Mimi's Daddy Ch. 03: Hotty Hero

The Hottie Hero Goes Viral

With the puppies clean and a cutie pie corgi adopted, the morning had proved productive. Thankfully, the rain had stopped. Both the Doc and Lucky were at the Animal hospital waiting on x-rays. When Carol carried Lucky out, Mimi could have sworn the dog was smiling at her. The pain meds had kicked in. Well, Lucky'd allowed her a brief pet on the way out, anyway.

Jen and Carl had things under control. With no need to reschedule the Boy Scouts dog walk now that the rain had stopped, she had time to sneak lunch with Tiny. Armed with a turkey sandwich and a bag of chips, Mimi headed to the kennels with excellent depressed dog treats in her pocket. Seeing Tiny at the gate, nose pressed between the bars with her ears perked, stopped Mimi in her tracks. As she got close, Tiny eased back a few steps.

"Do you hear the babies?" Mimi expected her to leap back when she opened the enclosure. Instead, faster than Mimi had ever seen her move, the chihuahua raced past her and headed toward the desk drawn by the sound of the puppies. Amused, Mimi followed. "Tiny, are you about to tell them what for?" She called to Jen, who was behind the desk with the pups and Nanny Fluff. "Open the gate for Tiny. Let's see what happens."

As if she owned the place, Tiny slipped through the gap. Jen said, "Well I'll be damned."

Pausing at the sight of Nanny Fluff with all the puppies, Tiny's tail gave an uncertain wag. Nanny Fluff responded in a friendly fashion, her feathery tail brushing across a puppy. Ignoring Jen, with her head held high, Tiny walked to a puppy and sniffed at him. Nanny Fluff made no complaints as the chihuahua greeted each puppy with a touch of her nose or a fond lick. As quietly as she could, Mimi stepped behind the desk, closed the gate, and dug into her paper bag for her sandwich. Nanny Fluff's ears perked, and she left the nest of puppies to investigate Mimi's lunch. Being a nanny was hard work. Mimi gave the good girl a bit of turkey. Shifting the puppies gently, Tiny placed herself in the center of the pile, smaller than all but the runt. Nosey brown foot nibbled her tail, and she responded with the benevolence of a queen.

Jen said, "Hmm, I didn't know she had a history that involved puppies. There wasn't any mention of it in her paperwork." Once Mimi settled into her office chair, Jen offered her half of a PBJ, and Mimi offered back half of her turkey sandwich. They shared lunches like school kids almost every day. Slipping the attentive Nanny Fluff a piece of turkey, Jen said, "Looks like we have two nannies now."

"These babies are being raised by a village."

Taking a big bite of the turkey sandwich, Jen nodded approval. "This is good."

"I made the mustard."

"Delish. Did I hear our hotty hero ask you out for coffee this morning? Or did I just hallucinate you saying no?"

"You know I don't date."

"I think five years of grieving your divorce should be enough. It's time to get back out there."

Mimi grimaced. "Once was enough for me. If I learned nothing else, I learned I am not made for relationships. All that movie hoopla is bunny poop."

"Is that why you don't talk about Wade?"

"What is there to talk about? He and I were friends who grew up together. We courted and married because our parents thought we would be happy together, but we weren't. I don't miss the marriage part at all, but sometimes I miss being his friend."

"Do you ever see him?"

"No, he moved to Nashville a few years ago. We haven't spoken since then. I avoid his folks when I see them at the Mega Mart."

Tiny didn't move at all as Nanny Fluff stepped back into place amongst the puppies. The sweet golden seemed to just include Tiny as a co-parent. With an enormous sigh, Tiny rested her chin on a puppy's back. "I wish we would have had a kid. That is my only regret. I wanted to be a mother.

"You are twenty-five. You could still have a kid."

"Nah. I'm not lucky like that. Wade and I tried for two years every month. Part of why we got divorced was because he wanted kids and I couldn't get pregnant."

Jen reached over, lifted Mimi's barbecue chip bag, ate one, and then turned the opening toward Mimi, who took a chip.

"I like my life, Jenny Penny. Marriage just isn't a fit for me."

