Life was certainly getting back to normal—if there was such a thing as normal.

Walking through the park, Custer pranced, almost like he understood the importance of the day.

Thad leaned to pat him on the side. “Hey, buddy, you need to be on your best behavior today. This is your chance for a forever home, and to help a little girl who needs you. You can’t be stubborn.” Thad checked his coat, which was still damp from being washed and clipped. “You can do this.” Thad reached the playground in time to see Karly arrive.

“Hey.” She let Custer smell her hand before giving him an affectionate ear rub. “He’s looking mighty handsome today.” While she leaned in to pet the dog, his heart sighed. She looked edible in those tight-fitting jeans that cupped her rear end so perfectly. The sherbet orange T-shirt didn’t hurt, either. This afternoon, he might take her to find a nice, sunny spot and have a lick.

She stood. “Don’t look at me like you want to nibble on something. The Carson family is supposed to arrive any minute.”

#Busted. “What did they say when you called?”

“Not much. I’ve answered most of their questions already. The Carsons are just excited about meeting Custer. I also told them I brought a kennel and a few supplies for them to take home.”

Custer sat silently beside Thad, looking mighty pleased. “You were right about him. He’s a good dog.”

She nudged his shoulder with hers. “He had a good trainer.”

For the first time in months, the praise in her voice overruled the hypercritical negativity that normally shredded his thoughts. He pinched a dog hair off her cotton shirt. “Thanks.”

“Thad, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“They’re here.” Thad pointed over her shoulder at the gray minivan pulling into a handicapped parking spot. “Let’s talk later.” Thad wiggled his fingers to get Custer’s attention. “This is it. Ready to meet Lily?”

Custer stared at him, waiting for his command. Was that sadness he saw? Did he understand today was their goodbye? Or was the expression just a reflection of his own sense of loss? Letting go had never been easy. But unlike Ike, at least Custer had a chance at happiness.

Thad took a step forward. “Heel.”

Both Custer and Karly fell into step beside him. Walking across the lawn, he dragged his feet until he saw the little girl with ribbon-tied ponytails.

Her blond, curly hair matched Custer’s, only it was a bit longer and floated in the breeze. A blue T-shirt, jeans, and a pair of white tennis shoes with pink flowers on top perfectly fit his image of a little girl named Lily. Even though she had an oxygen tank dragging behind her, her smile was as brilliant as the sun.

“There’s Cuth-ter.” She jumped up and down, clapping her hands.

Custer brushed up against his leg and let out a nervous whine. Thad gave the leash a gentle tug. “It’s okay,” he encouraged in a quiet, soothing tone.

He stopped a few feet from the little girl and crouched beside Custer, wrapping his arms around the dog's chest. “You must be Lily. Would you like to meet Custer?”

“Cuth-ter.” She held out her hands and wiggled her fingers in a come-now way.

Custer licked Thad’s face, then pranced on his front paws. He leaned forward, straining against the lead. “Okay,” Thad gave the command.

Lily raised her hand to touch Custer’s fur. Custer inched forward. After only a brief touch, she pulled back. A squeal of giggles splintered the tension. “Soff. Dog soff.” The glee in her eyes exploded like a bowl of confetti.

“Let’s see if we can’t get Custer loaded, shall we?” Thad gave Custer the command ‘stand’ while he loaded one of the oxygen tanks Mr. Carson brought along. “That’s a good boy, Custer.”

“Good boy, Cuth-ter.” Lily patted the dog on the nose.

The interaction provided a reassuring comfort. “Are you ready to try this out?”

Lily patted the dog’s back and walked ahead, and thankfully Custer followed.

“You must be Thad. I’m Tom Carson, and this is my wife, Pam.”

“Nice to meet you. You’ve got a beautiful kid.” Thad gestured toward Lily, who was untangling her plastic tubing from around Custer’s legs. “Let’s see if we can’t get them down the slide together, shall we?”

Tom glanced protectively toward his daughter while Pam choked back a sob. “I can’t wait for her to be able to play like an average little girl.”

“That’s the goal.” Thad took a deliberate step towards his newly-found purpose.

Lily climbed up and over, slid down, swung high and low with a rainbow of expressions, all the while telling Custer he was a good boy. She dragged her feet along the sand to slow her swinging movement and tottered toward her parents.

“Can we keep Cuth-ter?” Her eyes danced with hope.

Tom looked at Pam, and both nodded at the same time. Lily hugged Custer. The dog blew a breath in her ear. “Wait till you meet my best friend, Mary. She’s nice.”

Lily walked to Thad and yanked on his jeans. “Mith-ter. Thank you for my dog.”

Thad knelt down. “If you take good care of him, he’ll be a good friend. Just remember to let him rest. Dogs need to sleep more than we do.”

Custer came to lie at Lily’s feet, and she tugged on the edge of her navy blue T-shirt which declared “I’m adorable,” written in sequins. She touched Thad’s nose with her finger. “Don’t be sad.”

Kids saw much more than most people expected. He attempted a smile. “I’m not sad.”

“Yeth, you are.”

Maybe he was, but he didn’t want the world to know. He forced his mouth to smile. “I’ll be just fine. Don’t you worry about me. Karly has a whole kennel full of dogs who need a new home. I’ll find another pup to train.”

She poked at his hand, running her fingers along his scars, rotating his hand to see the other side. “Maybe your new dog can help get you better. Like Cuth-ter. He’ll help me.”

Kids and animals. They had a gift of seeing what jaded eyes could no longer sense. “Maybe. Or maybe I can train another dog to help someone special, like you.”

“Momma tells me I’m special all the time.”

“It must be true, then.”

