LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter Four

      “We’d like you to head up the Adopt-an-Animal program, Gavin.” Brodie glanced up from the sheet of notes he held in front of his breakfast plate. “It makes sense, with you already establishing a rapport with Dr. Calhoun.”

      Gavin had thought this morning’s staff planning breakfast would be like any other: going over the week’s activities, conveying issues concerning the children in their care and discussing current projects at Willow’s Haven.

      Which, of course, was what Brodie was doing now. Gavin simply hadn’t realized he was on today’s agenda.

      He swallowed the bite of scrambled eggs that had tasted good a moment ago but now moved past his throat in a thick lump.

      “I don’t know that I’ve established a good rapport, necessarily.” He didn’t want to let Brodie and Savvy down if they’d selected him to run the program, but there had to be some other program he could run instead.

      Unfortunately he couldn’t think of a decent alternative to recommend.

      Brodie grabbed a corner of toast and pointed it toward Gavin. “Now that you have those daily visits with Eli lined up, to take care of the puppy and all, we thought you might as well go ahead and meet with Dr. Calhoun about the program. Be her key point of contact for the activities and keep us aware of what she has planned for us at Willow’s Haven, as well as at the Cutter farm.”

      “She’d mentioned the kids going to the Cutter Ranch to hike and spend time with the horses there as part of the program,” Savvy added, “in addition to her bringing animals here for the children, and we think that’s a great idea.”

      Obviously they’d put a lot of thought into this and Gavin should be happy to lead one of the programs. As a matter of fact, at last week’s staff breakfast meeting, he’d asked for more responsibility at the children’s home.

      Now he was getting it.

      But that meant spending additional time with Haley Calhoun.

      “Sounds like a good idea to me,” Mark mumbled beside him. His grin said he didn’t mind Gavin’s discomfort with the notion.

      Gavin leaned toward his fellow counselor. “Did you tell them they should put me in charge of this?”

      Mark popped a couple of red grapes into his mouth, smiling as he chewed. “Not me—” he held up his hands, palms forward “—but it does seem like a good idea, given your good rapport with the pretty vet and all.”

      “I don’t have a good—”

      “Gavin? Can you do this for us?” Brodie said from the other end of the dining table, Savvy smiling reassuringly beside her husband.

      As reluctant as he was to team up with Haley, Gavin couldn’t deny that he wanted to do whatever he could to help them succeed in their goals for the kids.

      “I can,” he said at last.

      “Great.” Brodie popped the rest of the toast in his mouth, chewed and swallowed. “We talked to Haley about it this morning, and we’d like you to go meet with her. She said she would be available most of the day.”

      Not what Gavin wanted to hear, but since he had to see her later anyway... “I can speak with her when I take Eli to visit Buddy.”

      “She wanted to spend a bit more time with you than that, I think,” Savvy said. “She mentioned y’all deciding which animals to bring, setting up the groups of kids, scheduling dates for traveling to the Cutter Ranch and so on. We were hoping you could meet during the day, while the kids are at school, so y’all could have more time to iron out all the details.”

      More time with Haley Calhoun? Again, not what he wanted.

      “I can call her. We can discuss it over the phone, I’m sure,” he offered. When he watched Brodie and Savvy exchange a disappointed look at his suggestion, he added, “Or I could ride over there after we get done with this meeting.”

      Gavin knew that would be better, instead of him trying to cover the program information over the phone, but he wasn’t all that keen on more one-on-one time with Haley. Their brief interaction at the fire pit last night had left him more uncomfortable than he cared to admit. In fact, he’d awakened this morning thinking he should have turned around when he’d heard her crying.

      But he’d walked away.

      “That’d be great,” Brodie said, moving on to the next topic of discussion.

      * * *

      Haley gently pinched the skin behind Buddy’s neck between her thumb and forefinger and frowned as the tiny tuft stayed tented before gradually returning into place. She’d started him on a slow IV for fluid replacement therapy last night and had hoped for a better response by this morning.

      “Come on, little guy.” She tenderly stroked the brittle fur on his back. “Eli needs you to be okay.”

      Buddy squinted one eye to look at her, then closed it, as if he didn’t have the energy to respond. He hadn’t minded the IV, hadn’t squirmed when she’d checked his vitals, hadn’t done much of anything this morning.

      Which didn’t do a thing to alleviate Haley’s concerns.

      She’d even called Doc Sheridan to get his advice on how to handle the tiny puppy, and he’d concluded that she was doing everything he would’ve done. Which also didn’t sit well. She would have loved to have heard of something she’d forgotten, some minor detail that would cause Buddy to take a turn for the better, preferably before Eli came to visit.

      She

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