Walking the Dog

by Gail Sattler

  “You’re coming to the evening service?”

  “Why not? Am I not invited?”

  The question scared Doreen and at the same time excited her. She wasn’t naive enough to discard the likelihood that he had attended church this morning just to see her. But if he wanted to attend another service, it was her duty as a Christian to help and encourage him in any way possible in his efforts to seek God. The possibility gave her courage.

  “Of course you’re invited. I was just surprised that you wanted to go, that’s all.”

  He checked his watch. “I guess we should leave in half an hour. Want something?”

  Doreen shook her head, still contemplating his desire to accompany her. “No, nothing for me. I couldn’t think of eating another bite.”

  “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to make something for myself.” He disappeared back into the kitchen. Dozer shifted his position in his sleep, with one shoulder in addition to his head hanging further over the edge of the couch.

  “Uh, Edwin, is that dog safe? He’s making me nervous. He looks like he’s going to—”

  Dozer’s head shifted further over the edge, followed by the other shoulder. He continued to slide until, just as Doreen feared, he fell off the couch and landed with a thump on the floor. Dazed, he stood, wobbled for a step, then slowly plodded to a blanket in the corner of the room, where he lay down and fell back to sleep immediately.

  Doreen couldn’t believe her eyes. “That dog’s not normal.”

  Edwin returned from the kitchen, munching on a sandwich. “Naw. He’s just a little clumsy.”

  The dog was clumsy, undisciplined, untrained, and howled like a banshee. And she considered taking him as a client? Was she crazy? One look at Edwin, leaning on one hip in the doorway holding a plate in one hand and eating with the other, made her realize that she had gotten herself in too deep with Edwin to turn back now. She could always pray for a miracle.

  Edwin pushed the last bite of the sandwich into his mouth with two fingers, and turned back into the kitchen, leaving her alone in the living room with the snoring dog.

  seven

  The answering machine light flashed insistently as Doreen walked in after dropping off the last of the dogs. Anxiously, she pressed the button and waited to hear the three messages, hoping at least one of them was a new customer.

  The first was a wrong number.

  The second was Edwin, calling to say hello on his lunch break.

  The third was Edwin, calling to say hello on his coffee break.

  The tape had not finished rewinding when the phone rang.

  “Walking The Dog,” Doreen answered.

  “Hi Doreen! It’s Edwin!”

  Doreen covered her face with one hand. “I should have guessed.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I just finished listening to your voice on the answering machine, and I’m not even finished rewinding the tape, and here you are again. What can I do for you?”

  “I think I’ve got Dozer ready. When do you want to take him?”

  After the performances his dog had made recently, Doreen had good reason to disbelieve Edwin’s bold claim. Only four days since their lesson, she highly doubted that Dozer was a dog prodigy. “I don’t think four days is long enough to adequately train a dog. Even one as bright as Dozer.”

  “Ah!” he exclaimed enthusiastically, “but you should see how he’s improved. You wouldn’t think it’s the same dog! Really!”

  She really doubted it. “Why don’t you give it a little more time, and I’ll see for myself on Saturday.”

  “Aw, come on, Doreen,” he begged. “Please?”

  Doreen squeezed her eyes shut, pinched the bridge of her nose, shook her head, and sighed. “All right, bring him over.”

  “Great! See you soon. And don’t eat supper.” He hung up without waiting for her response.

  What had she done?

  ❧

  Gretchen barked and ran to the door, signifying Edwin’s arrival. “Stay.” Doreen gave the hand signal to stay and opened the door.

  A scene very different than the last time awaited her as she stood in her open doorway, waiting, watching Edwin and Dozer in action.

  To her surprise, Dozer sat motionless in the front passenger seat, perfectly behaved as Edwin leaned into the back seat, groping for something. Edwin sat upright, honked Dozer’s long snout with his free hand, and exited the car carrying a large pizza box. He slammed the door shut and walked up to her without his dog.

