Untrusting (Troubled) (14 page)

“I can’t afford that.  Miss
Lili, I told Steve I couldn’t afford the land or the buildings.”

“He told me, but the land belongs
to me and my lawyers have drawn up the papers for our partnership on the land
for the boardin’ kennels.  The mayor has papers for the animal
shelter.  It’s all worked out, politically and legally.  Once ya sign
the papers, you’ll be the brains and muscle behind it.”

“But, Miss Lili, I don’t understand
how it’ll work.”

“It’ll all be explained Wednesday
afternoon.  You and Maria have two appointments then, but you’ll have all
the information tomorrow afternoon.  Both of ya have to okay it, so both
of ya need to read it carefully.  Now ya have people to see at the clinic
and I have to check the other booths.  I’ll see ya at the dance when
you’re finished.”  She escorts me to my truck then goes off to finish the
carnival.

People are waiting at the
office.  I open the door and take them back to the kennels.  I let
mama out and the puppies crawl out and over the floor.  People are looking
at mama and the puppies.  They want to see the puppies in about a month
before they decide which one they want, but they want a puppy.  I take
their names and phone numbers and agree to let them all know when the puppies
are ready to take home.  An elderly woman with her daughter wants to know
when mama can go home with them.  I tell them as soon as the puppies are
weaned and have been adopted I’ll call them.  Mama took to the ladies so I
agree to visitations with mama.  They play with the puppies for a while then I
ask them to leave so the dogs can get some rest.  Mama and puppies settle
down.

 I’m locking up when Steve
comes busting through the door.  He grabs me saying they have to leave,
but he couldn’t go without seeing me.  He’s holding me tight against him
and I’m wound around his neck.  “Can I kiss you?  It might take a
while but I want to, have to.”  I don’t wait for him to kiss me.  I
kiss him with everything that’s in me.  There’re sounds coming from us
when he backs me against the wall and takes me further into the kiss. 
He’s tight against me and I can feel his need and mine.  I experience affection
and caring through the kiss.  I feel, through his hands on me, the fire
that’s burning at us and is covering us, its smoke clouding our judgment. 
I don’t know how long we were like that, but Bob comes in saying they have to
go and tugging on Steve’s shoulder to back him off so they can leave.  As
Bob’s leading Steve out of the door he says, “She’ll be here when we get back
and we’ll all have quite a reunion.  Sher and Maria will have to put the
volunteers on alert, we’ll burn the place down, but there’s no time now. 
‘Bye, take of Maria and Shay for me and yourself for Steve, okay?”  I nod
because I can’t speak and Steve is still as stunned as I am.  The door
shuts, then the truck doors shut and the truck drive away.  I stand there
for a few minutes then sink into the chair beside me.

A while later, I come to my senses
from the kiss and the grief and realize Maria must be just as devastated. 
I grab my purse and go to Maria’s.  We cry and talk ‘til we’re
exhausted.  We talk about the sense of loss we feel, even if it is for
only a few weeks.  We, finally, talk our way around to how we are adults
and can make it through the time without falling apart.  By that time
we’re drinking ice tea to cure our dry throats.  We wind down and I leave. 
I go back to the office to let mama and José out then go home.

Mom’s waiting for me when I get
home, it’s almost one in the morning, and I’m hungry.  Mom and I are
talking while I rummage through my refrigerator for some leftover.  What I
find is I need to clean out my refrigerator.  Mom takes me over to her
kitchen and takes out ice cream, dishes up two bowls, puts hot fudge, whip
cream and pecans over it.  We sit there ‘til we eat the whole bowl and
talk.  Before we finish cleaning the dishes up, Mom decides I’m in love
with Steve and Maria’s in love with Bob.  I ask her how she can come to
that conclusion when Maria and I aren’t sure about it.  She says something
very profound, ”That’s how.  You and Maria have all the symptoms, yet ya
don’t know.  You two have always second guessed everything instead of just
lettin’ it be.”

I look at her as if she’s crazy,
“How can a person be in love and not know it?’

“Sometimes, you have to be still
for things to become clear.  And sometimes clarity charges ya, unseen,
leavin’ ya stunned ‘til ya get still enough for it to become visible.” 
She’s smiling at me.  “I can see you’re confused, but it’ll be clear when
ya finally realize what ya have yet to see.”

