Adam picked Brenna up the next day while her Blazer sat in the auto shop in town, and they arrived at the vet's at 3:00.
They sat in silence in the waiting room for a few minutes. Adam opened his mouth to say something and just then, the vet came out of the back room and motioned them in. A medium-sized dog with long gold fur lay on the steel table.
"She's pretty bruised all over, but should heal fine. We cleaned her up the best we could without hurting her. She looks like a golden retriever, but I would guess she's homeless, very underfed, no collar or microchip. Were you planning to adopt her?"
Adam and Brenna looked at each other. Brenna turned to the vet and said, "I hit her and I don't have a dog whereas Adam does, so I guess I'll take her."
"Are you sure? It's not a small responsibility. She'll need watching and we don't know her personality yet, if she's been abused or not. She seems sweet enough. Do you have much time at home?" the vet asked her.
"I'm home all day, believe me," Brenna said wryly.
After receiving instructions for her care, Adam and Brenna put the dog in the front seat with her head on Brenna's lap. Adam drove home carefully and carried the dog into the parlor, laying her on the carpet before the hearth. The cats looked at her as if she had arrived from Mars and lit out for the back door.
"Well, now you know their opinion," Adam grinned. "Got a name for her?"
"That I do have, dog food I don't. I'm going to name her Zoe. It means life."
Adam nodded. "Appropriate. I brought some of Max's food just in case. I'll go get it."
Brenna started a fire to take the chill off the damp day while the dog lay still and watched her warily. Brenna smiled. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you." Dumb statement, I already hurt her.
"What?" Adam asked, coming into the parlor with a bowl of food.
"Oh, I was just talking to the dog."
Adam set the food by Zoe's nose and she sniffed it, but laid her head back down, rolling her eyes uncertainly at them.
"She'll probably eat later. I've got to get going; someone's covering this part of my shift for me," he said.
"You took off time from work for this? You didn't have to do that. We could've gotten a taxi...or something." Did they even have a taxi here?
"Hey, it's no problem. The guy owed me one." Adam gave the dog one last pat and rose to his feet. "I'll see myself out. See ya later."
"Okay. Thanks." She heard the screen door slam on her words and the truck motor rev up. He was sure in a hurry for someone who said 'it wasn't a problem'. She sighed and turned her attention back to Zoe.
Adam sped north on the highway. It had actually been harder to get time off than he'd let on and he didn't want to be later than necessary. But who would've brought them home otherwise? There was no taxi in their little town. Besides, he'd already figured out this morning that Brenna would bring that dog home and would need a bit of help. He smiled as he remembered her tromping through the slough in the rain, hair plastered to her face, flashlight sweeping from side to side, bound and determined to find that dog. She was a born rescuer whether she wanted to be or not.