The Dog Town Collection

by Sandy Rideout

  “I’m sorry, too. I knew how hard it was for you even before David got broken. I expected too much.”

  Hannah let her sunglasses slide down her nose. Her eyes were puffy. “Expecting me to remember you was too much? I don’t think so. I feel terrible.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Although, in my defense, you’ve changed a lot. Back then you hardly said a word. But you were always some kind of dog savant. I do remember Samson following you around, lovestruck.”

  “Like Leo follows you,” Remi said, smiling. “Dogs know good people.”

  “Why didn’t you just remind me about that?”

  “I didn’t remember all the details until I saw the photo yesterday.” Remi slid her chair into the sun. There wouldn’t be many fine days left, and it was too late in the season to burn. “Anyway, it seemed tacky to bring up old history when we were meeting on official business.”

  Hannah folded her arms on the table and stared at Remi. “What else don’t I remember?”

  “Well, we didn’t hang out in high school. You were one of the cool kids, and I certainly wasn’t.”

  “There’s something you’re holding back. I suspected as much, but now that I’m through with this exhibit, I want to know.”

  Remi shook her head. “If it was meant to be remembered, you would.”

  “Tell me.” Hannah smiled. “Tell me or I’ll hold onto your dog forever. How much is he worth to you?”

  “Priceless,” Remi said, smiling back. “The most precious thing I’ve ever let own me.”

  “And yet you share him with me whenever I need him.”

  “Leo’s magic is boundless so there’s no need to be selfish.”

  Hannah went back to stroking Leo’s sleek ears. “I wasn’t a bad kid. What did I do to you?”

  “You probably didn’t know,” Remi said, glancing out at the swamp. A few frogs sang, despite the sunshine. “It happened at senior prom.”

  Hannah stiffened. Leo sensed the change and stared up at her, his tail quivering. “I don’t want to talk about prom.”

  “Okay. I don’t either.”

  After a few minutes of silence, Hannah spoke again. “It was a terrible night.”

  “For me, too. My date was Tiller.”

  Hannah’s eyes came back into focus and sharpened. “What?”

  “He was my boyfriend at the time. At least I thought so. I left the after-party at the Duke of York early. I never liked crowds, and Sheba, my dog, was home alone. I told Tiller to stay and have fun.”

  Somewhere behind Hannah’s hazel eyes, her brain was doing the math. “And then he… hung out with me.”

  Remi reached into her purse for the photograph and set it on the table. In the old shot, Tiller had one arm around Hannah and she clung to his other hand. She was wearing a black, strapless dress that had slid too low. Her hair, which had been coiled in an elaborate bun earlier, was hanging loose around her shoulders. She looked beautiful, and also, Remi realized now, very sad. She only realized that because Hannah looked sad now, too.

  Pushing the photo away, Hannah said, “It’s not what you think.”

  “It wasn’t your fault. I guess Tiller just found his chance with you that night. I can hardly blame him. But of course, it was upsetting.”

  Devastating, actually. She’d barely left the house all summer, until she heard that both Hannah and Tiller had left Dorset Hills. Before then, Tiller had called, written, and come by the house. She blocked every avenue and her mother backed her. The only company she could stand was Sheba’s. Once the coast was clear, she’d walked the hills trails daily until the pain finally ebbed to a dull throb that never quite left.

  “Remi. Really. You’ve got it all wrong.” Taking a deep breath, Hannah tapped her polished index finger on the photo. “Do you see that? It’s a tear in my dress—the dress my mom bought for me in New York. It wouldn’t stay up after it was ripped.”

  Remi stared at the photo. She could see the tear now. How was it that she had never noticed that, either? She’d spent hours staring at this photo. It was limp from scrutiny.

  “What happened to your dress?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

  “Jason Taft is what happened.” Hannah dabbed at her eyes with a serviette.

  “Taft? The quarterback?”