“Mom, I love you, but you’re
speakin’ in Shakespearean, and I never totally understood that language. 
I’m goin’ to bed, it’s going to be a short night.”  I hug her and thank
her for the ten pounds, slapping my butt, as I leave the kitchen, and go home
for a shower and bed.

I’m not rested and ready to go
today, so it doesn’t feel right.  Thank goodness, the carnival is over and
I’m down to nine dogs.  I still have to let José and mama out three or
four times a day, but she’s one for now and in a few weeks there’ll be seven. 
That’ll be a picnic, a walk in the park, a pleasure, after forty eight. 
It’s going to be quiet in the office today with ‘em all gone.  I gotta go
or I’ll be late.

We have three appointments this
morning.  Maria’s wondering who we’re going to find to make the poster for
us.  We’ll find someone, or Miss Lili will.  She seems to have all
the contacts anybody could ever want or need.  Maria laughs and I chuckle,
the first I’ve heard for what seems like a long time.  The appointments
come and go and Miss Lili breezes in with lunch and some paperwork.

The quiet in the office is ambushed
and shot dead with Miss Lili’s excitement.  She shows us the paperwork she
brought with her.  It’s a life time lease of the land behind the clinic
with the city.  It’ll cost one dollar a month and will be run by Maria and
me and funded by grants, as needed, which the mayor will arrange through city
politics.  It’ll actually be the city’s shelter, but they want qualified
people to be administrators and that’s me and Maria.  Maria’s looking at
me like this is crazy.  I can only shrug.  For our efforts, I will
receive five hundred dollars a month and Maria will receive four hundred a
month.  The difference in pay is because I’ll be the City Veterinarian, in
title, and Maria will be my assistant.  The pay is small because it’s not
a full time job.  There will be people to clean the kennels and the yard,
we oversee the animals and do any paperwork or owner searches.  The city
will see to any fines or fees, but we’ll have the authority to issue tickets as
we deem necessary.

As for the boarding kennels, that’s
a partnership between Miss Lili, me and Maria.  The three of us in a
partnership, Maria and I are staggered by the implications.  We’ll split
any profits after expenses and a percentage is put into a fund for upkeep and
expansion.  This is strictly our venture.  The clinic will remain my
business and we’ll be paid to administer the animal shelter.  Now all we
need to do is figure out the best layout for the kennels, what their needs will
be and the best materials to use.

“So what’da ya think?”  Miss
Lili is excited and thinks we should be, too.

I look at Maria who’s overwhelmed
and speechless.  “Miss Lili, can we have some time to talk about it?”

“Of course, but I wanted to lay it
out for ya.  You may want a lawyer to check out the paperwork, too. 
Ya don’t want the fine print to get ya in trouble.  Now what do we need to
do about the newsletter?” and the subject’s changed.

We talk about the newsletter and
the posters.  Miss Lili has a student in mind for the posters ‘til Bob and
Steve get back.  Maria and I bear up under that statement, but Miss Lili
doesn’t.  “The house is so empty with them gone.  I miss them so
much.”

“Miss Lili, don’t forget you’ll
have José and Chief with you now,” I say.

“That reminds me, Chief’s actin’
sickly today.  Can you come over to check on him, or should I bring him
here?”

“We’ll get him and check him
out.  He needs an x-ray to check his rib, anyway.  You wanna go
now?”  Miss Lili’s ready to go.

After we get Chief and x-ray him,
we stay at the office working on the newsletter.  At closing time, I put
Miss Lili, both dogs and the tricycle in the truck and take them home. 
Chief’s rib is almost healed.  Since he perked up around company, I
believe he’s just missing Steve and Bob.  Miss Lili invited Maria, Shay
and me to supper.  We three women cooked in Miss Lili’s kitchen, turning
out a delicious mac and cheese and hot dogs.  Miss Lili complained about
not being able to cook for just one person, so I agreed to come to supper every
weeknight.  It’ll help us keep an eye on her while the guys are gone.

Maria left after the kitchen was
cleaned up, to put Shay to bed.  I have to leave soon after that to let
mama out.  I drop by Maria’s afterward.  We need to discuss Miss Lili
and how to keep her from being lonely ‘til the guys get back.  We decide,
after an hour of talking, we didn’t know enough about her normal routine to
make any decisions about how to help her.  We decide I’ll talk to Mom,
maybe, she’ll have some suggestions.  I head home and over to Mom’s.

