Page 9 of Mommy

Shelly looks up from her work when I come in through the front door.

“Derek,” she greets me with a smile. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”

She’s not wrong to ask me that. I don’t usually stop by the shelter unless I have a reason to. I’m not like Ezekiel who hangs out here all the time, chatting with Shelly and the staff. I think at this point, he turned into part of the shelter decor even though he doesn’t officially work here.

“No, Shelly, nothing’s wrong,” I grant her a smile and let my gaze wander through the small entry hall.

No slim blonde.

“Well, then… is there something I can help you with? We have someone here who I think would be great for you. She came in a few weeks ago and she’s been doing great with staff and⁠—”

“The girl that was here when I played security,” I interrupt Shelly. “Is she working today?”

I won’t be adopting a dog from this—or any— shelter, no matter how great she makes them out to be. It’s not that I don’t like dogs, I do, but I can’t handle them well. I don’t really understand them and though I’m no idiot, I doubt I’d have what it takes to be a responsible dog owner.

Her eyebrows rise.

“You mean Ivory?”

Ivory.

What a perfect fucking name for such a pretty girl.

I just nod and so does Shelly.

“Yes, dear, she’s probably in Viv’s kennel, I guess. Let me show you the way.”

She leads me down a corridor to the side and past a long row of kennels.

Before the very last one, she comes to a halt, and there she is.

She looks cute between all the puppies and I can’t help but stare at her.

Now that she’s not in a crowd, I realize I have actually seen her at the shelter before. And she was always with the puppies. Taking care of them, playing with them, keeping them entertained.

Shelly comes to a stop next to me.

“She’s amazing.” she says, keeping her voice down.

“A puppy-girl, I’m guessing.”

The joke makes Shelly laugh beside me, but when I look at her she is shaking her head.

“Not even a little bit.” She says with a soft smile. “From the outside it might look like it, but if you knew her you’d know that’s far from the truth.”

Pulling my eyebrows together, I take a little step to the side to get a better look at Ivory’s face.

“Does she come here everyday?”

“Yes, she’s always the first to come and the last to leave.” Shelly says with a deep sigh.

Ivory leans back on her haunches as the puppies one after the other tire from playing and walk over to a larger dog. They all curl up next to each other and on top of one another.

“The mother?” I ask Shelly, who nods.

How Ivory hasn’t seen us yet is beyond me, I would’ve noticed the movement the second Shelly and I walked up to the kennel. But not Ivory. She is in the kennel with the dogs, and her gaze is pinned on only them.

Getting up from her knees, Ivory walks over to where the pups have curled into their mother. And then she does something I didn’t expect.