Page 115 of Sit, Stay, Love
She rubbed her stomach and pushed her chair out from her desk with a loud scrape. She just needed some time to think, and a little space from Ethan and his movie-star face and unnervingly patient disposition. Damn him for being so sweet and understanding.
‘Carol, can I ask you a favour?’ she said as she walked into the reception area.
The woman looked up from her place at the desk.
Sera dropped onto the chair beside her. ‘I have a training session with Ethan this morning and I was wondering if you could take him for me?’
Carol’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Is everything okay?’
‘Absolutely. I just have a website deadline and some fundraiser duties, and those people that Herriot organised are coming to look at Francine this afternoon, so I want to give her a bath. Get that fluffy Maltese hair of hers gleaming.’
‘I can do that, if it would help? Then you can spend time with Ethan.’
Sera shook her head. ‘It’d do him good to work with someone else. To get another perspective. And you have way more experience than me.’
Carol frowned. ‘You’re sure everything is okay?’
‘Mm-hm.’
‘Then I’d love to.’ She beamed. ‘Is there anything I should know?’
Sera explained which dogs Ethan was used to handling and the type of situations he’d had difficulty with in the past. ‘Keep an eye on the pack’s behaviour. Any kind of dogfight freaks him out.’
‘Got it.’
‘And let me know where he needs extra work. I’ll let him know what’s happening.’
She went back to her office, quietly shut the door behind her, took a deep breath and called Ethan.
‘Is this about last night?’ he asked. ‘Because I’m sorry. I know we said—’
‘It’s nothing to do with last night. You might have to work with someone else, so you need to be comfortable with that. Carol’s fantastic. You’ll learn a lot from her.’
There was a long beat of silence. ‘So you’ve decided against LA?’
She raised her eyes to the ceiling. ‘No. This isn’t about that either. This was always in my plan.’If always meant since ten minutes ago. ‘This will be great for you. I promise.’
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘I trust you. Will I… see you tonight? Maybe I can take you out for dinner. Nothing fancy. No… you know.’
She laughed. ‘We’re not very good at no… you know.’ She heard him chuckle, and she sighed. ‘I think I’m going to stay in. Catch up on work. Lena sent some stuff over that I’ve barely looked at.’
‘Well, if you want me, just call.’
She fanned herself. The way he’d growled out those words made the backs of her knees practically sweat. ‘Good luck today,’ she said brightly and quickly hung up, before she changed her mind.
Sera flicked a tear from her cheek as she stood on the verandah and waved little Francine and her new owners goodbye. She always became so emotional when one of her dogs was re-homed. It was the happiest of moments.
She spotted the shelter van turning into the driveway and made her way towards it.
‘How’d it go?’ she asked Carol, as she opened the back of the van and released the panting pack of dogs.
‘Not bad,’ Carol said, sounding as if what she really meant was not great.
‘Oh no. What happened?’
‘Elmo got into it with another dog. There was a lot of growling and noise, and a bit of yelling. But it was fine. The other dog was fine.’
‘How was Ethan?’
