Hello Love

by McQuestion, Karen

  Anni looked so comfortable in the bed on the floor of the PetShop, it seemed a shame to disturb her, but Andrea was on a mission, so she tugged on the ribbon and Anni reluctantly got out. After putting the bed into the cart, they headed to the back corner of the store to pick up a bag of dog food. When they got to the food aisle, the actual thing they’d come for, the number of choices stopped her cold.

  The wall of food went from the floor to over her head. Not only were there different brands, but they also were categorized by the size of the bag and the type of dog. There was food for puppies and for senior dogs, bags labeled with words like “longevity” and “all natural.” Some promised superior ingredients and no artificial flavors or colors. Andrea looked down at Anni as if the dog might indicate a preference. “What do you think, girl?” She smiled at how quickly she’d become one of those crazy dog ladies, the kind who spoke to their pet like they were human.

  Anni sat at her feet and leaned against her leg while Andrea read the labels, trying to make sense of it all. She got out her phone to Google brand names and was so engrossed in her search that she didn’t even see the older gentleman approach. “Can I help you, miss?” he asked, startling her.

  “Oh! I . . .” She shut down the phone and put it back in her purse. “I’m trying to figure out what to buy.”

  “What a cutie!” He leaned over to pet Anni, giving Andrea a view of the top of his shiny pink scalp. When he stood up, he clasped his hands together. He was a portly man, at least seventy or so, not much taller than she was. The hair he did have formed a fringe around his ears and circled around the back of his head. He wore a white lab coat. Most of the other employees were teenagers. This man had to be the manager. “And what might this beautiful dog’s name be?”

  “Anni.”

  “Very good. Am I right in guessing that you just got her recently?”

  Was it that obvious? Andrea nodded. “Yes.”

  “Aha, I knew it. The makeshift leash gave it away.”

  Oh, the leash! “Yes, I had to improvise,” she said.

  “Well done.” His wide smile made her feel at ease. “She was a rescue, I take it.”

  He sure nailed that one on the head, Andrea thought. If only he knew what lengths she’d gone through to bring Anni to safety. “Yes, a rescue.”

  “I thought so.” He nodded. “I’m very good at reading animals, and I can tell that you and Anni were meant to be together.” He reached down to pat Anni’s head. “Isn’t that right, Anni? Oh yes, it is. You are a very sweet girl.”

  “Maybe you can help me pick out some dog food?” Andrea said, looking at the wall of choices. “I don’t mind spending the money. I just want to get her the best. She’s been through a rough time.”

  “Once you take her to the vet, you can ask what they think, but for now I would suggest starting out with this,” he said, indicating a blue bag that promised superior nutrition and a lack of chemical additives.

  “Thank you. I don’t think I caught your name?” She hoisted the bag off the shelf and put it in the cart.

  “Just call me Bruno.”

  She rubbed her hands together. “Well, thank you, Bruno. I appreciate the help. I could have stood here for hours trying to decide.”

  “My pleasure. You know there is something . . .” He hesitated, like someone about to give bad news.

  “What?” Andrea took in a sharp breath. She had a sudden sense that she’d done something wrong, made some kind of blunder that had given away the fact that Anni wasn’t legally hers.

  “I don’t want to overstep my bounds, but I want to tell you that you need to keep Anni with you whenever possible. Let her be your little shadow. I think you’ll find she’s going to be a life changer for you.”

  What an odd little man, but how sweet too. “I think she’s already been a life changer.” Andrea reached down to pet Anni’s head. “I wouldn’t be at PetShop today otherwise.”

  Bruno leaned in to say, “And there’s a coffee shop called Café Mocha that allows people to bring in their dogs. You and Anni should check it out sometime. It’s over on Pleasant Street.”

  “Okay, I will.”

  “Can I help you with anything else?”

  Andrea glanced down at her full cart. “I think I have everything for now.”

  “Very good.” He bent down at the waist and gave Anni one last pet. “Well, good-bye then, Anni. I’m glad to see you landed in a good place with someone who will love you.” When he straightened up, he gave Andrea a two-fingered salute and headed to the end of the aisle.

