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Blake finally felt settled in at his grandfather's house. He had to admit it was pretty nice to have a whole house to himself. The last several years he’d moved from apartments barely fit to live in to duplexes with razor thin walls and neighbors who did more yelling than talking. He couldn’t remember a single time when he’d lived in a place where he could sit and enjoy the peace and quiet.
Susie had insisted he let her take him shopping for a few odds and ends to make the place feel like his rather than like he was a guest. They’d chosen a new bedspread and a few matching towels, and he’d claimed a row on the living room bookshelf for his favorite mysteries.
His favorite part of the house was just off the kitchen. The back deck overlooked several acres of woods, and he'd already become accustomed to sitting out there with a cup of coffee watching for deer, squirrel, rabbits, or whatever might cross the path in front of him. Grandpa must have done the same thing because there was a pair of binoculars next to the old Adirondack chair.
For the first time in a long time, Blake felt a sense of peace. All those years of trying to make sure his mom and Zach were okay had taken a toll on him. He’d spent a long time not taking care of himself, and the past weeks in Arcadia Valley had already put him on a new path. He felt healthier, he was sleeping better, and his overall outlook was far more positive than it had been when he’d left Charleston.
Maybe it was just a matter of growing up, but he could finally see clearly that he’d wasted a lot of time only focusing on having a good time. He was so thankful he’d moved past all of that. Now he was able to see that there was more to life than the next party.
He finally saw that his life had potential.
Zach’s time had been cut short by his addictions. His mom had wasted her time on booze and lousy men.
Blake was determined that whatever time he had on Earth wouldn’t be wasted. Losing Zach and his mom had shown him that things could change in the blink of an eye.
Working on the pet therapy program was fulfilling and gave him a purpose, but it wasn’t enough. Enrolling in school as a first-time freshman at almost twenty-seven wasn’t going to be easy. He hadn’t been in a classroom in nearly a decade. He had a lot of work ahead of him. But it was now or never.
Having a place to live and a part time job gave him the stability he’d been lacking.
And it felt good.
“I thought I might find you out here,” his dad said, stepping out onto the back deck.
Blake looked up with a grin. “I spend a lot of time out here.”
“Just like your pop. This is his favorite part of the whole place.”
“Can’t blame him.”
Dad stood at the deck rail and looked out over the vast yard.
“What brings you here?” asked Blake after a few moments of silence.
“You do.” Dad sat down on the glider and looked at Blake. His expression was unreadable. Dad had the best Poker face around.
“Is something wrong?” Blake braced himself.
Dad shook his head. “Son, I need to apologize to you. I’ve handled a lot of things wrong and I need to tell you some things you may not be aware of.”
“Like what?”
“I know I wasn’t always a good father to you. And in a lot of ways I probably wasn’t a very good husband to your mother. We married very young and came from completely different backgrounds. In hindsight, I don’t think I was as patient with her as I should’ve been. She needed the kind of help I couldn’t give her. I should have helped her to find it.”
“That’s all water under the bridge now.” Blake wasn’t sure dredging up the past was a good idea, but his dad seemed determined.
“As I’m sure you know, your mother was a master at hiding things. I didn’t know she was an alcoholic when I married her. I think early on, I turned a blind eye to her problems because I thought once we hit the next milestone—a new house, a new car, a child of our own—she’d get better. And when we found out about you, she really tried. She struggled with depression, but getting ready to become a mother seemed to give her something to focus on. And she tried hard for you . . .but in the end she wasn’t strong enough.”
“Addiction is a disease.” Blake shook his head. He’d never really considered what his dad must have gone through. He’d spent his younger years blaming him, but now that he was older he understood better that the situation must have broken his dad’s heart, too.
“I failed you. I knew your mom had problems, but I didn’t fully understand the scope of them. And I didn’t fight her for custody when she moved away. At that point, I was just so tired. She convinced me that a young child needed a mother more than a father and I went along with it.” He sighed. “I was wrong.”
“There was no way you could’ve known what would happen.”
“But I should have known something was wrong. When you’d come for a visit, I don’t think I was very understanding.”
“Part of the time I was a belligerent pre-teen and teenager.”
“I should have tried harder to find out why. Susie always told me I was too hard on you, but back then I didn’t agree with her. I thought since I wasn’t around you every day that I needed to teach you as many lessons as I could whenever you were with me. That was poor parenting on my part. I wish I’d taken you fishing and camping and to baseball games instead of lecturing you on school and classes and jobs.”
“You did the best you could.” Blake had long ago forgiven his father. It hadn’t been easy though.
“And Zach is one of my other regrets. When your mom told me she was pregnant, I was so happy. I thought maybe a second child would fix all the things that were wrong. And then when she confessed that he wasn’t mine, I didn’t react very well.”
“No one can fault you for that.” Now that Blake was grown, he could understand the hurt that must have caused his dad. “But you never let on to Zach.”
