Page 25 of Sit, Stay, Love
‘But why not?’
‘I told you. I get a vibe.’
‘Funny, he said he got a vibe from you too.’
‘What kind of vibe?’
‘He thinks you don’t like him.’
Toby laughed. ‘He’s smarter than he looks.’
‘That’s just stupid. You don’t even know him. If you knew him, you’d feel different. I know you would.’ She rubbed her hand across her now thumping brow. ‘I’m going to be spending a bit of time with him over the next month, and I really need you to try to be nicer about him, because you’re making me feel weird. It’s just a month. Can you do that? For me?’
Toby was quiet for a moment, then said, ‘Of course I can. It’s great you’ve got this chance. Do you need me to organise any more training dogs for you?’
She almost choked. ‘Oh god, no. Not after last time. Ethan thinks you had some nefarious plan when you sent him Kevin. I stood up for you. I told him you thought you were doing the right thing.’
‘Are you implying I didn’t?’
She laughed. ‘C’mon Herriot. Kevin?’
Chapter Six
Sera pulled up outside Ethan’s house and honked her horn. The dogs in the back of her van erupted. ‘Shut it, you three,’ she hollered over her shoulder.
Ethan stepped out of his gate and gave her a cheery wave before he spotted the faces of three dogs pressed against the window and his smile dropped.
He hesitated before sliding into the passenger seat. ‘There’s three. Why are there three?’
‘Because we’re going to a dog park. I think I threw you into the deep end with Kevin.’
He side-eyed her with a frown. ‘Hilarious.’
She laughed. ‘No lagoon pun intended, I promise. We should start with you just being around dogs, so I thought an off-leash park would be a good idea. That way the dogs can do their thing and you can see dogs interacting and having fun. And you know these dogs, except Harry and he’s a tiny Jack Russell. But Buffy and Ernie are old friends, right?’
He took a deep breath and nodded. ‘Okay. You’re the expert.’
She smiled wanly. She wasn’t an expert, not at all. She was good with dogs, and she understood them as well as anyone could. She’d read a lotabout behaviours, undergone training, and of course she had her certificate in animal studies, but that was as far as her expertise went. She’d spent the morning googling how to overcome a fear of dogs. Journaling, meditation, relaxation techniques and professional therapy were all mentioned. Strangely, hanging out with a copywriter who specialised in funeral services and ran a barely surviving animal shelter was not.
‘I like your hair like that,’ Ethan said. ‘You look cute.’
She had it shoved into two messy plaits, mostly because she’d run out of time to do anything else with it.
‘So do you,’ she replied, then instantly cringed.Ugh. Embarrassing.
‘Thanks!’ he replied without hesitation. ‘I’m wearing my AC/DC t-shirt to make me feel tough. It’s not working.’
She instinctively patted his thigh to reassure him, then had to gulp back an ‘Oh!’ at how solid it was. ‘You’ll be fine,’ she said, utterly flustered.
They hovered by the gate to the park, Sera holding the three dogs, or rather holding them back as they strained to join the action beyond the fence.
‘That’s… a lot of dogs,’ Ethan said, his eyes wide as he took in the chaos.
‘It’s a little busier than I thought it would be. But it’ll be okay.’ She smiled encouragingly. ‘Can you open the gate for me? Then I can let this mob go.’
Ethan stepped to the side as he pulled up the childproof lock. Buffy, Ernie and Harry jostled through, dragging Sera behind them.
‘Are you coming?’ she called over her shoulder as she pulled back the dogs, noticing Ethan chewing his lip, his fist still clasped around the lock. He nodded and quickly stepped through the gate, slamming it shut behind him.
