Once again, the dog was watching the guy who was trying to catch it and made sure to keep well clear of him. The man’s attempts to make it stay put were only causing it to retreat farther away.
Barely conscious she’d made the decision to do so, Tess hoisted her suitcase and dove back into the cold rain. She had to jog across five lanes and dodge traffic to get to the park. Her suitcase thumped against one calf as she ran, likely creating a few bruises she’d discover later.
Once she closed the distance to a bit less than twenty feet, Tess heard the guy curse as he headed toward the western edge of the park in pursuit of the dog.
“Hey, you!” She was determined to stop him before his frustration drove the dog into the street again. “Stop! Just stop, will you?”
It still wasn’t all-out pouring, but the cold drops were soaking her thin jacket. The guy, his left arm immobilized, had thankfully heard her and was turning around to see who’d called out. As soon as he stopped walking, the Westie, thirty feet ahead of him, stopped and cocked its head curiously toward Tess.
“Stop please! Just stop moving! You’re too imposing!” Tess dropped her suitcase and backpack under a bush that had lost most of its leaves but still offered a bit of protection from the rain. She double-checked the small pocket of her jacket to make sure she had a few of the treats she carried with her for emergencies like this one. “You’ll never get him back this way.”
As she drew closer, Tess noticed that the man was tall. She often thought of people over six feet tall as ones who swam in a different gene pool, and this guy was well over that mark. He also had a defined, athletic build and was broad-enough in the shoulders that some innate, subconscious part connected to her reproductive system responded by emitting a spurt of adrenaline. “Way too imposing,” she repeated under her breath as she closed the distance between them.
He was also sans dog, she reminded herself, which was why she’d left the cover of the bus stop.
“Just stay here, okay? If you stop trying to close in on him, I think he’ll stop moving away from you. What’s his name?”
“Hers,” he said, taking in Tess’s puddle-splashed boots and clothes. “It’s Millie. And please, give it your best shot. She goes berserk off leash. She’s my neighbor’s, and she doesn’t like me on a good day, but even less in the rain. She slipped her collar.”
He offered her the leash, but Tess shook her head. A sudden gust of wind blew the chilling drops sideways, causing her to shiver. “Thanks, but she’s watching. Do me a favor and act like your attention’s not on her for a minute. I’ll head down the park next to the street to keep her from heading back out there. Once I’m far enough away from you, I’ll see if I can get her to come to me.”
“Yeah, sure. And thanks,” he called as she hurried toward the edge of the park.
Tess kept watch of the little Westie in her peripheral vision. She headed west along the curb at the edge of the park until she was parallel to the animal. Millie had stopped advancing west and was alternately dashing in crazy circles and stopping to bark in the guy’s direction.
Maybe it was because Tess was better with dogs than the imposing guy with the sling was. Maybe it was because frightened and overexcited dogs often found women more approachable than men. Whatever it was, Tess found the little Westie much more accommodating than the guy had.
As Tess moved toward the dog, she kept her gaze averted, approached at a slow, even pace, and offered calm and continuous praise. She stopped walking when she was still a good four or five feet away. She knelt in a squat and offered a treat in her outstretched hand. Millie zoomed over, stopping a foot and a half in front of her. The little dog sniffed the air and wagged her tail, then trotted over easy-peasy. The Westie was quick but gentle at taking the treat. Once Millie had munched it down, Tess dropped another one onto her open palm but didn’t extend her hand as far.
As Millie munched the second treat, she let Tess rub a warm, wet ear. When Millie leaned into the scratch, Tess worked her way lower, then locked her hand around Millie’s scruff. Once she had it, she nodded to the guy who was watching intently fifty or sixty feet away.
“I’ll take that leash now,” she called as the soft glow of success filled her. At least one thing has gone right today.
A bus had come and gone while she was over here. Tess suspected it was the line she was supposed to be on and that she’d be waiting another half hour for a new one. It didn’t matter though. Catching the cute little Westie and keeping her safe was more important than getting home and warming up.
When the dog showed no resistance or fear, Tess scooped her into her arms and stood.
“Hey, well done!” the guy called as he jogged over, brushing rain from his forehead.
“Thanks. I’ve had practice.” It hit her a second time what a physical anomaly this guy was, too fit and all-American to blend into any crowd. His hair was a wavy light brown and his eyes were a striking blue-green. He had a smile that belonged on a poster, white teeth, and a deep dimple on his right cheek that was
