The early-morning moisture hung in the air creating a slight haze. Cason, in a sweatshirt with the logo from a construction company he’d never heard of, sat between Big T and Haley Hutchinson. Haley on the bench, T lying on the grass with his rear end just barely touching Cason's foot. The sun hadn't risen, and the dog park was empty

Cason was penned in, unable to scoot any closer to T without invading the dog’s space. Haley seemed to know it as she scooted into his space on the bench casually. What would she do if he suddenly snarled and snapped at her, he wondered with a grin? She hadn't made any overt invitations like she had the first time he went to her house, but for a married woman she was much too familiar for his comfort.

Even though T was over 150 pounds they were sitting in the small dog enclosure of the dog park. In Cason's experience, it seemed to be less populated in the early morning hours, and T was a dog who didn't come to places like this for the social aspect.

"You think he's ready for you to pet him?" Haley leaned toward T, bringing her upper arm firmly against Cason's. "Do you think he’ll ever be ready for you to pet him?”

At the sound of his owner’s voice, the big guy looked over his shoulder at Haley then he shifted his gaze to Cason. Just as he had every day in the week and a half since the first day they met, he seemed to be saying, we can be friends but if you value your hands you will keep them away from me. For Cason those instructions worked just fine, but you couldn't expect a one-year-old to follow that type of warning. Cason was so grateful that Haley and her husband were willing to spend the money to keep Cason around trying to work with the big guy rather than just throwing him away. It had been a long time since Cason had wanted to bring a dog home, but if the Hutchinson's ever decided T wouldn't work out, Cason would take him home without a second thought. He did love himself a good throw away.

"I actually tried it a few days ago,” said Cason. “I reached for him because I thought I got a signal. The big guy was nice enough to give me a warning growl instead of disconnecting my hand at the wrist and swallowing it. It was a mistake. Set us back in the whole circle of trust.”

“How will you know when he finally accepts you?"

Cason wasn't sure exactly how to answer that because he really didn't know what it would look like when T was ready.

While he was thinking of an answer, a blue Chevy Avalanche pulled into the parking lot of the dog park.

Absently, he said, “You, well, you just get this feeling.”

The Avalanche looked familiar, but Cason couldn't place it. It was one of those vehicles that was half SUV and half truck, and until he could get a view of the dogs in the back or maybe a smaller dog sitting up front with the owner, he didn't think he’d be able to identify it. He didn't have to wait long for Fiyero to stick his head over the edge. His beautiful copper, breadbox-sized head.

That was Zandra driving then, and soon Elfie came into view in the back with Fiyero.

Cason was happy for the chance to see them again. He wanted to get up and go greet them, but his priority was T, and he still felt that the best thing he could do was just hang out. And there was the fact that he’d been fired for some reason he didn’t know. He was the last guy who wanted to impose where he wasn’t wanted with humans or dogs.

They pulled into a parking spot and Zandra was quick to hop out and open the tailgate for the dogs. Fiyero stood at the edge, shifting weight between his front legs. Elfie made it down by herself, but Fiyero was stuck there until Zandra got her arms under his chest and helped him down.

A healthy three-year-old French Mastiff shouldn’t need that kind of help to get out of a truck.

They didn't bother with leashes; the dogs knew where to go and Zandra followed them. She looked amazing, as always. For a married woman, anyway. Well, good physically but there was something in the way that she walked that either belonged on a very cold day or in someone who was suffering somehow. It wasn’t Cason’s place to go there.

"You know her?”

Cason brought his gaze back to Haley. "Oh, yeah. That big guy is a former client of mine. I've been worried about him. What was the question you asked?” Was Fiyero limping worse than he had been a week ago?

"How will you know when it's right?” prompted Haley. “With Big T.”

“It's a feeling." Cason realized when Zandra's eyes came up to meet his that he was staring. He gave a small wave then looked down at T. "Kind of like the dog is talking to me, but not in a mental patient kind of way."

Fiyero reached the gate and gave it a punch that shook the chain links.

"Wow,” said Haley. “I thought Big T slobbered a lot.”

“Did you see Turner and Hooch?” asked Cason. “I think the slobber capability is the reason they chose a French Mastiff for the role.”

The two gates into the two different sections were right next to each other, and Fiyero was standing at the gate to the small dog park, whining and punching the chain-link. He seemed to have lost even more weight. There was a noticeable difference between him and Elfie. The wounds looked a little better, but everything else spoke to decline. And it had only been a week.

More than ever he was convinced that those sores were symptoms of a deeper issue.

T’s head was up, watching Fiyero and his eyebrows were lowered disapprovingly.

“Easy, friend,” Cason said to T. "Hey, Fiyero. So happy to see you, bud.” If Cason wasn't on the job with T right now he would go over and give Fiyero some love. Just seeing his old friend again made him feel a deeper reconnection than he’d ever experienced at his high school reunions.

Elfie came up to the fence, as if making sure Fiyero was safe and he wasn’t bothering anyone. After Cason said hello, she went on with her inspection of the area outside the gates.

“The shorter, stockier one is his mom,” said Cason. “Talk about a helicopter mom. Fiyero can’t so much as sneeze without her hovering over him.” For the first time, Cason wondered about the stress that Fiyero’s health issues would cause a caring mother. He hadn’t thought about how hard it would be for her to watch him suffer so much.

“What kind of doggie magic did you work with Fiyero?” asked Haley.

That was the part that hurt—not being given the chance to help the big guy. “None,” said Cason. “They fired me two days in.”

Maybe that wasn’t the best thing to admit, since Cason desperately wanted to keep training T, but he’d been lied to enough he didn’t like to lie to other people. He looked down at T who was eyeballing Elfie.

C’mon, my man. Progress. Cason didn’t know if he could take two failures with two dogs he cared so much about.