I Hear...Love (A Different Road #2)

by Annalisa Nicole

  “Sadie, what are you doing here?” I ask, opening the door.

  Her cute little head cocks to the side as she puts her tongue in her mouth. I bend down in front of her and run my hand from her head to her rump. Her tail starts swooshing on the deck as her mouth opens, and she pants with her tongue hanging out. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was also smiling.

  “Sadie!” I hear called from down the beach.

  I recognize that call from last night.

  I stand up and walk to the railing with Sadie hot on my heels. I see Cooper a few houses down with his hands cupped over his mouth frantically yelling for Sadie.

  “Sadie!” he yells again, over the sounds of the ocean.

  “Cooper!” I yell back, waving my arms over my head to get his attention, but he can’t hear me over the crashing waves.

  He starts to jog as he continues to yell out her name. I yell one more time while Sadie starts barking. His attention finally turns towards us, and his face lights up when he sees Sadie is safe and sitting next to me. Her tail happily whips against my leg as Cooper climbs the stairs.

  When I agreed to take this job and moved across the country, my boss assured me I would never have to work on weekends. Yet, here I am busting my ass to get into the office by six in the freaking morning for an emergency, multi-hour, overseas, conference call on what looks like a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning.

  I left my dog sitter a message last night to see if she could come in today and let Sadie out while I’m gone. She only comes Monday through Friday, and I’ve never left Sadie alone all day before.

  I woke up this morning to a message on my cell saying she’s in an out of town wedding this weekend and can’t come. Now I’ll have to try and figure out how to leave in the middle of an important client conference call.

  I grab a stale bagel from the opened plastic bag on the counter and shove it between my teeth, while I look for my car keys through a mound of mail and paperwork scattered about on my counter.

  “Sadie!” I call, muffled, with a bagel in my mouth.

  She’s usually not more than a few steps away from me, but when I look around, she’s nowhere to be seen. I mean, if I go to the bathroom and don’t shut the door all the way, she’ll nose her way into the bathroom with me. I can’t even do my business alone without her face in my lap, or her curled up on the floor by my feet like a tiny Chihuahua. At first, I thought it was gross. But seriously, what does a dog care and sometimes it’s nice to have someone to talk to, even if she doesn’t talk back.

  I quickly look in her food bowl and she hasn’t touched one bite of her breakfast. I spit the bagel out of my mouth onto the counter and run from room to room calling her name.

  She’s not in the house!

  I run to the back door and find it open. I didn’t leave it open, did I?

  I run back to the kitchen and grab her leash off the hook, then sprint outside shouting her name. I hope she’s just down at the beach greeting the early morning treasure hunters. But she’s nowhere to be seen.

  “Sadie!” I frantically yell, as my heart plummets to my feet.

  She’s never run away before.

  I jog down the beach yelling her name, then I hear someone faintly calling my name. I look up and see Kate waving her hands over her head at me from the deck of River’s beach house. I immediately smile at the sight of Kate and start to jog toward her house. As I climb the stairs, Sadie greets me at the top step. I give her a stern look, and she puts her ears down.

  “Sadie,” I chastise in a low growl.

  She lays down and puts her head between her front paws and whines, while she looks up at me with innocent eyes.

  “Sadie is such a sweetheart. She came over to say good morning to me,” Kate says with a smile.

  “Sweet my . . .” I start to say, but don’t finish. “She about gave me a heart attack when I couldn’t find her this morning. Now I’m going to be late for work, and I don’t have anyone to let her outside today. Come on, Sadie, let’s go,” I say, patting my hand on my thigh.

  But she doesn’t budge.

  “I can watch her,” Kate volunteers with a smile.

  Sadie instantly lifts her head and cocks it to the side looking at Kate. She stands on all fours, then looks back and forth between Kate and me.

  “I couldn’t impose on you like that,” I tell her, then Sadie lays down.

  Sadie’s ears go down, then she stands up and put’s her nose in Kate’s hand.

