A Christmas Home: A Novel (3 page)

The foursome entered the crowded meeting room of City Hall. Todd’s boss at the shelter, Hayley Donaldson, had promised to save them seats near the back, where Christmas could rest out of the way before he went to work. The McCrays looked around but could not find Hayley, so they claimed four chairs at the back of the room and sat down.

Todd took the aisle seat and gave the command for Christmas to sit, out of the flow of traffic. He pulled an index card from his pocket with a list on it. Hayley loved lists. She was always giving him lists. Todd smiled to himself as he thought about the lists. He would often tease Hayley by greeting her with his hand extended. When
she looked at him quizzically, he would say, “Waiting for my list!”

Earlier that day she had written on an index card the things she wanted him and Christmas to do at the town hall meeting. At times it irritated Todd that she made so many lists telling him to do things he didn’t need her to tell him to do. When he complained about it to her, she just said, “I make lists for me, so what’s wrong with making them for you?”

Todd stuffed the index card back in his pocket, and as he did a funny thought caused him to laugh out loud. Tomorrow he would make a list and give it to Hayley. It would say, “Quit making lists!”

George looked up at his son wondering why he was chuckling. “What’s so amusing?”

Sometimes other people did not find the same things funny that Todd did, so he had slowly grown guarded about sharing his sense of humor—even with his mom and dad. He was afraid that it did not make him look smart. “I was just thinking about something at work.”

George smiled reassuringly, picking up on Todd’s reluctance to explain himself further. In fact, as someone who loved to laugh when he could, George very much enjoyed Todd’s sense of humor and didn’t care whether or not his son looked smart.

George returned his attention to the room. No one had bothered to plug the Christmas tree lights in on the mayor’s Christmas tree. Fake gift boxes had been haphazardly
spread about the base. All the faux gifts were wrapped in the same green paper, and most were ripped in several places. Many of the bows and ribbons had slipped off. George took one look at the pathetic tree, went over to the wall socket, and plugged in the lights. It looked only marginally better. He shrugged and returned to his seat between Todd and Mary Ann.

The McCrays spotted many familiar faces as more people began to stream into the increasingly crowded room; it seemed that most of the families they knew in Cherokee County were represented here tonight. This meeting had definitely captured everyone’s attention. While George said his hellos to friends and neighbors, Mary Ann turned around and glanced at the entrance to watch the people coming in. Then she caught sight of a scene unfolding in the small glass-walled conference room across from the main meeting hall. She nudged George. “Look out there,” she said softly.

Though they could not hear the conversation, it was obvious to the two of them that Hayley Donaldson was having a heated discussion with the mayor and the city manager. She was throwing her hands up in the air as if to say
What gives
? She was a tall, self-assured, and confident woman—fit and strong from handling dogs. “That looks bad,” George said quietly, while thinking to himself that he wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end in a heated exchange with that young lady.

Todd, oblivious to the scene, pulled Christmas close
to him and checked his pockets to make sure he had remembered the training treats. That was number four on Hayley’s list. He grinned again.

The door to the conference room flew open and Hayley stepped out into the hall that separated the smaller room from the main hall. She saw the McCray family in the last row and moved quickly toward them, greeting Todd and Christmas briefly before taking the seat next to Mary Ann, who sensed her distress the moment she saw her. “I’m so darn mad, I can’t talk,” she whispered to Mary Ann. She continued to glare out into space, and soon angry tears began to stream down her cheeks.

Mary Ann took her by the arm. “Hayley, what’s wrong?”

In high school Hayley had been one of Mary Ann’s favorite students, in every way a responsible and dedicated young woman. She had been one of the stars on the debate team and had never lost her composure easily. Mary Ann tended to remain protective of her former students. She tried again, “What happened? Tell me.”

“You’re not going to believe this. I can’t believe it.”

“What?” Mary Ann pleaded.

Hayley nodded her head in Todd’s direction and then leaned over to whisper in her favorite teacher’s ear, “They want to close the shelter. Like, now.”

