Page 15 of There Once was a Dancer
I shot him a dirty look as I took her into my arms. “I never do that,” I said, instantly feeling my frown turn into a smile as I held onto the squirming animal. I kissed the top of her head, breathing in the scent of puppy over the top of the hospital stay smells. Her curls tickled my lips as I kissed her and I couldn’t have stopped my smile as I looked up at Rex if I’d tried. “She’s so gorgeous, Rex.”
He beamed, obviously proud of his best friend. “She’s the prettiest girl in the world,” he agreed. His love for the small dog showed in his dancing eyes and it made him look like the happiest doggie papá on earth.
“Rex. I just need you to sign this,” Pricilla called from the front desk.
“Be right back.” Rex left us standing in the lobby.
I held onto Lola, cradling her against my body and rocking her like a baby, cooing into her fur. “Who’s prettiest girl? Who’s prettiest girl?”
A tinkling bell on the office door sounded, and I half turned toward it. A small girl holding onto the leash of a much larger dog walked in, followed by a woman, but it was the dog I had my eye on. The minute he set eyes on Lola, he surged to the end of the retractable leash, barking wildly as he lunged at me and Rex’s precious bundle, dragging the little girl off her feet. She was crying loudly and the dog started howling. Before I couldeven get out of the dog’s path, Rex grabbed his leash before he could get to Lola. When the lobby erupted and the mother added to the noise by yelling, I bolted for the safety of the counter, darting around it with Lola in my arms.
“Balto!” the mother screamed. “Balto!”
I watched as Rex expertly handled the huge dog, taking the leash out of the little girl’s hand and retracting it. “Balto! Sit!” he commanded, pointing his finger at the ground in front of the dog. The mutt looked up at him, whimpering but immediately sat. Rex looked over at me. “You okay, sugar?”
I nodded vigorously. “I fine, Rex.”
He nodded before turning back to the woman who was helping her daughter off the ground. He held out the leash to her. “You got him?”
“Yes, thank you,” she said, petting the dog’s head. “You’re a very bad dog, Balto!” she scolded.
“No, don’t say that,” said Rex. “He was just excited, that’s all.”
He didn’t wait for her to reply before squatting in front of the crying child. “There, there, sweetie. It’s okay. You didn’t do anythin’ wrong.” He reached up and wiped tears from her face before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a red handkerchief. He held it to her nose. “Blow.” When she just stood there staring at him with wide eyes, he nodded and smiled at her. “It’s okay.” She blew her nose, and he gently squeezed. When she pulled her face away, he handed her the red kerchief. “That’s for you now.” He straightened to his full height and ruffled her curls before turning to her mother. “She just got a fright.”
The woman nodded, smiling at him with an adoring expression on her face.
“You see now why we love him so much?”
I turned to see Pricilla and all the other vet techs and office staff standing around watching Rex. I could’ve sworn they all had stars in their eyes. It was quite remarkable and easy to see how much they all adored him.
I couldn’t help smiling and nodding. I turned to look in Rex’s direction. He smiled at me and came around the counter, reaching out for Lola who began wiggling in my arms. Oddly enough, Lola had been the calmest of all. Clearly, she’d somehow known how her daddy would take care of things and protect her from the large dog. I agreed. I was beginning to understand that protecting smaller things was just in Rex’s nature. I understood the desire.
When my father had beaten my mother over and over, my desire to protect her had always been there. However, it wasn’t until I was big enough to threaten him physically that I’d been able to make sure she was safe. Like all abusers, my father was a coward, and he’d turned tail and run, moving out of our house the very same day. I held Lola out, and Rex took her into his arms, smiling down at me.
“You done good, Cachi. Thanks for takin’ care of her.” He reached up and cupped the back of my neck, squeezing it. The warmth of his hand sent electric tingles coursing through me. He lifted Lola, looked into her eyes, and held her face close. “You’re a good girl, Lola.” He smiled at her then leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “What do you say we go home so I can give you some treats?” Lola wiggled like crazy, letting out a little yip before he tucked her under one arm and threw his other arm across my shoulders.
“You must be hungry by now too.” I opened my mouth to say something, but he looked away, smiling at all the folks who looked on. Pricilla picked up the wheelchair which had somehow ended up on the counter and handed it to Rex. He nodded in thanks.
“See y’all later. Thanks for takin’ care of my girl.”
“Bye, Rex, bye Lola,” Pricilla said as the others echoed similar goodbyes. We walked past the woman, child, and Balto who was sitting close beside his owner, watching Lola leave the vet’s office.
The minute we stepped outside, we were blasted with midday heat, and I realized why Rex had wanted all the car windows to be rolled down. He opened the back door and belted Lola into a special harness behind my front passenger’s seat. I hadn’t even noticed the harness or the bath towel laid out on the back seat until just now. She sat there looking as adorable as she could with small, pitch-black eyes, staring at me as I looked around the seat. I smiled at the dog as Rex climbed in behind the wheel a minute later and glanced over at me.
“Were you scared?”
“Only for Lola. I thought that dog might tear her head off.”
“He has no discipline, but I was right when I told the mom he was only excited. If I had to guess, he wanted to play with Lola, not eat her. There are no bad dogs, only bad humans who raise ‘em wrong.”
I nodded and watched him look over his shoulder before glancing back at me. “That mother should have never given the dog to her daughter who was too small to control her. And retractable leashes should be outlawed. There’s no way to control a dog on one of ‘em if the dog decides to dart like that onedid. Once they have momentum and get to the end of the leash…well, you saw what happened.”
He knew a lot about dogs and seeing him so loved at the vet’s office said a lot about his character to me. “I only glad you were there to catch him before he got to us.”
He smiled at me. “You reacted quickly by runnin’ around that counter.” He glanced into the rearview mirror and I knew he was watching the quiet, little girl in the backseat. “Let’s go home, Lola girl. What’d’ya say?”
She made a little yip, followed by her long, curling, pink tongue lolling out of her mouth in a doggie smile. He glanced over and our gazes locked for several seconds. I held my breath as his gaze dropped to my mouth. I licked my lips and I was pretty sure I heard a low growl rumbling down deep in his chest. I wished he’d just kiss me but was disappointed when he made a grunting noise and turned away.