  “Sadie can be pretty insistent about the things she wants,” Kate says, running her hand over the top of Sadie’s head.

  “Yes, it seems lately, she is,” I reply. “Are you sure you don’t mind? I feel like I should insist that you really don’t have to, but I’m kind of in a pickle here,” I finish.

  “A pickle?” she repeats, then giggles.

  The sound of her giggling almost makes me forget that I’m going to be seriously late if I don’t leave now.

  “Here’s her leash,” I say, holding it out for her. “Now, you be a good girl, Sadie,” I say to Sadie, wagging my finger at her.

  “Sadie and I will be just fine. Won’t we, Sadie?” Kate insists, looking down at my dog.

  “She didn’t eat her breakfast this morning. Here,” I say, digging my keys out of my pocket. Duh, I’m such an idiot, they were in my pocket the whole time. “My house is just two doors down. Sadie can show you the way. Feel free to let yourself in. I mean, if you think she’s hungry,” I continue.

  “Great!” she says, taking the keys.

  “Oh, I just need my car key off of there,” I say, taking them back. I twist the key off the ring and hand the rest back to Kate. “I really need to get going. How about I take you out to dinner tonight as a thank you for watching Sadie?” I ask. Her face immediately fills with what looks like terror. I wish I had more time to figure out what that’s all about, but I really need to go. “Sadie, you be good, no running off and playing with people friends,” I call, as I head down the steps.

  The entire drive to work, all I can think about is the fact that I’m going to dinner with Kate tonight. As I park my car in my designated parking space at work, a thought dawns on me. My house is a complete mess, and I really hope she doesn’t go into my bedroom because I’m pretty sure I have dirty underwear on the floor. Or, is it in the bathroom. Shit, I hope she doesn’t have to use the bathroom. I only pick things up on Monday morning, because that’s when a cleaning company comes. Every other day of the week my house looks like a true bachelor pad.

  The conference call lasts four painstaking hours, followed by a six hour meeting to discuss the plan of action for the potential client. I pull into my driveway at four-thirty and race through the house into my bedroom. I look around the floor and take a breath of relief when I don’t see my dirty underwear on the floor. I guess all those years of my mother nagging me to pick up my dirty clothes off the floor finally kicked in.

  I change my clothes into something more casual, then head out the back door to Kate’s house. As I walk the sandy beach, I can’t help but smile at the people on the beach having fun on such a beautiful, sunny day.

  Before I get to Kate’s house, I spot her and Sadie on the beach. I stop and watch the two of them play. Kate is holding a Frisbee and pretends to throw it while Sadie dances on her front legs with anticipation. Finally, Kate lets go of the Frisbee and it soars toward the water. Sadie takes off running and splashes into the water. It lands a few feet in front of her, so she swims toward it and grabs it in her mouth. She turns around, swims close to the shore, then barrels out of the ocean straight toward Kate. Kate doubles over smacking her hands on her thighs with a huge smile on her face, as Sadie crashes into her getting her all wet. Sadie forces the Frisbee into her hands and dances again in anticipation, waiting for her to throw it.

  I put two fingers in my mouth and let out a loud whistle. Sadie’s ears instantly perk up, as she immediately recognizes it’s me, then her face turns to me with a crooked
glance. Kate looks to see what she’s looking at and instantly recognizes me. Her face lights up with a huge smile, and she waves her hand over her head at me. I do a slight jog over to them as Sadie barks at Kate to throw the Frisbee again.

  “You want this, girl?” she asks.

  Kate whips her wrist as she throws it as hard as she can into the ocean.

  “Nice throw. How was she? She didn’t run on you, did she?” I ask.

  “Not at all, she’s such a well-behaved dog. I haven’t even put her leash on her. It’s up at the house,” she replies.

  Sadie comes out of the ocean with the Frisbee, then she positions herself between us and we start to walk back to her house.

  “How was work?” she asks.

  “Long! A day full of meetings is one that seems to drag on and on,” I tell her. “I was thinking about going to dinner at this new Italian place downtown. We can drop Sadie off at my house, then head straight there,” I finish.