  “Watch this.” He handed her the pizza and turned to the car. He cleared his throat for effect. “Dozer, come,” he commanded sternly.

  Obediently, Dozer lunged out the open car window, landed with his feet scrambling, scattering gravel in all directions, and bounded to Edwin, jumping up on him for recognition of his good behavior.

  “Wasn’t that great!” Edwin exclaimed proudly as Dozer continued to jump up and down. After a few futile swipes attempting to remove the paw prints from his shirt, he gave up. “He’s a little excited right now, but didn’t he do good?” Edwin’s eyes shone, as proud of himself as he was of his dog.

  Doreen tried to evaluate them objectively. While not the most dignified performance, the dog had stayed sitting when commanded, and he had come when called. “It’s an improvement, but I’m not sure it’s good enough to take him. First, he must obey and come for me.”

  Edwin beamed ear to ear. “First, can we eat this pizza before it gets cold?”

  With a shrug of her shoulders, Doreen headed into the house, hoping the supper break would give her time to think. Edwin followed on her heels with Gretchen following behind Edwin. Dozer sneaked to the front, directly underneath the pizza box, eyeing it with every step she took.

  “Are we going to have another lesson on Saturday? We’ve been working really hard, and I think we’re ready for the next step.”

  “Well, we’ll have to work more on ‘come.’ ” She hated to disappoint him and tell him that a proper “come” meant for the dog to sit in front of his master quietly when called, awaiting the next command without movement. “We’ll start on ‘heel,’ too. By the way, the proper signal for stay is to show your palm to the dog’s face, not grab the poor thing’s nose.”

  “But it’s such a big nose,” he snickered, closing the door behind him.

  Because Dozer was starting to act too territorial around the pizza box, Doreen shooed both dogs outside and locked the doggie door shut. They ran into the yard, taking turns chasing each other, and Edwin opened the pizza.

  “What are you doing here at this hour?” Doreen asked, turning her back to him as she selected two plates from the cupboard. “I thought you didn’t get home until much later.”

  Edwin scooped out two pieces of the most well-loaded pizza Doreen had ever seen, laying them gently on the plates without a single mushroom falling off. “They owed me some time, so I left early. I wanted to see you this evening.”

  She didn’t want to know why, but suspected obedience lessons for the dog was merely an excuse. “So,” she licked her fingers between bites, “you’ve been practicing.”

  “Mmm,” he mumbled, swallowing his last bite before helping himself to another piece. “I wanted you to take him as soon as possible. I’ve had to work a lot of overtime lately, and the traffic is getting so much worse. It’s getting too long to have him locked inside. I wonder whether that’s why he’s howling so much.”

  “I doubt it. Unfortunately, the breed is prone to howling.”

  “My friend’s kid says it’s because he’s sad. My neighbor says it’s his teeth.”

  “His teeth?” The dog didn’t look old enough to require dental care.

  “My neighbor is constantly complaining about her dentures, so she’s completely convinced that Dozer howls because he has a toothache.”

  Doreen packed up the pizza box and set the glasses in the dishwasher. A toothache? Doreen couldn’t help but wonder about this neighbor.

  L
ooking toward the door, Doreen wondered where the dogs were, since neither of them had been around to beg for pizza. Then she remembered that she had locked them out.

  “If Dozer responds as well as you’re leading me to believe, I can hardly wait to see for myself.”

  Even outside behind the house, the dogs were nowhere to be seen. “He’ll come. You’ll see. I’ll call him, and then you can start looking after him.” Edwin inhaled deeply and opened his mouth to call Dozer, but Doreen stopped him. She had a plan.

  “I’ll make a deal with you. This is the kind of situation where I’ll need him to come to me when I call, when he’s off playing with the other dogs. If he comes for me now, I’ll take him tomorrow. If not, you have to work with him some more.”

  “Deal.” He offered her his hand to shake on it, but when she slid her hand into his, he covered both of their hands, then started to trail his fingertips delicately and teasingly up her arm. His smile reeked of an invitation Doreen wanted no part of. She yanked her hand back, and tried to ignore him, despite her wobbly knees.

