Ben glanced at Samantha for a moment and then returned his eyes to the road. “You know, Sammie, I see a real difference in you now. I mean, since I first met you. You remember? You were up on the roof like Santa Claus?”
Samantha laughed softly.
“I don’t want to be presumptuous, but it seems like you’re getting better.”
Samantha sighed. “I hate it. I hate being afraid all the time.”
“Of what, Sammie? What are you afraid of?”
“That’s just it, I don’t know. I just feel afraid.”
“I understand.”
Samantha was silent, and then her voice was low. “It started with the accident. We slid on the snow and hit a tree. The ambulance came—it wasn’t you and Roxie—and I had to wait in the back of a police car while they took my father away. Alone.” Samantha bit her lip and I stared at her, willing her to understand her dog was here with her. “I was so afraid, and I’ve just been that way ever since. Mrs. Middleton and Ripley are helping me a lot, but…” She gave Ben a wan smile. “I don’t want to—I mean, I don’t want to forget my dad. Sometimes I feel like if I’m no longer frightened, it means I don’t care about him anymore.”
Ben carefully eased the car over and stopped it. He opened his door, got out, came around to the back, and got in next to Samantha. “Come here,” he murmured.
He held Samantha while she cried, and I pressed up against her on her other side, as close as I could get.
“Your mom’s talked about your dad with me, you know,” Ben told her, after she stopped sobbing. “He loved you so much. I’m sure he knows, wherever he is, how much you love him. Nothing’s going to change that.”
We were there for some time, and I felt a lot of the sadness leave Samantha. Ben had helped her, and so had I.
When we started driving again, there was another silence. “I don’t like that man, Captain Hutch,” Samantha suddenly declared. “He’s mean.”
“Yah, well,” Ben replied after a moment, “I wouldn’t say he’s mean. He just has a different way of viewing the fire department than I do. I want to see us try anything that might help. He wants to make sure that we do things the way we always have. I think that eventually he’ll realize he’s wrong, but as for now we have to do what he says. He’s the shift captain, don’tcha know.”
We spent the day in the most wonderful place. Green grass and big trees practically sang out in the sunshine. Balls were thrown, and I was not the only dog chasing them, though I could tell that the rest of them didn’t really know the kind of work a dog should be doing. They were just happy dogs, full of fun, pursuing balls and sniffing each other’s butts.
I liked doing those things too. But they were not as important as jobs like Search and Bring Me the Rope and being near Samantha when she was afraid.
I chased a few balls and sniffed a few butts, but mostly I stuck close to my girl. She seemed a little anxious at first, although better than she’d been in the car. That made me focus on her very tightly.
Soon, though, a few children came over and sat with her at a long table. They ate something I’d never heard of before, a hot dog. It had the word dog in it, but it wasn’t a dog. It was a completely different experience with bread, a tangy sauce, and delicious meat. I ate several bites of them fed to me by giggling girls and boys. It was astounding.
I saw Ben standing with his friends Alvis and too-tall Willets, and they were talking while poking at hot dogs over a fire that blew smoke at them. I guess some people just enjoy smelling like smoke.
Roxie came over with a man and a boy about Samantha’s age. “Sam, this is my husband, Kyle, and my son, Trevor.”
“Hi,” the boy greeted softly.
“Hi,” Samantha said back.
“And this is Ripley,” Roxie finished.
I stood by and allowed the boy and the man to pet me with hamburger-smelling fingers and tell me I was a good dog. I knew I was a good dog, but they weren’t well enough informed to click or treat me for it.
“I saw Ripley running all over the place. He’s having a wonderful time,” Roxie observed.
“Sometimes even working dogs need to be just dogs,” Samantha said.
“We’re going to go toss bean bags,” the man told us. “Want to join?”
Roxie raised her eyebrows when Samantha said, “Okay.”
I followed the people over to play a game with deflated balls that they threw and that dogs weren’t supposed to run off with, or so I gathered when I snatched one up and dashed away.