  “Thank you,” she replied, giving Anni a little tug on the ribbon and following behind. When she turned the corner, though, Bruno was nowhere in sight. She stopped, puzzled. She was only three seconds behind him. Where could he have gone? Anni led the way up the aisle, and Andrea’s eyes darted down each side row, thinking he might have somehow dodged them. But there was no sign of the white-jacketed man anywhere. To get out of view that quickly he had to have broken into a run as soon as he turned the corner. Very curious. Andrea looked down at Anni, who walked ever so ladylike, not seeming to have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

  Andrea shrugged to herself before making her way to the cash register. When it was her turn at the front of the line, the teenage cashier, a beautiful young girl with jet-black hair and a tattoo of a gravestone on her arm, greeted her with, “Did you find everything okay?”

  Andrea began piling items on the conveyer. “Yeah, I did. I was a little overwhelmed in the dog food aisle, but then—”

  But apparently it had been a rhetorical question, because the girl was already scanning the items and didn’t appear to be listening. Andrea kept an eye on Anni even as she watched the cashier ring up her purchases. The dog was fine, sniffing her feet and the floor in general, unperturbed by being abducted and getting a new owner all in the space of the last hour or so.

  As they left the store, Andrea took one more look around, but Bruno was nowhere in sight. He’d been super helpful and she’d wanted to thank him again, but it wasn’t worth dwelling on. He’d given her the tip about Café Mocha too, a place she passed all the time going to work, but had never visited. Good to know they allowed dogs there. Still, it was weird how he’d completely disappeared seconds after going around the corner.

  FIFTEEN

  When his cell phone rang while he was walking out to his truck after work, Dan didn’t recognize the number, but he answered it anyway. That was his first mistake.

  The wind was howling and he’d fumbled to answer the phone while simultaneously taking off a glove so that he could root around in his coat pocket for his car key. “Hello?”

  A woman’s voice on the line said something about her mother knowing Doreen. At first he couldn’t quite follow what she was talking about, and then he had a memory flash and, oh man, his heart sank as he realized what this was all about. This was the fix-up that Doreen swore wasn’t a fix-up. The disembodied voice on the phone was the “lovely woman” who’d just experienced a traumatic breakup. “Oh, hi!” he said, probably a little louder and more upbeat than he’d intended. He wrestled the key fob out of his pocket and unlocked the door. “Just a second. Can you hang on? I . . . just a second.”

  Once inside the cab of the truck, he was cocooned from the wind. Pulling the door shut turned his vehicle into the equivalent of a sound booth. “Sorry about that. I was outside and couldn’t hear.” Complete silence on the line. “Hello?” Outside, confetti snow drifted and blew, swirling so randomly that it was hard to tell if it was still coming down or just rearranging itself.

  “Hey, I’m back!” She sounded cheery. “I got distracted and the phone slipped off my shoulder. Anyway . . .”

  And then she stopped talking, as if Dan should take it from there. He cleared his throat, the preface to telling her that Doreen had spoken out of turn, that he had too many projects at
work and a teenage daughter and repairs to do at the house. Anyone could see that this particular combination of responsibilities would keep him from expanding his social circle. But in that split second of hesitation, in the instant that he used to rehearse the words in his mind, the woman jumped in and sucked away his free will. She was quicker and more decisive and that gave her an edge.

  It all came out in a rush, her words stacked one on top of another. She said, “Now I know you’re not up to dating. Doreen made that very clear, so I especially appreciate that you’re willing to hang out with me occasionally. I’ve been so depressed since, well, we have plenty of time to talk about that when we meet in person. Doreen talked you up, by the way, like you wouldn’t believe. I said I didn’t think there were any good guys left and she was adamant that meeting you would restore my faith in humanity. So I was thinking maybe lunch on Saturday? This coming Saturday—in two days. Somewhere casual? How about Bodecker’s on Main at noon? Is there some reason that won’t work for you?”

