"Come on, Beca," said Stacie, a tall brunette with green eyes. "We need help, and you get to play with dogs and cats."

Beca, a much shorter brunette with dark blue eyes, sighed. "Fine, but just this once."

"Thanks!" exclaimed Stacie. "You won't regret it."

Their pizza arrived just then. Stacie had bribed Beca with pizza to get her to agree to help at the animal shelter's "Clear the Shelters" event that weekend. Stacie had begun volunteering during the school year, initially just to get her required service hours to graduate, but she'd enjoyed it enough to continue to volunteer once her service hours were completed.

Beca was staying with her father in Atlanta that summer, more than three thousand miles from her home with her mother in Seattle. Beca had recently graduated high school and had turned eighteen a few months prior, so she was no longer obligated to stay with her father for the summer. However, both of her parents agreed she should probably continue the visits, especially since she likely wouldn't see much of him when college life got busy. She was scheduled to attend college in Seattle in the fall. Beca's favorite part of spending summers with her dad was having Stacie for a neighbor. They'd hit it off immediately during Beca's first summer with her father after the divorce when she was ten, and the two had managed to stay in touch during the school year. They had the kind of friendship that just picked up where they left off every time they saw each other in person.

The two friends chatted a bit over pizza. Stacie gave Beca the rundown of the shelter's plans for the event.

"The shelter is waiving adoption fees for all of the animals, instead of just the senior pets. We're expecting a huge influx of people, so we need some extra help. And, hey, maybe you'll like it enough to stick around."

Beca shrugged. "Maybe."

It was Saturday, the day of the big event. Beca and Stacie arrived about an hour before the shelter was to open. Stacie gave Beca a tour of the place and introduced her to the volunteer coordinator. "Hi, this is my friend Beca. She's helping us out today."

"I'm Cynthia Rose, but you can call me CR," said the woman, an African American woman who wore her hair in long braids. "You'll be working with my wife Denise." She nodded toward a woman with brown curly hair and brown eyes. "Stacie said you're more of a dog person, right?"

"Yup," said Beca.

"I was going to have you help Denise. You two can help bring the dogs over for people to see. We keep the dogs in cages, and we have a room where we take people who want to adopt a dog so they can see the dog in a room without other dogs distracting everyone. We always have at least two people in the room to supervise."

"Sounds good," said Beca.

Beca spent her time meeting Denise and helping the woman organize leashes of different sizes, making sure the bins in the room had toys and bones, and organizing the "goody bags" one of the sponsors had donated to send home with the adopters.

Beca stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted a young woman with long red hair in scrubs printed with baby animals giving a checkup to a tiny dog.

Denise looked over. "Everything okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Beca. "Fine." She quickened her pace to catch up with Denise, hoping she wasn't blushing as much as she thought she was. She figured she'd failed miserably when she saw Denise shoot her a knowing glance.

Beca was pretty busy that day. Just as Stacie had predicted, the shelter was swamped with potential adopters. She let Denise take the lead as she was more familiar with the animals and shelter policies. Just after lunch, a family came in with two children. They'd recently said goodbye to a family pet and were looking to adopt a new friend. Both kids immediately said, "That one!" and pointed to a beagle/Basset hound mix when they walked through the room of dog cages.

Beca looked at the card on the cage. "This guy's two years old. His name is Speckles. It looks like he was surrendered due to a divorce in the family. Apparently, neither party could keep him." Beca shrugged. She couldn't believe what had happened. She secretly hoped the couple hadn't had children if they were able to just "throw away" a pet like that. She opened the cage, and Speckles immediately raced out, wagging his tail. The children giggled as he began to lick their ankles.

Denise handed her a leash, and Beca put it around the dog's neck. He walked nicely into the room, and the kids quickly got him engaged in a game of fetch. Denise and Beca looked over his paperwork while the family got to know Speckles.

"This guy needs a vet check before he can leave," said Denise quietly. "Want to take him?" She playfully elbowed Beca in the ribs.

"Stop it," Beca hissed.

Denise asked, "So, is that a no?"

