Florida Panhandle
Brodie filled the last of the dog bowls. The dogs were scattered around the kennel’s feeding area. They were in their places, some needing a gentle reminder of where exactly that was. A few others were cordoned off separately. All were waiting and watching and drooling.
“Sorry,” Jason said, finally coming around the counter to help. He slipped his cell phone into his back pocket and started gathering bowls to distribute.
“Everything okay?” she asked, wondering if Hannah or Creed had forgotten some instructions. Both of them had been so preoccupied with getting to the big event on time.
Ryder knew she didn’t carry her own cell phone around. It was a sore spot between them. He’d say things like, “I just want you to be safe,” but Brodie had yet to see an instance where a cell phone saved anyone. It certainly hadn’t helped Ryder while he was stranded in that Nebraska blizzard.
When Jason still didn’t respond, she added, “Ryder already reminded me about the new meds for Molly,” she said.
He looked over his shoulder at her, clearly not having a clue what she was talking about.
She gestured to his back pocket. “Wasn’t that Ryder? Or Hannah? Reminding you to remind me?”
“What? No. It was actually Taylor’s son, Will.”
“Oh.” Brodie didn’t realize that even little boys carried cell phones. She hoped Ryder didn’t know that.
“He invited me to come have dessert with him and his mom.”
“You should totally go. I’ve got this.” And of course, at that moment, Chance decided he wasn’t being served quickly enough. He edged passed one of the littler dogs, who growled. Like a domino effect, several others joined the chorus.
“Hey, settle down,” Jason told them, then gestured to the German shepherd and the dog immediately sat down to wait his turn.
Okay, maybe she didn’t quite have “this.” She hadn’t tackled feeding time all on her own, yet.
“I’m not going to bail on you and the dogs,” Jason said. “I have obligations and responsibilities. I can’t just up and run whenever Taylor wants me to.”
“I thought you said Will texted you.”
“Yeah, but she probably asked him to. Right?”
Now he was looking at her like she really might have an answer. Clearly, she didn’t. She was the last person to have advice about romantic relationships.
She shrugged the same way Jason did whenever he didn’t have an answer to her question. Then, hoping to get his mind off Taylor, she started grabbing bowls and distributing them while she asked, “Can you teach me how to do that?”
“Do what?”
“That hand signal that makes dogs sit.” She avoided using Chance’s name, not wanting to rile him up again.
“It’s not just one thing,” he told her, following her lead, picking up bowls and placing them in the appropriate spots. “It’s your whole manner, your stance. The tone of your voice. A lot of the things that Ryder taught me for being a good K9 handler.”
It was working. He was in his element now.
“Dogs look to us for direction. I think they even look to us to make things fair.”
“So they think we’re their alpha?”
“Ryder says they don’t care about that. It’s more about them seeing us as their ultimate resource for food and care. Especially some of these guys who’ve lived on the streets or were dumped out in the country where they had to forge for themselves. If there’s any dominating or aggression, it’s sometimes when a new dog arrives. As soon as the newcomer realizes he doesn’t need to scavenge for food anymore, and he’s gonna get his own bowl of food like all the others, there’s no need to fuss.”
“But I watch you and Ryder wave your hand or say something, and it looks like magic how the dogs react.” She pointed to Chance. “You didn’t even raise your voice, and he sat right down.”
“You know his story, right?”
“His owner chose her abusive boyfriend over him.”
“Even after he tried to save her from him.”
Brodie nodded. She remembered how scary she thought the huge German shepherd was when she first met him. It didn’t help matters that she was afraid of dogs at the time. Despite what he’d been through, Chance still liked women and immediately was friendly and gentle with her. Jason explained that the dog’s biggest challenge was learning to trust men and realize not all of them were a threat capable of wielding a baseball bat.
Each of these dogs had a story. That was one of the ways Jason had helped her get over her fear of them. He told their stories of abandonment and heartbreaking abuses. With all of their rescues, their survival had a combination of elements she could relate to hunger, cold, fear, or pain. When she started thinking of what the dogs had gone through, she realized she no longer feared them. When they, in turn, no longer smelled her fear, they calmed down around her as well.
“We’re almost finished,” Brodie said, looking up at the wall clock. “I’ll clean up if you want to go over to Taylor’s.”
“I told Will I’d meet them for lunch tomorrow.”
“Okay.” That seemed easy. So why did Jason still look so...anxious? That wasn’t the right word. Restless?
“Let’s get everyone settled,” he said. “Then how about we take Hank and Scout, get a couple of lounge chairs and some refreshments and set up in the backyard for a meteor shower?”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t think you were even listening to me.”
“I always listen to you.” He shot her a smile. “Asteroid debris, right? Not a comet. Sounds totally cool.”
Yes, it did. She wiped a strand of hair out of her face, and she was so excited she didn’t mind that she’d smeared dog food across her forehead.