Chapter Twenty
At four o’clock, when the video people were long gone, Garrett did a quick search for Jessie and found her in the back field, leaning against a tree, eyes closed, Lola’s head in her lap. He stood for a moment, watching their expressions of pure exhaustion and satisfaction.
“Two tired puppies,” he mused softly.
Lola looked up at him without moving her head, but Jessie moaned. “We’re hiding from all humankind.”
“Not this humankind,” he said, dropping next to her.
“That woman really irritated me,” she admitted. “After they left, I brought Lola for a walk, but we didn’t get far.” She petted the dog lovingly. “Lola soothes the savage beast.”
He smiled at that. “I’ve seen a lot of people with dogs, Jessie, and I gotta say you two have something special.” He leaned into her. “I’m jealous.”
She let her head drop onto his shoulder. “Your office door was closed. And, honestly, I’m so in love with her, I can’t stand it.”
“Now I’m really jealous.”
She lifted her head and parted her lips as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t. So he said it for her with a kiss. Lightly at first, then with a little more feeling, letting their tongues touch.
“Well,” she sighed when they broke apart. “You do out-kiss her by a long shot.”
“And out-comfort.” He nibbled at her jaw. “Come over tonight, and I’ll make you dinner.”
“Yes, please.” She eased back and looked at him, more critically this time. “You really relaxed after that interview was over.”
“I’m so not relaxed.” He let his hand slide down over her collarbone, and instantly, Lola lifted her head to give him a warning look. “What?” he asked the dog. “I like her.”
She barked once, with a serious eye-lock.
“Oh, she’s yours all right,” Garrett said.
Jessie folded over to love on the dog. “You’re a good girl, you know that?” Then she whispered in her ear, “I love you best, though. You’re my number one.”
Lola barked again, jerking her head up and standing this time, looking past them.
“Okay, okay.” Garrett held his hands up in surrender. “She’s yours, Lola. I’ll take what I can get when you’ve had enough.”
Lola paid no attention, still barking and ready to bolt but too well-trained to run off.
“Maybe not,” Jessie teased, reaching for the dog. “Calm down, Lola. You’re my number—”
She jerked away, letting out a series of barks, agitated now, her tail swishing.
“What’s going on with her?” Jessie asked.
“I don’t know.” Garrett leaned forward. “Lola, sit.”
But this time, Lola ignored the order, taking off at a sprint, heading toward the main training area.
“What?” Jessie shot up. “She never does that.”
“Lola!” They called after her in unison.
“Lola, stay!” Jessie yelled, breaking into a run to follow her around the side of the classroom building. “What is going on with her?”
“Level-six distraction,” he said, taking Jessie’s hand to stop her from running as his own protective instincts kicked in. He didn’t want anything to hurt Jessie. Anything, even what he already knew would make that dog respond that way.
She pulled away. “I have to see what’s wrong with her.”
“I don’t think…” Together, they came around the corner to see Lola sprint past the pen and toward the main drive, bolting toward a redheaded woman. “Anything’s wrong.”
“What is she…who is that…” Jessie put her hand over her mouth as Lola leaped in the air, throwing both paws on the woman’s chest, making her hoot and cry out as the dog licked her face and barked and wagged and practically knocked her to the ground.
They both knew who she was.
“Lola’s real number one,” Jessie whispered, tightening her grip on Garrett’s hand.
He pulled their joined hands to his lips to kiss her knuckles. “Trust me, honey, there are worse ways to say goodbye to a dog.”
She nodded, watching the scene unfold as her eyes misted over. “I know. I’m happy for her. I’m really happy for her. Look at her.”
But he looked at Jessie, whose very reaction to this wormed her deeper into his heart.
She swallowed back what he imagined was a golf-ball-size lump in her throat and looked up at him. “Let’s go meet the lucky lady.”
* * *
Sherry Barr was strung awfully damn uptight to have raised a dog as chill as Lola, but she was clearly the real owner. Lola had barely sniffed in Jessie’s direction since her preferred master showed up. The woman, tall, thin, and, yes, her hair was precisely the color and style of Jessie’s, had a brittle smile reserved exclusively for…Trisket.
A name Jessie loathed on principle. Everything about the woman torqued Jessie, which could have been a bad case of the green-eyed monster. Or it could have been Jessie’s instincts on fire, making her sense that Sherry wasn’t being entirely forthright.
