sometimes we use it as a room to keep new dogs in if they seem to be having a tough time adjusting.”

In the corner of the room, the two teenage St. Bernards were cuddled up together on the same dog bed. They half-heartedly lifted their heads when they saw that they had visitors, but neither of them got up to say hello.

“Are they sick or something?” Michelle asked.

Harper shook her head. “No, just sad. I’m really glad you showed up today. I think cuddles are just what they need. Then, once they’ve perked up, we can play with them for a while.”

Michelle held her hand out to one of the St. Bernards, and he sniffed it eagerly.

“We’re going to call that one Cookie,” Harper said with a chuckle.

“Aww, Cookie, I love that.” Michelle laughed. “What about the other one?”

“Cream,” Harper answered decisively.

Michelle saluted her, impressed and amused by the imaginative names for the dogs. She crouched down on the floor next to them and began to pet them with all the affection she could muster—and it wasn’t hard to muster it. The dogs looked at her with big adoring eyes and soon started to lick her hands and forearms.

“Hi, babies,” Michelle said. “Hi. Yes. Aren’t you precious?”

Clumps of shedding dog hair floated away as Harper and Michelle continued to pet the dogs, who started wagging their tails and grinning with wide open mouths. Finally, they were energetic enough that Harper started a game of tug-of-war with Cream. Michelle stood up and chose a red rubber ball for Cookie, who danced in excitement when he realized what was going on.

They played with the dogs for a full fifteen minutes, until all four of them were tired out. Harper and Michelle sat on the floor with the dogs’ heads lying on their laps. Michelle stroked Cookie’s ears, delighted by the way his tail was still wagging with happiness.

“They just need to know they’re going to be loved again, you know?” Harper said, her voice catching slightly. “Cuddling with them like this helps.”

“Good.” Michelle bent down and kissed Cookie’s head. “How soon do you think it will be until they’re adopted?”

“Not long at all.” Harper smiled. “St. Bernards are popular dogs, and these boys are purebreds. The only tricky thing will be keeping them together, which I’m determined to do, but we’re spamming social media about these boys and the posts already have a lot of traction.”

“Glad to hear it.”

The women lapsed into silence, both of them becoming lost in their own thoughts. The only sounds were the whirr of a fan in the distance and the thumping of the dogs’ tails wagging against the floor.

Michelle’s mind snapped back to Theo almost instantly. She wanted to groan, feeling hounded by her thoughts of him. Was there no dodging the man? If he wasn’t showing up in person unexpectedly, he was dogging her thoughts.

I’ve got to talk to someone about this, she realized. If I don’t talk it out with someone who can give me advice, I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to stop thinking about it. I need to get it off my chest.

She cleared her throat gently. “Can I talk with you about something?” she asked quietly.

Harper turned to her with a warm smile. “Of course.”

Michelle smiled back, grateful for Harper’s enthusiasm. Although Harper was her mother’s friend, Michelle felt a strong bond with the older woman. Harper’s age was in between that of Michelle and Audrey, and Michelle felt almost as though the animal shelter owner was a kind of older sister to her. She felt glad that she could confide in the other woman, since she didn’t want to share her thoughts about Theo with her mother and grandmother. They were sure to tease her and make a whole big thing out of it.

“You remember when Theo showed up here that one time, and it was kind of weird, right?” Michelle said, feeling her cheeks get hot.

“I absolutely do,” Harper said, a hint of a smile on her lips.

“Well, he kept doing that. He was popping up randomly in places where I was all the time for a while there. And yeah, it was getting really suspicious. I was starting to think⁠—”

She shook her head, not wanting to say out loud what she wasn’t even admitting to herself.

“And then he showed up at the library when I was doing research with a librarian named Marcus. We were acting friendly and having fun, and the next thing I know I look up and there’s Theo, watching us. And then he just kind of dropped off the face of the earth. I didn’t see him anywhere anymore. That’s like, you know—whatever, not a big deal—but then I went to the auto shop to ask if they’d put up one of the posters announcing The Birchwood House’s grand opening. I saw Theo there, and when he saw me, he looked… disappointed.”

Michelle’s heart sank at the memory. Seeing Theo look at her as though he didn’t want to engage with her had stung more than she was willing to admit.