Page 174 of Before We're More Than Friends
On Sunday, I was still worn out from yesterday’s band practice. The soup Mom and Nonno had made for dinner didn’t help with my sleepiness either. Still, I had business to do. Gracelynn had agreed to come over after dinner, but I needed to get through our morning band practice and volunteering at the shelter first.
Our band practice consisted of rehearsing the song and making tweaks to some of the melodies. It seemed like I wasn’t the only one tired from yesterday, but we gave it our all. I couldn’t help but give Dallas flirty looks as we sang, emotion bursting in my chest.
When I arrived at the animal shelter after lunch, I stopped by Leanne’s office. I opened the door to see her grinning while doing computer work, her nails making a nice symphony on the keyboard.
“Good afternoon,” I said, realizing she hadn’t noticed I was in here.
“Oh, sorry.” Leanne looked up at me with sparkling eyes. “Good afternoon, Raina. I haven’t seen you since Monday. I’m sorry about what happened with your mom.”
“Thank you. It was horrible.” I sat in front of her desk, noticing a lot of her pictures were back up on the walls. “But things have been getting better. And Dallas told me that things also are getting better with you.”
“Slowly but surely.” Her gaze went back to her computer. “I’m just filling in some information for Moonlight and Sunshine after giving them check-ups today.” Her smile turned into a cheeky grin. “Moonlight has some stuff coming up.”
My heart jolted. “Oh my gosh, is she getting adopted?”
“Yes!” Her smile widened. “A family of four is adopting her. They’re going to pick her up on Saturday.”
“That’s great!” I fought the urge to jump around the office and squeal. “Is Sunshine getting adopted, too?”
Leanne’s smile fell. “Still nothing for her.”
My heart sank. “She’s getting separated from her sister?”
“I guess the new owners didn’t think about that.” Leanne let out a dramatic sigh. “But I’m still hopeful that Sunshine will find her new home. There’s someone out there for her.”
“Me too.” Dallas and Sunshine had been so happy to see each other yesterday. We’d played with so many cats, and I’d never seen him connect to one like he connected with her.
And that was when the idea hit me like a truck.
“Oh my gosh,” I said out loud, resisting the urge to jump out of my seat again.
“What?” Leanne asked, her eyes widening. “What’s wrong?”
“D-Does your husband still not want any more pets?” I asked her.
“Why?” She blinked. “You want us to adopt Sunshine?”
I grinned, my blood humming. “Maybe something like that.”
Leanne bit her lip, lost in thought for a few pulse-pounding moments. Finally, she grinned back and said, “That’s not a bad idea.” She picked up her phone and started typing. “Let me see what I can do.”
This time, I did squeal. “Thank you so much. I really hope this goes well.”
“Me too.” She put her phone down. “I have a feeling it’s going to be a great weekend.”
“It will,” I agreed, though I couldn’t help but notice the cheeky glint in her eyes that made me think I was missing something. I pushed the thought away and said, “It really will be.”
For tonight’s dinner, Mom and Nonno made homemade pizza. From the way they kept exchanging looks as they prepared the table, I knew that another big was on the horizon. It was crazy to think that weeks ago, making dinner and having it together would be an occasion. Now it was part of our daily routine.
As soon as Mom finished praying for our food in Italian, I couldn’t keep my thoughts to myself any longer. “Just tell us what you’re thinking,” I said before blowing the steam off my pizza.
“You know us so well,” Nonno said with a smile. It nearly rocked me how much he and Mom looked alike, especially sitting next to each other. The same chocolate brown eyes, the same high cheekbones, the same grin. I was convinced she had none of Nonna’s genes.
“Your nonno and I have been discussing what we can do to help me with my problem,” Mom said, holding Nonno’s hand underneath the table.
Arielle and I exchanged a concerned look.
“And I decided that . . .” Mom swallowed, her gaze returning to Nonno, who nodded at her. “I think I need to go to a rehab center. And stay there.”