For one thing, the woman was clearly put off by Garrett’s request that she fill out paperwork and file her identification. She’d brought a recent bill from her vet, the Rhode Island vet Garrett had been in touch with, and pointed to Lola’s reaction to her as proof she was the owner.
Garrett agreed and assured her it would be fast and easy, urging the woman toward the administration offices and asking politely about registration. Sherry explained that she got the dog from a neighbor whose border collie hadn’t been fixed and gotten pregnant from a stray, so Sherry took one of the puppies and never got around to registering her.
She’d been out of the country when her vet tried to contact her, but when she got home and listened to his message, she’d called the cell phone number he’d left, which was Garrett’s, but decided not to leave a message. Anxious to get Lola, she drove down here instead.
Really? Jessie had to bite her tongue to hold back the questions. Why hadn’t she told her vet that so they’d known she was coming? Why hadn’t she checked her messages when she was out of the country? Why hadn’t she chipped her damn dog?
“Who was supposed to take care of Lola while you were gone?” Jessie asked, trying to sound conversational and not accusatory.
“A friend, but then she went missing right before I left.”
“And you went out of the country?” Jessie couldn’t keep the judgment out of her voice and got a side-eye in return.
“Would you cancel a trip to Paris because you lost your dog?”
Maybe. Jessie angled her head in concession, but irritation crawled all over her skin. Her story seemed feasible, if careless, and it was obvious that, even on her best day, Lola had never been this happy. She practically mowed the woman down with affection, her tail whipping from side to side with joy, her tongue out, her smile in place.
This was definitely Lola’s person, whether Jessie liked it or not. And she most certainly did not.
While she tried to come to terms with that, Garrett explained that there was a proper procedure they had to go through. Sherry walked next to him, Lola matching every step, while Jessie hung back a few steps, stewing.
Who doesn’t register their dog? What had this woman done to deserve Lola’s love? Why hadn’t she sent someone to Waterford while she was in Paris? This was her dog, for crying out loud. Didn’t she love Lola? What kind of mother was she?
One that placed something or someone over the precious gift she’d been given.
One like her very own mother.
“How did she get lost?” Jessie asked, hustling to catch up with them as they headed to Garrett’s office.
The woman barely looked at her. “She was stolen from my yard. It was fenced, but someone took her.”
“What?” Jessie’s jaw dropped. “Why?”
“Because she’s beautiful,” the woman replied, as if that explained it. “It happens, you know. I mean, working here, you must know.”
Except…no. This didn’t fit. “So, if someone stole Lola because she is so utterly irresistible that they had to break into your yard and take her, why leave her at an interstate rest stop?”
The woman glared at her. “How would I know?” she said, an edge in her voice.
A great interview technique, answering a question with a question. The oldest in the book when a person didn’t want to outright lie.
“Is Lola a particularly valuable dog?” Jessie asked. “She’s fixed, so…”
“Why don’t you ask someone who breeds them?” Sherry fired back, walking past her into Garrett’s office.
“Did you contact the local authorities?”
“Did you not hear me explain this to your boss?” she asked, her every word burrowing under Jessie’s skin.
“Okay,” Garrett said, cutting into the exchange as he pulled out some files from a drawer. “I need you to fill this out, and let me make copies of any paperwork you have that proves Lola, er, Trisket is your dog.”
“Lola?” She sniffed. “That’s what you call her?”
“We didn’t have a name,” Jessie said through gritted teeth.
The woman had the courtesy to nod in understanding. “I’m just grateful to my vet.”
Who she didn’t even call back. “But it was Garrett who put the call out to all his contacts in Rhode Island,” Jessie said. “You didn’t post it on social media. Do you have a FriendGroup account?”
Sherry ignored the question, looking at the papers Garrett slid across the table.
“I’m not filling this out,” she said simply. “I’ll pay you, of course. For every day she boarded here and whatever expenses were incurred. But no papers. I don’t want to. Trisket is my dog, and if the way she acted when she saw me doesn’t prove that, then you’re not very impressive dog people here at this facility.”
Garrett narrowed his eyes. “I’m not giving her to anyone off the street. We follow state laws for this procedure, and you’ll have to prove she’s yours with paper, not a wagging tail.”