  “My date, yes. I thought I’d hit the jackpot when he asked me to prom. And I guess he thought he’d get lucky, too. He took me out on the trail behind the Duke. It was so dark and we didn’t have cell phones then.” Her voice trailed off, but then she took a deep breath. “I’ll skip over the next part. Let’s just say I was lost in the bushes for a while, and when I came out, Tiller was sitting alone on the stairs. We walked into the party together, and I guess someone took this picture to make sure you knew about it. Then Tiller drove me home and waited with me till my mom got there.”

  Remi reached out for Leo, but Hannah gathered him up and buried her face in his fur.

  “I’m sorry,” Remi said.

  “I’m sorry, too—sorry that Leo still stinks like a dumpster.”

  Remi gave a shaky laugh. “I guess he needs another bath.”

  After a moment, Hannah went on. “Tiller was my hero that night. I asked him not to tell anyone about what Taft did, and I assume he kept his word even though it cost him a girlfriend. My mom was the only other person who knew. That’s why she agreed to move away, even before college. Seemed like everywhere I turned, I saw Taft. I just… melted down.”

  Leo’s head was tucked under Hannah’s chin and she squeezed his little body so tight that he wheezed. But he didn’t fight it. When Leo was called to duty, he always served.

  “Taft stuck around,” Remi said. “More full of himself than ever.”

  “Until the night he ran his car off the highway in a drunken drag race.” Hannah’s voice sounded faraway. “They piled flowers where he crashed.”

  Remi reached out and squeezed the arm that squeezed Leo. “I’m sorry I made you relive all this.”

  “I’m not. You and Tiller are the only people I can talk to about it, now.”

  “James worries about you. He’d want to help.”

  She shook her head, over and over, until Leo’s dog tags jingled. “Don’t tell him.”

  “I won’t, I promise.”

  After a few minutes of silence, Hannah offered Leo back. He resisted, not wanting to leave until the job was thoroughly done. Remi signaled for Hannah to keep him.

  They sat that way for a while, and more and more frogs joined the choir.

  “I have something else to confess,” Hannah said, at last. “You know the sculpture of my mom’s poodle?”

  “Armpit? Yes, it was such a shame that the dogs broke it. I wish I could offer to pay for it, but on my salary, it wouldn’t happen in this lifetime.”

  “Actually, the curator had a copy made for display. The original is perfectly safe. I found out afterwards.”

  Remi laughed. “Wonderful. Armpit lives on.”

  Now Hannah laughed too. Leo felt the mood shift, and only then did he slip down and curl up at Remi’s feet.

  “I’ll check with my accountant and see what I can do for the foundation,” Hannah said.

  “That’s kind of you, but I’d feel uncomfortable accepting it.”

  “Because of what happened at prom?”

  “No.” Remi ripped up the old photo into tiny pieces and dumped them into a saucer. “Because we’re friends.”

  Leaning across the table, Hannah blew hard on the bits of paper, sending them up in a swirl only to drift down on Leo. “Well, I prefer to donate to friends from now on. Look what happened when I trusted Bill Bradshaw. He used my mom’s money on huge bronze dogs she’d have hated.”

  “That’s Dog Town,” Remi said. “Always blowing things out of proportion.”

  Hannah opened her purse and rooted around for a business card. “I’d love it if you’d come visit with Leo.”

  “I’ve got a better idea: come back here and we’ll find you the pe
rfect Leo substitute. Don’t you think it’s time for a dog?”

  Hannah’s laugh was lighter and fuller. Musical. “You know, you may be right. I’ll take you up on that.”

  “I know exactly where you can get your perfect dog,” Remi said. “I’ll make some calls.”

  “And I know exactly where you can get your perfect man. I’ll make some calls.”

  Remi wagged her finger. “Don’t you dare, Hannah Pemberton. Better to let sleeping dogs lie.”

  She picked up her own sleeping dog and then leaned over to hug Hannah, with the dog crushed between them.

  Chapter 17

  The jeering began as soon as Remi got out of the cab. Then it turned into a chant: “Granny, Granny, Granny.”

  “What on earth?” Hannah said, climbing out after Remi and following her into the field behind their old high school.

  “Heckling,” Remi said. “I’m getting mean-girled all over again.”

