The Best Is Yet to Come (8)

Coming out of his office, Preston must have overheard their conversation. “Unfortunately, Cade’s right. I don’t know if the kind of mental damage Shadow’s suffered can ever be reversed.”

“I agree,” Cade said.

Just the way he spoke made Hope think he was referring to more than the issues with Shadow. It came to her that he was speaking about himself. No matter. Hope wasn’t willing to give up on Shadow without doing everything possible to give him a chance for a loving home. “I’d like to try going in his kennel. I’m confident after the work I’ve put in that Shadow won’t hurt me.” She tried to sound confident, although deep down she didn’t know if what she’d said was true. Nevertheless, she was willing to take the chance.

“Sorry, Hope,” Preston said. “I can’t allow you to take that chance. There’s no telling how Shadow will react.”

She sighed, certain there had to be a way. “Can we compromise?”

“What do you mean?”

“After everyone has left for the day, can we open his door and see what happens?”

“Not a good idea.” Preston sounded adamant.

“I’m willing to take the risk.”

“I’m not ready to let you. Let’s give Shadow another week. He’s getting stronger by the day, which is a good sign. But if he remains territorial and aggressive, then we won’t have any other option…”

“He doesn’t act that way toward me, and as Cade just said, Shadow waits for me to visit.”

Preston looked to Cade for confirmation.

“He does. I noticed it for the first time on Thursday when I was here. Shadow looked up every time the door opened. When Hope arrived, his demeanor changed, and he wagged his tail.”

“He did?” She hadn’t seen any response from Shadow to her visits. It encouraged her that Cade had noticed.

“I saw it myself.”

“That’s good,” Preston said, with an approving nod. “But he’s got to be accepting of more than Hope before we can make a decision about the next steps.”

“Next steps?” Hope asked, as dread filled her. She knew what Preston meant.

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” she hurried to add, before giving Preston an opportunity to respond.

“Give Hope more time to work with him,” Cade encouraged.

“Yes, please,” she added, grateful for Cade’s support.

“Another week,” Preston agreed. “We can assess Shadow then and make a decision after that.”

Cade left, and Preston remained. “Don’t get your hopes up,” he said. “We do the best we can to avoid euthanizing any of the animals. Sometimes we don’t have a choice. The fact that Shadow has been this badly mistreated and nearly starved to death isn’t a good indication he will ever be able to recover mentally. His spirit has been broken.”

“I disagree. He has spirit, I can see it in his eyes. I can feel it here.” She pressed her hand over her heart. “He deserves someone who will love him.”

“And who do you suppose that would be?” Preston asked. “As you can see, this shelter is full of animals without deep psychological problems. Shadow would never fit into a family with small children. It would be far too dangerous. Few people would risk adopting him.”

It was almost as if Preston had drawn a line in the sand. “I’ll take him,” Hope said, without taking time to consider the ramifications of what she’d said. If she could get Shadow to trust her enough to let her take him home, then she’d willingly adopt him.

Preston’s smile blossomed on his face. “That’s what I thought you’d say. This isn’t a pet, Hope, Shadow is a project. He’s going to need a lot of love and a lot of effort if you’re going to make this relationship work.”

“I know,” she said, agreeing with him. She was willing to do whatever was necessary. Shadow needed a home; he needed someone to believe in him. Someone patient who would care enough to overlook his physical and mental flaws.

As she looked past Shadow, her gaze found Cade as he walked a rescue Australian shepherd, his limp more pronounced than usual. Her gaze lingered, and she had the strongest impression that he, too, needed someone to believe in him.





Chapter 3




Cade stood before Judge Walters for his court-ordered ninety-day review. Once again, she’d left his hearing until the last of the day. Ms. Newman, his court-appointed attorney, had heard from the county clerk that the judge had marked her name on his case file. Cade wasn’t sure what that meant, other than she seemed to have taken a personal interest in him. Whether that was good or bad remained to be seen.

“I have the documentation before me that you’ve fulfilled the required physical therapy in addition to the counseling.”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

She looked up and held his gaze. “Has the physical therapy helped?”

Cade shook his head until he remembered he needed to respond verbally for the court reporter. “It’s doubtful.” The sessions were pure torture, and his attitude was bad. The only reason he continued was because the judge had made it understood that otherwise he’d be facing jail time.

“Walk for me,” she instructed. “Go all the way to the rear of the courtroom and back.”