After that, Samantha played with other children and I helped by chasing the balls that went far away. After a while, Samantha and her new friends all wound up sitting and talking under a tree. People began leaving, going to their cars, and the children sitting with Samantha ran off. Ben came over with a smile.
“Did you get enough to eat?”
Samantha nodded. “Ripley and I each had five hot dogs.”
“Please tell me that’s not true.” Ben groaned.
Samantha giggled.
“Did you have fun?”
“Yes,” Samantha replied, sounding surprised. “Most of the kids are younger than I am, but we played ball and stuff. Ripley is really good at catching the ball when we hit it with a bat. He gets it all slobbery, though.”
Ben laughed. Then his expression turned completely serious. “Hey, I have something really important to talk to you about.”
“Okay,” Samantha agreed cautiously.
“It’s about Ripley.”
I perked up my ears at my name. I was pretty full of hot dogs, but I could have managed a treat if Ben insisted.
He didn’t give me one, though. He just sat down in the grass next to Samantha. She looked worried. “What about Ripley?”
They were tense, and my name had been mentioned by both of them. I was alert, trying to figure out what was making them nervous.
“Okay,” Ben began, “so you and Ripley have bonded like nobody in the history of the world.”
Samantha smiled.
“Before I adopted him, I thought my life would be simple: my dog would go off with a sitter when I was working at the car dealership, but otherwise would come with me to the fire department and be trained to work there. And obviously that last part certainly didn’t work out. And as far as sitters go, you’re much more than that. Ripley sees you as his person. He may belong to me, I own him, but he’s your dog.”
Samantha bit her lip and nodded. “Sorry,” she murmured.
Ben’s grin was easy and he shrugged. “It’s just what happened. As my dad says, the fish might fight the rod, but eventually it’s winding up in the boat.”
Samantha peered at him.
Ben shrugged. “Yah, I guess I don’t know what he means, either. I think it’s that sometimes what happens just happens and there’s no getting around it. Anyway, I can’t see any reason to separate you two. Ripley tolerates my house, but I can tell he’s just waiting for me to take him back to his home—your home. And now that he’s officially retired from the fire department, I just don’t think it makes sense for me to keep dragging him away. So I talked to your mom, and Ripley’s going to live with you from now on. Is that okay, Sammie?”
Samantha’s eyes were a little wet. I nudged her hand, feeling gusts of strong emotion come off her. “Yes,” she replied hoarsely. “That would be great. It’s what I want.”
Then I snapped my gaze around to focus on Ben. That nervousness inside of him had suddenly increased, and his heart was galloping so loudly I could feel it as a bounding pulse under his skin. Was something wrong?
I glanced around, wondering if we were being stalked by a predator, but I couldn’t see anything except for a squirrel. Completely ignoring the fact that there’d been dogs running loose in the area the whole day, the little rodent had climbed down out of a tree and was leaping around, trying to tempt me to chase him.
How could squirrels not understand the danger they were in, flaunting themselves in front of dogs like me? I wanted to teach him a lesson, but not with Ben’s anxiety spilling out into the open air. I needed to remain focused.
Ben leaned forward and gazed intently into Samantha’s eyes. “There’s more. It’s about your mom.”
“What’s wrong?” Samantha sat up straight. Now she was worried! What was going on with my people?
“Oh, no. Nothing is wrong. I’m sorry. I just—”
Ben was jerking his head, scowling and then smiling, and it was a very strange combination of expressions. He took a deep breath. “Here’s the thing. I really like your mom.”
“Oh, good,” Samantha replied. The tension went out of her instantly. I relaxed a little too.
“No, that’s not it.” Ben sighed. “Oofda, you practice saying something and then because you practice you get nervous about saying it, and then when it actually comes time to say it, you goof it all up.”
“I have no idea what you’re trying to tell me,” Samantha told him politely.