She giggled. “C’mon, Cuth-ter. Let’s play.”

“Hold up a minute. We need to help you learn to talk to Custer. He only knows a few words, and you need to know what they are so he can understand what you want.”

She giggled and shrugged her shoulders almost to her ears. “Dog’s don’t talk. They bark, silly.”

“You’re right. They bark, but they also listen and do what you want them to do if you give them the right command. Watch.” Thad held up his hand, and Custer followed his movements. “Up.”

Custer stood up on his hind legs.

“Sit.”

Custer nudged his hand and sat.

“Good boy.” Thad pulled a treat out of his pocket. “This is his latest trick.” Thad balanced the treat on the dog's nose. “Leave it.” Custer’s eyes never left him, and he started to drool. When a drop of saliva hit the tip of his hiking boot, he smiled. “Okay.”

With an upward jerk of his muzzle, Custer launched his treat into the air, and less than a second later, it disappeared in one gulp. Lily’s scream and hand claps followed. Custer’s ears went flat, and he nudged Thad’s hand. Thad snapped his fingers, getting Custer’s attention. The dog sat, watching, waiting.

“Lily, do you want to try?”

She thrust her pudgy little hand out, palm up, to accept the treat. She lifted her hand to place the treat on Custer’s nose, but it fell into the grass. The dog was the first to reach it.

Lily moved to wrap her arms around her dad’s legs, and peek at Thad and Custer from behind the wall of safety. “He ate it.” Her lips trembled. “He didn’t wait.”

Thad dropped into a crouched position and tugged on the hem of her jeans to get her attention. “Yeah, Custer can be stubborn sometimes. I bet he’s just like you. Do you always listen to your mom and dad?”

“Yesssss.” Lily blinked and pulled inward.

Tom tapped his daughter’s shoulder. “Lily, is that true? We tell the truth, don’t we?”

Her blue eyes sought his. “Noooo.”

Her mouth puckered into a pout.

A joy tiptoed through his soul, coloring everything happy as it went along. “Custer is still learning. He sometimes has bad days and doesn’t listen. You just have to make sure he practices his commands like you practice your alphabet, every day. You have to promise to practice every day.”

She twisted the end of her T-shirt around her finger. “Okay.”

Thad held out his hand, and she gave it a slap. “Are you ready to learn the rest of Custer’s words?”

“Yaaaahhhhh.” She screamed and jumped up and down, clapping.

Thad caught a glimpse of Karly. He’d expected to see happiness. What he saw was more in line with regret, maybe sorrow. The interaction with Lily had triggered something raw, and she was doing her cheery best to fake it, but he knew her better.

He wanted to pull her into his arms and squash the sadness forever, unfortunately now wasn’t the time.

For the next ten minutes, Thad helped Lily learn Custer’s vocabulary. He repeated the steps over and over. Holding her attention was a challenge, but he managed to coax her along until she got them right. He gave Lily a hug for learning the lessons and stood.

Oddly enough, his leg didn’t hurt as much as it did most days. “I can’t thank you enough.” Tom held out his hand to Thad.

“Glad to help.”

Pam placed a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “We should get going. We have a long drive.”

“I’ll help you get the kennel and supplies loaded.” Karly wrapped her arm around Pam to provide comfort while the women moved toward the parking lot.

“When Pam came up with this idea,” Tom lowered his voice to almost a whisper, “I thought she was crazy. Seeing them together, playing…” Tom blinked, and his mouth began to tremble. Red tinted his cheeks while he knuckled away tears. “When she was born, we almost lost her.”

“And, look at her now.” Thad shifted, shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “She’s able to move freely, and will have a dog to make sure she doesn’t get in trouble, or maybe it’s the other way around.”

“Yes. Yes, she’ll have time just to play and be a kid.”

“Let’s get you on your way.” Thad placed a hand on Tom’s back. Only a few minutes had passed, but Thad connected with this father. He was a good one, unlike his dad. Thad would make sure when Karly had their first, he’d be a good dad.

Tom held Lily’s hand while they walked to the parking area. Thad could barely comprehend the pain and suffering this father endured while watching his daughter grow and struggle. He hoped he’d been able to help in some small way.

After a small, tired tantrum, Lily relinquished her hold on Custer and allowed her new best friend to get into his kennel.

“Drive safely.” Karly stepped back from the Carsons’ driver’s side window.

Thad raised his hand while the specially equipped vehicle backed out of the parking space. Neither Thad nor Karly moved until the car signaled left and turned toward the interstate.

“Seeing Lily play with Custer makes me want to have kids.”

Karly shivered and rubbed her arms. “The insurance check should arrive by the end of the week.”

“Was this really about the money, or finding me work?”

“It was about saving animals and children. The look on Lily’s face was priceless.” Karly turned back toward her truck. “It's the reason why I started matching animals and families, there's nothing more satisfying.”

“What do you say to a juicy hamburger over at Mad Jack’s to celebrate?”

Karly hesitated. “Not today. I have paperwork.”

“But you wanted to tell me something.”

“Oh, that. It can wait.”

She wanted to have lunch. He could tell, but something stopped her. “You sure?”

“I’m sure. I’m supposed to help my mother paint one of my brother’s old bedrooms. She wants to redesign the room, and make it an office.”

He gave her a nudge. “Lunch would be more fun.”

“I agree. However, I’d be interrogated relentlessly about why I canceled. It’s just easier to go.”

“Since when have you done the easy?”

“Since I’ve gotten older and wiser.” She took a step back. “You go celebrate. You deserve it.”

It wouldn’t be any fun without you.

“See you later.” She turned toward her car.

He walked backward a few steps, watching, waiting for her to turn back.

She never did.