  And just like that, his excuses drifted off like the snow. She’d catapulted so many words at him, his own mind went blank. He barely knew his name or what day it was. He couldn’t think of a single reason he couldn’t be at Bodecker’s on Main at noon on Saturday.

  “No, I can make it,” he said. And that was his second mistake. He found himself thanking her for the invitation.

  “I’ll be wearing a black leather jacket and a Hermès scarf,” she said.

  “Got it,” he said. “Black leather jacket.”

  “And a Hermès scarf.”

  “Okay.” Already, he regretted this, but the wheels had lifted off the runway and there was no getting off the plane now.

  She said, “Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” which was the complete opposite of what he’d been thinking. After they’d said their good-byes, he hung up, silently cursing Doreen, even though he knew she had the best intentions.

  SIXTEEN

  Jade was already there, a cup of coffee in front of her, when Andrea arrived at the restaurant that Saturday. She told the hostess, “I see my friend,” and breezed past, sliding into the empty side of the booth with a smile.

  “Someone’s in a good mood,” Jade said, adding two sugars to her cup and stirred briskly. She tapped the spoon against the rim before setting it down on the saucer.

  Andrea unwound the scarf from her neck and shrugged her arms out of her jacket. “Yeah, life is definitely looking up,” she said. She’d only been a dog owner for a few days, and Bruno had been right: Anni was a life changer. Since her visit to PetShop, she’d taken Anni to a veterinarian who checked for a microchip, but didn’t find one. The dog had already been spayed, so obviously someone had cared for her at some time. Unlikely to be the frat boys. They’d acquired her too recently. Besides, Andrea couldn’t imagine them being that responsible.

  The vet proclaimed Anni to be underweight but otherwise in good shape and said that the food Bruno suggested at PetShop was fine. After giving Anni a heartworm test plus some necessary vaccinations and Andrea a brochure on canine health, the vet sent them on their way. Andrea’s biggest fear, that someone at the vet’s office would question her ownership, was never an issue. In fact, when she’d said that Anni was a rescue, Andrea had gotten a high five from the receptionist. And now that the dog was listed as “Anni Keller” in their patients’ file, it seemed official.

  The first full workday as a dog owner, Andrea had tried to leave Anni at home while she went to the office, but after checking on her at lunchtime, she found the dog a stressed-out wreck. The poor thing’s ears were tucked back, and her tail hung low. She paced nervously, sniffing the floor and avoiding eye contact with Andrea. The most telling (and pungent) sign that all was not right in Anni’s world was the pile of poop in the corner of the kitchen. Andrea had worried that this would be an ongoing problem, but after that she took Anni with her to work and there hadn’t been any more accidents.

  Taking the dog out for a walk, they’d come across her neighbor, old-guy Cliff, who was out getting his newspaper. Surprisingly enough he took a liking to Anni almost immediately and Anni took to him, bouncing on her back legs to meet his extended hand. He’d always had dogs, Cliff said, but now those days were over. “I sure do miss having a pup around,” he said, rubbing behind Anni’s ears. “If you ever need someone to watch this little muffin for you, I’m your man.” That’s where Anni was now, parked next to Cliff’s recliner, the old man’s arm trailing down to stroke her side. It was a sweet and unexpected scene.

  “See that guy over there,” Jade said, jerking her chin toward a man at a booth behind Andrea. “I’ve been watching him. He’s meeting someone here and he doesn’t know what she looks like.”

  Andrea turned her head to see a single guy sitting with his back to them. He had wavy dark-brown hair and good posture. She must have passed him on the way in, but she hadn’t noticed him. “Why do you say that?”

  Jade grinned. “He’s all nervous, checking the time on his phone every two minutes. It’s so cute. The waitress came over and he couldn’t decide if he should order a drink until she came or not. All of which is very telling. But the main reason I know? When I walked in, he checked me out, like he thought it might be me. I think it’s one of those online dating things. I can’t wait to watch how this goes.” She craned her neck to get a better look.

