Dog Sitters

by Rozsa Gaston

  "Wouldn't that be sort of lying?"

  "You mean it wasn't nice meeting me?" Suddenly, his eyebrows met in the middle, and he was glowering at her.

  She couldn't tell if he was teasing or really insulted. "No, not that. I mean, what about losing Percy? What if we don't find him and we have to tell them everything when they get back? She'll never speak to me again." She let her face crumple as she sat on the arm of the couch.

  "Back up a minute," he replied evenly. "You tell Nicole everything that happened up until the moment you handed him off to me, at which point it's my story to tell. I lost the dog, not you. Capisce?"

  "What's 'capisce'?"

  "Italian for 'Do you understand?'"

  "Are you part Italian?" she asked. He didn't look it, more Irish or Scottish with his light brown, wavy hair and dark blue eyes.

  "No, but Godfather II is my favorite movie."

  The completely irrelevant thought crossed her mind that Godfather II was also one of her favorite movies. "Wouldn't I be a sort of accomplice to the crime if that's all I say?"

  "Then tell her everything." He gestured with both hands, palms up, looking decidedly like a Godfather II cast member. "That you handed off Percy to me, I lost him less than five minutes later, and you're really sorry but you've got a flight to catch. Hope you're having a wonderful time."

  "I can't tell her that. It will ruin their vacation," she cried, and her throat closed up at the thought of Tom and Nicole rushing back to look for their dog.

  They were on a boat at the moment. How long would it take until it pulled into port somewhere so they could disembark and fly back as soon as possible? While in transit, they'd be in agony.

  "Look. We decide together what we tell them, then we stick to it," Jack said, his voice firm. "Does that work for you?"

  She nodded. He had no idea how well that worked for her. Jack Whitby didn't appear to be a second-guesser. She wished her former almost-fiancé, Tim, had had that kind of resolve, instead of getting cold feet and backtracking on his plans to propose when his company transferred him to Shanghai.

  Then again, who would want to be married to a Hamlet? Better to end up with someone who knew how to make a decision.

  She jumped at the sound of her cell phone.

  "I'll bet it's her. What do I say, again?" Panic welled inside, but she willed herself to get up, walk to the kitchen counter, and pick up the phone. Sure enough, Nicole's name lit up across the screen.

  "That's for you to decide," Jack told her.

  She clicked on, bile rising at the back of her throat.

  "Nic — Hi!" she said crisply, her voice light and buoyant.

  She would not ruin her best friend's vacation with news there was nothing Tom and Nic could do anything about in their present location. By the time they got off the ship and found a flight back to New York, it would be close to their regularly scheduled return date anyway. Better to let them enjoy their holiday while she and Jack spent the time before their return searching for and finding the dog. Her heart lurched as she thought of her own flight scheduled to take off in just a few hours. She'd forgotten all about it.

  "Hi, sweetie," Nicole sang into the receiver. "Glad I caught you before you fly off to your island. How'd it go with Percy?"

  "Great. He's a love bug," she choked out. "We took lots of walks together, and he slept with me every night." She regretted her choice of words as she caught the look on Jack's face. If she wasn't mistaken, he had just blushed.

  "Did Tom's friend show up on time?" Nicole asked.

  "He did. Right on time."

  "Pretty cute, huh?"

  Now it was Hint's turn to blush. She averted her eyes from Jack and turned to face the window overlooking her balcony.

  "I guess," she told Nicole.

  "I'm so glad everything went well. I'd die if anything happened to our little boy. All set for your trip?"

  "Yes." Hint's stomach dropped at her friend's words.

  "Have a great time, and don't forget to bring sunblock," Nicole reminded her.

  "Nic?"

  "Yes, sweetie?"

  "There's something else." Didn't Nicole deserve to know what had happened to her dog? But she felt sick at the thought of ruining her friend's vacation.

  "What? I can't hear you very well. They're announcing morning activities over the P.A. system. Can you speak up?"

