She threw off her covers and padded over to the window, opening the curtains to take in the quiet streets below, only a handful of people milling about. Right, it’s Christmas. Holidays were difficult for her as they reminded her of how alone she was, especially this year. Typically, she’d attend her family’s formal dinner out of obligation, but she hadn’t heard from or talked to her mother since the night of Douglas’s party and she wasn’t about to start now.

Thinking about spending the day holed up in her condo filled her with dread. It was in the quiet moments that she missed Reagan the most. Her mind would go into overdrive and she’d replay everything that had happened from the very first day they met. The unpleasant memories overshadowed the happy ones, leaving her in a perpetually shitty mood.

She needed to do something, get moving and keep her mind occupied. Normally, work would fill that role, but for the first time she didn’t want it to. Work had dominated her life and ultimately it was responsible for this situation. No, she needed something more fulfilling.

Furry faces flashed in her mind, and after a change of clothes and a cup of coffee, she found herself pulling into the parking lot of Happy Tails. She parked next to Stacey’s truck and hoped she’d let her in. Stacey didn’t answer with the first series of knocks so she waited a minute and tried again.

Stacey opened the door with a furrowed brow. “Jill, what are you doing here?”

Jill rubbed the back of her neck with her hand. “I was wondering if I could help out today?”

Stacey waved Jill inside and reached behind the front desk for a clipboard. “Not a Christmas fan?”

“Something like that,” Jill mumbled.

“Well, join the club. Here’s the list of everything I wanted to get done today. It’ll be nice to have someone else chip in.”

Jill took the clipboard and scanned the list. “I’ll take the first three tasks for now.”

Stacey made a note on the paper. “You know where everything is, but if you need something, just let me know.”

“Thanks.” Jill cleared her throat and wrung her hands for a moment before asking, “Did Haley get adopted?”

“Haley? Which one? We’ve had a couple recently.”

“Black and white pit lab mix. I walked her a few months ago.”

Stacey nodded and went to her computer. After a minute, she said, “Yeah, on September thirtieth.”

Her heart dropped a bit and she held back a sigh. Add Haley to the list of things I’ve lost. “Oh, okay. That’s great,” she replied, trying to sound cheerful. “She was a good one. Well, I’ll get started then.”