  Blue Hair was sitting front and center in a group of nearly 30 teens. Her influence had apparently grown considerably in just a few days. By the time classes formally began the following day, she’d rule the school.

  Hannah stopped and shook her index finger at Blue. “Stop that right now. It’s rude.”

  A titter travelled up the row and fingers wagged back. “Stop that right now. Don’t be rude to the princess.”

  Hannah’s color rose. She wasn’t used to being treated so disrespectfully; her billions would mean little with this crew.

  “Let’s go, Hannah,” Remi whispered. Then she cleared her throat and raised her voice. “I promised Principal Coxwell I’d meet her five minutes ago.” Turning, she lifted her phone high and took a selfie with Hannah. The teens scrambled to get out of the shot. Then she sent a grin in Blue’s general direction before heading toward the school. The girl fired a string of profanity after them.

  “I did not need this trip down memory lane,” Hannah said, shuddering. “School is still awful.”

  “I think we both need to get this place out of our system,” Remi said. “We’re going to walk in small and walk out huge. Hear me?”

  “Huge. Got it.” Hannah’s heels clicked over the pavement as they approached the door. “What happens in between?”

  “Leave that to Leo,” Remi said, opening the door with a flourish. “He’s going to set everything right.”

  Principal Coxwell listened to Remi’s proposal and shrugged. “It’s a long shot, but worth a try, I guess.” She grabbed a clipboard and a set of bolt-cutters from her office and led them out into the hall.

  Leaning down, Remi unhooked Leo and said, “Get it, boy.”

  The beagle put his nose to the floor and started his search. The three women followed him down the hall, making small talk as he meandered from side to side. In the third corridor, Leo’s tail rose and began a steady beat. “He’s onto something,” Remi said.

  “How do you know it’s not stale donuts?” the principal asked.

  “Different wag for food,” Remi said.

  “Or drugs,” Hannah said. “I’m sure that still happens here.”

  “He wouldn’t care about that,” Remi said. “He’s not a trained sniffer. Just an enthusiastic amateur.”

  Leo stopped in front of a locker, his tail beating a steady rhythm. Principal Coxwell flipped pages on her clipboard until she found the corresponding number, and then her eyebrows shot up. Handing Remi the clipboard, she used the bolt-cutters with practiced ease and snapped the lock. The door opened to reveal Brianne’s sculpture of Nugget with the unicorn horn.

  “How did he know?” Hannah asked, astonished.

  “When Brianne dropped it in the field he peed on it,” Remi said. “I told her he missed because the poor kid had enough trouble. A dog can always find his way back to his territory.”

  “Does this mean Blue’s going down?” Hannah asked, with obvious satisfaction.

  “She’ll receive appropriate correction,” the principal said, grimly. “And Brianne will receive the prize. The judges had already agreed on that before it went missing.”

  Remi gave her dog a liver treat and plenty of praise. “Thanks to Leo’s nose, justice has been served.”

  “I’ll double the prize money,” Hannah said, “And throw in private art classes, too. I want to help people like Brianne.”

  “How lovely,” Principal Coxwell said. “You two have exceeded a teacher’s wildest hopes.”

  “The prize won’t make Brianne more of mark, though, will it?” Remi asked. “Things backfire sometimes.”

  The principal brandished the bolt-cutters. “I’ll stay on top of it, you have my word.”

  A few minutes later, Hannah and Remi burst out of the school’s front doors, gasping for air as if they’d been caught in an undertow.

  “Huge?” Remi asked.

  “Huge,” Hannah said, laughing.

  They walked down the stairs with their arms linked, and when they reached the bottom, they didn’t look back.

  Chapter 18

  “Lagotto Romagnolo,” Arden said, pointing at a shaggy fluffball. “Italian truffle hunter.”

  “Lagotto? Are you kidding? That dog’s one part shih tzu and 20 parts American mutt.”

  Arden stared at the dog scampering along the boardwalk, deciding whether to challenge Remi’s claim. Instead she pulled out her travel lipstick case, with about 20 tubes. “What should I choose?”