"Well, free coffee and cake aren't exactly a marriage proposal."

"Who said it would be free? It's always seemed to me that guys get the better part of the relationship bargain."

Jen teased. "You could date a girl."

"And disappoint another gender? No thanks. No relationships for me, not on a boat, not with a goat. I do not like them, Jenny Jam. I do not like big guys like him."

Jen reached over and picked up the current romance novel Mimi had hidden under the desk shelf. "Big guys like this?"

"No comment." Mimi snatched the paperback out of her friend's hand and returned it to its spot under the ledge of the counter, causing Jen to laugh.

Tapping the computer monitor, Jen said, "I posted his picture and tagged his company on our social accounts." She fished Adam's card out from under the keyboard. "Want it back?" She waved it teasingly. "It has the number for the big guy you dislike on it."

Mimi took the business card out of her fingers. "I have to keep it. He will want an update on Lucky and the puppies. And it's not that I didn't like him. He seemed like a nice person." Tucking the card into her pocket, she added, "I just don't date."

Smirking, Jen wiped the chip dust off her hands before typing. "Admit it, he is pretty good-looking." When she pulled up their social media, both women's mouths dropped open. In four hours, they'd had 7000 likes and 34 shares.

"Holy moly," Mimi said.

Jen shook her head. "You said it. Hotty Hero is trending." Jen whistled. "Um... it's going to take a while to answer these."

"You linked to his business, right?"

"Absolutely." Grinning, Jen winked at her. "I bet they are getting some calls."

"Have you checked our messages? Maybe we got some calls too while we were bathing the puppies."

Turning pale, Jen said, "I forgot to set our system back to ring." Jen picked up the work phone and checked to see if they had missed a few calls. She put her head down on the desk and groaned. "I'm going to need help."

As Jen listened to the first message, Mimi pulled out the future adoptee folder. "We can add people to the list."

Her grin widened. Jen covered the mouthpiece of the phone. "You better call the Hero Hottie. He is leaving messages about the calls they are getting. People want updates. Heck yeah. I knew we would go viral one day." Content together, Tiny and Nanny watched them from the pile of snoring puppies.

Ignoring Jen's comment, Mimi gestured to the content puppers. "We might have a new office dog. Tiny seems to have found a reason to live."

The boy scout troop that did volunteer dog walking picked up a pile of eager dogs right on time. Dogs and boys would both return happy and stinky. Finally, having the front desk to herself for a moment, Mimi picked up the phone and dialed Adam's office.

An older woman answered a bit curtly, "Sander's Plumbing, this is Marge. What can I do for you today? And just in case you are calling about the dog, I haven't heard yet."

With a chuckle, Mimi said, "I can help with the second part. This is Mimi from the rescue. Lucky's leg is broken in two places, but there is no internal bleeding, and she will be just fine. She rejoins the puppies this evening."

"Oh thank Christ. We reposted your post about Adam with the dogs and things have gone nuts over here. Somebody called us from Canada. I'm having to find spaces in Adam's schedule to meet with the folks that might have additional work for us."

"That's great. We have gotten hits in our donation funnel, too."

"Oh, speaking of that. How would you feel about Sander's Plumbing giving you one of those giant oversized checks to cover Lucky and her family's medical bills? I'm not a social media guru, but it seems like it might be a good idea to keep this rolling."

"Does Adam want to do that?"

"Adam doesn't make every decision around here."

"Okay, sure. That would be great," Mimi said.

"We'd like to take another picture with Lucky in her cast. Will you be the one to accept the check?"

"Yes Mam, I manage this rescue."

"All right then. I'll text you the details when we get the big check printed. What is your number?"

Without thinking, Mimi rattled off her personal phone number.

"Great. When will you know what her medical costs will be?"

"Our vet will be back soon with Lucky. She will know, or at least have a good idea, what the final number will be."

"Let me know as soon as you can." There was a brief pause as the woman took a breath. "If you don't mind, I was thinking we should send a crew over to get a group picture with the puppies."

Mimi looked at her phone to check the time. "Can come after five. And can we post the content as well?" The Boy Scouts usually had the dogs back from their hikes before then.

