by Melissa Haag
* * * *
An hour and a half later, I had showered, scrubbed the kitchen floor, and vacuumed every room in the house in an effort to keep myself awake.
At the sound of Rachel’s car in the driveway, I ran through the house and out the back door. Rachel parked the car in front of the garage and smiled at me. I leaned over the porch railing in an effort to see into the back of the car. I spotted Clay lying on the back seat with his head down. He didn’t look up at me.
Rachel opened her door.
“How’d it go?” I said, trying to sound indifferent.
“He took it like a champ.” She opened the back car door for Clay. He lifted his head and stood with obvious effort. Then he hopped down with care and pathetically climbed the deck steps to my side. I stared at him for a moment.
“What’d they do to him?”
Rachel shook her head and closed the door.
“He wasn’t acting like this when we left. I swear. I think he’s hamming it up for you.” She patted Clay’s head with a laugh.
He accepted the pat with a defeated grunt, stopped hobbling, and started to walk with his usual gait. I heaved a relieved sigh. He looked up at me and winked. I quickly checked to see if Rachel had noticed, but she had already walked away from us and into the house. I shook my head at him before we followed Rachel in.
“So what shots did he get?” I poured some orange juice from the refrigerator and took a drink to keep myself busy. Clay’s eyes never left me.
“Just rabies. The vet had a hard time determining his age by his teeth, but thought him to be in his prime.”
I choked on my juice.
“That’s great,” I managed to gasp out as I glanced at Clay.
A small smug smile curled his lips. I needed to find a nice way to tell him his wolfie smile looked creepy.
“Hey, while I was waiting for him, Peter called. He said he had a good time last night and hoped Scott hadn’t ruined his chance by coming on too strong. He’s never seen Scott act in any way but smooth. He naturally thinks Scott’s falling hard for you.”
Both Clay and I gawked at her. I know my jaw had dropped a little and wondered if Clay’s had done the same.
“I’m just repeating.” She held up her hands with a laugh at my expression. “Anyway, Peter said Scott’s already been bugging him about getting your number to set up another date. Given what you told me, I said no, that last night was just a friendly get together and that you were seeing someone else.”
Clay’s gusty sigh of relief competed with mine. We’d been through enough today. Okay, fine, he’d had to go through all of it while I just stood by. But still...the stress of it, along with the overuse of my sight, wore me out.
Looking down at him, I realized how much I didn’t mind having him there. We’d at least become friends of sorts. But I worried I treated him unfairly by allowing him to hang around. Would that mislead him to think our relationship might grow to more than friendship? I hoped not. If he ever thought I asked too much, he could always walk away.
“You know, sometimes that dog creeps me out with how human he acts,” Rachel said, shaking her head. “Anyway, I’m going to meet up with Peter for another try at a date. We’re going to see a movie, and this time, I’m not asking you to come with.” She had a huge smile on her face as she walked past us toward her room.
“Thank you!” I called to her retreating form.