“No!” Mary Ann gasped. She could not help her own reaction but didn’t want Todd to overhear. “Come with me,” she said, standing. Todd and George looked up as the two women stepped into the aisle. Mary Ann clutched Hayley’s
elbow and said, “Just a quick trip to the ladies’ room before this meeting starts.” George looked at Mary Ann and nodded, knowing full well that something else was going on.

Once in the hallway, struggling to keep her voice even, Mary Ann continued, “Why in the world would they do that?”

Hayley spoke softly and tried to sum up her conversation with the mayor. “As usual: it’s all about money. The county is no longer willing to fund its half of the shelter’s expenses. The town has its own money problems. Mayor McDaniel told me that they want us to close. We’re done.”

Mary Ann’s voice rose uncontrollably. “That’s impossible. Where will the dogs go?”

Several people milling in the hallway began to notice their conversation. Hayley led Mary Ann a few steps farther away from the meeting room and continued her explanation. “Mayor McDaniel may know something about real estate, but she doesn’t know squat about animal shelters. She must think that we can put fifty-plus dogs and cats on the corner and someone will just pick them up. I had to scream at her just so she would agree to let us stay open till the end of the year.”

“Why is the county backing out?” Mary Ann asked.

“The shelter needs lots of repairs. The roof, the plumbing, the heating, and the air-conditioning are all old.”

“So why can’t they just fix it?”

“They needed the money for other things, so they sold our building. We have to vacate by December 31. They
are going to demolish the shelter to make room for a convenience store! I’m just so mad I can’t stand it!”

Mary Ann looked toward the meeting room. “Does Todd know?”

“No. I just found out myself.”

“They gave you no warning?”

“A couple of months ago, and then again several weeks ago, the city manager told me that there were money problems and problems with our lease, too.” Hayley again started to choke on her words. “They never told me this could happen. I thought they would work it out. I just didn’t take the whole thing seriously.” She calmed herself. “I should have seen it coming.”

“But how could you have seen this coming?” Mary Ann asked.

“It’s happening to lots of shelters. Dogs can’t vote. That makes them an easy target for budget cuts. I didn’t think it could happen to us. Not in Crossing Trails. I thought we were different.”

“This is awful, Hayley. I’m so sorry.” While Mary Ann meant every word she said, her thoughts began turning closer to home. “What’s going to happen to those dogs?” she repeated. “Todd is going to be crushed.”

Hayley could hear the mayor and the city manager calling the meeting to order. “We better go back in.”

Mary Ann grabbed Hayley’s arm. “Wait. Are they going to announce this tonight?”

Hayley tried to reassure her. “No. I asked them to wait
until I could tell Todd, Doc Pelot, and our volunteers. They’re all going to be sick.”

“So what do we do?” Mary Ann asked.

“The mayor wants Todd and me to go ahead with our presentation. I suppose it’s more important than ever. Let’s get through tonight and tomorrow, and then we’ll try to figure this mess out.”

Mary Ann shook her head, and the two of them returned to their seats. After introducing her colleague, Mayor Annie McDaniel opened the floor for community announcements. A representative from the local retirement center described their annual holiday open house and choir performance,
Over the Hill, but Not Under It!

The high school principal, Mary Ann’s boss, talked next about a number of athletic events, including a trip to the state championship for the football team and a strong start to basketball season, encouraging local fans to come out and support the town’s young players at their upcoming games.

The mayor then turned to the more urgent business at hand. “I’m afraid the focus for tonight’s meeting is a difficult subject. As I’m sure you all know by now, Midwest Trailer and Hitch shut its doors in September, and we are certainly feeling the fallout around here. Many of our merchants are reporting slower holiday sales, and plenty of you are looking for employment and not finding it. The number of homes listed for sale has quadrupled, and you’ve
undoubtedly noticed the growing number of downtown storefronts with ‘For Rent’ signs posted. The town’s tax revenues are shrinking. My message tonight is that now, more than ever, we must pull together and not panic. To survive we have to make difficult choices and cut expenses. We are here to solicit ideas on how Crossing Trails might best respond to the closing of Midwest Trailer and Hitch. We also need to discuss spending cuts and how we can lessen their impact on our community. So let’s get started.”