  “New glasses?” Remi smirked. Arden’s eyesight was perfect, unlike her own. But Remi was riding high after her selfie with a six-toed Norwegian lundehund bred to hunt puffins. It would be a long time before Arden threatened her lead again.

  “You’re getting pretty full of yourself since landing that donation,” Arden said. “Shouldn’t you rein it in till the money’s in the bank?”

  “I trust Hannah. But no matter how much she donates it won’t satisfy Marcus. Only a replacement Gianneschi can make him happy again. And luckily it’s coming.”

  “Now that is a happy ending. I’m amazed one of Julia’s clients was willing to donate a Gianneschi to our worthy cause.”

  “If only it were red. Do you think Marcus will ever accept blue leather?”

  “Eventually, though he’ll never admit it,” Arden said.

  They paused in the middle of the boardwalk to let people and dogs flow around them, immersing themselves in the Dog Town experience.

  “Today marks a first for me,” Remi said, as they moved forward again. “I stole a flower arrangement from the Larkson Hotel for Julia. Hannah distracted the clerk so I could liberate it from the lobby.”

  “Nice! And what happened with James?”

  “He and Rocky hit the road early. But he says he’ll be back, and I think he will. Dorset Hills sunk the hook deep in him.”

  Arden laughed. “Now all you have to do is get Leo greenlit for reentry.”

  “The generous donation from the courier company should help, right?”

  Simon had traced the video to their courier, the gangly young man who had a crush on Remi. Under interrogation by Marcus, the kid confessed he’d done a late delivery Saturday and found the door unlocked and the two dogs howling. He released them and hung around while they played, hoping Remi would show up to collect Leo. The couch demolition got out of hand quickly and the dogs wouldn’t listen when he tried to call them off. So he filmed it to add to the many crazy pet videos online, completely unaware of how much the repair would cost. The kid had been fired, but Julia got him a job in the hospital cafeteria.

  At the end of the boardwalk they turned for a third pass. It had been a fine holiday afternoon with what seemed like half the city on the promenade. But now the sun was low, tugging summer with it into darkness.

  Leo had had enough. He collapsed onto his side in a bold strike move. Picking him up, Remi shook her head. “You’re something else, buddy. You’d better turn on some serious charm for Marcus.”

  “What about the promotion?” Arden asked. “Any mention of it yet?”
<
br />   Remi shook her head. “No, but Marcus told me to pack up so I think I’m getting the office, which is a start. What I don’t know is where Tiller is moving. He’ll be mad if it’s the dungeon.”

  “Maybe you’re sharing,” Arden said. “You could do worse.”

  Remi’s phone rang and she hit speaker. “Hey, Marcus.”

  “I need you to go over to the Larkson Hotel immediately,” he said. “Hannah Pemberton’s asked for you.”

  “But her flight was at two.”

  “Something’s obviously changed, and it had better not be that donation,” he said. “Get over there and fan her with palm fronds if you need to.”

  Remi hopped in a cab with Leo and was at the hotel by six. The desk clerk said Hannah was waiting in the gazebo down by the marsh. In all her visits, Remi had never really noticed the gazebo, but she couldn’t miss it this evening. It had been strung with thousands of twinkle lights and gleamed like a fairy castle in the dusk. Before she reached it, she heard the music and stopped. The eerie strains of “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley rose toward the dimming sky. It was the last song played at that long-ago prom.

  Her feet stopped and her heart stuttered. She had never been able to hear that song without dissolving into tears, and tonight was no exception.

  Tiller came down the stairs, white teeth gleaming in the dusk. But his smile faded when he saw her face. “Happy tears… I hope?” There was a hint of alarm in his voice, as if he’d just realized this grand gesture could go far wrong.

  “Definitely happy tears,” she reassured him.

  It was true that joy had filled her heart, but there was something else sharing space with it: sorrow for all the years they’d lost. If only she hadn’t left prom early to run away from the crowds. If only she’d pushed herself to stay, and then everything would have been different. They could have saved Hannah together, and—

  “Uh-uh, Remi. No second guessing.” Tiller shook his head resolutely. “All that matters is that we’re exactly where we should be right now.”