  “Sure, let me change into some dry clothes real quick, then I’ll grab my purse and get Sadie’s leash from the table,” she says, as she smiles a nervous smile, then she tucks a stray piece of her long brown hair behind her ear.

  When we get to the top of the steps, I see River standing just outside his back door with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.

  “Kate, dinner will be ready in about an hour,” he says, sternly.

  “Actually, I was going to . . .” she starts to say, but River cuts her off.

  “Joss made a special dinner tonight, my favorite, Eggplant Parmesan,” he interrupts, then turns around and walks back into the house.

  “Maybe we can do dinner some other time?” Kate says, picking up Sadie’s leash off the table.

  She places the leash in my hand, but doesn’t let go. I look down at her hand and I see a very small, almost unnoticeable, semicolon tattooed on the inside of her right wrist. I pull the leash closer to me and cup her upturned wrist with my other hand.

  “What does this mean?” I ask, running my thumb across the tattoo.

  She looks down at her wrist, her eyes go wide, then she smiles. Her face turns back toward me, and she gently pulls her wrist out of my hand.

  “It’s a semicolon. It’s to remind me that I am the author of my life and that my story isn’t over yet,” she says.

  Sadie whines, then she does that strange thing she seems to be doing to Kate and places her nose in her left hand. Kate runs her hand up her head to her ears, then gives her a good pat on the side.

  “Thank you for hanging out with me today, Sadie,” she says, bending down, getting sloppy kisses from Sadie.

  I’ve never been jealous of my dog before, but damn. I mean, not that I want to lick Kate’s face like that, but I suddenly find myself wanting to run my hands through her long, brown hair and kiss her pouty lips.

  “Thank you for watching Sadie. I don’t know what I would have done today. I know it sounds stupid, but I just can’t stand the thought of her spending the whole day all alone. I’ve never had a dog before, and I hear that they’re perfectly capable of being alone. But, I know I need to do my business during the day, and I like knowing someone comes to let her do her business outside, instead of inside on my hardwood floors,” I tell her. “I’d still like to take you out to dinner, though. Maybe next weekend?” I ask.

  “Sure, I’d like that,” she says.

  “Come on Sadie, let’s go,” I say.

  At the last step, I turn around to look at Kate. She waves goodbye with a smile. On the walk home, all I can think about is what she meant by it’s to remind me that I am the author of my life and that my story isn’t over yet.

  I grab my headphones from the pool house, then head to River’s. The second I step foot inside River’s house, the aroma of Joss’s delicious Eggplant Parmesan hits my nose. She says it has something to do with adding nutmeg, but seriously, I wouldn’t know the first thing about cooking.

  Then, River is in my face.

  “I thought we could get a little yoga in before dinner,” he says.

  “Sure,” I tell him, thread my fingers through his, then we walk hand in hand toward his home gym. On the way there I call a cheery, “Hey, Joss,” with a smile, toward the kitchen.

  “Hi, Kate,” she says with a strange look on her face.

  I furrow my eyebrows at her in an unasked ‘What is that look for?’ She widens her eyes and the right tip of her lower lip tugs downward as she gestures toward River.

  River pulls me in the gym, then closes the door. The smell of plastic mats and polished leather fills my nose, and I smile. There truly is nothing better than doing yoga. Well, I hear sex is better than yoga, but it’s been so long for me in that department that I honestly don’t remember anymore.

  I position myself in a seated position a few feet behind River, then place my headphones over my ears. It’s not rock or hip-hop that I crank in my ears while I do yoga, but instrumental, mostly piano concerto music. I close my eyes and center myself in a seated sukhasana pose. It’s important to warm-up your muscles before delving into the more difficult poses. There’s no other feeling than when I move my body into a contorted pose and hold it while my mind, body, and soul soar with complete freedom. Before I can move another muscle, a headphone is removed from my left ear.

  “Who was that?” River questions.

  I open my eyes to see River seated in the exact same position as me, except he’s now facing me. I remove my headphones completely from my ears and rest them around my neck.