"I expect you to. The guys will show up after their shift before you close. Will that work?"

"Of course."

Marge groaned into the phone. "The damn phones are still going off. I gotta get this, sugar. Email me the medical bills when you get them."

"Yes, Mam."

"Oh and Mimi."

"Yes, Mam."

"Adam came in today soaking wet and smiling. He doesn't smile very much. It was nice to see. Whatever you did, do it again when you see him. He is a nice boy."

The phone clicked, and the line went dead. Marge hadn't even waited for her to respond.

Rocking a puppy in her arms, Jen came around the corner. "What happened?"

"That guy's company is going to pay for Lucky and her family's medical bills."

"Outstanding. I still need to catch up with the private messages about the puppies and send responses about when they will be adoptable. The calls keep coming in. We are up to 7,130 likes now. If this keeps going, we might be able to upgrade some kennels. In one day, we have gotten more donations than we received last month, in total."

"We're lucky to get five likes on our posts."

"The vagaries of the Internet." Jen placed the milk-drunk puppy down into the pile and scooped up Brown Foot.

"They want to do a photo this afternoon with one of their crews and one later with Lucky in her cast and an oversized check. After five o'clock."

"Sounds like a great idea. Glad we got these puppies cleaned and free of fleas." She kissed the top of Brown Foot's head. "Oh wait, won't the Boy Scouts be bringing in the big dogs around then? They went all the way out to Winston Park today."

"Oh crap."

"I got this. Don't worry, boss."

***

In proper drill Sergeant form, Jen herded the dogs, boys, and men to the outside wall next to the shelter's sign. They lined up in a row. The contrast was fantastic. Five big guys holding tiny puppies, and five boy scouts with dogs almost as big as they were. Mimi, hands on her hips, watched proudly as Jen worked her magic. When she was still in high school, Jen would volunteer to come in when they were about to do an adoption fair and take unreasonably cute pictures of the animals in their care. She was studying finance in college now, but Mimi was pretty sure that photography was her true gift. The pictures were going to be fantastic.

When a warm male chuckle resonated behind her, Mimi turned to find Adam standing there, holding a small cardboard box with the word cupcakes on top. He said, "That's a good idea. Was it yours?"

Shaking her head, Mimi said, "That is Jen's magic in motion."

"Marge said that you were willing to do another picture after the check is printed. It should be here in two days."

Suddenly, the day felt warmer. Why was she sweating? As unobtrusively as she could, she tugged her neckline away from her skin. "Of course we are. It's a small recompense for your company covering Lucky's medical bills."

"It's nothing." He opened the paper box, drew out a cupcake, and offered it to her. "A thank you. These are from the coffee shop I mentioned this morning." Mimi wanted him to quit smiling. He was flustering her.

She took the cupcake from him to be polite. "Thank you."

"They are my favorite. I brought some for your staff."

After Mimi took a bite, she groaned with pleasure. Double vanilla cake with whipped chocolate icing. "Jen is going to need one of these."

With the camera pointed at them, Jen said, "You bet I will. As soon as I get an excellent shot."

The wicked woman had snuck up on them. With her fingertip, Mimi removed a bit of icing from her lip. "You didn't take a picture of me eating, did you?"

"Nope. Just one of you making cow eyes at the Hotty Hero."

Adam grimaced. "Please don't call me that."

Jen reached into the box and claimed a cupcake, as Carl was gathering the puppies. Jen waved at him. "You've got to try these."

Carl called back, "As soon as I get all these pups settled."

"I've got to help him." Mimi flashed a smile up at Adam. "Thank you again."

Fleeing his company and the strange way he made her feel, Mimi took another bite of the heavenly cupcake. She headed toward Gremlin, who was behaving very well for his young boy scout. No one knew what Gremlin was. The mix made him look fierce, but he was a gigantic cuddle bug. Extending her hand for his leash, she told the young man, "Very nice job. I'll take him in for you." The Boy Scouts walked this group of dogs together every week. Resisting every urge to look back at Adam, she headed into the shelter.