It was almost two. Where was she?

He hadn’t contacted her yesterday because he didn’t want to seem overbearing. He wasn’t sure why she hadn’t contacted him. Nor was he sure what their new dynamic was supposed to look like. Everything had changed. Right? But how? He couldn’t guess her mindset. He didn’t know how to act with her or how to get rid of this underlying anxiety.

“Today’s social media captions aren’t upbeat enough,” Kat complained. “Your Instagram caption just says, ‘Good day to you,’ and on Facebook you wrote, ‘Best wishes.’”

“You know, Luke,” Trish interjected, “there are some lovely and inspiring Christmas poems out there that are so old they’re copyright free. You could quote lines from those in your captions.”

“If this job requires me to read and quote old Christmas poetry, I’ll have to quit.”

“Quitting might be for the best,” Kat said.

“No!” Trish laughed nervously. “She’s joking. We wouldn’t want that. Finley and the rest of us love having you here.”

Kat tsked. “I think even Finley can tell he’s not cut out for a career in animal rescue.”

“People I’ve never met can tell that I’m not cut out for a career in animal rescue,” Luke said.

“That’s not true,” Trish insisted. “You’re wonderful at this. So gifted.”

“He’s strong with technology, but his animal care skills are lacking, which is no surprise since he spent the last several years . . .” Kat appeared to think better of continuing.

“In prison,” he finished.

“Even Jesus Christ,” Trish said desperately, “was arrested—”

Finley glided into the room. “Hello, everyone.”

Immediately, every detail of his surroundings—other than her—dropped away. She wore the blue patterned robe-thing over a white shirt, leggings, and clogs. Her hair was very straight today, her eyes ocean bright as they met his.

A charge filled the air.

Trish was too clueless to notice, and Kat had the social awareness of a turtle.

“The meetings took longer than I expected,” she said as she crossed into her office, carrying her purse and a few file folders.

“Finley,” Kat called, “today Luke used ‘Good day to you’ and ‘Best wishes’ as social media captions.”

Finley reappeared in her doorway, this time without the folders and purse.

“I tried to tell him that’s not the Furry Tails way,” Kat said.

Finley looked at him warmly. “I’m fine with it.”

“Excuse me?”

“Luke’s doing such a great job overall—”

“I beg to differ,” Kat said.

“—that I’ll let the less-than-cheery social media captions slide just this once.”

Kat sniffed. “It’s never a good idea to lower standards.”

If Finley wanted to be with him, she was lowering her standards.

“Luke, can I borrow you for a bit?” Finley asked. “I’d like to inventory the supply room and could use an extra set of hands.”