Beca rolled her eyes. "Of course not."

They let the family play with Speckles for a few more minutes. The kids continued to insist that they take Speckles home, and the parents quickly agreed.

"Okay, let me have you guys fill out an application," said Denise. "Beca needs to take him over to the vet for a quick check. Shouldn't take long."

Beca took Speckles' leash and walked him over to the exam room She saw the gorgeous redhead again.

"Hi," said Beca, clearing her throat. "This guy needs a quick check before we send him off with his new family. This is Speckles."

"Hi, Speckles!" exclaimed the redhead as she took the leash from Beca. "I'm Dr. Beale. Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before."

"I'm Beca, and, yes, I'm new."

"Well, we're always happy to have help." Beca took notes as Dr. Beale examined the dog.

"Okay, everything looks good, so we can release this guy," said the vet as she finished the exam.

"Thanks, Dr. Beale," said Beca.

"Just call me Chloe," she replied.

"Okay, then, thanks, Chloe."

Beca led Speckles back to Denise. "He passed his vet exam," said Beca, handing the paperwork to Denise.

"And his new family has been approved," said Denise. "May we take a photo?"

When the family replied that they could, Beca grabbed the shelter's digital camera and snapped a few photos. She smiled when she looked at the screen. "I can't tell who's the most excited – the dog or the kids."

The family left, promising to keep the shelter updated on his progress.

"I don't get it," said Beca, after they left.

"Don't get what?" asked Denise.

"I just adopted out a perfectly well-behaved, obviously well-trained dog. Why would someone give him up?"

"I've been wondering the same thing forever," said Chloe.

Beca's head whipped around. She didn't know the vet was in the room. "Dr. Beale, I mean Chloe! I didn't know you were here."

"I came up to grab a snack," she said, picking up a bag of trail mix. "I figure this may be the only break I get all day." She turned to Beca. "So, how did you end up here?"

"Stacie's my neighbor, and she bribed me with pizza."

"So, are you here for a while, or just for today?"

Without thinking, Beca said, "Oh, I'm here for a while."

"Great," said the vet. "I'm usually here once or twice a week on my days off, so maybe I'll see you around."

"Your days off?" asked Beca.

"Yeah," she said. "I work at the animal hospital down the street, but I volunteer my services to the shelter. I can't get enough of these guys. I can't rescue any more animals, so this is my way of helping."

"Any more?" asked Beca.

"I have Billie," said the vet. She pulled up a picture of a tiny little terrier mix on her phone to show Beca. "I'd rescue a lot more, but I can't have any more animals in my apartment. Also, Billie is diabetic and she requires extra care."

"So cute!" exclaimed Beca.

Before they could say anything else, several people walked in asking about adopting pets. "Duty calls," said Chloe as she headed back to the exam room.

Stacie walked up to Beca as soon as Chloe left the room. "You're here for a while, are you?"

Beca opened her mouth to speak and then shut it.

"Looks like someone likes the vet."

Beca glared at Stacie, still unable to form words.

"She's here on Tuesdays and some Saturdays," said Stacie, winking. "And sometimes she brings in animals after work."

"Why?" asked Beca.

"Because sometimes owners are shit. They drop their pets off for surgery or whatever and never pick them up. She told me one time that someone left to get their credit card to pay the bill and never came back. The owner left a fake address and phone number, probably gave them a fake name too, and they never saw him again."

"People suck," said Beca.

"Yeah," said Stacie. "Pretty stupid if you ask me, considering we're on the same block as the veterinary hospital. And we don't have any restrictions on the animals we accept for surrender. We also don't euthanize unless medically necessary."

"Crazy."

"So, should I put you on the schedule for Tuesdays and Saturdays?"

Beca rolled her eyes, but she quickly agreed. She could hang out with Stacie and she'd see Chloe again. The vet was way out of her league, and Beca didn't have the guts to ask the woman out. Also, with Beca's luck, Chloe was probably straight and/or in a relationship. The most beautiful ones always were, it seemed.

The following Tuesday, Beca showed up at the shelter and tried to hide her smile when she saw Chloe.

