Meeting Chance Read online

  “Ink—ah, Little Dipper,” Aaron said, still nervously excited. “I told Mom all about him last night and Finn said families already looked at him so I wanted to move fast.”

  Maria slowed as she entered the room and turned to look at him, the smile gone from her face. “Oh, Aaron…I’m so sorry. The adoption that just left was Little Dipper. I called them last night to approve them.”

  Aaron’s heart sank. So this is what Finn meant about getting close to the animals. I should have listened to him. He hadn’t realized disappointment would come so soon or so sharply. Mom squeezed his shoulder. “Finn said the people looking already had cats…”

  “Finn likes to think he knows everything that goes on here, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t see all the paperwork that comes in. I know he wants to do more work around here, but I’ll have to keep him out of my office.” Maria frowned. “Was there someone else that caught your interest?”

  “No, it was just him. He was so sweet yesterday.”

  “Yes, he was a sweetheart. He won over the staff and quite a few families, too. He’s going to a good home, Aaron, I promise. He’ll be well cared for, and they’ve promised to send pictures. I know it isn’t the same thing, but you’ll get to see how he’s doing.”

  He nodded, but a hollow pit formed in his stomach. “Thanks. Sorry for taking up your time.”

  “Are you sure you didn’t want to look for another cat? They have so many,” his mother said, gesturing to the cats lounging around the room. “I’m sure they have other kittens, too, if that’s what you really wanted.”

  “Thanks, but I was only interested in Dipper.”

  His mother frowned but nodded. “Maybe it was for the best. Who knows, maybe another cat will come in that will catch your attention and need you even more.”

  Aaron felt grateful that his mom tried to make him feel better, and he nodded, but he knew that wouldn’t be the case. Nothing could win him over like that little kitten had.

  *

  Returning to the shelter at two was difficult after the morning’s disappointment, but Aaron made sure he didn’t arrive late. He greeted Sandra for the second time that day and checked in with Maria, then went to look in on the cats. Finn stood in the room, changing towels in the cages.

  “Hey, I heard you came in for Dipper this morning,” he said as Aaron pulled out a clean stack of towels and placed them next to him without looking over. “I told you not to get attached, man.”

  “But I came to adopt him. I didn’t think he’d be gone so fast.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ll give you that one. I didn’t think so either. I thought for sure Maria would turn them down, but I guess I spoke too soon.” Finn shrugged. “What are you gonna do.” He rubbed the ears of the cat in the cage before shutting the door. “But it’s a good learning experience, right? At least you’d only played with the kitten for one day. It’s not like he’d been here for weeks and you had a bond. That’s the worst.”

  Aaron nodded absently and let Finn ramble as he worked next to him. Finn folded the towels precisely before changing out the old with the new. He checked the tag on each cage, and if it had only been a day since the last change, and the towel or bedding was clean, he left it. The old, dirty towels he tossed into the laundry basket on the floor as he moved down the line of cages. He made every fold in a way so the blanket or towel covered the entire sleeping area. Despite himself, Aaron watched and slowly relaxed, helping with movements that weren’t nearly as sure as Finn’s. The cages that had been changed had the markers snapped off and replaced with new ones, specifying the day of the week.

  An hour passed and they lapsed into a companionable silence. Soon all the cages were changed, and Aaron picked up the laundry basket of towels.

  “I can help you take your mind off Dipper if you’d like,” Finn finally said. Aaron glanced up and found him leaning against the wall, arms crossed in front of his chest.

  “How?”

  “What do you say to starting with the dogs today? With the puppies,” Finn amended. “They do like to nibble, I’ll warn you, but they don’t have the strength in their jaws to bite. So you don’t have to be afraid, okay?”

  Aaron looked at him with a steady frown to cover his suddenly racing pulse. Without answering he passed by him and pushed out of the room and into the next to load the washer. Finn followed him.

