by Toby Neal
“It is not to be, but what was will remain,” he said. “It’s always a pleasure to have a student who’s willing to take a chance and commit to something. You will be all right, now.”
“Yes, I do believe I will.” Lei stepped into his embrace as easily as if she’d never left it, and for a timeless moment, their hearts and breaths joined again in rhythm, as their foreheads rested against each other. Finally, their arms dropped and they stepped back. Lei gazed into Cruz’s familiar, beautiful brown eyes, and felt his kindness.
“Be well,” he said, with that little bow.
“You, too.” Lei returned the gesture. Harry appeared, knapsack on her shoulder. She scooped up the baby carrier. Kona moved to her side. “I hope I see you again, Lei.”
“Me too.” Having a friend like Harry felt good. “How can I contact you?”
Harry smiled. “You can’t. But our paths will cross again when the time is right.”
Cruz, Harry and Kona moved off down the hotel’s graveled walk to the beach and disappeared among the ornamental plantings.
Lei turned and headed back toward Kelly’s bungalow, rubbing the smooth granite pebble between her fingers.
Yes, she would be fine. Maybe someday, thanks to Cruz, she’d even find love. But for now, she’d be happy with a dog, and hopefully Aunty would still want to get one.
Chapter Twelve
Lei unlocked the door and stepped inside Aunty Rosario’s little house on D street in San Rafael. She unslung her duffle bag and lowered it to the floor, gazing down the short hallway with its overhead light on. She was tired from the long drive back from Mexico. Kelly had just dropped her at the curb, then continued on to her parents’ house. “Aunty?”
Lei looked at the clock. After nine p.m. No, Aunty probably wasn’t home from the restaurant yet.
She went down the hall and into her bedroom. The familiar sight of her little twin bed, her bureau with the row of bird nests on it, her desk under the window . . . all of it gave her a feeling of comfort.
It was almost as if the tumultuous events of the last ten days had been some kind of dream—more like a nightmare, except for a few key scenes, starring an enigmatic man named Cruz. Lei couldn’t help smiling at the memory of her experience with him on the Cabo San Lucas beach.
She unzipped her duffle and pulled out the clothing stuffed inside, sorting all the dirty clothes into a pile on the floor, and the tightly rolled, clean ones to be returned to the bureau. She took out the heavy combat blade she had taken from Joao, and her Glock, secure in its plastic case.
She needed to get training with these weapons pronto; if only she could have had more time with Harry and Cruz! Where were they going next, with Kona and baby Malia? Would she ever see them again?
A key rattled in the lock, and the front door opened. “Lei? Is that you?” There was an unfamiliar note in her aunt’s voice: apprehension. Could it even be fear?
“It’s me, Aunty!” Lei called. “Come back to my room and get your souvenir present!”
Rosario’s steps hurried down the hall. A moment later, Lei was embracing her beloved aunt’s sturdy form, pressing her cheek onto her aunt’s curly head.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” Aunty said, muffled against Lei’s shoulder, her body vibrating with tension.
Lei had not apprised Rosario of any part of the crazy adventure she and Kelly had been on down in Mexico. She had sent two postcards from the resort, which probably hadn’t even reached Aunty yet, so there was no way Rosario had a clue what Lei had been through. What was worrying her aunt? Lei stepped back, holding Rosario’s shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
Rosario shook her head, smiling in a forced way. “Nothing I want to bother you with right now. Show me this present.”
Lei turned around and lifted a hat off the bed, setting it right on top of Aunty’s head. Her gift to Rosario was a well-made Panama cowboy hat, decorated with a leather band set with silver conchos inlaid with turquoise. “A little something to honor your paniolo heritage, Aunty.”
Aunty Rosario and Lei’s father, Wayne Texeira, had grown up on the Big Island of Hawaii. Their parents had been a Hawaiian woman and a Portuguese cowboy who came to work on the big Waimea cattle ranches. The siblings had grown up in that lifestyle, and Aunty still talked about their riding and roping days on their employers’ ranch.
