On Monday nights, the shelter was open late, which was good for Quinn since her dad often had a big deadline that kept him stuck in his office way past dinner. Mrs. Alvarez never minded if Quinn stayed until closing. She usually ordered a couple of pizzas for the staff, who were always happy to share with Quinn.

Quinn was sitting by the electric fireplace as she started painting an ornament with Paisley’s face on it. She glanced at her list. After Paisley came ornaments for Polka and Dot, and then she wanted to make one of Snowdrop for Eliza’s family, and of course one for Annabelle of her dog, Bumblebee. Quinn smiled as she remembered painting a brown version of Bumblebee on her very first ornament. So much had happened since then!

And then… after the last ornament for Annabelle… would Quinn be done? Orders continued trickling in, but the truth was that there were only four more days until Christmas. She had a feeling that demand for ornaments would dry up pretty suddenly once Christmas was over. And even though Quinn knew a part of her would miss the constant ornament painting, she was excited to start working on her sculpture make-up project over Christmas break.

Best of all, Quinn had almost enough money for her ticket to California! It had become a habit to check the flight costs on her phone every night before she went to bed. As soon as Annabelle knew about Quinn’s big surprise, they could pick a date. Dad would book her ticket, and then it was only a matter of time before she and Annabelle would be together again! Quinn had never been to California before, but she could imagine it: sunshine and palm trees and swimming pools and flowers blooming everywhere, all year round. But she didn’t need to use her imagination to know how incredible it would be to hang out with Annabelle once more!

“It’s so quiet here tonight,” Quinn said as she added some glittering yellow stars around Paisley’s profile.

“Maybe because the weekend was so busy,” Tommy said as he reached for another slice of pizza.

“Not only did we get seven applications for the kittens and their mama, we got applications for the puppies, too—all five of them!” added Mrs. Alvarez. “I really think the Twelve Pets of Christmas program has been a huge success—even if all twelve pets don’t find homes before Christmas, our overall adoption rate has been through the roof.”

“But it’s not over yet,” Quinn said. “There are still three more pets that need to find homes.” She counted them off on her fingers. “Tops and Tippy and Buddy.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Mrs. Alvarez said. “There’s still four days. Anything’s possible. But we should be realistic. For those dogs to be in new homes before Christmas, we’d need applications by tomorrow at the latest—and even then, it would be a stretch. We always knew that Tops and Tippy would be a challenging placement. It’s hard to find a home for two dogs at once, and even harder when one of them is as big as Tops.”

“But it’s Christmas!” Quinn insisted. “It’s the season of miracles. Anything can happen.”

“And maybe it will,” Mrs. Alvarez said, staring out at the parking lot as a car pulled in. Its headlights arced through the icy darkness. “Tommy—is that the couple who came in over the weekend?”

“I think so,” her son replied as he peered out the window, too. “They were here for a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon. They were interested in a dog, right?”

Buddy! Quinn thought hopefully as her heart started pounding. Could this be his chance at last?

She put down her paintbrush as a man and a woman walked through the door.

“Hi there,” Tommy said. “Good to see you again.”

“Are you closing?” the woman asked. “We tried to get here right after work.”

“It’s fine,” Mrs. Alvarez assured them. “How can we help you?”

The woman and man exchanged a gleeful smile.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” he said, “but I think we’d like to adopt two dogs.”

“The big one and the little one,” his wife added. “We just couldn’t stop thinking about them all weekend! I love that they’re so inseparable.”

“Kind of like us,” her husband replied, reaching for her hand.

“We want to make sure they stay together—forever,” the woman added. “Plus, they’re so funny! Great big Tops and tiny Tippy.”

“This is fantastic news!” said Mrs. Alvarez. “If you can just fill out these forms for me, I’ll call your references first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Can I spend some time with the dogs while Ted fills out the forms?” the woman asked.

“Sure,” Quinn said. “I’ll take you back to see them.”

“I still can’t believe we’re doing this,” the woman confided in Quinn. “We’ve never had two dogs before—just one at a time. And after our last dog, Sandy, died, we were so heartbroken that we thought we might never have another pet.”

Quinn smiled sympathetically. “It’s so hard,” she said. “We have a lot of clients who feel that way after they lose a pet. Mrs. Alvarez says that time heals, though.”

“I agree with that,” the woman said, nodding. “Even two months ago, we definitely weren’t ready. But now—we really are.”

Quinn opened the door to Tops and Tippy’s pen. “It’s more comfortable in the visiting room,” Quinn told the woman. “I’ll send your husband back when he finishes the application.”

“Thank you!” the woman said.

Quinn didn’t go straight back to the front desk, though. Instead, she stopped by Buddy’s pen. “Hey, Buddy,” she said.

Buddy was curled up in the corner again, staring at the wall, but his tail went thump-thump-thump when he heard Quinn’s voice. Charlie had visited that afternoon, but he’d been gone for a few hours. The change in Buddy was so dramatic, if Quinn hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she never would’ve believed it. When Charlie was there, Buddy was happy, joyful, filled with energy.

And when Charlie wasn’t there? Buddy was quiet. Lonely. Sad. Quinn tried not to dwell on what Christmas would be like for Buddy if he wasn’t adopted in the next couple of days. She knew that on Christmas Day, one of the workers would stop by to feed the animals and check on them—but otherwise, it would be a long and lonely day for Buddy. He wouldn’t understand it was a holiday. He’d probably wait all day long for Charlie to come visit. Maybe he would even wonder where Quinn was. The thought made tears spring to her eyes—and made her even more determined to find a family for Buddy.

“Don’t give up, Buddy,” Quinn said. “I still have hope. There’s still a chance!”