“I was prepared to raise him as my own, same as you. He was an innocent child. I told her I could forgive her for straying if she would try and straighten her life up. But right after Zach came along, she decided to take off and take you boys with her.” Dad shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
“If you’d known what all was going to go on, I know you never would have let me go.”
“You took care of far more than anyone your age should have. Susie was brokenhearted when she learned that all through elementary school you were the one who fixed lunch for you and Zach and made sure the two of you were on the bus each morning.”
“When she found out, I was already in junior high. She wanted me to come live here, but I knew Zach wouldn’t leave Mom. So I didn’t either.”
“I think I had my head in the sand or I would’ve seen the truth.”
Blake shook his head. “Stop beating yourself up. You weren’t around, so all you knew was what I told you. And I didn’t tell you much because I was afraid you’d force me to move here with you. Zach needed someone to look after him.”
“You’ve done well for yourself, considering.”
“I had a recent turnaround. And Zach had so many problems, there’s a great chance his life would’ve turned out exactly the same even if he’d lived here. One thing I’ve learned over the years in dealing with Mom and Zach is that you can’t fix someone wo doesn’t want to be fixed. There is only so much you can do before you have to accept that you can’t force anyone to change. They have to want it. And with both of them, the desire to escape through drugs or alcohol was much stronger than the desire to get clean and take control of their lives.”
“What made you different?” Dad asked.
Blake shrugged. “Maybe I wanted it more? Maybe the pull of that lifestyle wasn’t as strong for me as it was for them? I grew to hate it all. And I found God. I know we went to church when I was young, but once I moved off with Mom and Zach, that wasn’t something we did. A few years ago, my boss in Charleston invited me to go with him and his family to their church picnic. I went. And then I went to church on Sunday. Before long, I was there when the doors were open. It was the kind of place that I felt comfortable. There were people there like me, who’d made mistakes but were trying to do right.”
“That’s most churches, Son. People are people. We all make mistakes. We’re all sinners. The key is repenting and finding forgiveness, then trying to do better. Those people, the ones who own up to their shortcomings—those are the ones who seem to do a better job of turning their lives around. The ones who try and act like they’re perfect are the ones who usually seem to have a harder time.” Dad smiled. “At least that’s been my experience.”
“Sounds about right. I think it’s just hard sometimes for people to own up to the things they’ve done. It was for me. I struggled. I didn’t want to share my story with anyone because I was afraid of being judged. But then my boss—he was a good guy—he told me I needed to stop worrying. That there was only one true judge and He was the one I needed to get right with. That helped me a lot.”
“I’m glad. And for what it’s worth, I’m proud of you. You have a bright future ahead.”
“I hope so.”
“Pop tells me that the program you’re in charge of at Retro Village is going well. He said you’d been using his room for practice. He loves it.”
“I’m glad.”
“He doesn’t complain as much about being there. I think he’s starting to enjoy having people around all the time. I have to sit down and talk with him soon about coming home. He can only stay in rehab for a certain amount of time, and it’s almost up. Physical therapy is going well. But obviously if he decided he wanted to move to the residential section, that’s something he could do.”
“He does seem pretty happy. And he definitely enjoys the dogs when we bring them to visit him.” Blake had been having each dog and it’s owner visit his grandfather’s room at allotted times and then Grandpa would report back to him how it went. So far, they’d all done really well. None of the dogs had jumped up on him or barked. There’d been no accidents and they’d all been very well behaved. Riley had done an amazing job of helping him get the right mix of dogs for the first class.
“That’s great. I’m sure your program will benefit lots of residents.”
“I think so. We have some great dogs signed up and I think they’re all cut out for it. It’s different than the work I was doing in Charleston. Those dogs were trained from birth and most of the ones I worked with were for diabetics. It’s really amazing to watch them work. The dogs we’re taking into Retro Village are just pets who have the right disposition. The residents really respond to them. I see no reason why their owners won’t be able to take them on a scheduled basis, but we’re still working on some training stuff.” He grinned. “Riley Jennings is one of the owners. She operates a pet boarding business in town. She’s hoping we’re going to have some kind of graduation ceremony for the dogs. Can you imagine?” He hated to admit it, even to himself, but seeing Riley on a date last weekend hadn’t felt great. It had been a long time since he’d experienced jealousy.
Dad laughed. “You should see the way Susie spoils our pets. She’d jump at the chance for something like that even if just for the photo op.”
“True.” He didn’t want to admit it, but he was the same way about his own dog. He and Journey had been through a lot together. In fact, she’d been there for him when no one else had. That made for a special relationship.
“Speaking of Susie, she wanted me to invite you over for dinner soon.”
Blake grinned. “You know what? I have a better idea. Why don’t the two of you plan to come here Friday night? I’ll dust off Grandpa’s old grill.”
“We’d love it.” Dad patted him on the back. “I’d better go run these errands and get back. See you later.”