Aunty quickly removed the hat from her head to admire it. “Oh, Lei, I couldn’t love it more! This is such a beautiful hat, where did you find it?”
“It wasn’t easy.” Lei flopped down on the bed, and described the day at the markets that she and Kelly had spent, combing through various cheap souvenir stands for one that carried authentic cowboy hats with Mexican worked silver to enhance them. Lei was happy to be able to tell Rosario a real story about what had happened down there, since she had no intention of burdening her aunt with the murder and mayhem they’d survived.
“I love it.” Aunty clasped the hat to her chest. Lei met her gaze, and Rosario’s eyes were still worried. “I have to go around and make sure everything is locked up.”
Lei frowned. “Have there been more break-ins?”
“Yes. Whoever is raiding our neighborhood is even bolder, now.” Aunty sighed. “I didn’t want to tell you right away, but it’s so on my mind, and I want you to be prepared in case we need to defend ourselves.”
“What happened?”
“Our neighbor’s place was broken into while they were asleep in their beds! They were tied up while the thieves went through their house. The police are investigating, and they’ve put extra patrol cars in our neighborhood, but I’m afraid that our house could be next.”
Lei had counted on feeling safe when she got home! She reached into her pocket to rub the stone Cruz had given her. “What about that plan you were thinking about to get a dog?”
Rosario met Lei’s eyes. “I know you wanted for us to take time to think about it, but I actually have a dog arranged to come visit us on a trial basis. She will be delivered by the adoption service tomorrow.”
“She?”
“Yes. She is an eighteen-month-old Rottweiler. She washed out of police training because her nose is not sharp enough to pick up the scents of different kinds of substances. They wanted to use her for various kinds of location and tracking, as well as a police dog, but her sense of smell just isn’t strong enough, though in every other way, she qualified for their program.”
“A dog. Tomorrow!” Lei’s heart thumped with excitement. “I made a new friend on the trip—another Hawaii girl. Her name was Harry, and she had a dog named Kona.” It was safe to share that much; so she told her aunt about Kona and how much she’d liked him. “After getting to know Kona a little bit and seeing how fun it could be to have a dog, I’d changed my mind, Aunty, and I was going to propose that we adopt one for sure. If I qualify for the police job on the Big Island, either you can keep her with you, or I will take her with me. Thanks so much for doing all the paperwork and getting through the hoops. I’m sure there were a lot of them, to adopt a trained animal like that.”
“It wasn’t just an adoption process,” Aunty said, “there was a lottery. But I was lucky enough to win her on a trial basis.”
“What should we name her?” Lei asked.
“I think it’s a little premature for that,” Aunty said. “They warned me that she’s going to be a lot of dog to handle. They’re going to have to train us, too, on how to work with her. But I’m feeling hopeful about it. At the very least, I know I’ll sleep better at night with a big Rottweiler in the house to bark at anybody trying to get in.”
“You and me both,” Lei said.
They spent a restless night that night, sharing Aunty’s bed for the first time since the first year when Lei had come to her aunt’s as a traumatized child. Even so, Lei woke up at every scratch of a branch at the window. She couldn’t wait to meet their new dog and have an animal’s sharp eyes and ears watching out for them.
Chapter Thirteen
A young man dressed in a blue uniform with the same logo as the van on his pocket stepped out to greet them. His name, he told them, was Josh. “And meet Kali.”
Josh opened the sliding door, and they got their first glimpse of the dog that would be spending the next week with them.
Lei had not been prepared for how beautiful a young Rottweiler in the prime of its life could be. Kali had the classic markings of the breed: a sleek black coat, a bobbed tail, feet and chest in a rich chestnut that matched her eyebrow patches. The Rottie sat quietly, gazing at them with large, intelligent brown eyes. Her solid body gleamed from head to toe with good health and solid musculature. Her folded ears were pricked, her nose shiny. Small brown patches above her eyes accented an expression of interest and intelligence.