  Cold beads of sweat started to form on his forehead, and he felt one roll down the side of his face. If his body reacted like this at just the thought of it, could he really do this? I’ve only been here one day! Finn is insane. “I thought only senior volunteers were allowed to work with the puppies and kittens.” He shoved a bunch of the towels into an open washer and closed it. He started it on a new cycle and then moved to one that had finished in order to switch the wet blankets into the dryer.

  “Before you came in today, I got permission from Maria. She’s cool with it. Besides, you’re a special case. She understands that you need to start slowly and work your way up.”

  “Being with the dogs on my second day isn’t very slow,” Aaron argued.

  “No, it’s not, but you’re starting slow by starting small!” Finn laughed, leaning against one of the dryers.

  “I don’t want her to bend the rules for me. Then everyone will expect it.” It was an excuse, he knew, but he wasn’t ready; he knew that much, too.

  “Nah, it’s cool I tell you. Everyone will understand. Come on.”

  Finn grabbed his wrist gently and led him out of the storage room and directly into the dog wing. The dogs’ loud barking instantly increased, and Aaron cringed. His heart slammed against his chest painfully and his breathing hitched as they passed by all the cages. He tried to slow his breathing, but he feared he would start to hyperventilate if he didn’t get out of there soon. Twisting his hand, Aaron grabbed Finn’s wrist. His fingers clutched him. If it hadn’t been for that lifeline, Aaron would have run.

  The door to the maternity room was shut, and Finn opened it carefully even though all the dogs in this room, like the main room, were in cages and crates. Two of the cages had sleeping puppies larger than the others, with no visible mother.

  Despite his lightheadedness and concern for his own safety, his curiosity was piqued. “Where are the mothers?” he asked.

  “With the huskies, the mother was hit by a car and killed.”

  “Wow. Sad.”

  Finn nodded. “We’ve been caring for them since they were about three weeks old. Someone brought them in, and a volunteer fostered them until last week.” He flicked a hand toward another kennel. “The Rottweiler puppies were found abandoned. We don’t know what happened to the mother. They’re about nine weeks old, we think, based on their size and development.”

  Finn gestured to the dispenser on the wall and they both sanitized their hands.

  Aaron had to admit that the dogs looked so sweet lying there in quiet heaps of fluffy fur.

  “Do they have names?”

  “No, not yet. Mostly they’re referred to as the pups.” Finn opened the cage with the huskies and pulled out the one that picked up his head. “They don’t need to be bottle-fed anymore, so their foster family brought them back to be adopted out.”

  He held the puppy out to Aaron. They looked at each other, Aaron skeptically and the puppy with a look of tired boredom. He yawned, emitting a low squeak. With trembling hands, Aaron reached out, fingers sinking into the soft white fur and grasping the warm body beneath it. He felt the puppy’s racing pulse and the tiny body breathing.

  Finn smiled encouragingly and shifted closer to him to make sure he didn’t drop the fragile creature.

  “He’s fuzzy,” Aaron whispered. Finn nodded and pressed the puppy securely into Aaron’s arms. It felt almost like holding a baby. Except for the fur. Finn stood so close their feet were touching, and Aaron’s heart raced for another reason. Since he’d come out to his friends, not one of them had gotten close like this, even if they were fooling around with a football aft
er school. As if they were afraid he’d try something with them. If Finn knew, would he keep his distance like Tyler and Caleb?

  Distracted by his thoughts, he didn’t notice when the puppy stretched up to his face and sniffed at him. A tiny tongue darted out and licked his cheek, and Aaron jumped.

  “Easy,” Finn said softly, placing a hand under the puppy. Aaron didn’t want to drop him, but he hadn’t been expecting that. “See? Not so bad.”

  “When they’re small, maybe,” Aaron reluctantly agreed. This is okay. I can do this. A little guy isn’t so bad. And he is sort of cute. But the bigger dogs were out of the question. Still, despite his reassurances to himself, his palms sweated and his pulse continued to race. Any longer and he’d pass out.

  “We can stay with the puppies as long as you need until your confidence grows.”

  Aaron jerked his head up to look at him. “You don’t expect me to move on to the bigger dogs today, do you?”