“Bye, Dad.” Blake watched him go, an idea already forming in his head. Before he could talk himself out of it, he picked up his phone.
Time to get out of his comfort zone.
**
Riley took a batch of cinnamon sweet potato dog treats out of the oven. They were one of her most popular flavors and she hoped to sell out over the next couple of days at the farmers market.
The phone rang before she could put another batch in the oven. She sat the cookie sheet on the counter and grabbed her phone from the counter.
Blake.
“Hello,” she said. She hoped she sounded nonchalant.
“Riley?”
She grinned. “Speaking.”
“I wanted to run something past you,” he said. “How would you feel about getting our group of dogs and their owners together on Friday evening? Kind of a celebration of doing such a good job so far.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun. What do you have in mind?”
“A cookout at my granddad’s place. Just some time for the dogs to play and all of us to visit.”
Riley wasn’t much of a group get together kind of girl unless it was with her family, but she didn’t want to explain her introversion to Blake. Besides, it wouldn’t be that different than their therapy training sessions and she did fine with those. She’d known Vera and Patti for so long, making small talk with them didn’t make her anxious, and Mr. Hall was always so quiet, she suspected he was a lot like she was when it came to groups. Plus, it was easier because they were all dog owners and dog lovers and it made it so she already had common ground with them. “I think that’s a great plan.”
“Awesome,” said Blake. “I’ll call the others and make sure they can make it. I’m thinking seven o’clock. Does that work for you?”
“Sure. Cocoa and I will be there with bells on.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Riley ended the call and turned her attention back to her dog treats. Why did the prospect of seeing Blake on Friday night give her butterflies? There would be a crowd there and it was most certainly not a date.
She’d just finished bagging the treats when the phone rang again.
“Riley?” Don asked.
“Yes. How are you?”
“Doing well. Just thought I’d see how your work week was going.”
This. This guy was who she should be thinking about. Not Blake. “Pretty good. I’ve had several dogs staying this week, and I’ve been researching setting up an online store for treats and art.”
“Sounds good.” His voice crackled. He must be driving. “My week has been full of training. The joys of being a new employee.” He chuckled.
“I can only imagine.”
“Anyway, I thought I’d see what you were up to and if you wanted to get together later this week. Maybe just go grab some ice cream or something.”
Riley thought for a moment. “Sure. That sounds like fun.”
“How about Thursday? Does that work?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll pick you up at six.”
The next couple of days were jam packed. Riley and Cocoa had an appointment at Retro Village for Cocoa to visit Blake’s grandfather’s room and stay for thirty minutes. The visit went perfectly and Riley was thrilled with Cocoa’s progress. No one would ever have guessed that there was a time she was scared of nearly everything and couldn’t be left alone without chewing on everything in sight. She’d come a long way.
Thursday morning, Riley stopped by the shelter to take the large breeds for some playtime. “Hey, Vera.”
Vera nodded her head in Riley’s direction. “Morning.”
“Any new animals since I was last here?”
“Just one. A senior poodle I’ve been calling Sadie. Someone tied the poor thing to our front door handle.”
“Poor baby.” Riley never understood the people who left their animals in the shelter parking lot or on the porch. Why not just come in during operating hours and explain the situation? But she supposed they were better than the ones who moved off and left their dogs tied to a tree or their cats shut in the bathroom.
“Blake called and told me about the cookout,” said Vera. “That sounds like fun.”
“Sure does.”
Vera eyed her for a moment. “Any new developments? Did you have a date last weekend?”
Riley took one of the longer leashes that hung on the wall. If she was going to get all three of the larger dogs walked she’d have to hurry. “I did. It was good. We went to a neat restaurant. I’m going with him tonight to get ice cream or something.”
“That’s nice. I’m proud of you for getting out of your comfort zone.”
Riley sensed there was more Vera wanted to say. “Thanks.”
“Just be sure you’re following your heart, at least a little.”
“What do you mean?” asked Riley.
“You’ve been a deep thinker for as long as I’ve known you. Sometimes in matters of the heart though, you can’t overthink. You have to feel.”
“You’re afraid I’m settling.”
“Everything you do can’t be because it makes sense on paper. Some of the best parts of your life are the parts that don’t.”
“Like what?”
Vera took a breath. “Remember how when you decided to quit teaching and work with animals full time, there were a few naysayers?”
Riley laughed. “Yes.”
“Do you think leaving a profession you’d just spent four years and a good chunk of money on to take a risk with your own business looked good on paper?”
“I guess not.”
“But it was a follow your heart kind of risk. I guess all I’m saying is that if another follow your heart risk comes along, I hope you’ll consider taking it.”
Riley smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
An hour later, she’d walked all three big dogs and had them all brushed, fed, and back in their respective crates. “I’m headed out. See you tomorrow night.”
On the way home, she considered Vera’s advice. Love was a risk. But it was a worthy one.
At least that’s what everyone said.