She swallowed visibly and looked down, fighting tears.
On instinct, Jessie reached over and put her hand over the woman’s. “How about you tell us why you won’t fill it out?” She slid a look at Garrett, who gave an imperceptible nod of approval.
She shifted in her seat, then huffed a breath. “Because my ex took her to make my life hell, okay? And I’ve moved. Well, I’m going to stay with a friend in Florida because I have to get away from this guy, and I don’t want him to know where I am. Okay? Is that enough reason for me not to file anything with anyone anywhere or call my vet, who he knows? So I’m safe? Of course she’s registered, but I don’t want him to know I have her. I don’t have a FriendGroup account because he stalks me. I don’t want him to know where I’ve been or where I’m going.” Her voice wavered and cracked. “I need to be safe.”
“Oh, so sorry.” Jessie added some pressure to her touch, a rush of sympathy washing away any irritation. “That’s a tough situation.”
“Trisket is…my world now.”
As if she knew she was being talked about, Lola sat up and got closer, placing her chin on the lady’s leg. Sherry leaned over and planted a kiss on her head. “Good girl, Trissie.”
Lola’s tail flipped left and right with pure joy.
Garrett blew out a breath. “Fill out what you can without leaving a trail and give me a phone number where I can reach you. I’ll verify with Dr. Stowe in Rhode Island and file the paperwork under our corporate name. We want you to be as safe as your dog.”
She smiled at him, then Jessie. “Thank you. I promise you I would never hurt her.”
As Sherry leaned over to fill out the form, Jessie reached her hand to the dog.
“Hey, Lola. You forget about me, baby?”
She turned and wagged, but clearly her interest had waned.
“Jessie kept your dog from starving herself to death,” Garrett said, making Sherry look up from the form.
“Really?”
“Oh, it was…” No, it was not nothing, Jessie thought. It was a tiny bit life-changing. “My pleasure,” she added. “I fell hard for her.”
That made Sherry smile. “She’s special like that. I appreciate you loving her for me.”
“I did. I do.” A lump formed in her throat, unexpected but real. “Hey, Lola. Do you want to show your new trick to your mom? Let’s go outside and practice while they finish this business.” Jessie stood, anxious to get out of the room so this stranger didn’t see her emotions. “Do you mind?” she asked Sherry.
“No, of course. I’ll be right out.”
“Come, Lola.” She snapped her fingers, but Lola looked at her owner for permission first.
Outside, Jessie blinked back some tears and walked Lola to the grass for the last time, hugging her with both arms around her neck. “I’m going to miss you, you know that?”
A wave of emotion rolled up and threatened more tears, so Jessie closed her eyes and let Lola lick her face. “It was fun being your number one,” she whispered. “Even if it was only for a little bit.”
Lola barked and pulled away, instantly darting toward her real number one as Sherry and Garrett came closer.
“Let’s see this trick,” Sherry said, much friendlier now than when she arrived.
“All right. Lola, come.” Jessie got on one knee. “High five!”
Lola lifted her paw and tapped Jessie’s.
“That’s awesome,” Sherry said, leaning over to pet the dog. “Now tell me you love me, Trisket.”
Lola barked three times.
“I love you, too,” Sherry said.
Three more barks.
“That’s…I love you?” Jessie asked on a whisper.
“Her first trick,” Sherry said. “Three times, always, when she sees me. I-love-you.”
Lola did it again, as if to agree with her owner.
Jessie sighed and looked up at Garrett. “All this time, she’s been saying I love you, and I didn’t even know.”
“She showed you,” he whispered. “You didn’t have to know she was thinking it.”
The words rolled over her, easing the pain in her chest.
“I’m so happy she was here,” Sherry said as she started to walk away and Lola went with her. “Come on, Trissie. We have a long ride ahead.” She reached out and shook Garrett’s hand and added a quick hug to Jessie. “Thank you so much.”
They walked out of the training area, around the fence, and headed to an SUV parked in the driveway.
“Bye, Lola,” Jessie called, tears rolling now.
Lola stopped, turned, and barked three times.
“I love you, too,” she whispered, turning to Garrett, who pulled her closer. Everything in her wanted to say the same thing to him, but something stopped her. Probably the great big black hole of hurt in her chest.