  Finn shook his head. “No, of course not. We have plenty of time. And a lot of work to get done, too. Always work to do around here.”

  “I feel like you’re going to work me harder than Maria would.”

  “Of course! If I don’t work you hard, I’ll have to do it all myself.” Finn grinned and Aaron noticed the dimple in his left cheek for the first time. His face heated and he glanced down at the puppy.

  “I thought you liked working.”

  “I do, don’t get me wrong. But when I can share the work with someone else, what’s the point in breaking my back, right?” Finn took the puppy from him and placed him back in the cage with his brothers and sisters. Aaron breathed a sigh of relief and wiped his palms on his jeans. “Hey, so I get off work at five today. You’re working until six, right? Did you want to maybe get something to eat? Hang out or something?”

  “But you’d be hanging around for an hour.”

  Finn shrugged and pushed his hair back. “I can go home and get changed, then come back and get you. Or you could meet me somewhere.”

  Aaron tensed, unsure of the protocol in this situation. Finn is a good guy, a friend, who wants to hang out. I should go, right? He frowned, and the tightness of the scars pulled at his lip. When had he last hung out with the guys? He could hardly even remember, it had been so long. They were cool with the scars but the whole “gay thing” as they called it…that was another story. If Finn knew, would he change his mind, too? Did Aaron want to lose another friend simply because of who he was? Or am I being ridiculous and judging Finn because of how Caleb and Tyler reacted?

  “I don’t know…”

  His mentor tilted his head to the side, hair falling back into his face as he glanced down at him. The difference in height wasn’t that significant, but at that moment Aaron felt it. “What’s wrong, Aaron? We won’t go anywhere fancy if that’s what you’re worried about. I can barely afford it myself, but I thought it would be cool. To be honest, I don’t get to hang out with others much because of school, work, and volunteering here. My friends at school don’t exactly keep the same hours I do.”

  “Money isn’t the issue,” he said, shoving his hands in his back pockets. He hesitated. “I guess we could go…if you want to.”

  “Yeah, it’ll be cool. We won’t get to really talk much here without interruption unless it’s about the animals, you know?”

  “Or answering to Maria barking out orders.” Aaron laughed.

  “So true. We on for later? Do you want to meet somewhere or should I come get you?”

  “I’ll drive,” Aaron said quickly. There was a family restaurant just down the road that had good but cheap food. “Gracie’s Restaurant?”

  “Sounds great. They have awesome burgers. I’ll meet you there at six thirty, unless you want to go home and change.”

  Aaron shook his head. “No, that’s okay. Six thirty is fine.”

  Maria popped her head in at that moment and smiled. “Aaron, it’s good to see you in here. Finn mentioned starting you with the pups. It’s one of the better ideas he’s had in a while. I hope it wasn’t too soon, though. How are you doing?”

  “Well, I’m alive,” he admitted. “I held one of the huskies. It was soft.” It was soft? What am I, three again? Inwardly, he cringed.

  “They are little furballs. They’ll get adopted quickly. They get put up next week on Monday. I wouldn’t be surprised if they get adopted in pairs, actually. Maybe I’ll cut the adoption fee…”

  Aaron glanced at Finn as he went back to work and reached over to hand him a clean bottle of water, standing back from the cage in case one tried to escape.

  “I’m very pleased with your progress, Aaron. And proud of you. I know it must be hard, but you’ve made tremendous progress in your first two days. That’s a huge step. You’re really pushing yourself.”

  “I’m not ready—”

  “I know you’re not ready for more. That’s okay.” Maria smiled. “Start with the puppies and then we can build you up. Small dogs to large. You take all the time you need. We don’t want to lose you as a volunteer! You’ve been a great help already.”

  Once again Aaron’s face flushed from embarrassment, but also from pride at having made such an impression, despite having been late the first day. I just hope I don’t screw things up.

