Although Dan told himself he did not expect it, he felt increasing twinges of disappointment when Trek did not call or even text that he’d made it home or wherever he had gone. How was the Fury? How was Commando? Did Trek miss Dan even a little bit?
Several weeks passed, and he still had a long ways to go if he was going to forget that incredible interlude. At least he now had Jovita. The day Trek left he had gone to the shelter. For some reason he went first to the area where the female dogs were housed. No, he told the young woman who was on duty, he really did not want a Pit Bull even though they were often harder to get adopted. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for, really. Maybe he’d know when he saw it.
He did. This dog sat in the last cage, crouched low and looking anxious. Her ears drooped, but her tail gave a tiny twitch and then another as Dan drew close. She was a mottled color, mostly black and white mixed to make a tweedy pattern with a few solid black spots and some tan on her legs and face. She had pointed ears. When he spoke, they came up, giving her face a foxy look. The tail moved faster, wider.
“Little gal, I think you’re going to go home with me.”
He paid the fee and learned the shelter called her simply “mixed breed, female.” He could see a lot of Blue Heeler in her, but there was clearly a bit of something else too, maybe hound. The young woman said she was about a year old and had been spayed. She went on to explain that since she’d been there over a week, they’d begun to worry about her although they tried to keep a no-kill operation unless they got seriously overcrowded. Even then they sent dogs elsewhere when they could. Still, this little gal had been timid and often turned her back when people came in. No one wanted a dejected, standoffish dog.
None of that bothered Dan a bit. She’d looked as woebegone as he felt. Dan took her home that day and puzzled over a name. Then he remembered a little girl he’d taken out of an abusive, drug-using home a few months back and delivered to Child Protective Services. He taken time to check and learn she’d been placed in a good foster home and was safely out of the bad environment. The name she had given him was Jovita. That odd moniker seemed to fit this dog. She responded to it almost at once.
Jovita quickly warmed to Dan and bonded with him. Whenever he was home, she’d be right there, at his feet or by his side, snuggling as close as he’d allow and watching him with bright but gentle eyes. Other than that one joy, life had fallen into a dull, depressing kind of rut. Get up and go to work, come home to do the few essential chores around the house, and then sit most of his time off, staring blankly at the TV or playing music he hardly heard just to run off the deadly silence.
He was existing, but could hardly call it living. He cussed himself for letting Trek make such inroads into his life, yet when he thought about it, he could find no way he might have prevented it from happening. Some things were as inevitable as death and taxes. Maybe falling in love was one of them.
Finally acknowledging there was no point in fighting it, Dan let himself dwell on the memories more, recalling the fun times they had shared, Trek’s almost child-like enthusiasm for new and odd things, and his quick and quirky sense of humor. I’ll never find anyone else like him, for sure. Why am I so far from even a poor copy of cool and interesting?
* * * *
Jovita’s sharp bark jerked Dan from a doze. He’d just come home from an unexpected day shift because he’d had to testify in a trial. Now he had some extra hours off to transition back to the graveyard shift. It was no treat. It only meant more time to get through—somehow.
What’s the matter with her? She knows most of the neighbors now and seldom barks at them. Maybe there’s a salesman or something. He stumbled to his feet and headed toward the carport door in the kitchen. He’d gotten a pet weight screen put on the outer door to be sure Jovita stayed safely inside. It was much heavier than normal screen and dark, making it hard to see outside.
The first thing he saw was a strange vehicle which had parked beside his truck. Some kind of monster SUV dragging a big closed trailer. He couldn’t see too clearly, but he thought he glimpsed a man and maybe a dog in the vehicle. Then the man got out, and the dog leaped after him. That tawny coat looked familiar. The distinctive shape did too. Commando?
Jovita yapped in shrill excitement. She liked other dogs, so he’d been taking her to the dog park at one side of the kids’ playground a couple of blocks away whenever he could. Now she was whining and wiggling with excitement.
Wait a minute, if that’s Commando, then it has to be Trek…Dan flung the door open and stepped out. Jovita shot past him and danced dizzily around the man and the dog.
Indeed it was Trek, clad in jeans and a plaid western shirt, wearing boots instead of athletic shoes or loafers and a dust-tan western hat. He stood at the front the vehicle, a hesitant expression on his face. He reached up and pulled off the sunglasses. Anxiety shone in his eyes.
“Am I still welcome, me and my dog?”
It looked like Trek; it sounded like Trek. Would it feel like Trek? Dan crossed the space in two fast strides and reached out. Trek almost threw himself forward, right into Dan’s embrace. As Dan lowered his head to find Trek’s smiling mouth, he knew for sure. It was his unique, aggravating, exciting, and very precious friend.
“Hell yes, you’re welcome. Both of you.”
Trek returned the eager kiss and then drew back. “You’ve got a dog,” he said. “I hoped you would. Everybody needs a dog, a real special meant-for-them dog. From the way Commando is sniffing her over, it has to be a girl.”
Dan nodded. “Yep. Meet Jovita. Jovi, this is Commando and his person, Trek. They’re always welcome so you can forget about barking at them next time.”
Dan led the way back inside. “Hungry? Thirty? Tired?”
Trek grinned. “All of the above. I made the best time I could all the way from Memphis. I have the Fury back, but I’d gotten another car in the meantime, one more suited both for exploring and transferring us to a new base camp. Even travelers need a base camp, some place to always come home to. I haven’t had one for too long, but maybe now…”
Dan looked at them in wonder, almost disbelief. “I don’t think I’m hearing you right. A base camp? To come home to? But you’re the world-traveling and famous Trek, on the road again even more than Willie. I can’t hope that you’re thinking of making that home place here, in a dirty, dull little desert town…” He wasn’t making much sense, hardly coherent, too scared to believe what his ears seemed to be hearing.
“We may not really fit right here, at least not on a permanent basis. That’s up to you, but I expect we can find another little house to rent or maybe buy, Commando and me, if that’s the case. And I do mean to relocate. Everything I value—well, all the stuff I value—is in the car and the trailer. I got the trailer to carry the Fury and some other things, keep them safe and secure from weather and vandals. I—we—I should have called or something and let you know. You probably gave up on me because I never gave you a hint, did I? Oh, fuck it, I’m talking too much and too fast and…”
“And it’s music to my ears,” Dan broke in. “I don’t know if four of us can manage in this little house, but if we can’t, we can always get a bigger one or build onto it. Anyway, you’ll still be going a lot, won’t you? I mean that’s what you do.”
Trek drew a deep breath. “Yeah, going, at least quite a bit, but always coming back so long as we’re welcome.”
Dan could not hold back his grin any longer. “Welcome as a rainbow, a pot of gold, a best friend forever. Let’s have a beer, and then I’ll try to show you just how welcome you are.”
THE END