  "I… we… walked Percy together." Hint's voice faltered as she stepped onto her balcony, out of Jack's earshot. She couldn't bear to look at him. Hadn't they just agreed to decide what to say and then stick to it? Was she in this together with Jack Whitby or not? And what if she wasn't? Wouldn't that make her a second-guesser? She inwardly groaned.

  "That's great. Listen — they're announcing signups for on-deck massages," Nicole shouted into the phone. "I've got to run. Yesterday they were sold out in five minutes. Bye, sweetie. Don't do anything I wouldn't do in Punta Cana." A tinkling laugh came through the receiver then the connection cut off.

  I'd die if anything happened to our little boy. The words rang in Hint's head as she put down the phone. If she and Jack didn't find Percy, it would be like losing her closest friend's child. Could she live with that? And how could she get on a plane in less than five hours with her best friend's "child" missing and the only person left to find him a man who knew next to nothing about dogs and hadn't even wanted to take on dog-sitting Percy? Putting up her hands to either side of her head, she pulled her hair in frustration. It was a habit she'd never outgrown from childhood.

  "You told her?" Jack asked quietly behind her. She hadn't heard him come out onto the balcony.

  She shook her head slowly then turned to face him.

  "No. I couldn't."

  "You didn't want to ruin their vacation," he consoled her. "And I don't want to ruin yours."

  "I can't go until we find him."

  "You have to go," he ordered her. "It was my fault for losing him, and I'll take responsibility for finding him. What time does your cab come?"

  "I'm not going today." She was impressed with his resolve. For some reason, she wanted to show him hers, too. The lack of resolve her former boyfriend had shown by his indecisive waffling between her and another woman had disappointed her profoundly. She didn't want to be someone like that. She would call into her first few conference seminars. And maybe Percy would show up in time for her to get on the same flight the following day, so she could still make her Thursday meeting with the head of Story Tales Press.

  "How many ads do we have printed out now?" Jack asked, ignoring her last comment.

  "I queued up fifty on the printer," she said, deciding to leave the issue alone for the moment. She had two more hours before she needed to cancel her cab and flight. If she was going to second-guess her decision not to go, she'd do so silently. Better to follow Jack's example of making a decision and sticking to it than acting like Hamlet or even worse, her ex-boyfriend. She was worthy of much more, including finding a partner who wasn't a weathervane and not being one herself.

  "Okay, we'll get started with those," Jack broke into her thoughts. "Let's bring a notebook and some cold drinks," he suggested. "Also, do you have any of Percy's toys?"

  "Nicole gave me a few things."

  "Anything that squeaks or makes a noise?"

  "Umm…" She rummaged around in the shopping bag she'd packed for Jack the evening before with Percy's food and toys in it. A bedraggled red dachshund appeared.

  "How's this?" The dachshund squeaked when she squeezed its stomach. She tossed it to Jack.

  "Pretty gross," he commented, catching the small, stuffed animal. One eye was missing. A pungent, wet dog smell emanated from the ratty-looking toy. "But perfect, for our purposes." He stuffed it in his back pocket.

  In a minute they were downstairs and out the door, where Jack's forest green car stood parked curbside in front of Hint's building. She hopped in, noting the interior was fairly neat for a guy. What did the blue ribbons on his rearview mirror signi
fy? Peering closer, she read "First Place, Ox Ridge Hunt Club, Darien CT."

  "Do you ride?" she asked, surprised. Most guys she knew steered clear of horses.

  "Do I ride? Ride what?" He followed her gaze to the ribbons. "Oh, no. That's my niece Marguerite's ribbon. She won it for best horsemanship or something in a pony show."

  "Wow. How old is she?"

  "Six. She's just learning how to ride." His face shone with pride.

  "I can't believe she gave you her blue ribbon."

  "She's won several. Anyways, she likes to ride around with her uncle in his green car, because I brag about her whenever anyone asks about the ribbon."

  "Don't her parents brag about her too?"

  "Oh yes. They've got a whole rainbow of ribbons attached to their rearview mirror. She's quite a competitor. She takes her horseshows very seriously," he said.