  Chapter Four

  The clock read six thirty when Aaron pulled up to Gracie’s Restaurant. He hadn’t wanted to be too early or too late for this meeting. Finn stood apart from the small crowd gathered, leaning against the hood of his beat-up car. Parts of the car were different shades of blue, with the exception of one dull gray panel. A few minor dents and dings graced the rear right fender of the car, and on the hood a circle of paint had peeled away. Aaron instantly understood what Finn had meant by rough condition.

  Finn saw him as he locked his car and grinned.

  “Cool, just in time. We’re lucky—the major crowd left a few minutes ago, so we’ll get a booth.”

  Aaron nodded and followed him in. A waitress at the door greeted the boys and brought them to a booth in the rear of the restaurant. She set down the menus without much fanfare and disappeared as they took their seats.

  “How did the rest of work go? Did you stay with the dogs?”

  “No, I went back to work with the cats. They needed to be fed.”

  “Oh, well that’s cool. Did you get to work with Molly?”

  “Yeah.”

  Finn picked up his menu. “She’s cool. She’s been working there forever. Just a few hours on Saturday. She does a lot of fostering for cats, though. Has a huge house with one room built just for them. It has all these posts for them to climb on. It’s kind of like a kitty amusement park.”

  “She sort of reminds me of my grandmother,” Aaron admitted, and Finn laughed.

  “She reminds everybody of their grandmother. She has that sweet old lady vibe to her, but her jokes can be downright dirty sometimes.”

  Aaron followed Finn’s lead and picked up his menu. He already knew what he wanted, though. Ever since Finn had mentioned a burger at the shelter, his mouth had been watering for one.

  “Enough shoptalk. What’s your life like outside the shelter? I don’t know much, just that you go to Central High. Our rival.” He winked. “And I know you have a cat named Midnight. That’s about it.”

  “What do you want to know? There isn’t much to tell, honestly,” Aaron lied.

  “Do you play any sports? Siblings? Wait, I’m going to say no on the siblings because you would have mentioned one by now.”

  “Correct.”

  “I’m good. Okay, so sports?” Finn asked.

  “None.”

  “Really?”

  Aaron shrugged. “I’m not the most athletic guy, I guess. Some of my friends play on the baseball team. I just never got into sports. I played on a league when I was a kid because my dad wanted me to, but I didn’t care for it. What about you?”

  “No time, are you kidding?”

  “Kind of figured that, but do you
like any sports?”

  Finn grabbed a straw from the cup at the edge of the table and tapped the end on the flat surface, breaking the paper wrapper around the straw and bunching it toward the bottom. He tried to blow the wrapper off the end but failed and finally just pulled it off. “I like swimming, but not competitively. I just like to float around during the summer.”

  “Yeah, me, too.”

  “Okay, so no siblings and no sports, one cat. What do your parents do?”

  “My mom is a nurse and my dad is a real estate agent.”

  “That’s cool. Are they home at the same time or does your mom work a night shift or something?”

  “My parents got divorced three years ago. Mom works during the day most of the time so we can hang out at night. She likes sitting down together for dinner. Dad has his own house in Burlington.”

  Finn’s face fell. “Oh, dude. I’m sorry. I had no idea. That sucks.”

  Aaron shrugged. “It is what it is. It’s not that bad, actually. I miss my dad being home, but I talk to him a lot. I see him on the weekends when he’s not too busy and stay at his house sometimes. He’s only the next town over so it’s okay. And now that I can drive, I can visit more if he can’t come out to get me.”

  “Did your parents fight a lot before they got divorced?”

  “Not really in front of me. I could tell things weren’t good because they didn’t talk as much as they used to, and one of them always seemed to be out of the house, but it wasn’t bad. They talk to each other now all right. At least they do when I’m around. Dad called last night and Mom talked to him on the phone for a bit.”

  “Some people just make better friends, I guess,” Finn said.

  Their conversation stopped as the waitress returned to take their order. They both ordered Cokes and burgers with fries, but Finn added avocado to his.

  “I love it,” he said after he caught Aaron staring at him. “I could eat it on everything.”