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“You had company today?” Jarrod asked when he noticed two paper plates on the living room table and a big bowl with a few chips in it.
Toya’s head swiveled around like she had been caught. “Huh, what?”
He pointed at the coffee table while he put the leash on Princess. “You’ve got two plates over there.”
“Oh yeah, right.” She snapped her finger as if she’d almost forgotten her entire afternoon. “Thanks to Princess, I ran into someone while I was on one of my four walks per day with her.”
“How did Princess act while you were talking to your neighbor?”
Toya shrugged. “Princess was peeing when I was tapped on the shoulder. I have to admit, I almost peed right there too. My heart was beating so fast, that if it had been a man standing there when I turned around, I probably would have passed out.”
“But Princess barked at her, right?”
Toya shook her head. “She kinda whimpered when I stood there talking too long. She wanted to find her spot to take her dump.”
“So, you're telling me that somebody approached you on the street, tapped on your shoulder and Princess didn’t even bark at them?” Jarrod couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He bought this dog because they were known protectors.
“She wasn’t exactly random. I’ve known her for a long time, just haven’t seen her in a while.”
“Wow!” Jarrod got down on a knee in front Princess and spoke to the dog like she was human. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, don’t we girl?” He turned back to Toya. “I need a t-shirt or sweater that you have worn recently.”
“Trust me, with those biceps, none of my shirts will fit you.”
“Hahaha,” he gave her a fake laugh, then with a serious look on his face, he said, “I need the shirt.”
“Okay, geesh. You don’t have to be so touchy I was just joking.” Toya went into her bedroom and took the t-shirt she wore earlier in the day out of the laundry and handed it to Jarrod.
“Thanks.” He took the shirt and put it under the dog's nose. “You smell that? That’s Toya?”
“I don’t have a smell,” Toya said, offended at the notion that she smelled.
“Everyone has a scent. Yours just happens to be a light florally scent.”
“I smell like flowers, huh?”
“You do to me.” He looked up at her. Their eyes locked. Jarrod felt heat like a fire had started at his feet and drifted all the way up to his heart. He was a fool for loving a woman who wanted nothing to do with him. Jarrod turned back to the dog.
Princess was standing on all fours, Jarrod said, “Sit.” Then helped the dog put her back two legs into a sitting position. “Get me her treats.”
Toya went into the kitchen and took a bag of doggie treats out of the cabinet and brought them back to Jarrod.
Princess was once again standing on all fours. Jarrod said, “Sit.” And the dog sat.
“Oh, my goodness. She did it.” Toya was excited to see that Princess actually listened to commands.
Jarrod handed her a treat. “Good doggie,” he said as he rubbed the dogs head. He then stood up and stepped away from the dog. Jarrod pointed to the spot in front of him and said, “Come here.”
Princess trotted over to the spot, Jarrod pointed at. Jarrod then said, “Sit.” And she did. “Good doggie.” He rubbed her head again and handed her another treat.
“She actually listens. I can’t believe it. Do you know how many times I’ve tried to get her to get off of my house shoes? She lays on them and won’t give them back.”
“I think she’s just messing with you. Come over here.” Jarrod reached for Toya, she put her hand in his and then stood in front of Princess with him. Jarrod held onto her hand just a moment longer than necessary.
Toya dropped his hand. “Okay, so what do you want me to do?”
“Tell her to bark.”
Toya gave Jarrod a questioning glance. “She’s not going to bark just because I tell her to.”
“Just try it.”
“Bark,” Toya said in a lackluster manner.”
Princess just stared at her.
“Do it again and be serious with it this time.” He handed her a treat. “Let her see it.”
“Okayyyy.” Toya playfully shoved Jarrod. Then held up the treat in front of Princess and said, more authoritatively this time, “Bark.”
Princess barked.
“Hand her the treat.” Toya tossed the treat in Princess’s mouth. Jarrod rubbed the dog’s back. “Good girl.”
Toya snapped her finger. “I should have said, good girl to her when I gave her the treat, right?”
“Yes, you want to reward her with a treat and affirm her with your words and actions when she does something you want her to do. German Shepherds are smart dogs, and they catch on quickly as long as you’re not sending them mix messages.”