A slight murmur ran through the audience. A man in overalls with a gray-and-white beard raised his hand and asked if there was any chance that the trailer company might reopen. The mayor supplied the easy answer. “No.”

Annie McDaniel’s mayoral position was unpaid, but she took it seriously. She saw this town hall meeting as an opportunity for using her leadership to rally the townspeople. She knew that things could go a couple of different ways. Her main worry was that a lot of scared people would expect her, or more generally the town, to fix problems that were in many ways outside the town’s scope of power. She wanted the meeting to go in a different direction. She wanted to give people the sense of hope that comes from doing and not demanding.

The mayor exhaled and decided to jump in with what she considered a well-calculated gamble. After picking up a folder from the podium and ignoring a number of raised hands, she cleared her throat and continued. “I’m
here tonight to ask you to help one another. I have made a list of services that the city will no longer be able to afford. This doesn’t mean these services aren’t important, or that we don’t care; it just means that we can no longer afford to offer them. I’m going to keep this list”—she held the list high in the air before continuing—“at City Hall. I hope each of you will come by and look it over.”

Mayor McDaniel tried to gauge her audience’s reaction. Seeing only a few scowls, she continued. “Let me give you an example. Starting January first, we will no longer be able to offer the transportation van for the elderly. Believe it or not, that alone is costing us over fifty thousand dollars a year. We need volunteers to take over this responsibility. The Wellness Center will keep a list of folks needing rides. If you have some elderly friends, neighbors, or relatives, I hope you’ll help them out.”

She looked at the shocked faces in the room and heard the grumbling commence. She knew it was going to get worse. She took a long breath and continued, “We have to cut the city payroll by twenty percent. To do this we have decided to institute an immediate hiring freeze. We are also planning to cut back the library’s operating hours and suspend most parks-and-recreation services, including the municipal pool and tennis courts. There are more programs that must be trimmed. We will be making these decisions shortly. It’s either make these cuts or go bankrupt; we have no choice.”

The mayor then located Hayley in the audience and
continued, “The animal shelter desperately needs our help and soon,” she said. Just by mentioning the shelter in the same breath as the other cuts, she knew that many residents would suspect that the shelter was on the chopping block. “Hayley Donaldson, I wonder if you would tell us about the shelter’s annual holiday adoption program, which is going to be even more urgent this year than ever.”

Hayley tried her best to keep her composure as she made her way to the front of the room. She stood next to the mayor and spoke into the microphone. “This year we have fifty-six cats and dogs that need families just like yours to put a roof over their heads. As the mayor said, this is an area where the community needs to accept and share responsibility. If you have the space for a dog or cat in your life, I hope you’ll come by and see us. Every year I’m amazed at the quality of our shelter guests. A common misconception is that our dogs and cats have been rejected by families and left at the shelter for a good reason. That’s rarely the case. Within two weeks after the trailer company closed their doors, we took in over thirty dogs and cats. Almost without exception these are great pets. I want to show you a fantastic rescue dog.”

On cue Todd McCray stood up. The audience traced Hayley’s line of sight back to Todd and shifted their attention to him. “A few years back, we had a very special guest living with us, and I thought you might like to meet him. Some of you already know this character, since he is pretty good at making friends.” She motioned with her hand.
“Todd, why don’t you bring Christmas up here and show him off?”

Todd stood up and trotted briskly to the front of the room with a leash in one hand and a folding chair in the other. Christmas seemed to enjoy being the center of attention. He followed Todd to the front of the meeting room. Hands reached out to pat him lovingly as he passed by. No one was a stranger to this dog.

When Todd and Christmas were positioned beside her, Hayley asked, “Todd, is it possible to get a good dog at an animal shelter?”

Todd spoke the words that Hayley had carefully scripted on his index card. “Yes, it is. Some of the very best dogs in the world live at our shelter.”

“Your family adopted this dog from us. Would you show us what he can do?”