Part 6
The proposed celebration had sponsors, a local television crew, a children’s choir, and a banner large enough to cover the library’s front windows. Erin’s first instinct was to refuse.
With Erin’s permission, the library newsletter had shared one archive photograph of Gus and Marian. Former Paws to Read families responded with their own memories, and the board began planning on a scale no one had originally proposed. Louise explained that the event could raise money for the therapy-dog organization and replenish the shelter’s senior-dog fund, which had paid for Gus’s dental care. A regional pet-food company offered to match donations if Gus appeared in its photographs.
The behavior evaluator had cleared Gus only for brief, quiet visits. He still seemed to enjoy listening to a child read, but after twenty minutes he needed rest and a clear way out. Returning as a therapy dog would require a long settling period, handler education for Erin, and a new team evaluation.
Erin signed the adoption papers in late January, sixty-five days after Gus came home. The shelter had extended the initial thirty-day placement through his dental surgery and final recheck. At the line marked Animal’s Name, Erin wrote Gus. Eli watched the pen.
“No middle name?” she asked.
“He already knows the one he has.”
Because the donor fund had covered so much of Gus’s care, Erin wanted to help replenish it. She agreed to a short appearance at the celebration. Gus would walk in, lie on his old library rug, and listen while Eli read one page. No one would touch him without permission.
“We can do one page,” she told Eli.
He picked at a loose thread on the sofa. “Will everybody watch?”
“Only for a minute.”
They would practice. He could choose the page. She would stand nearby.
On the morning of the event, they entered through the library’s side door ten minutes before the agreed eleven o’clock reading. The children’s room no longer looked like the room in Louise’s photographs. Folding chairs filled every open space. A portable stage covered the blue rug. Cables snaked across the floor beneath strips of silver tape. The banner smelled of fresh vinyl. A green Paws to Read bandanna made for the celebration was clipped to Gus’s harness.
Gus stopped in the doorway. His mouth closed, and the muscles beside his eyes tightened.
“We’ll give him a minute,” Erin said.
Owen was working at the audio table. He stepped away as they passed.
“The TV producer asked to use the beginning of my video,” he said. “The part before Animal Services got there.”
Erin looked at him. “What did you tell them?”
“No. They can use the library pictures.”
Before Erin could answer, a production assistant hurried over with a wireless microphone. Behind her, a cameraman tested a light. The sudden white flare struck the wall.
Gus backed into Eli, and Erin moved between the dog and the room. “No lights.”
“Just a test,” the assistant said. “We’re not live.”
The library board chair approached with a schedule in hand. “We’ve added a presentation from the mayor. It pushes the reading to eleven twenty, and the sponsor’s check-presentation photo is scheduled for eleven.”
“He’s only supposed to be here twenty minutes.”
“We’ll keep it efficient.”
People continued entering. The choir director lined children against one wall. Someone rolled a cart of metal music stands across the tile. Gus began panting though the room was cool.
Eli had taken out his book, but he held it closed. Erin knelt beside him. “We can go to Louise’s office until they’re ready.”
“He doesn’t want to do this.”
“He may settle once it’s quieter.”
“When is it going to be quieter?”
Eli shut the book. “I’m not reading in there. He waited when I got stuck. We can wait too.”
Gus pressed his shoulder against Eli’s shins. Erin unclipped the green bandanna from his harness and stood.
“We’re leaving,” she told the board chair.
The woman’s face fell. “Erin, people are already here.”
“Gus is already over his limit.”
“The sponsor is expecting him in the photograph.”
“He won’t be in it.”
Louise reached them and opened the side door. Outside, Gus shook from nose to tail, then leaned against Erin’s leg. Eli sat on the curb beside him without opening his book.
The celebration continued without them, using archive photographs instead of Owen’s video.
Three days later, Erin returned to the library board with the evaluator’s written conditions. Gus would live with the family for at least a full year before any library work. Erin could complete her handler education during that year, but afterward she and Gus would still have to pass a team evaluation and register together.
If they qualified, the library could run a six-week pilot: four children at a time, no more than twenty minutes, no stage, no audience, no press, nonslip mats, a clear exit, and Gus free to leave at any time. A registered backup team would be present from the first session.
“That’s barely an event,” one board member said.
“Correct,” Erin replied. “It’s a reading program…”
To read the rest of the story – CLICK the NEXT button 👇👇👇