“Yeah, mix messages are a terrible thing,” Toya said as she walked away from Jarrod. She went into her bedroom and rolled her suitcase out. “Well, you have fun with Princess tonight.”
“I will. And thanks for letting me stay here tonight. My complex is such a stickler on this no pet issue. I just don’t want to lose my deposit when I move out of there next month.”
“Clean up behind yourself, and I’ll see both of you tomorrow.”
“Give Tia and Jayden a hug and kiss from me.”
~~~
Holding Jayden in her arms, Toya felt more at peace than she had in the last six months. She was apprehensive about leaving her community where she felt safe, but now she was so glad that she had come. “Look how big she has gotten. My goodness, it seems like it was just yesterday that I was rocking her to sleep, and she felt so tiny in my arms. Now she’s like a butterball.”
“That's because it wasn’t yesterday. You haven’t seen Jayden in three months.”
That couldn’t be true. Had she actually let three months go by without seeing her precious niece? What would happen if Robbie got the promotion and they moved all the way to Nashville? She had to do better as a sister and an aunt. “I’m sorry sis, I hadn’t realized that I had let so much time go by.”
“You just better be glad that Jayden still remembers you,” Tia scolded.
“You could visit me too, you know?”
Tia shook her head. “We’re down to one car right now, and with Robbie’s schedule, it’s hard for me to get the car for anything but grocery store runs and doctor’s appointments.”
“Sounds like y’all are making it work though.”
“Robbie’s frustrated that he doesn’t earn enough to get me a car, but I told him that while I’m at home with Jayden, I don’t have that many places to go anyway.”
“How soon would you have to move to Nashville if he gets the job?” Toya hated even the thought of her baby sister and niece moving to Tennessee, but if they are struggling financially and this promotion would help their money situation, then how could she stand in the way.
“The management position is at his plant. We won’t have to move if he gets the job. But he might have to attend quarterly meetings at headquarters.”
“That’s even better.” Now, Toya was truly excited for them. She prayed that Robbie received this promotion so he could do everything that was in his heart for his family.
Tia made green tea for her and Toya and sat a plate of the Toll House cookies that she had baked on the table in front of them.
“Are those pecan turtle delights?”
“Girl, you know I got you. When you told me you were spending the night, I picked a pack up after I dropped Robbie off at the airport.”
Happily munching on a cookie, Toya told her sister, “I haven’t had one of these in months. I keep forgetting to order these cookies.”
“Why don't you just pick it up at the store when you do your grocery shopping?”
Toya hesitated for a moment, picking up her tea, she took a sip. Growing up as a church girl, Toya hated lying, so she took a deep breath and admitted, “To tell you the truth, I’ve been having my groceries delivered.”
“Are you kidding?” Tia’s eyes lit up.
Toya braced herself for the judgment to come. No one understood why she needed to have her groceries delivered. It wasn’t like she had a broken leg or was a senior citizen as Jarrod informed her.
“My grocery store down the street just started doing delivery. I would love to do that, but I just don’t like the idea of paying the delivery fee, especially when it cost more than the gas I would use to drive over there.”
Toya didn’t want to get into it, so she changed the subject. “Guess who I ran into today, you’ll never guess.”
“Well then, go ahead and tell me.”
“Gina.”
Tia looked puzzled, then her eyes brightened as she asked, “Your best friend from high school? That, Gina?”
“You have a good memory. And yes, that Gina. She moved back to town and now lives in the same community as I do.”
Jayden had fallen to sleep, Tia took her to the bedroom and laid her in her crib. When she came back to the family room with Toya, she said, “So what has Gina been up to?”
“It sounds like she is doing well in her career. She’s a marketing consulting and has just opened her own firm.”
“That’s awesome. I always wondered about her and about what happened to the two of you. I mean, y’all had been so close.”
“Yeah, it was my fault. I was a stupid kid back then. But I am glad that I ran into her. Hopefully, we can become friends again.” Toya wanted to tell Tia what Gina had said about Jarrod coming home for Christmas during their junior year of college to confess his love for her. But since it never happened, Toya felt silly mentioning it. Still, she wondered why Jarrod told Gina that if he didn’t plan on doing it?