  “Here goes.” Doreen sucked in a deep breath. “Dozer, come!” she called. Once. She knew he wouldn’t come, it was part of her plan.

  They waited. And waited. Doreen had turned with a smirk to tell him his dog wasn’t coming when she heard snapping underbrush and rustling branches in the distance. With one final crunch, Dozer loped into the clearing, heading straight for Doreen.

  “Well, I’ll be. . .” She had been so confident he wouldn’t come. Now she would have to eat crow and do as she had promised. Unable to stop staring as Dozer approached, she had no alternative but to take him as a client, even though he wasn’t really ready. She would take him, but she smelled trouble.

  Many times over the past few days, she had caught herself thinking of Edwin, and along with visions of his smiling eyes, she remembered his reaction to the Sunday morning message. If he was starting to see God in a different light as an adult, she could do nothing to encumber his discovery process.

  “Where’s your dog? See, mine came, and yours didn’t,” he taunted. Edwin couldn’t help but gloat. Even though she never said it out loud, she left the impression that she compared her perfect Gretchen to poor old Dozer, and Dozer always came up short. This time, he had her.

  “I didn’t call Gretchen. I only called Dozer.” She pulled a dog whistle out of her pocket and blew it. Sure enough, Gretchen came running.

  “You were saying?”

  “Hmmph,” he mumbled. “Nothing.”

  “What are you grousing about? You won fair and square. I’ll take Dozer starting tomorrow. Would you like to discuss terms and conditions?”

  “Terms?”

  “Terms for payment, and we’ll draw up a contract for times, days, plus special requirements, such as medication.”

  He didn’t feel right discussing money with her. Despite the fact that she was providing a service he obviously needed, it cheapened the relationship.

  “I take cash, checks, or credit card debits.”

  His heart caught in his throat. Relationship? As much as he would have liked to call it that, they didn’t have anything close to being called a relationship.

  When they first met, he only looked at her business card for her phone number to ask her out, but after he thought about it, he knew he should use her services. He was already guilt-ridden about leaving poor Dozer alone for such a long time, and Doreen provided him with an opportunity to do something about it. But now, to be discussing business and money didn’t sit well with him. He wanted to move on to the relationship part. Instead, he followed her back inside the house, into a room that had been converted to an office, to complete the paperwork.

  The office suited the rest of the small house. Earlier, it had taken all the finesse he could muster not to comment on the spotless little dwelling. She had converted the small, two-bedroom cottage into a very comfortable living space. Every inch in the kitchen was used to its full potential; likewise the living room. Her tasteful furniture matched the mood of the house, containing everything she needed without being crowded.

  Her tiny office barely held a desk complete with a computer, a filing cabinet, and two chairs for visitors. Like the rest of the house, it too was immaculate. Baskets contained any loose pieces of paper, a compact organizer held pens, paper clips, and other office necessities. A framed photograph of Gretchen with a white prize ribbon tacked to it graced the wall directly across from the desk.

  Edwin watched as she retrieved her blank forms. When she bent over and leaned way to the back of the filing cabinet drawer, he turned to look out the window to distract himself. What am I thinking? This woman is a devout churchgoer. He wanted to keep everything on the up- and-up.

  “Here Edwin, all you need to do is read it and sign on the dotted line. I filled in the times I’ll be picking Dozer up and dropping him off. Just make sure you agree, and we’re done.”

  At the sight of her innocent smile, his heart pounded in his chest. Holding out the pen for him, she raised her head and pushed the paper across the desk.

  He signed the waiver without reading it, and he quickly scanned the other document, making a mental note of the times she would be by, then pushed it back.

  Doreen stood, peeled a carbonless copy off the back and handed it to him. She placed the top copy in the basket in the corner of her desk, then stood. “There we go. It’s a done deal.” She smiled sweetly into his face with those big blue eyes that almost made his knees give out, and held out her hand to shake on it.

