As if in agreement, Morgan stretched out across the patio in obvious contentment and let out a single woof that sent Gus back to the other side of the table with his toy.

Gabe chuckled. “You know what that is?”

“Disobedience?”

“Yeah, that, but I was going to go with having trust in oneself. He’s got zero doubt in the world he could kick that terrier’s ass, and no one’s going to tell him differently.”

Still laughing, Olivia nodded in agreement. “It only makes sense that he’s got some things to teach me too.”

Chapter 26

Olivia spent her free time over the following week and a half checking the websites of every middle school in drivable range of the shelter—the spot that was turning out to be the perfect location for both her and Gabe. Disheartening as it was, her search confirmed that for whatever reason, there was no shortage of math and science teachers this year. Upon applying to the handful of schools with open positions in the area, she learned each school had received upward of fifty or sixty applications. With numbers like that, it was no wonder she wasn’t being called for interviews.

A part of her wanted to give in to panic and shut down, but instead, she threw herself into ending the school year with the best effort she could give it, including organizing what was turning out to be a giant supply drive for the shelter. Her last-hour students were creating a buzz that was expanding through the school. With Principal Garcia’s consent, they’d hung posters, passed out flyers, advertised in the school newspaper, and publicized the drive twice over the intercom during morning announcements.

As a result, the back corner of her classroom was overflowing. Olivia was thankful they’d secured a full-size school bus to transport the kids and supplies to the shelter next week. Some of the items—towels, blankets, and dishcloths—required nothing more than a cleaning out of closets or a redirection of recycling—nonglossy newspaper for shredding for the shelter’s few rabbit cages—while others had required a financial investment.

Not for the first time, Olivia realized the financial difference of where she taught now, a top-rated magnet school that attracted some of the brightest kids in the city, from the continuously-struggling-for-funding school where she’d done her teacher training and the one where she’d taught near her hometown last semester that had been on the verge of closing its doors.