"Oh, hi!" said Chloe. "Beca, right?"

She remembered my name, Beca thought. "Yeah," she said. "And you're Chloe." The vet nodded.

"Hey, would you mind picking up coffee next door?" she asked.

"Sure, I guess," said Beca. "What do you want?"

"Mocha Frappuccino Lite," said Chloe, handing Beca some cash. "And get yourself whatever you want. My treat."

"Thanks," said Beca. She walked over to Starbucks, her mind still in a bit of a daze. She reminded herself that Chloe was probably nice to everybody, and she was probably just really good with names.

Beca walked back to the shelter and saw the exam room door was closed. She gently knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" called Chloe.

"Beca," she said. "I have coffee."

"Come on in," she said. "Just close the door behind you real fast. No idea if this one's a runner."

Chloe was examining a small dog on the exam table.

"Hey, just set those on the counter over there," said Chloe. "Could you give me a hand?"

"Sure, what should I do?" asked Beca.

"This one's scared. Can you just pet her and talk to her? She's barely let me touch her."

Beca walked over to the exam table. "Do we have a name?"

"They said her name was Molly, but she doesn't respond to it."

Beca slowly approached the dog and calmly greeted her. "Hi, Molly. I'm Beca. You're in good hands." She gently laid her hand near the dog to let her sniff, minimizing eye contact so she didn't scare her.

After the dog licked her a little, Beca gently stroked the dog's chest. Chloe continued the exam and gave the dog her shots. The dog flinched but seemed comforted by Beca's presence.

"She looks pretty healthy," said Chloe. "She definitely needs a bath, though. Maybe we can try at the end of the day. I'm worried she might get upset if we try it now."

"Okay," said Beca.

"Take her to CR," said Chloe. "I'm not comfortable releasing her for adoption until she's had a bath."

Beca put the dog on a leash and walked her to CR. "Dr. Beale says she's healthy, but she wants to give her a bath tonight before she goes up for adoption."

"Thanks," said CR. "I'll take it from here."

Beca walked back into the exam room to see Chloe was on the phone.

"Sure, Steven," said Chloe. "I'll be right there."

Beca's heart sank. She'd figured Chloe had a boyfriend. She turned to leave the room.

"Hey, Beca, do you want to go with me?"

"Go where?"

"My brother Steven works for Animal Control. He wants me to pick up an animal."

Beca instantly felt relieved. Steven was Chloe's brother, not her boyfriend. "Okay," said Beca, trying not to sound too excited about being alone with Chloe, even though she still figured Chloe would never be interested in her.

The ride to meet Chloe's brother was short and the two rode in silence. Beca was too scared to say much of anything to Chloe, and the vet appeared to be lost in her thoughts. Beca wondered what her brother had said before Beca had entered the room.

Chloe parked the car and walked up to a man who appeared to be a few years older and was a good six inches taller, but the resemblance was obvious. They had the same red hair and blue eyes.

The vet greeted her brother with a hug and then introduced Beca. "Steven, this is Beca. She's volunteering at the shelter. Beca, this is my older brother, Steven."

Beca shook the man's hand.

"We investigated a complaint that an animal here wasn't receiving care. This one looks like she's hurt and she's obviously very frightened. This sounded right up your alley, so I asked the others to wait while I called you."

"Thanks," said Chloe. "Name?"

"Holly."

The dog was curled up in the corner of the living room. Chloe knelt down and spoke in a very soft, soothing voice. "Holly? Hi, sweetie."

The dog's ears perked up a bit, but she didn't move. Chloe inched toward the dog. "Holly? Come on, honey. I'm here to help." Again, the dogs ears perked up.

Chloe reached into her pocket and grabbed a treat. She placed it on the floor a few feet away from the dog. "Look what I brought you. I bet you're hungry."

The dog tried to walk toward the treat but yelped in pain when she put weight on one of her legs.

"Oh, sweetie. You poor girl," said Chloe. She picked up the treat and slowly walked toward Holly. Holly looked up. She put the treat down, just inches away from the dog. "Here. Is that better?"