  He glanced down at her delicate hand, then at the desk separating them. He had never wanted to kiss a woman so badly. He sidestepped the desk and stood beside her. Her eyes opened even wider as she stared up at him. He didn’t know what to do.

  Should he reach out and pull her in and hold her the way he wanted? Should he give her a little peck on the cheek? Should he kiss her on the mouth? Should he slowly and seductively give her a long and heated kiss she’d never forget? He wouldn’t forget, that was for sure. Would he put his arms around her and press her body up to his or seductively cup her face? All he knew was that he was as nervous as a sixteen-year-old out on his first date.

  Doreen cleared her throat, breaking the spell. He settled for shaking her hand without trying anything funny. The last time he tried something, she had yanked her hand away so fast he might have been on fire. He pulled at the collar on his shirt. Speaking of fire, it was a little warm in the small room.

  “Did you bring a key?”

  “Key?”

  “I’ll need your house key to get Dozer while you’re at work.”

  “Oh, I never thought of that. I’ll have to make one for you. I guess this means you can’t pick him up tomorrow.”

  “Looks that way.”

  Edwin grinned, then tried not to laugh at her confused expression, no doubt trying to figure out why he was smiling. She’d fallen into his trap by giving him an excuse to come back tomorrow. All the comp time his employer owed him was going to come in handy.

  Edwin headed to the door, Dozer faithfully following behind him. “I’ll be back tomorrow, same time, with the key. Unless you’re busy, that is.”

  “Actually, I am busy. Sorry.”

  His heart sank. “Oh.”

  “It’s practice night at church, but I can drop by your place after and pick up the key, if it’s not too late.”

  His mood brightened. It would never be too late. “Go ahead and stop by, whenever. I’ll look forward to seeing you.”

  Doreen watched the dust cloud rise in the air then dissipate as Edwin drove away. He wasn’t her type, but yet she couldn’t help but like him. He was kind of cute in an endearing sort of way. And she could have sworn that he was going to kiss her. Even though she didn’t think a relationship with him would be advisable, she wondered why he hadn’t at least tried to kiss her. And why was she disappointed?

  ❧

  Another Thursday, another practice. For the first time, Doreen’s
heart was not in it. For all the uplifting music, and as much as she felt the communion with God as she played, this time it seemed all her attention focused on the clock.

  When practice finally ended, she was the first one out the door. She didn’t stay the extra half hour for coffee and chitchat. In her haste to make it out the door, she headed straight into the parking lot rather than to the office to phone Edwin to let him know she was on her way. Besides, she didn’t want to hear that he hadn’t had time to have a duplicate key made, and cancel her visit.

  She remembered surprising him by being early when he asked her out for dinner. Even though she was alone in the car, the thought of Edwin answering the door with his shirt undone and his tie hanging loose made her smile. This time, she didn’t expect any such sights to await her, but she anticipated seeing him regardless.

  Wild barking announced her arrival as soon as her feet touched the concrete of his driveway. She had barely closed the van door when she heard the dull thud of Dozer hitting the door. Seconds later, Edwin stood in the open doorway, grinning from ear to ear.

  “Here I am,” said Doreen. “Did you get a key made for me? Sorry I didn’t phone before I left. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” She held out her hand and looked at him expectantly.

  “Oops, I forgot it upstairs on the table. Would you like to come in?” He gave her an exaggerated wink. “I bought donuts.”

  “Only if it includes coffee.” Her response brought a hearty laugh from Edwin. Not above accepting a bribe, she followed him up the stairs and into the kitchen, where the box of donuts sat on the counter next to the coffeemaker, which was ready and waiting as Edwin flicked the switch. She tried to act surprised.

  “Is it decaffeinated?”

  He melodramatically covered his heart with one palm. “I’ll have you know I made a special trip for the ghastly stuff. I like my coffee loaded and strong, so I hope you appreciate the sacrifice I’m making for you.”