  “Ahem,” Andrea said, snapping her fingers. “All eyes on me.” She pointed to her nose like doing a sobriety test. “Don’t you want to hear my news?”

  “Yes!” Jade said. “I almost forgot. Let me guess.” She tapped her lower lip with her index finger. “The workshop worked and you met someone.”

  “Yes and no,” she said, enjoying the look on Jade’s face.

  “Tell me everything. I am dying here. Absolutely dying.”

  But she had to wait a little longer because the waitress chose just that moment to stop at their table. Andrea and Jade had eaten at Bodecker’s on Main many times and always ordered the cashew chicken salad with the dressing on the side, so the exchange went quickly. The second the teenage waitress scooped up the menus, Jade’s eyes widened. “Still dying here. Tell. Me. Now.”

  “You are not going to believe it,” Andrea said. “I have a dog.”

  “You have a dog,” Jade repeated, clearly not getting the significance of it.

  “Yes, a dog, and she’s the cutest thing you ever saw. You will never guess how I got her. I’m only telling you and no one else. You have to swear to keep it a secret or I could go to prison.” It was a bit of an exaggeration, but Jade loved a good story, and the mention of prison really amped things up.

  When Andrea was finished telling the story, she sat back with a satisfied grin. Jade had hung on every word, her eyes fairly bugging out when Andrea got to the part about entering the apartment.

  “Really,” Jade said, her mouth dropping open. “I can’t believe you did that. Breaking and entering. And stealing a dog! That’s so”—she paused to think—“ballsy. Not like you. I mean, that’s really not like you at all. I’m not even sure I would do that and, frankly, I always thought that, between the two of us, I was the bigger badass.”

  “You would have done it,” Andrea said confidently. “If you had seen Anni up on the balcony, you would have gone right up there and saved her too. Anyone with half a heart would have done it.”

  “But,” Jade said, sputtering, “what if those guys find out? If they know it’s you, things could get really nasty. What if they saw your license plate as you drove off?” She jabbed a finger on the place mat. “Or what if the stoner dude tells them it was you? You just called and talked to them about the dog earlier in the day. They might make the connection.”

  Andrea had thought of all these things. They’d haunted her the first day she’d had Anni, causing her to lose an entire night’s sleep. The next morning she’d anonymously called the downstairs tenant,
identifying herself as the girl with the dog who’d taken refuge in his apartment. “Hey!” he’d said, as happy to hear from her as if they were long-lost friends. “Too funny that you called ’cause I was just wishing I could let you know what happened after you left.”

  “What happened after I left?” Andrea felt the color drain from her face.

  “It was totally hilarious. Those two morons came pounding on everyone’s door in the building asking if anyone had seen who took their dog.”

  Now her heart stopped. “What did you say?”

  “I said I knew exactly who took their dog. That it was the police and that the cops knocked on my door and were asking all kinds of questions about where the dog came from and how long they had it and whatnot. Then Zak was all like, ‘You didn’t tell them anything, did you?’ and he’s got his hands on my shirt and I just pushed him away and said, ‘No, I didn’t tell the cops anything.’ Zak was totally shaking and Justin looked like he was gonna puke. I’ve never seen them that way. I totally had them worried.”

  Andrea had exhaled with relief. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

  “My pleasure, really. They totally bought it.” He’d cackled with glee. “It was hilarious, believe me.”

  “That was some fast thinking on your part,” she’d said. “Coming up with a story like that. Thank you.”

  “Maybe you could thank me in person sometime?” he’d said, his voice changing from cocky to hopeful. “Buy me a drink and we’ll call it even. I mean, if you want to.”

  Andrea heard the vulnerability behind the words and didn’t want to crush his spirit, but there was no way they were meeting for a drink. She was pretty sure he wasn’t even old enough to drink. “I’m sorry, but no, I don’t think so.”

  “Yeah, I pretty much figured that a classy woman like you wouldn’t be interested in a guy like me. But I thought it was worth a shot.”