The Heartbreakers by Pamela Wells

ones. She was trying to talk her mother into buying a Boston terrier, but so far she’d been unsuccessful.
    â€œHi, Morris,” she said as she came around the counter and headed down the hall to the bathroom. She changed into her work clothes: a pair of Gap yoga pants and a gray long-sleeved shirt that was quickly fading to eggshell. They were work clothes but cute work clothes.
    After depositing her bag in the hall closet, she opened the holding door between the front lobby and the kennel room where the dogs were. Will was there, crouched over, cleaning the gutters with a hose. The dogs barked at each other or maybe at Kelly.
    Will didn’t look up to greet her.
    The longer she stood there and watched him, the quicker her heart beat in her chest. Suddenly, her tongue felt like it weighed ten pounds. Speaking of pounds…she hadn’trun on the treadmill that morning. She glanced down at her midsection to check for any signs of a belly roll. She tugged uncomfortably on her shirt, pulling it away from her hips.
    Mental note: Run on the treadmill!
    Kelly swallowed and sucked in a breath. “Hey,” she finally said. There, that sounded casual.
    Will stopped spraying and looked over his shoulder. “Hi.” He straightened. “How come I haven’t heard from you?”
    Kelly fidgeted with her watch. He still had no clue? Maybe she should be honest with him. If he heard her concerns, maybe he’d realize how serious she was about an exclusive relationship, and he’d realize he really liked her and dump Brittany.
    Internally, Kelly snorted. Highly doubtful.
    â€œWill,” she began, when an adult dog started yelping outside.
    Will rushed through the exit door and to the outdoor kennels. Kelly followed closely behind him. The German shepherd that arrived yesterday had its paw stuck in the chain-link fence. Will carefully freed the dog, then, “I should take him for a walk. He probably hasn’t been out for a while.” His breath puffed out white. Already his pale cheeks were getting pink from the cold.
    They went back inside and Will slipped into his coat. “Will you finish the gutters?” he asked as he grabbed a blue rope leash from one of the hooks.
    Kelly wrapped her arms around herself. “Yeah, sure.”
    â€œOh, and scoop the kennels?”
    It was his week to scoop the kennels but she said, “Yeah,” anyway. Will thanked her and left. When the door shut, she leaned against the wall and rubbed her forehead. She’dprobably broken several rules just then. Wasn’t there a rule against talking to The Ex?
    Probably.
    She went up front. “Hey, Morris?”
    Morris set his book down. “Problem with the dogs?”
    â€œNo, they’re fine. I just wanted to talk to you.”
    He swiveled his chair around to face her and propped one leg up on the other knee. His large ring of keys jingled at his side. “What’s up?”
    â€œI need different hours, like, immediately.”
    â€œSomething come up?”
    She nodded emphatically. More like, someone . “It’s personal.”
    â€œAll right. How about Sundays? I’m short for the visiting hours.”
    â€œThat sounds awesome, thanks.”
    She felt better now that it was settled. No more Will meant no more stress. Or at least she hoped so.
    After slipping on her fleece gloves, Kelly started up the car in the shelter parking lot. She turned the heat on full blast, shivering at first as cold air hit her, but she was of the opinion that turning the heat on high made it warm up faster.
    Usually time at the shelter flew by, but tonight it had dragged. There was a lot to do—dogs to walk, kennels to clean, cats to feed—but with Will on the periphery, Kelly couldn’t focus. It certainly didn’t help that he kept talking to her.
    â€œWhen are we going to hang out again?”
    â€œWhat are you doing tonight?”
    â€œDid you get Jacobs for