laughed and then moved on.
“Dr. Emma. Look what we got.” It was Tabitha, Jane’s daughter, with the cutest golden retriever/lab mix puppy.
Emma crouched down and pulled the puppy into her arms. “Well, isn’t he the cutest thing.” She looked up at Jane, who stood next to Tabitha. “He’s the one?”
Will came up alongside Jane. “He’s the one.”
“His name is gonna be Archie. We all agreed,” Ryan said.
“All right, then. Let’s go do Archie’s exam and get him updated on his shots. I’ll have Rachel start a file for him.”
By the end of the day, they’d adopted out thirteen of the eighteen animals, and Patrice, the shelter manager, had received interest on the remaining five. In addition, several people stopped in and made appointments to spay or neuter their pets, since Emma’s mother had also suggested Emma advertise that anyone who stopped in that day to become a new client would receive a discount on spaying and neutering services, or twenty percent off on a first appointment.
It had been a spectacular day.
“Thank you, Emma. I can’t tell you how well this went,” Patrice said. “Just making the community aware of the importance of adopting a shelter dog instead of buying pure-bredanimals will go a long way to improving community relations. I have high hopes the other five animals we had here today will be adopted.”
“I hope so, Patrice. And I hope we make this a regular function. I’d like to do it again in the fall.”
Patrice smiled. “Definitely. When I get back to the office on Monday, I’ll give you a call, and we’ll put it on the calendar.”
By the time they helped pack up Patrice’s cages and the rest of the animals, Emma was wiped out. She headed back inside to find Luke in conversation with her mother.
Uh-oh.
“Mom,” she said. “Do you know Officer McCormack?”
“I do now. I make it my business to know our fine police force. I hear you treated Boomer for a sprained leg not too long ago.”
“Yes. He’s doing fine now, though. And Luke—Officer McCormack—was nice enough to bring Boomer by today. He was a big hit with all the kids.”
Her mother crossed her arms and grinned. “Yes, he was. It was so nice of you to do that.”
“No problem,” Luke said. “Emma’s done a great community service by offering the shelter dogs for adoption. Which I heard was your idea, Mrs. Burnett.”
“Really.” Emma’s mother looked from her to Luke. “So the two of you must be having regular chat sessions, then. Or are you dating?”
Emma coughed. Luke smiled. “We went to the Double-A ball game a week or so ago. It was Bring Your Dog to the Ballpark Day.”
“Oh. That’s so interesting.”
“Well,” Emma said, leading her mom by the elbow. “We have a lot of cleanup to do here, and it’s already been a long day. I can’t thank you enough for this idea, Mom. It was brilliant.”
“Uh huh. In other words, you’d like me to leave.”
“Of course not. You can stay. There’s plenty of mopping and cleaning up to do.”
Her mother grabbed her purse and dug out her keys. “No thanks. I just think up the ideas. You execute, then clean up after.”
Emma walked her to the door, then kissed her cheek. “I love you, Mom.”
Her mother kissed her back. “I love you, too, Emma.” She turned and waved to Rachel and Leanne. “Luke, you have Emma bring you by the house for Sunday dinner.”
Luke smiled. “I’d love to.”
“Great. Next Sunday, then. Emma, make it happen.”
Emma just stared. Luke shrugged. “Okay. Next Sunday, then.”
“Mom,” Emma said, stepping outside with her. “Luke and I are not dating.”
“Sure looked to me like there’s some chemistry between the two of you.”
“I don’t want to talk about this here.”
“Fine. I’ll call you later.”
She did not want to have this conversation with her mother now. Or ever. “We’re not dating. There’s no chemistry.”
Her mom laid her hand on her arm.
“Dr. Emma. Look what we got.” It was Tabitha, Jane’s daughter, with the cutest golden retriever/lab mix puppy.
Emma crouched down and pulled the puppy into her arms. “Well, isn’t he the cutest thing.” She looked up at Jane, who stood next to Tabitha. “He’s the one?”
Will came up alongside Jane. “He’s the one.”
“His name is gonna be Archie. We all agreed,” Ryan said.
“All right, then. Let’s go do Archie’s exam and get him updated on his shots. I’ll have Rachel start a file for him.”
By the end of the day, they’d adopted out thirteen of the eighteen animals, and Patrice, the shelter manager, had received interest on the remaining five. In addition, several people stopped in and made appointments to spay or neuter their pets, since Emma’s mother had also suggested Emma advertise that anyone who stopped in that day to become a new client would receive a discount on spaying and neutering services, or twenty percent off on a first appointment.
It had been a spectacular day.
“Thank you, Emma. I can’t tell you how well this went,” Patrice said. “Just making the community aware of the importance of adopting a shelter dog instead of buying pure-bredanimals will go a long way to improving community relations. I have high hopes the other five animals we had here today will be adopted.”
“I hope so, Patrice. And I hope we make this a regular function. I’d like to do it again in the fall.”
Patrice smiled. “Definitely. When I get back to the office on Monday, I’ll give you a call, and we’ll put it on the calendar.”
By the time they helped pack up Patrice’s cages and the rest of the animals, Emma was wiped out. She headed back inside to find Luke in conversation with her mother.
Uh-oh.
“Mom,” she said. “Do you know Officer McCormack?”
“I do now. I make it my business to know our fine police force. I hear you treated Boomer for a sprained leg not too long ago.”
“Yes. He’s doing fine now, though. And Luke—Officer McCormack—was nice enough to bring Boomer by today. He was a big hit with all the kids.”
Her mother crossed her arms and grinned. “Yes, he was. It was so nice of you to do that.”
“No problem,” Luke said. “Emma’s done a great community service by offering the shelter dogs for adoption. Which I heard was your idea, Mrs. Burnett.”
“Really.” Emma’s mother looked from her to Luke. “So the two of you must be having regular chat sessions, then. Or are you dating?”
Emma coughed. Luke smiled. “We went to the Double-A ball game a week or so ago. It was Bring Your Dog to the Ballpark Day.”
“Oh. That’s so interesting.”
“Well,” Emma said, leading her mom by the elbow. “We have a lot of cleanup to do here, and it’s already been a long day. I can’t thank you enough for this idea, Mom. It was brilliant.”
“Uh huh. In other words, you’d like me to leave.”
“Of course not. You can stay. There’s plenty of mopping and cleaning up to do.”
Her mother grabbed her purse and dug out her keys. “No thanks. I just think up the ideas. You execute, then clean up after.”
Emma walked her to the door, then kissed her cheek. “I love you, Mom.”
Her mother kissed her back. “I love you, too, Emma.” She turned and waved to Rachel and Leanne. “Luke, you have Emma bring you by the house for Sunday dinner.”
Luke smiled. “I’d love to.”
“Great. Next Sunday, then. Emma, make it happen.”
Emma just stared. Luke shrugged. “Okay. Next Sunday, then.”
“Mom,” Emma said, stepping outside with her. “Luke and I are not dating.”
“Sure looked to me like there’s some chemistry between the two of you.”
“I don’t want to talk about this here.”
“Fine. I’ll call you later.”
She did not want to have this conversation with her mother now. Or ever. “We’re not dating. There’s no chemistry.”
Her mom laid her hand on her arm.
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