  “Who was who?” I ask, full well knowing what he’s asking.

  “Don’t play coy with me young lady. Who was that down at the beach?” he asks more sternly.

  Hmm, his dad complex is coming out instead of dear old brother.

  “That was Cooper and Sadie. I met them at the beach last night. They’re our neighbors. They live just two doors down. You actually met them not that long ago,” I tell him.

  “Yes, I remember. But what were you doing with him?” he asks.

  “What was I doing with him?” I repeat, irritated. “Sadie was pawing at my door this morning. She got out somehow and came over to say good morning to me by herself. Cooper was looking for her. When he found her he was in a hurry to get to work, but upset because he didn’t have anyone to watch her. So, I volunteered. Sadie kept me company all day. It was fun. We went for a walk and we played down at the beach,” I tell him the play-by-play of my entire day.

  I left out the part about going to Cooper’s house so Sadie could eat her breakfast. By River’s tone, it doesn’t seem like this line of questioning needs every little detail. I also left out the part that Sadie and I curled up on my bed for a nap or, the fact that I actually slept while taking said nap. It was incredible.

  “I don’t like it,” he quickly says.

  “You don’t like what? Me playing with a dog?” I ask to clarify.

  I know exactly what he’s getting at, and I seriously take issue with it. He can’t keep me locked up in the pool house forever. I can’t be a hermit. Over the years, I’ve done things that I’m not proud of, and I’ve lost or scared away the little amount of friends I did have. Even my therapist says it’s time to start adding people to my life, and build an inner circle and support system of friends.

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about,” he says.

  “Yes, I think I do, and I think it’s none of your business,” I fire back.

  “None of my business? Are you kidding me right now? Everything about you became my business a year and a half ago,” he says, raising his voice.

  It takes a lot to get River to lose his cool. I’m surprised by his reaction to me playing with Sadie. All my life, River’s mostly been a father figure to me, but sometimes, I’d rather just have my brother and not feel like I’m talking to my dad, or asking for permission to do something. I know I’ve put him through a lot over the past few years, but I’ve been doing everything I can think of to prove to him that I’ve cha
nged. I’m not the same old Kate anymore. I’m committed to doing everything I can to live my life and to be happy.

  “Can we not talk about this right now and just get back to yoga?” I ask, not wanting to go down this road with him right now.

  “Fine, but I need to say one more thing about it. This isn’t the right time in your life for this,” he says, then turns around and gets back into position to start his warm-up.

  All I can do is sit here irritated, staring daggers at the back of River’s head. It takes every ounce of control I have not to slap him upside the back of his head. It isn’t the right time for what? To make a new friend? To play with a dog? To do a favor for someone? To be neighborly? For crying out loud, I’m not looking to jump into bed with a man at the drop of a hat. And, if any man ever thinks that I’m that kind of gal, they have another thing coming.

  “He’s a man,” River says, turning back around again, reading my thoughts.

  “Yes, I know he’s a man,” I reply.

  “I’m a man,” he continues.

  “Uh, yeah, I know,” I say, like a teenage valley girl.

  “He only wants one thing,” he adds, turning back toward the door.

  “What!? You’ve lost your mind,” I say, raising my voice. “Did you only want one thing when you met Joss?” I fire.

  “No, but I’m not like most men,” he fires back, turning around to face me again.

  I stick out my tongue, cross my eyeballs, and scrunch up my nose at him. Then, I mock his words back at him without using my voice. ‘No, but I’m not like most men.’

  “Real mature, Kate,” he says and turns back around.

  Damn it! I hate his impeccable hearing. Joss says he’s a ninja bloodhound, and I tend to agree with her. Or, was it a bloodhound ninja? Either way, it’s very irritating! He starts to warm-up, so I put my headphones back on my ears, close my eyes, and start my own warm-up. As my body gracefully moves from pose to pose, I get lost in the calming music and let everything go. Before I know it, River again pulls a headphone off of one of my ears.