“Yah, okay. Here goes. I’m in love with your mom, Sammie. I mean, it’s more than that. I’ve known that for a long time, and I think everyone who knows me can tell. No, what I mean, what I’m trying to say … Oh, for Pete’s sake. Look, it’s like this. I want to be married to her. Yah? To be her husband. But I won’t ask her if you don’t think it’s a good idea, okay? I mean, it’s not just the two of us, her and me. You’re involved, too, don’tcha know.”
Samantha looked stunned.
“I’m not saying I’m some sort of replacement for your father,” Ben added hastily. “Of course not. But I could be a good stepfather, I think, and a good husband…” Ben stopped himself. “I think maybe if I keep talking I’ll go completely off message. I guess I’m asking your permission to ask your mom if she’ll marry me.”
Samantha stared at him. When she spoke, it was with a small, quiet voice. “You and Ripley would come live in our house?”
Ben looked surprised at the question. “Oh! Yah. I suppose. Or I guess I’d sell my place and we’d buy a bigger one, big enough for you and your mom and me and Ripley.” He hesitated. “Okay, now I’ve gotten bogged down in real estate. Geez Louise, that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I’m just talking about … Sammie, do you think I could come be part of your family?”
“Would I still call you Ben?” Samantha ventured after a moment.
He shrugged. “Sure. Or whatever you want.”
“Oh.”
Ben watched Samantha, so I did too. The threat seemed to have faded away, but something important was still going on. I kept my focus firmly on my girl.
She seemed to be turning something over and over in her mind, thinking about it. When she looked up at Ben, she was smiling. “I think it would be wonderful. Dad.”
Ben stared at her in surprise.
Samantha shrugged. “Just trying it out.”
They did some more hugging then, until I squeezed in between them, because I didn’t see why I should be left out of that kind of thing.
A little while later, Ben and Samantha led me back to his car. They were holding hands and I could feel something between them that I had not really felt before, a connection as strong as the one I had with Samantha.
They had just buckled themselves in and made sure I was safe in my harness when Ben reached forward and turned a dial on his car.
“Listen,” he murmured quietly.
“What is it?” Samantha asked.
Ben looked at her. “Multistory fire. It’s a big one—department store. Some idiots had illegal fireworks on the roof and a rocket went into the box and set off the whole lot at once, for Pete’s sake. Anybody who can come in, they’re asking them to report.” He started the car. “I’ll take you home and then head straight there.”
Samantha shook her head. “Why? Why drop me off?”
He regarded her carefully. “Would you be okay staying in the car?”
“Yes.”
The car started moving. I felt it.
“It’s a fire, Samantha. Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. I’ll be safe in the car. I’ll have Ripley.”
“All right.”
We drove swiftly. I picked up the excitement off Ben and the apprehension from Samantha. Wherever we were going, it was stirring strong emotions in both of them.
When we stopped, there were cars in the street and several big trucks a lot like the one in Captain Bee’s house. In fact, one of the trucks was the very one I used to see there, the one Willets and Nance and Hutch liked to ride—my nose told me.
I could smell water and see smoke sending billowing fists of black punching skyward. I looked at Ben as he turned in his seat.
“All right.” He handed Samantha his phone. “Call your mom. If you need her to come get you, tell her that.”
“I’ll be okay,” Samantha insisted. “She’s having an interview with an editor about a new book. It’s important.”
“Yah, that’s great, but I just want you to be okay.”
“I am going to be okay,” Samantha insisted. She put her hand on the back of my neck. “I’ve got Ripley, and I’ve got the phone.”
“Okay.” Ben nodded. “Ripley’s so big now. I don’t think anybody would mess with you if they saw this dog next to you, but if you feel in trouble at all, you know what to do. You know how to dial nine-one-one?”
“It’s how I met you,” Sam reminded him with a smile.
Ben grinned back. “Okay. Be good.”
I watched, confused, as Ben ran to be with his friends. Why didn’t he take me?