The trainer clipped a leash onto Kali’s chain collar, and she hopped down from the van to step to his side. He introduced them, and Lei held a closed fist down for the dog to sniff.
“We have been calling her Kali,” Josh said. “So if you do keep her, and you don’t like that name, whatever you name her should have a similar hard ‘K’ sound and an ‘i’ at the end.”
Lei instinctively didn’t like the name; though it was a good one for such a guard dog as this, that of a fierce goddess of death, it didn’t suit the gentle feeling Lei got from the dog. This sweet girl was going to be named something uniquely Hawaii, uniquely theirs. “Show us what she can do.”
The trainer demonstrated how Kali could patrol the house or yard at a hand signal, go into defense mode to guard their house with another command, come, sit, stay, and aggressively “hold” an intruder by backing them into a corner and keeping them there.
“Kali failed our standards for tracking,” he said regretfully. “It’s too bad, because she’s a bright dog with a great disposition. She will work for you until she drops once you have her loyalty. But you must dominate her regularly; be her leader. Rotties can become bullies if they’re unsure who’s the boss. Here’s how you will do that.”
He showed them how to establish a leadership role with Kali using commands and treats. “You should practice her training with her often.”
Lei felt comfortable with this new way of relating to an animal, while Aunty struggled. “If she tries to herd me, I think I’ll just want to go where she wants me to go,” Aunty said, laughing.
“Rottweilers are very strong-willed and need a firm, loving hand, and clear leadership,” Josh told them. “If you let her push you around, she will become the alpha, and then . . . all the training we’ve put into her could be lost.”
“I have no problem with that.” Lei gave the hand signal for the dog to come, and then she had Kali lay down at her side. Lei went through the different hand and voice signals again, and then finally gave Kali a treat, as the trainer encouraged her to do. “I’ll go through these exercises with her every day.”
“Good! That is just what we want to hear. She’s young, so to be her best she also needs a lot of exercise—a vigorous walk for an hour or so, at least once a day.”
“I’m a runner. I’ll take her jogging with me.” Lei was thrilled at the idea of moving down the road with the dog at her side.
Josh went to the van and removed a small bag containing some toys, a spare leash, and a sample bag of the food Kali had been eating. “I will be checking in with you at the end of the week to see if you want to keep her. Don’t worry if she’s not a fit; there is a list a mile long of people who want to adopt her. So, make sure you can handle a dog that needs this level of active commitment.”
Lei was already sure that she wanted the beautiful Rottweiler more than she had wanted anything for a very long time. “We’ll be in touch.”
The van drove off, and Lei and Aunty looked down at their new dog. “First things first. You’re getting a new name, as of today, and I know just the thing. I’m going to call you Keiki,” Lei said. “Child, in Hawaiian. Because you’re our Keiki girl.”
Aunty knelt beside the Rottie and stroked her ears. Keiki leaned against her, and Rosario smiled up at Lei. “Keiki is perfect, and we both know she’s your dog, not mine. She can be your girl, until you have your own child someday.”
Lei rolled her eyes. “That’ll be the day.”
“Life has a way of surprising us,” Rosario said. “Just wait and see.”
Chapter Fourteen
Lei promptly put Keiki on the leash and took the Rottweiler out for a run.
The experience was very different from running alone; Lei was used to a feeling of invisibility as she jogged down the road, her earbuds in place, her expression blank as she hid beneath the brim of a ballcap.
But with Keiki at her side, people noticed her. They looked at the beautiful dog, and some of them moved away to give the two of them a wide berth, apprehensive about a large, muscular animal with a reputation for being a guard dog. Others were dog lovers, and smiled at the sight of the two of them. All in all, Lei enjoyed the feeling of companionship she felt moving through the world with Keiki at her side.
Keiki stayed level with Lei, only occasionally trying to step ahead in a way that Josh had cautioned was a bid for leadership. Lei checked the Rottie with the chain collar, and Keiki fell back to trot at her side, reassured by Lei’s position as the alpha in their little duo.
