The Adventure begins!

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The “Many Paws” Animal Shelter was scheduled to open in a week, and there were still things that needed to be done. Amelia was trying not to panic. She kept telling herself that everything would come together.

Taking another bite of peach pie, she told herself it all better come together soon. Her nerves were frayed, and if she kept eating peach pie to calm down, she may soon have another problem!

When she walked in this morning to finding a leaky pipe and the one room flooded, she had almost lost it.

“Hi Amelia!” Trent walked in the door. “So where is the troublesome pipe that you want me to fix?”

“Keep walking, and you will…”

“Found it!” Trent replied as his feet stepped into water.

Trent was a good friend from high school, and she was so thankful that he was a plumber. He had been a big help with the shelter.

A lot of her friends had left the small town of Derby as soon as they graduated, but Amelia never had the desire to leave. Now, 20 years later, she had a feeling that Derby would be her home until she died. She would be forever known as the crazy dog lady.

One had to be crazy to think of starting up an animal shelter at her age. She wasn’t far away from the age of hot flashes, mood swings, and all the other wonderful things about menopause. But with her compassionate heart, she knew she had to do something for the stray dogs and cats who needed forever homes.

“Thank you so much for coming right away!” She told Trent. “You are a life saver. The inspector is coming in two days. “

Worry was written all across her face.

The sound of barking filled the room and was getting louder.

“Oh, they are ready for breakfast. I need to go, do you need anything?”

“No, I will get to work and you go and make some dogs happy. But don’t try feeding them any of your brownies!”

With a roll of her eyes and slight blush to her cheeks Amelia groaned. “Dogs can’t have chocolate and I make good brownies now.”

“Oh, do they actually come out of the pan now?”

Amelia smacked his arm and heard him laughing as she walked out of the room. He wouldn’t let her forget when she baked brownies in high school, and they were as hard as concrete. She was able to turn the pan upside down without them coming out.

“Hey guys, here you go.” She poured food into all the bowls and smiled. Dogs of all shapes and sizes, and each one was special to her.

Max had a droopy ear, but his other ear was always up straight and erect. His hearing was sharp. Usually , he was the first one to jump out of his bed when Amelia came down the hall.

Mischief earned her name honestly. She tried to stir up trouble with the other dogs when they were in the yard together. Amelia was trying to work with her on getting along with other dogs, but it wasn’t going well. With people, though, she was fine. A real sweetheart.

The cats grabbed her heart as well. Missy had given birth to seven kittens last week. The tiny fluff balls were adorable, and she was headed to see them as soon as all the dogs were fed. She was glad that Shannon would be here soon to help out. Her shift started at 9 am.

Three hours later, Trent was finished, and everything looked great.

“Thanks again, Trent.”

“You may not be so thankful when you see my bill,” he joked.

“Maybe I will pay you with a pan full of my specialty brownies. “

“I will warn my stomach.” He smiled. “But, seriously, I am glad I could help you out. I think this shelter looks perfect and will pass with flying colors when the inspector comes.”

Amelia’s heart warmed at his words. “Thanks, I appreciate it!”

Just then, a black labrador almost knocked Trent off of his feet as it barreled into him.

Shannon was running behind him, yelling, “Stop, Houdini!”

Amelia caught him. “What are we going to do with you? She rubbed his head as he licked her. He made it hard to be mad at him, but he sure kept them on their toes. Running was his favorite thing to do.

Running this animal shelter would be an adventure for sure, but she was ready to begin!

“I will see you on Friday at 7 pm for dinner.” Trent said as he headed for the door.

“Wh-what?” Amelia was trying to hang onto Houdini as she looked back at Trent.

“Friday, at 7, I will be in my royal carriage before the spell breaks at midnight.” And with a wink, he walked out the door.

What happened? They had gone out to eat before as friends, plenty of times. But this seemed different. There was something about the look in his eyes. Was it only her imagination, or was life about to throw another adventure her way?