  "But she's only six. Is she jumping or posting?"

  "I… uh… don't think so. She gets ribbons for all sorts of reasons: for grooming her horse nicely, good sportsmanship, good form — that sort of thing," he explained.

  "Cutest horsewoman?"

  "You got it." He beamed with pride. Pulling down the sunshade, Jack produced a photo of a sweet-looking girl with short blonde braids and an enormous smile, minus two upper front teeth.

  "What a doll." She sighed. "How often do you see her?"

  "Pretty often. I'm her only uncle, so I get invited to all the family events. Her birthday party's coming up this Saturday."

  "Do you ever babysit her?"

  "Yup. I'm one of her favorite babysitters. Good old Uncle Jack is a pushover for staying up late, eating junk food, and watching TV shows her parents won't let her see."

  "Where does she live?"

  "Scarsdale. My brother and his wife aren't far from Nicole and Tom."

  "It's nice to have family nearby," she observed.

  "'Tis." Jack looked wistful. He shifted in his seat as if uncomfortable.

  Hint looked out the window. They were entering the driveway to the dog run. It was a shallow decline, rife with potholes and leftover scars from snow melting and running down from the main road to the stream bordering the dog run. On the other side of the stream stood the woods where she had lost Percy two days before. Why did it seem like a week ago?

  They hopped out and went over to the lamppost where Jack had put up one of the ads the evening before. It was still there. Percy's sweet face looked out expectantly at her. Was he looking for her? Or Nicole or Tom? One thing was certain: he wasn't looking for Jack.

  As she watched Jack move off toward the dog run, she weighed the meeting in Punta Cana with Derek Simpson against staying in New York to find Nicole and Tom's dog. One was a professional opportunity. The other was her best friend's little boy. Nicole had said she would die if something happened to him. If Hint prioritized a professional opportunity to advance her career over a personal and moral obligation to help find her friend's dog, she'd be no better a person than her ex-boyfriend had been.

  After one year of dating, Tim had brought up the future over dinner at their favorite Thai restaurant in midtown Manhattan. Hint had been surprised, but pleased. Tim was ambitious, hardworking, and dedicated to his job as a management consultant. Although he worked insane hours, with frequent business trips, the combination of his steady, corporate lifestyle blended well with Hint's freelance illustrator career. Sometimes she thought he was a bit too married to his job, but her mother had frequently reminded her that the only kind of man with whom she could share a future would be someone with more job security than she.

  "So how should we celebrate one year together?" he'd asked as they'd sipped champagne cocktails before ordering dinner.

  "This is a pretty good way," she'd said.

  "Isn't it time to make some plans?"

  "Plans?" Hint froze, unsure of where Tim was going. He frequently kept her guessing about his availability, but she had chalked it up to his busy job. She told herself it was one of the reasons dating him was so exciting. Except when it had made her anxious, which had been often.

  "Yes. Don't women usually like to make plans?"

  Women? She didn't want to talk about women. This was her personally he was speaking to.

  "I suppose so." She hesitated, eyeing him distrustfully. Why did she feel so unsure of him after a whole year together? "What do you have in mind?"

  "Shouldn't we do something like take things to the next step?" he asked.

  "What do you mean?" She wouldn't be the one to put words in her boyfriend's mouth. Better to find out what was on his mind without her prompt.

  "Say, find a place together in the city?"

  Wow. That was taking things to the next step, all right. But the way he'd worded it had sounded so casual.

  "You mean move in together?" Her eyes widened as she studied his face closely. Ideas came and went for him at the speed of light, which was what made him shine at his job. She wanted to make sure this wasn't just another notion he was trying on for size.

  "That would be the idea," he replied, taking a long swig of his cocktail.

  Hint hesitated. That would be the idea? He hadn't even used a personal pronoun. Or made any mention of marriage up ahead. She was pleased he'd brought up the future, but not as rapturously happy as she thought she'd be at a moment like this.