Holly scooted herself toward the treat and ate it. Chloe got a little closer and called the dog again. "Holly? Hi, puppy. Was that good?" Upon hearing the word "puppy", Holly's ears perked up again. Chloe moved a little closer. She turned to Beca. "Can you hand me the leash? Just walk very slowly so you don't scare her."

Beca tiptoed toward the dog. "Here," she said, handing Chloe the leash.

Chloe was able to put the leash on Holly, but she didn't move. "Can I look?" asked Chloe.

She gently began to stroke Holly's chest, and the dog didn't object.

"Oh, no," said Chloe. "It's her front right leg. It's really badly injured. She's not going to be able to walk." Chloe gently reached an arm under the dog and lifted her. The dog was visibly shaking, but she didn't try and bite.

Chloe began giving orders with Holly in her arms. "Steven, grab my car keys out of my right pocket and unlock the car. Beca, I'm going to have you ride in the back with the dog."

Once Steven had the door unlocked, Beca got in the back and laid out a blanket for the dog.

"Here, Holly. I'm going to have you sit with my friend Beca," said Chloe.

Holly laid down on the seat, still shaking. She tried to duck her head under the blanket. "Poor girl," said Beca. "Chloe's going to take good care of you." She spoke quietly to the dog in soothing tones as they drove back to the shelter.

Chloe brought Holly in and went straight to the exam room. Beca grabbed Denise so they'd have another pair of hands available.

Chloe determined that Holly had two broken bones in her front right leg and would need surgery. She grabbed a pill pocket treat and put a tiny pill in it. "Beca, try to get her to take this pain medication. Poor dog must be in a ton of pain."

Beca placed the pill pocket in her hand and put her hand near the dog's mouth. The dog licked at the treat a couple of times before eating it. "Good girl!" Beca praised.

Chloe carried Holly into a room at the shelter designated for pets who needed care and weren't ready for adoption. Beca laid out a blanket and a bed and made sure there was food and water in the dishes.

"Here we are," said Chloe. "Holly, this is your new room. Those bad people will never hurt you again."

She and Beca sat on the floor near the dog. Holly used her three working legs to scoot into a corner of the room. She sank into the blanket and closed her eyes as though she wanted to disappear.

"Poor baby," said Beca, tears in her eyes. "How can people be so cruel?"

"I don't know," said Chloe. "I see it all the time, though. Lots of angry people in the world, and they take it out on the poor, defenseless animals."

"That's awful."

"Yeah, and this one has a long road ahead of her. It's going to take a while for her to trust people, and I have no idea how much of her leg I can repair."

The two of them sat quietly chatting while the dog dozed off, likely due to the pain medication. She was still asleep when Beca left for the day. Stacie was scheduled the following day, and Beca made her promise she'd text Beca with any updates on Holly.

The following day, Beca got the following text from Stacie:

Legs: Your favorite vet is coming over after the shelter closes to operate on Holly.
Shrimp: Great. How is she?
Legs: Holly or Dr. Beale?
Shrimp: [rolling eyes emoji] Holly
Legs: The same
Legs: Dr. Beale wanted to know if you could come by and help since Holly knows you.
Shrimp: Of course

Beca headed to the shelter. She went to the pet supply store beforehand to get the most comfortable pet bed she could buy. She walked into the shelter with the bed in hand. Stacie and Denise led her into Holly's room. Beca put down the new bed and Stacie lifted Holly onto it. Beca felt her heart drop when Holly crawled back into her corner. She felt so bad that the dog had likely been treated so badly by humans that she couldn't even enjoy a nice new bed.

Chloe walked in. "New bed?" she asked.

Beca replied, "Yeah. I got it for her, but I guess she's too scared."

"Poor puppy," said Chloe. "Okay, so I want Beca with me when we prep Holly for surgery. She and I brought her in and spent a ton of time with her yesterday. I'm sure she doesn't trust any of us, but I'm hoping that will change."