When they came to a stoplight, and Lei jogged in place, Keiki stood quietly or sat on her haunches, waiting for the light to change. Traffic signals were clearly not something new to her; she seemed to recognize the changing of the lights and had an appreciation for cars, as well as for other people on the sidewalk. Occasionally, Keiki would glance up at Lei, a slight scrunch on her broad brow, as if asking if everything was all right.
“It sure is, girl,” Lei said. “I’m so glad to have you with me.”
Lei had never felt as safe and comfortable out in the world as she did with Keiki by her side. The connection she’d felt as soon as their eyes met only got stronger.
Back at the house, Aunty Rosario and Lei established a bed for Keiki in the living room, a good spot for the Rottweiler to keep an eye on the premises.
“Do you think we should also put in an alarm system?” Aunty asked. The worry lines between her brows had relaxed a bit since Keiki arrived, but they weren’t yet gone.
“It’s up to you, Aunty. There will be times when I have her away from the house, and if you want it to be watched, we can always do that.”
“Let’s wait and see how she does. When we’re both at the restaurant working, or you have your classes, Keiki will be here alone, guarding the house.”
“I think I would much rather face an alarm system if I were a burglar than Keiki.”
Aunty nodded. “Me too.”
Lei ran Keiki through her commands twice a day, and three days went by as they settled into a nice rhythm. When they left Keiki in the house alone, she barked when they first came home, a scary sound, but quickly quieted when she recognized their voices or footsteps. Her whole body wagged in greeting when they opened the door, and sometimes she whimpered with happiness.
That was a wonderful feeling that Lei hadn’t expected; Keiki’s joy in the simplest things made Lei happy, too.
What if the adoption service wanted to take Keiki back for some reason? Lei couldn’t handle the stress of that idea, so on the morning of their fourth day together, she called up the trainer.
“We absolutely love her,” she told Josh. “Whatever we need to sign, send it over. I can’t stand the thought of anyone taking her away.”
Josh laughed. “I thought I saw that spark between the two of you when you met,” he said. “I’m happy to hear it. Your aunt has completed all the necessary paperwork. We will just check Kali off as a successful adoption. I will still leave it open for the ten days, in case you change your mind.”
; “I’m not going to change my mind,” Lei said. “And her new name is Keiki.”
Lei’s classes were about to resume, and other than a few texts, she hadn’t heard from Kelly. How was her friend doing after their ordeal in Mexico? Kelly would make light of it if Lei asked her directly—she had to see her friend to really know.
Lei called Kelly. “I have a surprise,” she told her friend. “Meet me at the county park near the bridge.”
“What is this? Please tell me you’re dating someone.”
Lei laughed. “You could say that. But it won’t be what you’re thinking.”
“This I gotta see. Meet you in an hour.”
Lei and Keiki jogged down to the county park—a small, tidy expanse tucked inside a redwood grove beside the stores and restaurants of old town San Rafael. Spreading maple trees over the sidewalk were just beginning to fully leaf in with the changing of spring into summer, and the flower beds were filled in with bright blossoms as they arrived at the little park.
Kelly jogged up to meet them and clapped her hands to her cheeks in surprise. “Omigosh, Lei, what a beautiful dog!”
Keiki sat when Lei gave her a hand signal, but her tongue hung out in a big happy grin as she gazed at Kelly. Lei was becoming attuned to the way Keiki communicated with her expressive face and clear body language. “She likes you,” Lei told Kelly. “You can pet her if you want.”
“I’m not sure. I’m a little scared of dogs, and she is so big.”
“Keiki’s a sweetheart. She can be a fierce guardian, though we haven’t seen that side of her yet. We’re really glad to have her since those break-ins started in our neighborhood.”
Kelly approached as Lei directed, with her hand down and in a fist held out for Keiki to sniff. The dog gave her fingers a lick, and Kelly giggled; but as Lei peered at her friend, she spotted dark circles ringing Kelly’s eyes, and her friend had lost weight.