  "Let's think about it, and we can talk more next time we see each other," she said finally. It wasn't much of an answer, but it hadn't been much of a proposal, had it? If she was going to move in with her boyfriend, she wanted to know there was a plan up ahead that wasn't just having a roommate with sleeping together privileges.

  "Sure, darling. When I get back from my trip next week, we can firm things up further." He'd winked at her, raising his glass.

  She'd clinked glasses with him, wondering why she felt as if they'd just been discussing a business deal.

  Then one week later, he'd called midday from his office, a rare occurrence.

  "I've got huge news," he'd practically shouted into the receiver.

  "What is it?" she'd asked, sensing it was work-related. It usually was with Tim.

  "They're putting me in charge of starting up the Shanghai office. It's an amazing opportunity. I've got to get out there before the end of the month, so we can get a team in place to move into the new space the first of September."

  "Congratulations," Hint had told him, wondering what that meant for their relationship.

  "We'll firm up the plans we talked about when I get back," he continued.

  "When will that be?" Once again she felt as if they were discussing some sort of work project.

  "By Christmas, darling. We'll spend Christmas together. I'll have something to ask you then."

  "That's five months away, Tim." Something to ask her then? Maybe it had finally clicked that his idea of the week before of just moving in together hadn't made her leap for joy.

  "I know, darling. It'll fly by. Listen, I've got to run. Can you meet me in Manhattan after work tonight? A few of us are going out to celebrate the new office. I'd love you to join us."

  "I'll call you later to let you know. Really excited for you. Bye." She hung up and laid down the phone thoughtfully. Had the call been about them or about him?

  Two weeks later, he'd left for Shanghai. As summer turned into fall and fall moved toward Christmas holidays, Tim's hurried phone calls and short e-mail messages had become less and less personal, as if he were communicating with a work colleague. It became increasingly clear to Hint that Tim's priority was his career, not their relationship.

  She pulled out her cell phone and called the number of the conference registration desk in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The connection went through right away. Quickly, she confirmed that she could indeed teleconference in to every one of the four seminars for which she had registered for the conference.

  She ended the call then pondered the more important problem of her Thursday meeting with Derek Simpson. With any luck, Percy
would be back, and she would be on the plane in time to meet the head of Story Tales Press as planned.

  Next, she called the airline, cancelled her flight that afternoon, and confirmed that there were indeed seats on the same flight for the following two days. If she booked one of them, she would pay an adjustment fee, but finding Percy couldn't wait. Hadn't the town dogcatcher's message said the best chance of finding a lost pet was within the first twenty-four hours? There was no way Jack could do it without her help.

  Once her business with the airline was taken care of, she felt at peace. She needed to figure out her backup to the backup plan, in the event that Percy still hadn't shown up by Thursday morning. With her cousin's help, she could achieve her objective of getting Derek Simpson to evaluate her portfolio on Thursday afternoon as planned. Kim would be up for the job, but Hint needed to formulate how to pitch it to her cousin.

  Sighing, she made one final call.

  "Kim? It's me, Hint. I've got a problem."

  "Tell me you didn't miss your flight."

  "Yes. I did. Percy's lost. We're looking for him now. If he turns up, I'll take the same flight down tomorrow," she told her.

  "What do you mean? Who's Percy?" Kim's voice rose, the way it did when she was upset.

  "Percy's the dog I've been taking care of for Nicole and Tom Mays. I was supposed to hand him off to their friend last night, but he got loose and ran off. I can't go anywhere until we find him."

  "Hint, what are you talking about? Can't the person you handed him off to take care of this?"

  "No. Percy doesn't really know him. He's never dog sat for him before."

  "That's his problem, not yours. Aren't you meeting with that big shot art director? You can't just cancel. He'll never give you another chance. You've got to get down here."

  "It's an emergency, Kim. I'm really sorry. I can't come unless we find him."

  "So look for him today then take tomorrow's flight."

  "If he's back by tomorrow morning, I will. But there's no way I can get on that plane if the dog's still missing. I've got to help find him."

  "Why can't the other person do it?"