Once the exam room was ready, Chloe carried Holly into the room while Beca spoke softly to the dog. "Hey there, Holly. I'm sure that leg feels pretty rotten but Dr. Beale's going to fix it for you. Okay, sweetie?" Holly was still visibly shaking, and it broke everyone's heart.

They laid her on the operating table and the dog didn't even flinch when they started the IV's. Beca stayed right by her side, petting her and talking to her until the anesthesia kicked in and the dog fell asleep. Beca stayed back while Chloe operated.

"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Chloe. "The poor dog has a malformed leg. Even if I set the bones, she's never going to be able to walk on it. I wonder if she ever did. I'm going to have to amputate it."

Beca broke down in tears when hearing this. She was sure the vet was doing everything she could, but she knew this would make things even tougher on Holly. She looked around the room to see she wasn't alone. In fact, everyone except Chloe was crying, and she could see the vet had tears in her eyes. She took a deep breath and continued the surgery.

After a long time, Chloe deemed the surgery a success. "It's going to be tough, Holly, but you're going to get through this," she said to the still sleeping dog.

Beca had grown so attached to the dog that she found herself volunteering at the shelter daily. While she spent time with other animals, she spent as much time as possible trying to get through to Holly. She'd sit on the floor in Holly's room and just talk to her in quiet tones, always looking for any sign of improvement emotionally. Occasionally, the dog's ears would perk up at her name or the word "puppy", but things largely remained the same, day in and day out.

Chloe frequently came to the shelter. She and Beca would chat quietly in Holly's room, always glancing over for anything – a tail wag, a scoot closer to them, etc. Nothing seemed to happen beyond the occasional ear perk.

It was the last week of Beca's summer in Atlanta. She sat in Holly's room, as usual, trying to help the dog. Chloe had finally decided to prescribe some anti-anxiety medication in hopes of helping the dog relax. Holly no longer shook when Chloe examined her, but she still remained in her corner most of the day.

"Hi, Holly," said Beca. "It's my last week, so it would make me really happy if you gave me a little tail wag or something."

"Your last week?" said Chloe.

"Oh, I didn't hear you come in," said Beca. "Yeah, it's my last week. I've been staying with my dad for the summer, but I have to go back to Seattle with my mom while I'm in college."

"I didn't know that," said Chloe. The vet looked so crestfallen that Beca felt guilty for not telling her earlier.

"I guess it never came up," said Beca. "Okay, short version. I was born in Seattle. My parents split when I was ten, and my dad moved to Atlanta. I've spent summers with him ever since. Even though I'm eighteen now, I still came to spend the summer with him. I don't really see much of him otherwise, and I get to see Stacie when I'm here. We've been close ever since my dad moved here."

"Oh," said Chloe. "I'm really going to miss you."

"I'll be back next summer. I promise! And we can keep in touch. I'll give you my number and you can text me. Besides, I want to hear all about how Holly's doing. I bet she'll be adopted by next summer."

"I sure hope so," said Chloe.

Beca looked over at Holly and tapped Chloe's arm. "Look," she whispered. Holly had looked up at the two of them and begun to wag her tail.

Both women tried to suppress their extreme excitement. "Good girl, Holly," said Chloe, grabbing a treat out of her pocket and bringing it to her.

"That's all the going away present I need," said Beca. She gently pet the dog under the chin as her tail continued to thump away.

"So, did you get a kiss goodbye from the vet?" asked Stacie as she sat on Beca's bed.

"Why would I get one of those?" asked Beca as she packed her bags for the trip back to Seattle.

"You're so dumb," said Stacie. "It's obvious you like each other."

"Okay, I like her, but I don't think she likes me."

"She does. Have you seen the way she looks at you?"

Beca shrugged. "Nothing I can do about that now, whether or not you're right. I'm leaving for Seattle tomorrow."

"What did she say when you told her you were leaving?"

"She said she'd miss me."

"Did you at least get her number?"

"Yeah. I want to know how Holly is doing."

Stacie rolled her eyes. "You two are pathetic."

"I don't even know if she's single. And, as I said, I'm going back to Seattle."

Stacie shook her head. Beca pretended not to notice.