She doesn’t know much about Miss
Lili’s routine, either, but she thinks it’s the fact that she’ll be home with
no distractions that bother her, other than missing the boys…boredom. 
Once Mom said that, I could relate.  I can probably find something for
Miss Lili to do, heaven knows, I have the list of clubs and activities for the
whole town.  Mom smiles, “Why are you so concerned about Miss Lili?” 
That’s when I bring up the events of the day.

Mom’s a bit surprised about the
speed Miss Lili has accomplished all this.  She thinks it’s a good idea,
but she’s not sure about some of the particulars.  Like: Why does Miss
Lili want to be partners with me and Maria; what the rush is; and why is the
Mayor suddenly interested in the city having an animal shelter?  Is there
a need for an animal shelter?  It’s never been mentioned at the town
meetings before.

She’s right.  I need to talk
to the Mayor—tomorrow.

I say good night to Mom and go home
for a shower and to bed.  I miss seeing Steve today.

This morning, Maria and I talk
about Miss Lili and what happened yesterday.  I tell Maria I want to talk
to Mayor Cal today, without Miss Lili knowing it.  She calls to make
arrangements for me to see the mayor.  I can see him right after my first
appointment.

“Sheralyn Dycus, to see Mayor Cal.” 
I tell the secretary and she announces me.

The mayor greets me
pleasantly.  After forty five minutes, I think he was glad to see me
leave, I return to the office to talk to Maria.  “Well, Mayor Cal was very
informative.  Seems this will be the only animal shelter in fifty miles
and the grant possibilities are huge.  The SPCA, the county, the state and
the Federal Government offers grants and will back the need for a shelter in
this region.  The fact that a Veterinarian will be the main administrator
is a plus for all of those entities.  The town will be on the map and
there are other services the town might qualify for, that has nothin’ to do
with stray animals, if the shelter becomes a reality.  It’ll bring money
into the town and, possibly,’ other state offering’s for the citizens of
Granite Bluff.’  He says the accident with the dogs has brought attention
to the town and the town council wants to take advantage of the bit of
notoriety we’ve gotten, to accomplish a few things.”

“We need to talk to an attorney
about the contracts and consider it, carefully, before doin’ these
things.  Can you call around for an attorney to look over the paperwork
for us?  We’ll need to have the information as soon as possible. 
Mayor Cal needs our agreement to work for the city in the next few days.” 
I stop pacing and sit down.  Maria’s looking at me like she doesn’t know
me.  “I hope an attorney can explain it better to us than I did, but it
sounds like if we don’t do this, the town could be goin’ into harder times, especially
the poorer of us.”  Maria nods and has the phone book out as my next
appointment comes in.

After my appointment leaves, Maria
says Larry Sims is coming over to look at the contracts.  “He’s already
heard about them, if that means anything.”  I’m not surprised, this is a
small town.  The grapevine works faster than a flash flood.

Larry arrives half an hour later,
just after my next appointment.  I’m in the exam room for half an hour
while Larry reads over the contracts.  It’s my last appointment for the
day.  When he’s through, I tell him what Mayor Cal told me.  “Well,
Sher, Maria, the contracts are standard contracts for what they
represent.  I can see where an upgrade like an animal shelter could bring
attention in the form of services and revenue into town.  The construction
of these facilities will bring work to the town and your finances will increase
from all of it.  The town will be payin’ the life lease to Miss
Lili.  You’ll be receivin’ a monthly salary for taking care of the animal
shelter, whether there’s anything to do other than pay the bills or not. 
Your duties will be just like you did for the accident dogs, when there are
duties.  Of course, any medication you need to use will be
compensated.  It’s a simple hirin’ contract.”

He continues; “The partnership with
Miss Lili leaves her share of the partnership to the two of ya upon her
demise.  In return you take care of the animal resort, name of the resort
to be determined at a later date, and share in the profits on a quarterly basis. 
I don’t know how profitable that will be in this small of a town.  The
three of ya will equally share the paperwork and any expenses after the
maintenance percentage of thirty percent is taken out.  I assume Miss Lili
needs the tax break, which explains her takin’ the construction costs on
herself.  When she passes, the two of ya will own the whole business,
buildin’s and land.  With this type of partnership the ownership will
simply pass to ya and since the land is included in the partnership, there
maybe property taxes, but no inheritance tax, as long as the business exists
and the two of you own it.  That’s not always the case, but it’s written
so that will happen.  A loophole in the law of partnership.  Anything
else ya want to know?”